Madison and The Monsters

18. The Sleepover

 Almost immediately Madison wished she'd said no to the sleepover. Being in a house overnight with Alexis, Lucy, and Cassandra seemed a horrid idea. There were numerous things they could do and Madison was certain none would be good. Madison's thoughts made her quite jumpy. She would have said no, if it weren't for Alice's begging face.

For once she'd rather be near her mum. Unfortunately her mum was rather enthusiastic about the whole thing. So enthusiastic that she seemed to have a smile plastered on her face as she drove away. Perhaps she thought this would change everything, make everything better. Madison wished that the sleepover would save the world. The girls would be much easier to deal with than Noir. She hoped it wouldn't come to that though.

Alice was practically jumping up and down with excitement. For some reason she thought the tables were going to turn. Alice had always wanted to befriend the girls. She wanted everyone to like her and they were loose ends. Madison didn't understand how Alice thought an invitation would change everything. She never really understood Alice.

Madison found herself entering the house. What next occurred shocked her. The girls didn't tease her or do anything awful like that. They were acting friendly or at least as close as they could get to it. Not a single insult exited their mouths. At first she assumed it was because Alexis' mother was in the room. When her mother left nothing changed though.

"Let's watch a movie," Lucy suggested happily.

That's how it went; they watched movies into the night. They had short breaks for dinner and snacks but the majority of the night consisted of movies. There was only a small amount of conversation that took place. Most of the conversation was about who the hottest character in the movie was. Madison enjoyed movies so the whole situation seemed alright. She was still paranoid, but she was enjoying herself.

After six movies the television was turned off. It was one in the morning and they had been told to go to bed. Madison had been shocked by how long Alexis' mum let them stay up. Then again, Madison had never been to any sleepovers other than at Alice's house. Her sample size was really small. The girls had air mattresses blown up. Alice and Madison were of course sharing one, Lucy and Alexis were sharing one as well, and Cassandra got the bed because apparently she kicked in her sleep. The lights went out and everything seemed fine.

Then Cassandra turned on the lamp. Madison had hoped they'd be going right to bed, she had been so hopeful that she ignored the possibility of that not occurring. Worry seemed to fill her whole body, from her sweaty palms to her quickly beating heart. Alice looked excited as was now her seemingly constant emotion.

"Truth or dare," Cassandra suggested.

"Oh, that sounds fun!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Truth or dare Lucy?" Alexis asked her eager friend.

"Dare."

"I dare you to kiss me," the two kissed while Alice and Cassandra laughed.

"Truth or dare Cassandra?" Lucy asked.

"Truth."

"Who do you like in our class?"

"I don't-"

"We know you like Ben," Lucy laughed at her friend's secrecy.

"Fine I do," Cassandra said hesitantly.

"Truth or dare Alice?"

"Truth."

"Do you think Madison is crazy?"

The room was unbearably quiet. Madison didn't know what she was expecting. She knew Alice didn't believe her, but would she admit to thinking Madison was crazy? Alice was suddenly also regretting being there. She couldn't say her best friend was crazy, that would be unkind. Her dad would have her reading the bible constantly if she said something like that. Madison sort of trusted her and she didn't want to destroy that trust. Then again she'd likely get teasing from them if they thought she was crazy as well.