Trying to Fix You

Chapter 8 {Fixing Something?}

She could hear the ambulance and see the flames, 

only it wasn't her. 

She was seeing everything through someone else's eyes...

through his eyes.  

It was hot, 

it was unbearably hot 

She couldn't move, 

she felt helpless, 

totally 

and completely 

helpless. 

She jerked forward and all of a sudden she was pulled from her nightmare.

It was still dark outside and the house was disturbingly silent.

She stood up and walked to her bathroom, eager to wash away the nightmare. After she stepped out of the shower, she grabbed the bottle of pill and took two. It felt good, it felt like she was... 

fixing something. 

She jumped as the sound of a sudden noise broke the silence. She poked her head out of the bathroom to see her phone vibrating on her nightstand. She slowly made her way to the phone and answered it with a sleepy voice.

"Hello?"

The line was scratchy and she could barely make out a voice on the other end but it sounded urgent. They sounded...scared. 

"Hello? Who is this?"

Madyson recognized the voice, it sounded so familiar she just couldn't put a face to the voice. Maybe it was because she was too tired or maybe it was because she was sick of stupid prank calls from idiots at her school. She hangs up the phone and walks back to her bathroom, completely forgetting the terrified voice she heard on the other end of the line.

~~~

Noah sees Jeremy talking to some guys from Chemistry class and he slowly makes his way over to them. "Hey guys."

Jeremy looks over at Noah in mid laughter and nods. "Hey dude."

"So, what are we talking about?" Noah asks in curiosity. His question goes unanswered when one of the guys in their circle rudely blurts out something.

"Hey, look who's here, it's Designated Madyson." The guy that spouted off the stupid remark begins laughing along with a few of the other guys but they are soon cut off by deathly glares from both Jeremy and Noah. All of the guys from Chemistry class who were huddled around the two boys slowly begin to walk off one by one.

Jeremy shakes his head at their stupidity and looks back at Madyson who is walking down the hall with her head down, desperately trying to avoid the lingering stares of everyone around. Jeremy quickly turns around when he hears an urgent sounding voice behind him.

"Have either of you seen or talked to Dena?"

Jeremy gives Shayla a slightly confused expression before shaking his head. "No, I haven't." He looks over at Noah.

Noah shakes his head as well. "Me neither. Why?"

She sighs worriedly and throws her head back. "I haven't seen her all day and she won't pick her phone, no one is answering at her house either."

Jeremy shrugs and gives Shayla a reassuring expression. "She's probably just sick, I bet you anything she's sleeping in."

Noah quickly interjects, remembering how Dena used to lay out of school at least two or three times a month. "She used to do that all the time."

She nods and begins to relax. "Yeah, you're probably right." As much as she wanted to believe what Noah and Jeremy were saying, she couldn't help but feel like something was seriously wrong, especially after seeing Dena's arm the other day.

Noah glances over Shayla's shoulder at Madyson who is now gathering books from her locker.

Shayla follows Noah's stare and looks back at him with curious eyes. "Have you talked to her?"

He focuses his attention back on Shayla and nods. "Yeah."

Jeremy quickly looks over at Noah with surprise. He didn't know Noah talked to her, Jeremy thought he was mad at her. Did they fix things? Did she want to get back together with Noah? Was Noah able to help Madyson in a way he couldn't?"

Shayla eventually interrupts Jeremy's wandering thoughts. "What did she say?"

Noah sighs and glances at the ground in sadness. "She wants us to leave her alone."

"She probably wants to forget, it's kind of hard to do when you're surrounded by people that bring back all the memories."

Noah stares at Shayla for a second, studying her. "Is that what you wanted to do...forget?"

She looks back at him with slight surprise. "Don't you?"

He thinks for a moment before shaking his head with a small smile. "No, I don't. Forgetting all the great memories would be a tragedy in itself."

Jeremy smiles and interjects with his always upbeat inspirational quotes. "Don't cry because it's the end...smile because it happened."

Shayla shows a small smile towards Jeremy before glancing at the ground with her familiar saddened expression. "Yeah, I just wish I could forget how it ended." She looks up at the boys for a moment before walking off down the hall.

Noah's eyes slowly drift back to Madyson and he turns to Jeremy. "Are you going to go talk to her?"

He looks at Noah with a raised eyebrow. "Are you?"

"She doesn't want to talk to me."

He smirks and looks back at Madyson. "She doesn't want to talk to me either, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try." 

~~~

She walked through the exit of the school as the last bell rang. She just wanted to get out of there. Everyday it was like a continuing cycle of strange looks and not-so-quiet whispering. She had no other choice but to walk home from school. No more than five minutes into her walk and the rain begins to fall relentlessly from the sky. She pulls her hood up and begins to walk faster as the rain pours down harder with each step she takes. She hears the sound of tires coming to a slow pace beside her but she doesn't bother lifting her head. Worry suddenly takes hold of her body as she comes to the realization that there plenty of people who hated her in the most intense sense of the word. People who would do anything just to get their revenge. All of a sudden she feels her feet moving faster as panic takes hold of her and the car beside her just speeds up to keep with her steps.

"Mady!" Shayla yells out of the passenger side window. She had considered passing by, leaving Madyson to fend for herself but she was trying to let go and she figured the first step could be saving Madyson from hypothermia.

She quickly lifts her head up and turns to look at Shayla, already completely drenched in rain and still slightly shaken.

"Do you need a ride?"

Madyson, surprised by the gesture, takes a minute to compose her thoughts before answering. "No, I'll be fine. Thanks though."

"I don't mind, really."

"Honestly, I'm okay....I like the rain." She had to force the last words out, she had never been too fond of the rain and Shayla knew it too.

She stares at Madyson a minute, remembering how different...better everything used to be. She understands Madyson's resistance to get in the car, so instead of pushing it any harder, she slowly nods and drives away; leaving Madyson standing on the sidewalk soaking wet.