After Arlington

Chapter 2: Maddy

Maddy's hand was unconsciously hovering over her stomach as she stared at the scene below her balcony. By the pool was her sister and her friends, sipping ice-cold juices, heralding their last summer before senior year.

Maria had changed while Maddy was at college. Though Maddy had seen her during holidays, she had missed a good chunk of her sister's life. Who was once warm and adorably awkward was now cold and cool, her smile one that could slice you in two.

It had all come from a broken heart. Boys ruined everything, and Piers Lockhart's brother had ruined hers.

Maddy sighed, adjusting her position on the chair so her feet were resting on the rungs of the railing.

"Minha flor, why aren't you down there telling your sister about college before she leaves for Spain and forgets why it is so important," her mother said, peeking her head out of the sliding door.

If her mother were not a model, she'd have been a police officer, or a debt collector, or someone else who got to boss people around and demand things. But, with the beauty she carried, Maddy knew she was truly destined for the world of fame.

"Because Maria doesn't care about college, mamãe. I didn't at her age, either."

Besides, why would she be one to lecture her sister about college when she wasn't even going herself?

Of course, after being offered a place at one of the most prestigious schools in America, Maddy couldn't not take it, even if it were for all the wrong reasons. After a summer that ended with the only thing she'd ever truly loved being taken from her arms, she packed up her bags for Connecticut. They'd bought her an apartment and everything. Anything to ensure the Greene's treasured prince never discovered the truth.

She started classes at first, plastering on a smile and some designer brands, but she'd lasted one week. Then, she just stopped.

After that, it was a month before she left her apartment again.

It had been dark times. Times that had grown so lonely that she wasn't quite sure if what was around her was even real. She was a prisoner to a lavish apartment and a silent agreement, exiled from her home and forgotten. She was doing great. She was going to Yale. She was destined for success.

She was dying.

Her mother sighed, jolting Maddy from her thoughts. "Well, at least take her to New York at some point this summer, make a trip over to the campus and get her interested."

Maddy gave a tight smile. "Sure."

She could only hope her sister didn't have to get knocked-up by a Greene and forced to flee to the other side of the country to get to college too.

One thing had saved Maddy. And it wasn't money, or clothes, or a boy. It was hope.

Somewhere, perhaps not even that far from her apartment, was a baby girl. Her baby girl. A girl she mourned for every day. A girl who was getting a better life than Maddy could ever have given her.

She wiggled her toes, embracing the warmth from the sun that was hitting her skin. Below her, the girls laughed and giggled, and she wondered if they were anything like she had been. She desperately hoped not.

While she was away, all she wanted was to come home. But now, being here, everything was coming back. And it only made her want to run.

***

It was late afternoon when her phone rang, the first time anyone had called since she'd returned. Maddy was hesitant, rolling over from where she'd fallen asleep on the downstairs couch.