Rich Kids Don't Die | Featured

Chapter Thirteen

   THE NEXT MORNING, as Maddie's alarm's ringing poured into her skull, her father brushed past her bedroom door. The house was still, and as he creaked open the door, gravity cracked in half. Peeking out from the blankets he saw a flash of snowy fur, Augustus huddled into Maddie's arms. He leaned against the wooden doorframe, brushing a hand through his hair in distress. I have to tell her soon, he thought. He left as quickly as he came.

Just then, Maddie shuffled in her bed with a loud, muffled groan. Goddamnit.

"I'm not ready for this." she muttered, peeling the blankets off of her. Augustus meowed in complaint, snuggling onto her pillow. Maddie sighed, brushing her fingers through his gleaming coat of fur before smacking her phone screen in hopes the alarm would turn off.

Groggy and exhausted, she finally stood, her feet padding across the carpeted floors over to the bathroom. Thud. The door had shut before Augustus could come in.

Inside, she caught flashes of what looked like another girl in her peripheral vision; one with sunken cheeks and no spirit in her eyes, whose skin no longer glowed radiantly, her hair shielding her piercing gaze like a curtain.

The girl in the mirror.

With a sigh, she peeled off her clothes and lay a hand on her chest, the small, jagged scar of a mistake. This was where the bullet had gone. Thud, thud, thud. Though she had died, her heart still went. Dead yet alive.

Maddie shook her head, attempting to clear her string of dark thoughts as they threatened to wind around her neck. She was alright, her heart was beating, and occasionally you could catch a light in her glimpse. That was the most important part. Survival.

With a step in the shower, and the gushing hot water pounding on her porcelain skin, she finally felt somewhat content. The steam misted the mirror, erasing any memory of her other self; the girl masked in melancholy and flowing with dread.

After she'd finished, she shimmied into her dark, slimming jeans and a navy blouse, slipping on a matching Burberry coat, her chocolate locks spilling onto her shoulders. She tugged her lips into a smile, and this time she looked slightly different. Brighter, she supposed.

Once she'd blow dried her hair, she slipped into a pair of black heeled boots and swung on her bag, books and papers peeking out of the corners. Kissing Augustus goodbye, she ran down the stairs as she glanced at her watch. A ping in her purse suggested what she'd already guessed: Alex was here.

Quietly, she made her way out the door and greeted Alex with a wave. As she clambered into his car, an aroma of cinnamon and caffeine wafted about the car's interior, and Maddie's eyes were drawn to a small, crinkled brown paper bag on her seat.

"I brought you something," Alex said, his lips tugging into a smile.

Maddie replied with a small laugh, rummaging through the contents while she plumped down onto her plush seat. There was a turquoise box with a cinnamon roll inside, and sugared coffee. Alex's car was shining, and she resisted the temptation to start driving herself to school again.

"Thank you." she mumbled, slurping her drink in satisfaction. As she pulled her seatbelt across her chest, Alex reversed out of the driveway and cruised onto the streets of D.C, flashes of green blurring past them as Maddie stared up at the pristine grey sky. Spring blossoms fluttered in the early morning crisp breeze, the tranquility dancing in the air.