SEVEN
Here lies the grave of Maddie Johnson
the girl who's soul escaped her body,
when she found out
that the only way to escape romance
was to date hollywood's beloved actor.
"No?"
Everyone at the table gapes at her
with their jaws wide
and their cherry bowls spilt,
the scene was one to marvel at.
His silvery grey eyes narrow at her
from across the table
in a rather menacing way,
that doesn't even faze her.
"What do you mean, 'no?'"
So little mister hollywood here,
is actually a pouty asshat?
No surprise there.
The manager realizes that it was his time
to cut into the conversation,
all to prevent further hell breakage.
"What ash means to say,
is that you'll be paid four hundred thousand."
"No?"
More bowls of cherry goop fly across the table.
Madelyn carefully ducks out of the way
as one narrowly misses her forehead.
She shoots a look at her twin brother,
who only innocently gazes back at her
with the same brown eyes as her own.
he grins,
"I'm only giving you a gentle push
towards making a very good decision."
"You're just going to spend all the money
on videogames."
The gears in her brain turn.
Maddie could use all of the money
for all of her college funds,
and get into her top choice college.
And with the rest of the money,
perhaps she could even create something
that could make an ever-lasting difference;
a non profit organization that brings attention
to the inequality of races and genders.
The flip-side of course,
is that there will be millions
and millions
and millions of pre-teens
who will inevitably flood her social media
with jealous texts
and hundreds of articles
that will fully antagonize her
simply for being a woman,
and will objectify her as something
that is either worth or not worth
the oh so wonderful and marvelous grace
of the hollywood heart throb himself.
She will be looked and seen upon
not as a single individual
with her own unique ideals
and talents,
but as an image
defined by the fame
and the portrait
of another male.
There is too much at hand
for Maddie Johnson to decide on her own.
She has always been one
to lose faith in her own decisions -
probably just another side effect
of being a part of societal expectations.
So she decides to let fate make the choice.
"I'll agree...
if...
you, Ash Parker"
Her amber eyes settle on his silvery ones,
"Can sleep on my mattress,
and figure out
what smoothie ingredients are hidden underneath."
The room goes silent.
she decides to specify herself.
"I came home from work,
accidentally grabbed a bag of fruits,
thought 'fuck it'
then hid it under so cleo
wouldn't think that I stole it.
But not the point.
What better way to determine
my prince charming,
than to have him
do it the same way
the princess and the pea did?"
More silence.
And for the first time,
ash looks deep into her eyes,
and addresses her by her first name
in five years.
"Maddie, what the actual fuck?"
YOU ARE READING
Arrogant with a Side of Smoothie
NouvellesMaddie Nguyen is a homeschooled teenager who happens to be a maladroit employee of a family owned smoothie bar, who was supposed to have her senior year as an unquestionably stress-free adolescent. But that was before-before she ran smack into the t...
