Haunted

Rootless Tree

As the weeks passed it was obvious to Maddox that coming out wasn't as big of a deal as he'd first thought. If anything it seemed like his announcement had only made him more popular. It didn't really make sense to Maddox but for some reason people he didn't even know were saying they were proud of him and that they supported him.

It wasn't all good though. Maddox hated that Jackson had dumped him and he hated it even more when Tim called to tell him that Jackson had quit as one of Maddox's dancers. It sucked that he'd lost one of his only friends and it made doing anything related to work or planning his new music video feel awful. He spent a lot of time lying around trying to figure out if his heart was broken or if he was a little relieved because at least the end wasn't hanging over him, threatening to happen at any minute.

But Maddox had Eli back and he took up most of the time Maddox used to spend texting and calling Jackson. They flirted a little and it felt like Eli was becoming one of his best friends, better than Jackson even.

And, of course, Maddox was still getting to see The Singer sometimes. After that one sad night, The Singer seemed completely back to his normal self and Maddox tried not to think about it. He knew The Singer loved him and that was all that he really cared about. That and the fact that his parents still hadn't figured out what he was doing.

Justin and Clara were far too busy obsessing over the twins. Clara was rubbing it in everyone's faces that she and Justin were having a baby. It was embarrassing.

"Did you just get up?" Clara asked when Maddox came into the kitchen around 11 that morning.

"It's before noon," Maddox defended. He'd been sleeping later and later all the time, not usually getting up until 4 or so. Of course mostly that happened because he was spending all night at The Singer's house but no one knew that.

"We're just not used to it," Clara smiled. "Breakfast? I was thinking of baking cookies."

"I'll eat cookies for breakfast," Maddox offered. Clara laughed.

"I was going to send them to the studio with you and your dad for tonight."

"You have to make extra anyway so Kylie doesn't eat them all," Maddox pointed out.

"She's been very dedicated to her new diet," Clara insisted.

"Yeah, whatever," Maddox poured himself some coffee. He didn't want to think about Kylie's work and why she had to be on a diet in the first place.

"Which recipe do you like best?" Clara asked.

"What's the difference?"

"I don't know," Clara shrugged.

"Let's make them both and see if we can tell," Maddox suggested. Clara laughed.

"I like the way you think," she agreed. They got to work and had a whole collection of cookies piled up by the time Kylie walked in.

"Hey, try these!" Maddox insisted. "We're doing an experiment."

"What kind of experiment?" Kylie wrinkled her nose.

"The delicious kind," Clara said. "They're not gross, I promise."

"Alright," Kylie took a bite.

"So?" Maddox asked.

"It's really good," Kylie said. "What am I testing for?"

"Now try one of these," Maddox said, handing her another cookie. Kylie took a bite of that one.

"It tastes the same to me," Kylie said, setting that cookie down on top of the first one. Maddox and Clara just stared at her. "What?"

"Are you gonna finish those?" Maddox asked.