Stay Courageous

Chapter 23

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Zoe's POV

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Alone on Saturday afternoon, clawing her own arm to shreds. Yep, that's how Zoe Zigler spends her weekend. I couldn't stop thinking about how much Sean seemed to like Sam. I've liked him for months and he refuses to notice me! Or, even worse, he notices me but thinks I'm too weird to bother with. The latter is probably more likely.

I knew it wasn't Sam's fault that Sean liked her, but it didn't stop me from being upset! Not at Sam but at the whole situation. I know that she didn't like him back, but why do perfect people like Sam who're athletic, pretty, and popular deserve boys like Sean flocking to them? They already have it all, so why add adoring fanboys? Same thing with Madison! How come she has everything but she still gets good friends to surround her like Katherine? I wondered if her sleepover was over yet as I kept scratching until the blood flowed.

"Zoe! Come 'ere!" my mom called to me from downstairs. Praise Jesus, a distraction.

"Coming!" I pulled my sleeve down and bounded down the steps. Good thing the shirt I was wearing was black.

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Kat's POV

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Madison's sleepover was not worth it, not worth it at all.

"Kat! So glad you could come! Come in, come in, the party is just beginning," she smiled devilishly. I'd just arrived and I wasn't yet over the shock of the size of her house. The place was basically a mansion. Tia, Rene, Yevonne and Pamela seemed to be used to it though judging by their bored pouts. Or maybe that was just their face.

"Madison! Bring your friends in here for dinner!" A sweet female voice that I assumed belonged to Madison's mom rang through the Parkins' marble coated house.

"Ugh, just a minute Rose," Yevonne yelled back at the woman. Hearing her say 'Rose' instead of 'Mrs. Parkins' reminded me of the way my friends and I call Zoe's mom 'Wanda.' But, you know, the way these people did it was meaner.

"Come put your bag in my room and then we'll come back in for dinner. Guests have to be taken care of first, right?" She did that scary smile again as she starting strutting towards a massive marble staircase that led to a landing with a balcony. Tia prodded me to follow her.

"Here's mi casa! Put your junk over there in the corner with everyone else's," Her voice had gone from overly chirpy to monotone in just those two sentences. As she flopped on her king size bed, I plopped my Nike duffle bag over where I was told to and then turned to look at her room as a whole. The place was huge! Her enormous bed was over near the door and adorned with solid baby blue sheets and a matching canopy. On the far wall, there were sliding glass doors which lead to a balcony that over looked the Parkins' equally enormous backyard. Other lavish furnishings that cluttered this girl's bedroom included a light up vanity, a plush sofa that sat across from a widescreen TV, a chrome desk that acted as a table for Madison's iMac, and bookshelves upon bookshelves that housed, not books, but Madison's vast jewelry collection. Sure, there was the occasional picture frame or other decoration, but mostly there were diamond necklaces and jade beads and turquoise earrings and gemstone bracelets. I was floored that a fifteen year old even needed all this luxury. When I finally stopped marveling at Madison's many possessions, I realized my jaw had been hanging open and I quickly closed it.

"If you're done gawking, we'll go eat now," Madison flipped her long, straight blonde hair in my direction before waltzing out into the hallway and back down the stairs, all the while flanked by the starting five. I doubted they ever stopped following her around like that.

"Katherine! So glad to finally meet you! I've heard a lot of great things," the woman named Rose said to me when I entered the Parkins' dining room downstairs.

"Rose, please. You're embarrassing me," said Madison said. Oh, so she called her mother by her first name as well.

"Sorry, Maddy," Rose just smiled as Madison cringed at that little nickname. I fought giggles, but the other girls didn't break their expressions of stone.

"I'll say grace," Rose bowed her head and we all followed suit. "Lord, thank you for these beautiful girls and they're able to come here and eat together. Bless this food and bless Madison's sleepover. I ask that all these lovely ladies have a great time. Amen," upon ending her little prayer, Rose disappeared into the kitchen and bringing a big platter out to the table. There was chicken and steamed vegetables that smelled amazing. My stomach growled and my mouth watered when I realized how hungry I was.

"Eat up, girls! There's cookies in the kitchen if you want some later. I have chocolate chip, peanut butter, and..." her voice faded to a volume I couldn't hear as she walked back into the kitchen.

"Oh, thank God, I thought that woman would never shut up," Madison cut herself a small piece of chicken breast and scooped up just a small handful of veggies with her spoon. The other girls did the same while I ripped myself off a chicken leg and piled on the vegetables. I noticed Rose never came back.

"Where's Rose? Isn't she gonna eat with us?" I asked timidly. I was confused, but didn't want to look stupid.

"Pssh, are you kidding? Rose eats in the kitchen, not with us," Madison gave me a look that said duh and I silently took another bite of my chicken. Everything about this statement made me uncomfortable.

"Haha, if Rose was in here with us all she'd want to talk about is," Pamela used a mocking high pitched voice "if we had a good day at school and did we learn anything." All the girls laughed at Pamela's comment.

"No, she'd ask if we had any," Rene assumed the same voice that Pamela used to mock Rose, "boyfriends!" Everyone doubled over with laughter, which I found very rude. Rose seemed really nice to me!

"Hey, how come you call your mother by her first name? I mean, I understand y'all," I gestured to the rest of the starting five, "calling her 'Rose,' but why you, Madison?" I had to ask. The question was torturing me.

"What?" Madison scoffed. She seemed to be into scoffing, "Rose is not my mother." Everyone promptly laughed at me.

"So..." I felt awkward that I still didn't understand, even though Madison gave me no reason to understand.

"Katherine, she's my maid we only need her because daddy's always on business, like he is now. Apparently I," she maid air quotes with her fingers, "can't handle myself on my own, even though Rose lets me do whatever I want anyway. She just feels bad for me because my mother is dead."

Oh. I wanted to tell Madison I was sorry, but I wasn't sure I was. I ate the rest of my dinner in silence as I listened to the other girls chatter about meaningless things. The chicken was delicious.

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End of part 23

Sorry the updates are getting shorter these days! I try to update for y'all every day but sometimes I'm not feeling creative so it takes like four hours to write a chapter this length. I'm getting ready to go back to school so the updates will either become shorter like this or I'll just have to not update daily anymore. :( Please comment what you want. I'm so sorry this is a choice y'all have to make, there's just nawt enough hours in the day!

The character is Ms. Nancy.

Have a great day!

-SJ