My Personal Fairytale | COMPLETE

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

When Sam woke up the next morning, she had a crick in her neck and it felt like her eyes were glued shut. She rolled over, trying to relax back into the mattress. It wasn't working.

She kicked off the covers and rubbed a hand across her makeup- smeared face, grimacing as she felt how crusty it was.

Before Kanye had even left with the ambulance last night, the police had showed up and she'd spent hours taking to them with Casey and Will. Meanwhile, Jackie had convinced them to let her take Madeline back to the hotel and rest before she had to answer any questions. It was probably a good thing, because Sam knew there was no way Maddie would be able to explain anything coherently. On the other hand it meant her friends had to try to describe what happened instead, and neither Sam, Casey, or Will really had any idea.

Never in her life had Sam been so glad she didn't like to drink that much. Four kids, all locals, had gotten arrested for being drunk, one of which was one of the boys who had pushed Kanye off the stairs. Sam was pretty sure that everyone else had managed to slip away before the police showed up.

Madeline was just starting to stir as Sam swung her feet onto the floor and made her way to the bathroom to change out of last night's clothes. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, Sam made a face. Her hair was matted to the back of her head and she had huge bags around her red eyes. She quickly turned on the shower as hot as it would go and let the steam fill up the little bathroom.

After a long soak, Sam slipped into a pair of shorts and a loose tank top, did the best she could to cover up the purple underneath her eyes, and left the sauna-like bathroom to check on Maddie.

She found her best friend sitting on her bed with her knees pulled up to her chest in silence.

She paused for a minute and leaned agains the bathroom door, just watching. Madeline didn't even seem to notice that she was there.

Forehead wrinkling in concern, Sam pushed away from the doorframe and strode over to the bed, where she wrapped both arms around Madeline.

"Hey, hey," she said, face transforming into a cheerful smile. "Wanna head down to the pool?"

Madeline shrugged. "I don't know."

Sam pursed her lips. She would have to try harder. "You know what's funny? Yesterday it was me who wouldn't leave the hotel room."

"Mmm."

"You know what I did?"

"No," Madeline said sarcastically. "Definitely not."

Sam nodded in mock seriousness. "Yup. We definitely traded places." She stood up, reaching out for Madeline's hand and pulling her with her. "You sit here." She guided Madeline to the other bed and pushed her down on the edge.

Then, she walked over to the windows and back. "Come on Maddie!"

Madeline cracked a small smile. "Familiar yet?" Sam asked.

"Practically déjà vu," Madeline quipped back, starting to loosen up.

"You know what happened next?"

"You gave into my awesome persuasive skills?"

Sam made a face in response, hiding her grin. Maddie was back.

"Something like that."

They didn't make it down to the pool, but in Sam's opinion, talking in their room was good enough.

"So are you okay?" she finally asked.

Madeline took a breath and though before she answered, "I think I am." Then, after a pause, she elaborated, "It was just too much, I think. It's not like I even knew him that well, but seeing him fall... hearing this thud as he hit the ground..." Maddie shivered.