ʙᴀᴅ ʜᴀʙɪᴛꜱ| ᴍ. ᴘᴇʀᴇᴢ

three

Maddy's home life wasn't great- her parents argued 24/7 about finances and not having enough money to pay both the bills and the rent that month. Her dad would get drunk from the cans and cans of beer he would drink, sit in his chair by the tv and turn the volume up anytime her mother raised her voice.

Maddy sat in her room as per usual, laying on her side, waiting for the moment her dad would pass out and her mum would go to bed early in a bad mood; it of course didn't make it any better for Maddy but at least she had a few hours in peace, where she could do her makeup for fun like she used to or try on dresses she planned on wearing to a party. For the time being though, she laid there, her hands cupped tightly over her ears as she tried to shut them out.

Soon - as it always did- Maddy's name came up in their conversation, points back and forth as to why she was a problem, a problem for drinking alcohol at a young age like her alcoholic father, a problem for never shutting her mouth like her mother. She was an only child of two emotionally abusive parents, of course they tore her apart like a rag doll, picking out the parts of her they despised, throwing it at the other as an insult. They may have thought it affected one another, but in reality Maddy was the one affected the most.

Her nose uncontrollably sniffled, the way a young child's does when they're excessively crying about something. She got up from her ball on the bed, opened the closet and grabbed the same bag she always grabbed, filled it with a few items of clothing before climbing out the window in her bathroom. Her house was only one floor, giving her the perfect escape route whenever things became too much for her at home. Besides, it's not like her parents cared whether she was in or out, they were used to it and even if they weren't, they were too busy arguing.

Maddy walked the dark road quickly, pulling out her phone and texting the first contact there: Cassie. She wiped her nose as she did so, continuing her quick pace through town until she soon reached her best friends house. Cassie's mum stood in the doorway, waiting for her 'third daughter' with open arms. "Maddy." She spoke in a soft voice, knowing her situation at home. Maddy hugged her tightly as if she were her own mother, fighting back tears at her warmth and kindness.

———

After eating dinner around the table, Maddy sat upstairs, her makeup sprawled out by the mirror as she painted Lexi's face. "You should be a makeup artist." She spoke, trying not to move too much as Maddy did her lips. "You think?" She smiled a genuine smile at the idea of doing other people's makeup for a living. "Hell yeah. You're great." Lexi smiled in return. Once she was done, Maddy moved away, giving the girl space to see the final reveal. "Wow." Was all she said and Maddy felt proud of herself.

Cassie sat on her bed at the back of the room, too focused on the phone in front of her to care what the other girls were doing and soon her mum entered the room, announcing it was time for the lights to be out. Maddy stood by Cassie's bed, waiting for the blonde to shuffle further away and when she did, she laid in bed next to her. "Hey." Cassie whispered. "Hey." Maddie did in response. After a few moments of silence, Maddy spoke. "I think I'm gonna break up with Nate." She stared at the ceiling.

Cassie sat up, immediately turning on the lamp next to her. "What?!" She practically shouted, earning a pissed off look from Lexi. "Well, I mean, I don't know yet but I think you were right about him." She breathed in, looking over at her best friend who seemed to be completely shocked. "What? You don't think I should?" Maddy asked, second guessing her choice. "No, no I think that's great." Cassie encouraged.

"Great?" Maddy raised an eyebrow. "A great idea." Cassie nodded. "It's Nate, Maddy." Cassie turned the light off, laying back down beside her friend. "He's a bad person." She continued. "You're too good for him anyway, you deserve someone that'll actually pay attention and show you affection like you want."

"Thank you." Maddy nodded, turning on her side as she pretended to sleep. She thought about what Cassie said, wondering if she was fucked in the head for not wanting affection the way Cassie said she did. Of course she wanted affection but not in the way Cassie thought she meant, for years and years her parents emotionally abused one another and for the longest time Maddy thought that was all that love was; then she met Nate and he was so sweet and charming in the first few months of their relationship, then his act kept slipping, sometimes he'd hurt her, then instantly apologise and give her gifts.

For so long she thought that was normal until one night her and Cassie got high together and she told her some stuff; when she brought it up the next day Maddy acted like her friend had misheard her, brushing the abuse and the cheating under the rug like it never happened. Now, Cassie was telling her to finally leave and she wanted to but could she?

The next morning, they all made pancakes, eggs and bacon. Any time Maddy stayed over, Suze almost always made this her first breakfast there, it was like a little tradition for them. The first bite was always the best, the pancakes so fluffy and perfectly cooked with a slight crisp on the outside. Cassie always received the first burnt yet undercooked pancake, her mum said 'the first pancake for the first child' each time and everyone laughed at how messed up the first one always was.

After breakfast, no one could move. However, Suze began washing up and the girls helped and brought the plates to the kitchen. "Here, take out the trash." She asked Cassie, yet she only ignored. "Cassie." Her mum spoke sternly. "Mom, why me?" She whined, looking away from her phone for less than a second before turning back to it. "God, Cassandra do you have to have that piece of shit in your hands every second put it down for once and do some chores."

"It's okay, Suze, I've got it." Maddy grabbed the bag out of her hands before she could protest and headed for the door. She opened the lid of the trash can, her face morphed into one of disgust at the smell but she quickly threw the bag in and closed it. She turned on her heel, heading back for the front door when she saw him. Crouched in his yard, cleaning the same black and red motorbike.

Maddy froze, eyes wide in fear. She stood there in a two year old pair of Cassie's Christmas pyjamas, hair the messiest it's ever been, feet out, bra-less...

She grabbed her boobs, trying to take the attention away from them yet did the thing that would in fact bring the most attention to them. She practically tip-toed back to the front door, eyes avoiding the boy as she tried not to bring anymore attention to herself.

"Pen girl?"

She froze once more. She felt her heart stop at the sound of his voice, scared he'd make fun of the way she looked. She dropped her hands from her chest, straightened out her hair and turned to look at him. "Looking good." He smirked in a trying-to-hold-back-his-laugh way. "Wow, so mature." She rolled her eyes as she opened the door. "Thank you." He nodded in admiration of himself like the cocky guy he was.

"But I love the Christmas pyjamas...in April." He smiled, Maddy gave him the finger, slamming the door shut behind her and heading back to the kitchen. It's not that she gave a shit what that asshole thought of the way she looked but anyone from school seeing her the way she was at home was enough to send her spiralling. Besides, how could she know he lived next door to her best friend? And why the hell didn't Cassie, number one gossiper in the school think to tell her that?

"Maddy." Cassie's voice came from the kitchen. "Party, Macy's tonight?" She asked eagerly. Maddy could tell that was the influence McKay had on her, she was excited the way a little girl would be after getting a new barbie doll. If Maddy was being honest, she didn't want to go but if Cassie was going - and it was for a boy- she couldn't say no. "Why not."