All I Am (Wattys2015) (ON HOLD)

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"...so she's gone sometimes during the week because she has actual cases in court, which she enjoys, so I guess it's all good. And dad's a writer, which means he works at home all the time. I definitely love that; I think I'm clo-" she bit her tongue as they walked up the driveway slowly to her house. Why was it so hard for her to not say things she'd normally never tell anyone when she was around Maddy? "I-I just get to spend more time with him, so we are able to do more things together," she said, silently cursing herself.

Maddy was smiling, but didn't call her on her mistake. Maybe he hadn't even noticed. Blue prayed for the latter. "And do you have any siblings?" he asked.

"No, I don't. Do you?" Blue couldn't help her curiosity.

"No. Which is probably good; mom and dad have had some jobs away from home before so they could support my surfing. And I would really love a sibling, but it would mean I couldn't do as much with my surfing..." he trailed off, suddenly almost embarrassed. Blue felt sorry for him – she understood what he was saying perfectly, but the way he had worded it was awkward. On the other hand, she couldn't believe how set he was on achieving his goals.

They had reached the front door by now. Blue reached out and opened it, pushing it in to let Maddy go ahead of herself. "I totally get what you're saying about that," she said. "You first."

Maddy smiled a relieved smile and walked in. "Thank you," he said as she followed him in, shutting the door behind herself. "Hey, do your parents even know about me?"

Blue found this funny. "Well of course, you idiot. What do you think I told them about why I was gone at dark this weekend in the mornings?" she asked. They kicked their shoes off. "Come on, the stairs are literally right on the other side of this wall."

Blue led Maddy up the stairs and into the kitchen. Her dad was making some coffee and her mom was typing on her laptop at the table. Blue suddenly felt nervous about introducing Maddy to her parents.

She spoke before thinking. "Hey guys," she started as her parents looked up. "I want to introduce you to Maddy Wells; Maddy, this is my mum, Sage, and my dad, Piri."

Piri walked over to shake Maddy's hand as Sage stood up. Blue let out a sigh of relief. Her mom obviously liked him at once.

"Nice to finally meet you, Maddy! I've heard a lot about you and your surfing from Blue, whom, by the way, seems to now be taken with the sport," Sage said

Maddy laughed loudly, throwing his head back. "Ha, yeah, that tends to happen to people. Anytime she wants she can come borrow my longboard," he added, sending her a warm smile.

Blue grinned back, but didn't get a chance to thank him before her mom started speaking again.

"Would you like something to drink, Maddy? I didn't realize you and Blue were out just now," her mother said, shooting Blue a fleeting glance.

"I'm fine, but thanks, Mrs. Wright," he said quickly, smiling at her.

The four talked for a few more moments before Piri went back to finish his coffee. Sage looked between the two of them. "So what are your plans, you two?" she asked, clearly nervous about getting back to whatever she was doing.

They glanced at each other. They hadn't thought that far ahead yet. "Would you like to see my room?" Blue suddenly blurted. Wow. Where had that come from?

Maddy seemed a little surprised by her question, but didn't act like it was out of the ordinary. "Sure," he replied, grinning once again. Blue realized that he was almost always smiling, and it seemed like most of the time grinning at that, too.

Sage nodded and smiled before going back to her computer. Piri tried to interject but his phone rang at that moment, and he resorted to sighing as he left to his office. Blue took advantage of the moment and rushed downstairs, motioning Maddy to follow.

She opened her room door and let him in. The first thing Maddy noticed was that it was mostly white. White bed, white duvet, white nightstand, white dresser. She had two beech-colored shelves, one in one corner of her room and one in another. A small beech-colored lamp sat on her nightstand with a white lampshade. Her pillowcases were black. The room itself was almost spotless, and had a bathroom, closet and French doors leading outside.

Blue and Maddy spent the next hour in her room doing nothing. To Blue's surprise, neither of her parents bothered her, except when her mom brought down some packaged gnocchi and pasta sauce she'd made for lunch. The two of them had then proceeded to eat and talk. When they had finished Blue the chess set she and her dad played with out from under her bed and played Maddy a game. He won. She hadn't before thought of him as someone who had the patience to sit still and play a game of chess.

But then again, there were a lot of things she hadn't thought aboutregarding him.