Tough Love - Sequel to Abused (A Maddie Ziegler Dancemoms/Dance Moms fanfiction)

Chapter 8 - Storytime

A/N: I LOVED THE COMMENTS THROUGHOUT THE LAST CHAPTER! It gave me great ideas and I actually really wanted to use the term that somebody created for Maddie's mind 'Hell House', but that would be stealing. Since that brought me such joy, please comment throughout this chapter too! Thanks love you all😘😘

Chapter 8

Maddie's POV

The silent girl had spoken.

Literally the whole cafeteria went quiet.

Gabby jumped up from her seat and stood on top of the table.

"Madison talked!" she cried as the entire room burst into cheers. A blush crept upon my face as a smile forced its way onto my lips. Somehow, I always smile when I blushed.

"Huh?" Ashton looked around confused.

"I'm new here and haven't uh said much." I skidded across the line between lying and being honest, stretching the truth. My voice was a little hoarse from my silence.

"Your new? I was wondering why we haven't met." he bellowed a laugh. My heart jumped up from my chest, as if it truly skipped a beat.

"Well have you seen the place yet?" Ashton asked as we picked up the fallen trash on the ground.

"Not quite yet, why? Do you have a tour guide in mind?" I questioned with excitement hinting in my voice.

"You're looking at him." he smirked and offered my his arm. I grinned and graciously accepted it. He lead me out of the cafeteria, girls watching in awe as he lead me out.

"Here are just a few boarding rooms for girls, I'd show you in if I were allowed." He chuckled under his breath.

"Is there some rule against that?" I wondered aloud. As soon as the question escaped my mouth, I knew it was a dumb one.

"Yeah! Girls and Guys can't be in dorms together." His eyes grew wide and he nodded his head for emphasis.

"Whoever breaks that rule, results in immediate suspension, unless there is an adult present at all times." Ashton explained.

"What do you mean suspension?" I tilted my head to the side as we entered the stairwell.

"You can't go anywhere by yourself for a week and are relocated to the office dorms until further notice." He climbed the first few steps and waited for me to catch up.

"What do they expect us to do?" I laughed as he reached for the door on the next level.

"I know right? They barely let us date each other here because of attachment issues." Ashton brushed his hair out of his eyes and settled his eyes on me as I stepped through the doorway. I felt slightly uncomfortable, but didn't let it show.

"Here is the school level." he paused and finally allowed himself to rest his hand on my back. This sent a small chill up my spine, resulting in a shiver.

"You cold? They're heaving on the AC here. Want my jacket?" He offered generously. I bit my lip as I weighted my options. I shook my head 'no' and followed him down the halls of classrooms.

"All of the teenagers here will be in this third room here, but we'll be split up by grade during assignments." He explained as we poked our heads into a colorful classroom. He lead me on forward, down the hall, until we reached a living room of sorts. This room was special however, like a tricked out teens center.

"Cool!" I smiled, taking a seat in a spinny chair. I quickly flung myself around so I spun in circles. my hair flew out everywhere and a laugh escaped both Ashton and I's mouths. I stood up as Ashton continued to show me the rest of the building. It wasn't too bad, something I could live with. We finally made our way back up to the Teen Center, and took our places on the couch in front of the TV. Ashton yawned and his arm landed around me. We both laughed at his cliché-ness and
He moved it back into his lap.

Of course Ash was absolutely cute, totally funny, and super sweet, but we could only be friends. Josh will be here any day and I will continue to be hopelessly in love with him, like I was before being dragged away.

That night I went to bed, knowing I was starting the next school day tomorrow with Ash, but bit my lip nervously. I can't develop a crush on Ash, he's too friendly and I have a boyfriend.

Control yourself Maddie! You already broke your tribute to Josh for this boy, don't do any other stupid things!

•a/n- please keep commenting throughout this chapter! Thanks love you all•

Soon my nagging conscious pulled me into a sleep, full of dreams about Josh.

"Every time I look at you Maddie, I fall in love all over again."

"Josh, I can't live without you."

We leaned in and kissed for a moment,but as we pulled away I pulled him back in for a hug. Although we were still sitting in mud, I enjoyed it, never wanting to let go.

"Maddie....Maddie.....MADDIE!" A yell woke me up from my hazy dream.

"I'm so sorry." I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

"When did she start talking?" Scarlett snorted, loud enough for me to hear.

"Since she saw Ashton!" Annaliese gushed.

"Ha! Good luck with that! Ashton doesn't date ugly girls." Fawn teased with an evil laugh adding to it. I rolled my eyes as Annaliese fought back.

"Well that explains why he never dated you!" She crossed her arms angrily. Fawn glared and stuck her tongue out at Annaliese as they turned away from each other.

"It's okay, I have a boyfriend back at home."

"What home?" Scarlett sneered as Gabby slowly yawned, waking up.

"Yeah Maddie! Since you never talked, we don't know your story, how your parents died, where your siblings disappeared to..." Annaliese drifted off slowly.

"My sister got ran over by a car when I was little, my mom got divorced and remarried a jerk. They abused me at a very young age. I met Josh, at school when we crashed in the hallway. He discovered my secret, but knew he loved me anyways. After weeks of bliss with Josh the abuse got so bad, I ended up in the hospital and he had me report my whole story to the police. We had my parents arrested and I went on Ellen with my story-"

"THAT'S WHERE I KNEW YOU!" Gabby yelled from her bed. I tilted my head to the side, confused.

"When you came here Gabby and I agreed we recognized you, but didn't know where from, but it's from Ellen. You fainted!"

"Yeah, well my sister, who had died, came on the show after me and I was so shocked. After I fainted, I met up with her and we exchanged stories. I moved in with my boyfriend's family, because mine was in jail. The police told me I had 3 days before they took me here, and my 3 days of bliss ended when I was dragged here." I frowned, picking at the paint coming off of the bed posts.

"That's so sad!" Annaliese sat down on my bed, tears in her eyes. I stood up and headed towards the closet to get dressed.

"And I just joined the Abby Lee Dance Company too! The lady, Abby, said whoever adopts me would be so lucky.

"Good luck getting adopted here." Another snide remark came from Scarlett's mouth.

"Were you dreaming about Josh?" Gabby giggled, joining me and Annaliese on my bed.

"Kinda, it was just a memory from our last day together." A smiled found it's way to my lips.

"What'd he say?"

"That he falls in love with me every time he looks at me." I grinned from ear to ear as the others got ready for breakfast.

"What did you say?" Gabby asked sweetly.

"That I couldn't live without him." I slipped on my shoes, still smiling like an idiot.

When I looked up, somebody said something, but I didn't know who it was.

"Maddie, there's a difference between 'can't live without you' and 'love you'. I hope you know that."

•a/n: 40 comments and 35 votes for more! What'd you all think?? Somebody just told me that last quote was in another wattpad book, but I've found it in a pubished quote booka dn on tumblr so I apologize!•