I hate the way, Jordan Li

007. THINGS CHANGE FAST AROUND HERE

Chapter seven

"Things change fast around here."

By the next morning, Maddie had woken up and gotten dressed for the day knowing it was time for classes, neither her, Marie nor Emma spoke a word to each other as they all left the room simultaneously after the other, but as Maddie had stopped and gotten her coffee, her phone had dinged and when it did, she stopped in her tracks remembering the last person who made her phone buzz was Luke, she took a deep breath as she pulled her phone out of her pocket, she noticed it wasn't a text but a god u notification.

Furrowing her brows, she clicked on it and waited for it to open and when it did, she looked at the rankings and saw Andre at number one and herself as number two, causing her to spit out her coffee "what the fuck?" she questioned, scrolling through it, knowing her and Andre mostly calmed down Luke, they weren't the ones who fought him, not having to scroll far enough she saw Jordan now at number five opposed to number two which was the spot she seemed to take "shit. They're gonna fucking kick my ass!" she voiced.

But as she did, she noticed Marie's name at number eight, she then huffed "at least someone got what they wanted." she said, as she shoved her phone back in her pocket, she was gonna go the Brink memorial on campus but knowing that Luke killed him for some reason made her not want to go and on top of that, knowing Jordan possibly would be there and that she took his spot, she wasn't exactly looking for a fight right now, as she shoved her phone back in her pocket, she quickly downed the rest of her coffee and headed off.

Although as she did, Courteney Fortney a Vought EP walked up to her "there you are! See I told them because of what occurred that I'd come track you down myself instead. We should get going so we can get you dressed an in hair and makeup." she told her, turning and walking off, Maddie had learned from her years of being her just to follow and not really ask questions.

Where she they got to the location, she was quickly put into hair and makeup where it was curled and then she was given a short black long sleeve off the shoulder dress and ankle boots to match as she walked out, Courteney pointed to the stage that Andre was on as she walked toward's it, Andre turned to her, holding his hand out as he helped her up onto it "you okay?" he asked her "yeah." Maddie told him, smiling, but Andre knew all too well that she didn't mean it, as he took his hand from her's, he turned walking off, as Maddie stepped up, fixing her hair, she then put her hand on her hip as she looked at the camera and they began taking photos as she kept changing her poses.

And not long after her and Jordan were then standing together taking photos as the two stood back to back looking at the camera, the two then turned facing forward putting their arms around each other they smiled at the camera, and then the camera man turned to Marie motioning for her to come in, where Andre stepped over a bit leaving room for Marie as Maddie stood in the middle, all three of them took pictures together, but then Maddie cleared her throat and stepped off the stage, where Andre then looked to Marie and nodded, following after Maddie as the two let her have her own time to shine.

The two were then soon leaving the building as they passed the truck outside for one on one with Hailey Miller which Maddie, Andre and Marie were all gonna be interviewed on, where Andre even noticed the difference in behavior between Maddie and Marie compared to the past two days "hey, I.." he was going to say as a girl walked up to them "whoa. Selfie?" she asked, but before any of them could really answer, she crouched down to Maddie's height making sure she could get all of them in frame and snapped the picture and then walked away, where the three were then free to continue walking.

"You know what I already learned?" Marie asked "what?" Andre asked her "you can say literally anything to them and they will still take a photo." Marie shared, as Andre lifted his hand up waving to people "that's why you say yes, to give the illusion of choice." he shared, making Maddie scoff "is that something your dad told you or something look spitted out from all the times he spent with Brink molding him into the perfect golden boy?" she asked, remembering how Luke said to make sure if you want to be a superhero that you're doing it for yourself and yet a day after that not only did he kill the man who had turned him into one but inevitably killed himself.

And when she said that, Andre put his hand on her shoulder and turned her toward's him "dude..did Luke say something t..to you about my dad? To either of you?" he asked, looking to Marie "he just said the woods. Whatever that means. Honestly, it seemed manic as fuck but he wanted you.." Marie shared, looking to Maddie, as Maddie sighed "well, you guys were there. He said he was sorry and that he loved me and just kept apologizing where he told me to..to stay safe for him and protect myself before he..he.." she was telling them, seeing him shoot in the sky and explode, as her breath became shaky and she started playing with her necklace, struggling to finish her sentence.

"Yeah, well after he said that to you and stepped towards me, he whispered something me before he died. He said, uh, your had has it. Do you..do you know what he means? I mean he wanted you right?" Andre asked, as Maddie furrowed her brows "yeah, but I..I don't know why and I have no idea what he would've given your dad. But what really doesn't make sense is why he would just do all of that without any explanation." she shared "I know, I don't understand either. I mean he's the most sane person that I've ever met and he just loses his shit and me and you seem to be the only one's curious about it." Andre shared.

In which Marie looked at the two of them "well, good luck with that." she told them, and when she did, Andre looked to her "uh..that's it? You're just gonna run off with your fancy fucking clothes?" he asked her, and when he did, Maddie then laughed "wow, um, maybe I should update you.." she was saying, as she turned to Marie, two girls ran up to them "hey can we get a shot?" one of them asked, as Marie turned to them "oh, just.." she told her, holding up a finger as she looked back at Andre and Maddie "look, I went out with you guys one night. I..I don't know you two or Luke. Who tried to kill me, remember?" Marie asked.

And when she did, Maddie chuckled "wow, so not only is everything my fault but now you're just gonna step over are dead friend to get to the top?" she asked, furrowing her brows "that shit at the club..Brink was gonna expel me for it." Marie shared, looking to Andre as well "did either of you two know that?" she asked "of course not. No, I would never ask for anything.." Andre was telling her as Marie interrupted him "you don't have to. You have your dad and half the school ready to cover for you. I don't have shit." she told them, as Maddie nodded "see? This is what I meant by catch you up, because this is what she does cause when I tried to defend myself she called me a liar." she shared.

As Andre furrowed his brows "what?" he asked "look, I'm sorry your friend is dead. And I'm sorry Brink is dead. But leave me out of it." Marie told them "gladly." Maddie told her, stepping around her and walking off, but as she did, Marie turned and followed her "Maddie..look I know things between us haven't exactly been.." she was telling her, as Maddie scoffed "stable? Yeah, believe me I already was leaving you alone yet you seem to keep coming back to me." she informed her, as Marie sighed "I..I was scared for you. For what Luke could do to you." she told her, as Maddie stopped turning to her "Luke, would never hurt me." she told her "I know that..now." Marie told her, letting out a shaky breath "I just..you seemed really messed up last night." she whispered to her.

"Yeah, well, it's the first day of classes and just because my friend is gone doesn't mean I can slack off and I would say some witty comeback like leave me the hell alone, but seeing as we both live in the same room, I guess that's practically impossible, so.." Maddie told her, turning around and walking off, where Marie continued following her, seeing as the two were going in the same direction.