Bloodlines

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Maddie sat in her bedroom by the window sill of her green room. Maddie played with her hair while Hope Lancaster sat right next to her. Maddie had invited Hoper over for her birthday, but she made it clear that Hope couldn't invite Cat. Maddie was not the biggest fan of Cat, but it wasn't because of her personality. Cat was a nice person, but Maddie frankly found her annoying as hell. It didn't work because Alex invited her over anyway, but it made sense because they were a thing.

Hope had her red hair up in a bun and glasses on her face, dressed in summer weather. It was dead silent between the both of them, and Maddie knew why. The echoes of Cat's high pitched laughter filled the room, and Maddie rolled her eyes. Hope caught her face and started to chuckle a little bit. "Alex and Cat are so cute together!" Hope smiled and waved at the couple as they walked down the hall. Maddie crossed her arms in a fit of jealously, pursing her lips in the process. Hope looked over at her and rolled her eyes. "She's not that bad."

"She's annoying," Maddie mumbled. "All Alex and his perky little girlfriend do is just canoodle and do nothing all day!"

"You're pint-sized too," Hope reminded her. "And you do nothing all day."

"That's beside the point," Maddie chided. The only thing Maddie liked about Cat was that Cat was shorter than her, and that was a first in years. If Alex and Cat got married, then Maddie would no longer she the shortest in the family. "And I haven't been doing nothing all day! I have been at auditions and doing errands."

"And avoiding a special someone," Hope muttered under her breath.

Maddie gave her a side-eye, but Hope didn't say anything; however, Maddie was able to sense it from her that something was up. Maddie felt guilty for not telling her about seeing Caleb, or telling her that she was the doppelganger. Maddie wanted to blame it purely on her being busy auditioning for shows that she never got called back for, but it was purely to save face. She had grown to trust her over the past few months, but telling her who she was not something she could explain easily. The only person who knew was Luke, and he figured it out for himself.

"How have things been going with Luke?" Hope finally asked her.

Maddie sighed and rolled her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about Luke. "I haven't spoken to him."

"We all know that," Hope admitted. "But what you did was messed up. You both kissed—"

"WE NEVER KISSED!"

"Well something happened and you just left him hanging all summer." Hope faced her and eagerly waited for an answer. "What's the truth? And don't say it's council bullshit because that's a load of crap!"

Maddie rolled her eyes. The truth was that Maddie broke it off between her and Luke. It broke her heart, but it was the only way to protect her and Luke from getting killed. Maddie would've never forgiven herself if he died because of her stupidity and selfishness. The doppelgänger crap was dangerous for anyone involved, and it wasn't fair to ruin his lift because of her. Maddie hated being a burden to anyone. Breaking it off seemed to be the right thing.

The few weeks she was with him though was unforgettable. It was probably the best few weeks had in a long time, but reality checked in and it wasn't possible. Sneaking around was going to lead to huge problems, especially since her father was searching for a suitor to marry her off like it was the Middle Ages. Instead of a cow, her father was improving their family reputation. The deal was that her father was going to find her someone to marry once she turned eighteen. Maddie didn't like it, but what else was she supposed to do? She couldn't tell her father that she was in love with a vampire.