A Million Emotions

Chapter 2.

                “God, Maddie, you look…..” Harvey began, abruptly trailing off as if he’d hit some kind of mind block.

                “Beautiful, stunning, magical,” Ingrid supplied, looking at her brother like he was extremely unintelligent. “You sure know how to compliment a lady.”

                “Yeah, thanks, Harvey, so much.” I replied sarcastically, finding it hard to keep the smile off my face.

                Harvey looked at me with a worried expression. “I didn’t mean it like that! I’m just at a loss for words, you look really beautiful.” Harvey murmured, pulling me against his chest and softly brushing his lips across mine.

                “Let’s keep it PG, alright, guys? I’m not getting any, so neither are the two of you.” Ingrid declared, grabbing my hand and pulling me away from Harvey.

                She dragged me over to Cal, who I hadn’t seen in quite a while. “Hey, how’ve you two been?” He asked, looking at us with genuine interest.

                “Pretty good,” Ingrid and I responded simultaneously. I turned to look at her, and immediately started laughing. Even though we’d gone through a rough spot, as all friendships do, we’d still managed to act like part of the same person.

                “That was strange,” Cal commented, looking between the two of us with a big grin. I couldn’t help but grin back. “So, uh, anyone heard from Lucas?” He asked suddenly.

                The grin instantly slipped from my face, and I felt Ingrid’s grip on my hand tighten. Before I could decide on my response, Cal immediately tried to fix the situation. “God, Maddie, I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry,” He said quietly, looking at me slightly pleadingly. “Would some make up sex make up for it?” He asked, the grin I’d grown accustomed to sliding right back into its place on his face.

                I laughed, despite the way I’d been feeling moments before. “Cal-“

                “If you want me to run you over with my car, then go for it.” Harvey said, cutting me off, and suddenly appearing beside me to wrap his arms around my waist.

                Cal looked behind me. “Hey, man! Sharing is caring right?” Cal asked suggestively.

                I rolled my eyes, and felt my interest in their conversation slipping away, as my mind returned back to Cal’s question. Normally I try my hardest not to think about what had happened with Lucas, after all, the past is the past, but Cal’s question had spiked some memories.

                Even though it’d happened a while ago, so long it felt like an eternity ago, I still couldn’t get over the fact that he’d been the one sending me strange letters. He’d even shot my boyfriend, for God’s sakes. It just hadn’t seemed likely; I’d always thought of Lucas as this cool guy. Maybe beauty really is only skin deep.

                Despite what he’d done, I hoped he wasn’t getting too much crap in jail. I wouldn’t wish half the things that happened in there on my worst enemy.

                “Hey, Maddie-moo, you alright?” Ingrid asked, drawing me out of my thoughts.

                “Oh, yeah. Just dozing off a bit, sorry.” I lied, adding a small smile for effect.

                Ingrid didn’t look entirely convinced – she’d always been able to see through me – but she let it go anyway, and moved on with the conversation. “I wish I could have dozed off, too.  These two are about as interesting as a blade of grass.”

                “That’s not what you used to think, babe.” Cal said, winking at Ingrid.

                She rolled her eyes. “That was so long ago, Cal. Besides, I’ve got a baby now. I’m a changed woman.” She declared.

                Cal smiled, not a smirk, but an actually genuine smile. “How’s the little Ingrid doing, anyway?”

                “Her name’s Scarlett and she is doing just fine. She’s already out to get what she wants.” Ingrid said, glancing over at me as if we were sharing a secret joke.

                I couldn’t help but smile whenever Ingrid talked about Scarlett. Despite the circumstances in which it’d happened, I can honestly say Scarlett was probably the best thing that ever happened to Ingrid. Whenever Ingrid talks about her, her entire face lights up, and there’s no arguing that Scarlett is Ingrid’s entire world. I pity whoever messes with the little girl in the future.

                “She’s a little brat, just like her mother.” Harvey added.

                Ingrid narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t insult your niece just because she has good taste in people.” She responded, giving him a pointed look.

                “Ouch.” I said, cutting in before they started hurling insults at one another.

                “Come get punch with me.” Ingrid grabbed my arm, and pulled me away from Harvey for the second time in about an hour. Having a baby definitely hadn’t changed her demanding nature.

                “Sure, just steal my girlfriend!” Harvey yelled.

                Ingrid ignored him, and filled a cup up with punch, passing it to me with a smile. I looked down at the cup, and crinkled my nose. “Ingrid, this punch is spiked.”

                “When isn’t it?”

                I rolled my eyes. “You can’t drink that. We’re passed that, remember?” I reminded her, sitting my cup on the table with a slight feeling of disgust mixed with longing. I hadn’t had a drink in a while, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the free feeling it gave me, even a little bit.

                I had a strong suspicion Cal had been the one to spike the punch.

                “Calm down, Maddie-moo. It’s just a little drink, it’s not like we’re gonna get drunk.” She said in an attempt to appease me.

                I sighed. I guess she was right. Unless we drank the entire bowl by ourselves, there was little chance of us actually getting strongly intoxicated. “Fine.” I gave in, reaching for my cup again.

                I stopped with the cup against my lips, as Ingrid immediately froze. “Ingrid?” I asked, very confused at the moment.

                The cup she had previously been holding slipped from her fingers, falling onto the hard gym floor and splattering all up her legs. I quickly grabbed a handful of napkins, attempting to hand them to her. She didn’t even acknowledge me, though; her attention was fixed on something in front of her.

 “Tate?” She whispered.