Played.

9: "What's Your Problem?"

At the table, there was friendly conversation made with everyone, apart from Justin, who sat there playing with his food. When we were done, I helped carry the empty plates into the kitchen and wash up. Justin helped out, but still remained silent.

Looking up at the kitchen clock, I saw that it was half nine. Fuck. I told my mom I was only at the mall.

Panicked, I walked over to Pattie. "Thank you for the lovely dinner, and being so welcoming."

"That's alright, darling. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"I'm going to head off now."

"Well, it was wonderful meeting you, Maddie." She smiled. "Hey, Justin?" Pattie called her son, who was now back at the table.

"Mom?" Justin's raspy voice replied, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Would you mind dropping Maddie home? It's pretty late and I don't want her going alone."

"No, that's alright. I'll be fine." I cut in.

"I'm not having you out in the dark. Come on, Justin will drop you, won't you, sweetheart?"

"Fine."

"Thank you, pumpkin."

"Whatever, mom." He switched his attention to me. "We're leaving in 5."

"I'll go and grab my stuff."

I exited the kitchen, trying to remember my way around the massive house to get my belongings.

We went down the hallway, then the other one, around the corner, down the stairs, across the room, down to the back, down the other hallway, then another, through the arched tunnel thing, then into the kitchen. All I had to do was repeat that, but backward.

I reached the top of the stairs and stopped, faced with two identical hallways. Which one was it? I took a chance and went down the left one. I came to a door that looked like Marcus' and opened it.

This wasn't Marcus' room. The walls were a deep blue, the floors white. The bed, which was in the same position as Marcus', was covered by black sheets with an Apple laptop resting on them. Above, there was a framed photo of six people smiling, three being Marcus, Justin and Pattie. I didn't know the other three; a little dirty blonde girl, a little bleach blonde boy and an older man.

In the corner of the room, where Marcus' computer would be, there was a DJ set arranged, with a tan acoustic guitar and a blue electric guitar leaning against the wall.

In the opposite corner, there was a black grand piano, similar to the one downstairs.

Along the adjacent wall, there were skateboards of all different types and colors lined up against the wall. Above, like in Marcus' room, there was a snowboard and a surfboard hanging.

There was a massive window, big enough to climb out of with no trouble, that cut through the final wall. Through it, I could see, what looked like, a type of roof.

"Maddie, what are you doing?"

My head snapped in the direction of the voice. It was Marcus.

"Oh, um. I was looking for your room. This isn't it." I pointed into the room.

"Of course it's not, silly, that's Justin's room." He laughed.

"Oops." I quickly shut the door and stepped away.

"Justin was wondering what was taking so long." He led me back down the hallway toward his room.

"Yeah, I got kind of lost."

"I can tell."

I speedily recovered my things from the room and we made our way back downstairs. As I hopped off the final step, I saw Justin.

"Sorry, I got a bit lost." I apologized, throwing my rucksack over my shoulder.

"Whatever. I'm going to the car." Justin shook his head. "Bye, mom." He kissed her cheek and walked off.

Pattie shook her head. "Well, Maddie, it was lovely having you. Don't let Justin's behavior get to you, it's not you, honestly."

"I'll see you next week." I hugged her, then Marcus. "Thanks for today."

"You're welcome." He smiled as I walked out of the door, toward the car.

I slid into the passenger seat of the black Range Rover, adjusting my seatbelt.

"Where am I headed?" Justin asked, twisting the keys, igniting the engine.

"The opposite side of the big forest. I'll guide you from there." I sneekily fixed my hair in the side mirror.

"Or you could give me a proper address now." He pushed down the accelerate pedal, backing out of the garage, and down the long driveway.

"Just go to the forest, make two lefts, it's number 3540."

"That's better. Wasn't that hard now, was it?" He shot me a sarcastic smile.

I rolled my eyes, wanting this ride to be over with. It was pretty silent, the only noise was the quiet humming of the engine.

"Can I turn on the radio or something?" I asked.

"No. I don't want you touching any of my things."

"What's your problem?"

"I don't have a problem."

"You sure as hell do."

"Excuse me?" He turned to face me for a split second, gripping the wheel tighter. "Listen little girl -."

"Don't. Call me that."

"Okay." He stopped and grinned, facing me again. "Little girl."

"Fuck off." I spoke through gritted teeth, holding myself back from slapping him.

"I didn't even want to do this."

"Then why did you?"

"You better drop the fucking attitude or -."

"Or what? What will you do?"

"Are you trying to test me? God, you're so annoying." He slammed his hand on the steering wheel.

"I'm annoying? You don't even know me."

"Sure I do, your name's Maddison and you're annoying, what's more to know?"

"You know what?" I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door, fully aware we were in the middle of a road.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Justin reached across me and slammed the door shut, pushing me back into my seat in the process.

He pulled the car over to the side of the road. "Do you want to get yourself killed? What's wrong with you?" He leaned forward and shouted into my face.

I didn't reply. I sat back, watching the vein sticking out in his neck, quickly pulsing, following it with my eyes as it travelled up to his temple.

"God." He threw himself back into his seat and continued driving. "Just sit down, and shut up. Trust me, it will be a lot easier for the both of us." 

I sighed heavily and stayed quiet until we arrived at my house.

"It's that one." I pointed it out.

"I can read house numbers, I'm not retarded."

"Whatever." I picked up my bag off the floor, hopping out of the car. I leaned back in. "Thanks for the ride." I spat.