Survive 2

Chapter Thirty Eight

Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

December 8, 2022.

Madison Stone's Point Of View.

I enter my house and see a larger amount of boxes in the living room than there were when I went to school.

Today will be the penultimate day that I will sleep and live in this house.

Knowing that my mother is at work, I go upstairs to my room and throw my backpack on the bed. I think about putting on some clothes and going to the gym, but I remember that I don't have time for that, because I still have a lot of packing to do.

I take a shower and put on some comfortable clothes, since I don't plan on leaving my house today anymore, and then I start doing what I have to do.

I put my backpack on my desk's chair and go to my closet, picking up some clothes that are still in it little by little and placing them on my bed so I can fold them, which I start to do soon after.

After putting some clothes away in the box, I feel my stomach rumbling, so I take a break from what I am doing and go downstairs to the kitchen.

I don't see Marilyn, who has probably gone out with Angelina to buy more boxes, so I decide to make myself something to eat, but just as I am about to open the fridge to get some of the ingredients needed to make a pancake, which is one of the few things I know how to make, I hear the doorbell ringing, so I give up and leave the kitchen, heading towards the entrance to my house.

"Hi Mad," and I am surprised when I open the door and see Bryan.

"Hi Bryan.. all right?"

"Yes, it is. I just came here to see you."

"Oh, so come in," I invite him. "Don't mind the mess, okay?" I speak receptively and he denies smiling after entering.

"No problem."

"Do you need something?"

"No, no," and I strange his sudden coming here, since he didn't even spend the break with me and the guys today, but I don't say anything.

"Okay then.. hmm.. I'm upstairs folding and putting some clothes in the box. Let's go up there?" I call him and he accepts, so we go up to my room.

I decide to make the pancake after I put away the rest of the clothes that are on my bed in the box.

"Can I help you with something, putting something away?" He speaks picking up a box that is empty.

"Since you volunteered.." I say and he laughs. "Can you go ahead and put a few pairs of my sneakers inside this box you took, please?"

"Sure."

"Great. They're in the closet," I speak, folding the clothes again, and he agrees, walking into the closet, returning soon after with a pair of sneakers in each hand.

I don't know, but knowing him since we were kids, I'm sensing that he didn't come here just to see me.

"You have a lot of sneakers," he says and I give a small laugh.

"You know I've always liked sneakers more than any other kind of shoe."

"Yes, I know and I have to tell you that you have good taste."

"Thank you." I smile.

"You're welcome," he puts the pairs into the box, going back into the closet shortly thereafter.

"You came straight here from your house?" I ask as I put two more shirts into the box.

"Yeah," he speaks from inside the closet.

"Got it.." I agree and we were silent for a few seconds.

"I think I'm getting over you," he says as he puts more two pairs of sneakers into the box, making me stop what I'm doing to stare at him.

Now I understand the real reason he came here.

"Really? Am I that easy to forget?" I joke and he gives a small laugh.

"No, not at all. I've tried so many times to get over you, but I never could," and I agree.

"I was only kidding. I'm glad you're getting what you wanted." I say and he gives a weak smile.

"Thanks."

"But let me ask you, are you starting to get interested in someone else?" I ask in a relaxed way, going back to folding more clothes.

"I think I'm starting to like Sarah," and the suspicion Ashley and I had is confirmed.

"I already suspected that."

"Really?" I agree.

"Yes, but I don't know how that happened. At what point did you guys become friends?!"

"Hmm.. on Friday, the day before the game, I passed her some answers on the math test, but we didn't talk. The next day, after the game, remember when we were talking and she called me, causing me to be at a loss to understand why she was calling me?"

"Yes, I do. Why?"

"She called me, congratulated me on the game, thanked me for what I did the day before, and then we spent a few minutes talking, but we didn't really talk for real until after what happened between you and me at the party."

"What did you guys talk about?"

"After I came back to the party, I learned that you had left and since Andrey was there and it was a bad mood, I also decided to leave, but David didn't let me and told me to take a walk to cool off, so I left, walked to a little further away from his house, sat on the curb and started to cry for knowing that my love for you was not reciprocated the way I would like it to be.." he lowers his head and I feel bad for that.

"Sorry about that," I say and he denies it.

"Like I told you that day in the confectionery shop, you don't have to feel guilty, you're not to blame for anything," and now I'm the one who give a weak smile.

"And.. after that? What happened?"

"Sarah came over and sat down beside me, saying afterwards in a thoughtful way that she understood what I was feeling," and I agree.

"Stopping to think about it now, I don't think she was a bad person. I think she just took bad actions because she was madly in love with Andrey."

"Yes. She's a nice person. We understand each other and as we started talking we saw that we have a lot in common," he says happily and I smile.

"I am happy for you and know that I am rooting for you to stay together, because you deserve to be happy."

"Thank you," he smiles, "and even though Andrey and I don't get along very well, I know he's the one you like, so I'm also rooting for you two to be happy together."

"But now that you are liking Sarah, you will have no reason to fight anymore."

"Yeah... it may be that now we really won't have a reason to fight anymore."

"I'm hoping so," I say and feel my stomach rumbling again, but I'm happy to see that there are only three more shirts left to fold and put in the box.

Bryan goes to get more sneakers and as soon as I finish I put everything that was on the bed away in the box, I go to help him so then I can make something to us eat, but I hear the doorbell ringing.

"You can go answer it that I will keep putting the shoes away," Bryan says and I thank him, leaving the room shortly after and going downstairs.

I walk to the door and open it, seeing Andrey standing with his hands in his pants pockets.