Born to Roam

One

Wild packings, helicopters, managers yelling and shouting all the time wasn't Maddie's greatest idea of a vacation. It definitely wasn't an approval, either. With Marc being strict and ruling all the time, she'd be ready to live in a national park as an nearly extinct specie of cheetah anytime. Aida wasn't too keen on allowing her only daughter to travel this fast and stay for quite a while. Ben was rushing the entire time, trying to keep track of the paths Marc was taking. And the next thing they definitely expected was for Aida to leave the house, tired of all the 'shit'.

Maddie stared at the rack of clothes that hung from her twin, smooth, white IKEA cupboard. She'd ordered the clothes lengthily two months ago and kept it that way, avoiding the scene of a complete pigsty in her cupboard. But now she stood there, her thin figure awaiting the moment where she'd have to take them all and stuff them untidily in the cherry-coloured, large Hermes suitcase she'd bought at American Tourist. Her eyes scanned the different colours, her green orbs trying to adjust to the colour of every dress she looked at. She reached and pulled out white jeans with red floral prints on them. She stripped and slipped into the jeans and pulled on a pink flow top. Checking herself in the mirror, she decided this was what she was going to wear to the airport, along with her dark blue pumps and some plain make up. Later she changed back into her pyjamas.

"Dad!" Maddie called. His reply didn't rise until five seconds later. "Can you come up for a while, please?" Ben yelled back a reply and came running up. His blue eyes no longer lit up. Instead, they were a dark brown with a hint of tiredness in them.

"Anything I can do, Mads?" Ben asked, folding his arms. Maddie nodded and motioned for him to come. He took steps and finally stood by his daughter's side, scanning the clothes that were scattered here and there. Maddie huffed.

"Daddykins, can you help me pack this stuff. If nobody's going to help it might take hours and guess what? I'll lose the goddamn flight," Maddie complained.

"Oi, no cursing there, huh?" Ben snapped, holding his hand up to stop her from protesting or any other kind of objection. Maddie sighed. "Right, leave this stuff for a while and come down to have lunch. Later, we will come back and you can bring your mom up so she can be a bigger help since she's a, ya know, lady," Ben offered. She nodded and jogged to the door, walking to the door. Step by step, she thought about her trip to Spain, or more specifically, Barcelona. She didn't know Spanish at all, so how was she going to communicate? She thought about the show, the walk, Marc, Matt and mom and dad about how they might treat each other while she was away. Were they going to go smoothly on each other? Or were they going to have a row every five minutes? She shook the thoughts off and began thinking positively.

She settled herself at the kitchen table, eyeing the rice and steak hungrily. Her elder brother sat across from her, staring into space. She snapped her fingers at him and he looked up, glaring at Maddie.

"Michael, you know, it wouldn't be a sin if you tried to be a bit more friendlier," Maddie said. Michael snorted.

"Number one: it won't be a sin. It'd be a major sin. Number two: we both know the words 'friendly' and 'Michael' would never go in the same sentence," he pointed. Maddie gave up. She knew her elder brother would always be an annoying, selfish, stupid, attractive bastard. She grabbed her plate and served herself some of the rice and picked a bit of steak onto her plate. Mom and dad came and sat down with them.

"Hi Maddie," mom greeted. She smiled back in return. She picked up her fork and knife and cut a piece of the steak and stuffed it in her mouth, chewing slowly. The mushroomy taste filled her mouth, making her in need of more. "So, Maddie. Are you sure you're going to be okay with this trip. Because we both know you can come back home whenever y-" but Maddie cut her mom off by holding up a hand. She chewed the last bit of the food in her mouth and swallowed.

"Mom. I know you're trying to hold me back from going on this trip. It's nothing. I'll be back soon. In a few months time. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the life," she said, talking slowly, as if she was trying to make a three year old understand how to find x.

Mom shook her head and ate. The rest of the meal was silent and they stood up, helping one another to pack the dishes and clear the table.

Soon enough, when the chores were done, Maddie rushed up to her room and packed her clothes. She decided she'd do it alone because if mom were there, she'd be giving her truckloads of advice on what to eat, when to sleep, what shampoo to use, where to go and etcetera.

She sighed and there herself on her bed, feeling the cool material against her skin. She smiled and closed her eyes, deciding to sleep for a while.