Saving Madeleine

Chapter Nine

CHAPTER IX

Madeleine's POV

Closing the laptop, I sighed. I walked to the door, opened it and plopped down on the porch steps, as I took a huge lick of the quickly melting butterscotch ice cream.

The sun shone with all its might and with all my luck the air conditioning wasn't working. So throwing on a pair of shorts and a tank top, I had sat watching PLL for less than 20 minutes before the heat became unbearable.

It was a hot Sunday morning and I had just returned from church. In hopes of chilling down in the living room with a tub of ice cream, I trudged back home, only to crush those hopes when I discovered that the air conditioner wasn't working.

I hadn't seen Ethan in church today, and I hadn't seen him since after the fight with Hot G-Aiden. Right after Ethan had punched him, all hell had broken loose. The fight had only lasted for a few minutes before the detention invigilator broke them up and took them to the Principal's room, but Ethan got bruised pretty badly.

Whenever I had called him up in the past week, he had picked up, but said that his shoulder was still hurting. When I had offered to come and see him, he declined. I scrunched my eyebrows, worried about Ethan and his weird behavior.

I looked around the front yard, squinting at the bushes. I guess the Hawks trusted me now, since the number of guards had lessened. I called a guard and told him that I would be going to see Ethan before locking the door and jogging down the road.

Ethan's house was on the next street. Soon enough, I reached his house. I knocked twice and waited.

No answer.

I knocked once again and tried the door.

"Ethan?" I walked in hesitantly. "Anyone home?"

I walked into the house, searching for him. When I couldn't find him in the living room, i decided that he must be upstairs in his bedroom. I opened the door slowly and a smile formed on my lips. He was sleeping, he back facing me.

I tiptoed up to him to give him a kiss on his forehead, but I stopped mid-step when I saw her. My breath hitched in my throat and I couldn't breathe.

His arm was on her waist, her back to his bare chest, nothing but the blanket covering both their bodies.

She was a beautiful brunette. Her hair was bronze and wavy and fell to her chest, while her face was practically flawless.

A lump formed in my throat as I tried to digest the ugly scene before me. I could feel hot tears pricking my eyes, threatening to fall any moment.

How could he? I trusted him so much.

A choked sob escaped my lips as my chin trembled and the tears started rolling out, one by one.

Taking one last look at them, I covered my mouth and ran out. My feet thumped against the pavement, but I couldn't even feel them. Everything was a blur; my tears blocked my vision as more sobs forced their way out.

I closed the door behind me and leaned on it, bursting into tears. I felt my knees give way, as I slumped against the door. I pulled my legs to my chest as a cold ache filled me, making me feel worse.

All those times he said 'I love you', it felt so genuine, so real. Turns out he's just a great actor.

I must have been sitting in that position for a long time. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. At the moment, I was just sitting there, staring at the ground. I guess I had cried my heart out, leaving nothing but a void in me.