"Madison?" Mr. Roberts asks as we all walk out of class. "Can I speak with you for a second?"
"Uh, yeah." I murmur, slowly walking over to his desk. "Is something wrong?"
"When I partnered you and Grayson, I didn't imaging Grayson doing all the work." he says and I look at him very confused. "Grayson handed this in, which is a copy of my packet, with his handwriting, explaining his friends. Which is your job in this portion."
"We didn't finish the last page because it was late and I still had other homework to do, and a lot was going on at home..."
"Like what?"
"Stuff with my mom."
"I can't excuse this unless you have a real reason. I told you guys, if this packet isn't filled out, it's a zero for the project already."
"I really can't tell anyone." I sigh, reaching in my folder. "This is my packet, no back page filled out because that's when I ran out of time. I don't know why Grayson would even do that because..."
"I'll give you credit...this time only. It better not happen again." he says and I nod, handing him my packet and I take the one Grayson made and storm out of the room.
"What the hell is this?" I storm up to Grayson and he pulls me into an empty room,
"You're welcome."
"You almost got us a zero on the project, you want a thank you? He knows what your handwriting is!"
"I helped you, Jesus Christ! He would've given us a zero if it wasn't completely filled out, so either way we could've gotten a zero! I figured you could take the damn break after last night because I would if my mom ever yelled at me like that!"
"Why do you even care?" I exclaim, "You and my mom both have mutual feelings for me, you think I'm worthless and hate me. I'm surprised you haven't told half the school that my mom is a drunk and regrets her child."
"I do a good fucking thing and this is what I get."
"You never cared before, so why now?!" I yell. I honestly shouldn't be yelling at him, he just tried to help. But I guess it's bottled up anger from the past few years.
"You hate me! I don't need your help!" I throw the papers at him and storm off but before I get out the empty classroom, he yanks my arm, pulling me back to him and shutting the door, leaning me against it. His warm breath hitting my face, the smell of his cologne waves over me. One of his hands is around my waist and the other is over my head, holding the door shut. He presses his forehead to mine and he slowly leans in before I turn my head and his lips land on my cheek.
He backs away from me and clears his throat. The bell rings and I'm still just staring at him in disbelief, "I was just trying to calm you down, don't get too flattered, princess."
I turn around and swing open the door, walking out to see Julia staring at me and Ethan staring at Grayson. I quickly turn the opposite way from the both of them, right out the doors of the school and running off.
Once I'm off the school grounds, I stop running and walk to my little secret spot. My family used to go to this small, amazing Italian restaurant, they're friends with the owner. That was when my dad and mom got along and I was younger. The owner was my moms best friend and she set up a little hangout for them on the roof. Her and my mom spread apart but she kept the hang out on the roof. Whenever I need to escape a big, I go there and climb up the fire escape to the roof, sitting in the middle of their hangout and remember what it was like with my parents when they got along and their friends were still their friends.
I always go up there and sing when I'm sad. I sit back and just sit there for a little. Usually when I go, it's nighttime and the place is crowded so I have be quiet. But it's not open right now, so I could make all the noise I want, I could be throwing things off the roof like rocks and stuff they won't notice is going.
But instead I just sing, that always seems to be my escape. All the time, when I'm sad, I put on sad music and sing to it. When I'm mad, I put on sad music and sing to it. When I'm happy, I sing to my favorite songs. It's just my way of staying sane, besides dance. But I can't do that all the time whenever I want.
—
After staying up there for most of the day, I walk back to the school and get my car, quickly driving home. My mom probably called in sick today at work, which means she wasted another day getting drunk instead of the night. Which means, if I get home and she's drunk, she won't be pissed at me because she won't know I should be in school.
I pull into the garage and quickly go inside. "Mom?" I ask, placing my keys on the table beside me, "Mom, you home?"
I go into the living room to see the tv playing but nobody is in there, then the kitchen where it's empty. I look for one of her notes that she always leaves, even when she's drunk. Maybe not this time, but she may have. "Mom?!"
I go upstairs and look in all the rooms, then see that the bathroom door is shut. I knock on the door and get to response but I hear the water running. "Mom!" I say, grabbing a clip from my pocket and unlocking the bathroom door. I put the clip back and open the door to see my mom passed out on the floor. "Mom! Mom!" I exclaim, kneeling down beside her. I grab my phone and quickly dial 911.
