Confiding in You ϟ a.i.

Chapter 15

Waking up the next morning, my body is even more sore than it had been immediately after the fight. My back aches from having fallen on the floor and my face has never felt so swollen before in my life. Unwillingly, I stand from my bed and, half awake, shuffle to the bathroom. I almost scream upon the sight of my face once I get to my mirror. The bruise has gotten significantly worse and will be even more difficult to cover up. Great.

"Maddie!" Cooper's angry voice as he pounds heavily on my door is so loud he could reach my dad in California, "You better hurry the fuck up because we have to ride the bus."

What? I rush over to my bedroom door and hope he hasn't left yet. I don't exactly what to interact with him (even if it would be nice to see what his face looked like), but I'm so confused. I still have to thank Ashton for helping and sticking up to Cooper for me yesterday.

"Wait," I pull the door open hurriedly, "Is Ashton okay?"

My brothers face looks fine compared to mine, with just some redness and swelling by his nose. It would seem to any stranger that he had won the fight yesterday. I can tell he wants to laugh at the damage of his own doing when he sees me, but thankfully he keeps it in. Instead, he rolls his eyes at my concern, looking down to check his phone. "Ashton's fine, just a prick."  

"What? What happened?" I say immediately, but Cooper is already on his way down the stairs and leaving me to be even more confused than I had been initially. I knew they had argued yesterday, but I didn't think it had gotten that bad. I mean, Ashton didn't care enough about me to get in a fight that lasted longer than a day.

I shut my door again and bring my hand to the bruise, staring at it quizzically. I would have to talk to Ashton when I got the chance, but this was my initial worry. I wear makeup, but I don't think I'm any good at applying it. I'll probably miss the bus with as much time it will take me to figure this out.

Still, I run back into the bathroom and grab my foundation off the counter. This really wasn't going to work. The foundation and concealer I use could rarely cover up the dark circles under my eyes, let alone this bruise. I pour the liquid onto the top of my hand with a shrug and start to apply it to my face. It stings when I blend over the bruise, regardless of how gentle I am.

I apply many, many layers of foundation to my face just in the attempt to cover it up, but it's still no use. Even after I add the concealer on top of it, the bruise is still noticable. Even if I could cover it up completely, that side of my face would still be swollen. It really was a lost cause.

Just as I give up officially and walk out of the bathroom to rush to get dressed, my phone buzzes from my desk. It would be an understatement to say how startled I am, honestly. My phone hasn't rung at all since I got to Ohio and the only person I ever talked to on it was my dad. He wasn't even awake now, so it couldn't be him. Did I give my phone number to someone and just forget about it or something?

I glance at the number as it rings. It's no one in my contacts, but a random Ohio number. I almost ignore it, but it could be Hannah or someone with a new number. And if they're calling this early they must need something. At the last second, I answer the call.

"Hello?" 

"Heeeeey!" Ashton's voice booms into my ear excitedly. I pull the phone away from me and I can still hear him yelling, "Maddie! Whats up?"

"Ashton?" I bring the phone against my ear again and whisper into the receiver, the confusion evident in my voice, "How did you even get my number?"

"I stole it from your brother's phone a while ago, I was gonna prank call you but never got around to it."

"Of course you were," I sigh, "What do you want, then?"