Safe and Sound (Watty Awards 2012).

Chapter Twenty One.

Author's Note: Another week has passed (gosh, time really does fly, doesn't it?). Can you believe it's already June?! 
Anyhow, it's time for another chapter!

Picture of Madeline on the side.

-Please remember to vote!-

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Chapter Twenty One.
Madeline’s Point of View.

I stood nervously in front of the rickety door, my hand clenching into a tight fist around the small silver key that I was holding. I steeled myself, stiffening my spine and lifting my head as I pushed the key into the lock. I twisted it, and the door swung open with an eerie and hollow creak. I stepped into the dingy hallway and kicked the door shut behind me, dropping my back pack on the floor.

I hadn’t been home since Saturday, and it was now Tuesday. I had spent two nights at Kyle’s house, and his parents had been extremely accommodating. However, an awkwardness had began to stem between Kyle and I. I knew that he was dying for me to tell him what was going on, and I commended him on his valiant effort to keep his mouth shut about it. He had managed not to mention it since our argument, for which I was extremely thankful.

I couldn’t help but wonder if my mother was alright. I didn’t know how had she had hit her head when I had pushed her. I had just been set on getting the hell out of there before she woke up. Leaving my shoes on, I walked slowly over to the living room door, and stuck my head around the corner. My gaze flickered around the room, and I found that no one was in there. I took note of the fact that the room was relatively neat and tidy. There were no bottles or joints littered around, which surprised me. I backed out of the room and made my way to the kitchen. Sitting at the table, looking completely normal, was my mother. She was wearing a clean pair of blue jeans, and a plain black tank top. Her fingers were wrapped around a mug of steaming coffee that I could smell from the doorway. I was slightly taken aback by the fact that there was not even a hint of the smell of vodka.

When she noticed me, her sharp brown eyes widened slightly and she paused mid sip, the rim of the mug resting against her lower lip. We stared at each other for a moment before I turned on my heel and headed for the stairs.

“I’m only here for some school stuff.”

I called over my shoulder as I bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time so that I got to my room quicker. I heard footsteps behind me, so I hurriedly went up onto my tiptoes and slid the bolt across my door so that she couldn’t get in. I got down on my hands and knees and pulled my messenger bag from under my bed before quickly gathering all of my school things and shoving them inside, careful not to forget my flash cards for tomorrow’s biology presentation. Contrary to what I was expecting, mum only lightly tapped on my door rather than banging on it as she normally would.

“We need to talk, Madeline.”

She wanted to talk? After years of being the worst mother possible, she wanted to talk now?! Now that she thought I was going to leave was when she wanted to talk to me?

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

I said loudly, zipping up my messenger bag and standing up. I hesitated for a moment before unlocking the door and opening it, coming face to face with my mother. I paused for a moment as my eyes locked with hers. I did a double take. She was sober. Completely sober. Her eyes didn’t hold their usual crazy spark that made her look as though she wanted to murder me. Snapping out of my daze, I pushed past the thin woman and walked down the stairs, my bag bumping uncomfortably against my bony hip. Mum followed me, one of her hands falling to my shoulder as we reached the bottom of the stairs. I flinched and let out an involuntary whimper as I stepped away from her grasp. Mum surprised me by merely dropping her hands limply to her sides.