The Way We Were

The Way We Play Games

Maddie waved to Sarah Grayson's mom after the woman dropped her off after ballet. She went to put away her stuff before changing for her riding lesson then went to Mal's room.

No one was there.

She checked her Disney watch and saw she had some time before she was picked up so she decided to walk to the Joneses and see if anyone was there.

Her family didn't like her walking by herself (even in their swanky neighborhood) so she took her bike. She didn't like them treating her like a baby when she knew they did more at her age. But it was what it was.

She made it to the Joneses and left her bike in the front yard. She opened the front door with her key and called out, "Hello?! Anybody home?!"

Marcy and Mercedes came downstairs. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"I have to tell you something. Where's Laura and Quinn?"

"Quinn's at home for the moment I think and I have no idea where Laura is." Mercedes answered.

"I want to tell you so you're going to have to tell them. Vinnie asked me to go to the movies!"

"No way!" Both older girls hugged her.

Maddie grinned big. "This Saturday. I told him Laura could take us."

"Saturday?! That's only two days from now!" Mercedes drew back.

"Is that bad?" Maddie looked worried.

Marcy waved a hand. "We'll meet Saturday and help you."

"What about lessons?"

"We'll just have to cancel them!" Mercedes put her hands on her hips.

Maddie checked her watch. "I have to go. My ride will be here any minute."

A horn honked outside and they all frowned. Marcy opened the door. "It's my ride to dance class."

"Let me walk you home, Mad." Mercedes suggested as Marcy got her stuff together. "My karate lesson isn't for a minute."

Maddie gave a long suffering sigh before rolling her eyes. "Okay."

The trio left the house. Marcy got in the van with other girls from her dance class while Maddie walked her bike beside Mercedes.

W.W.W.

"I can't believe it!" Laura packed another box with her stuff from her dorm. It was the last week of school and she needed to move out of her sorority.

"It's true. She told me and Marcy a couple hours ago." Mercedes said over the phone.

"I'm so proud of her! I hope this Vinnie boy is good. I'd hate to have to sic Marc on him."

Mercedes laughed. "I'm sure he is. We already know he's smart. He wants Maddie."

Laura grinned. "Have you told Quinn?"

"Yeah, I told her at karate."

"You know we're going to have to cancel your lessons for Saturday. We'll need all day to prep her."

"Yeah, I know. We already called."

"Good." Laura waited a beat. "Maddie's got a date!"

W.W.W.

"You have a date?!" Jeannette was in shock.

Judy hugged Maddie. "I'm so proud of you!"

"When did this happen?" Jeannette was stuck.

"Thursday. I told him that if he was to ask me to the movies, I would say yes and that my big sister would drive us. Two days later, he asked me." Maddie explained.

Jeannette hugged her. "You know your father and the guys cannot know about this."

"I know. They'd flip!"

"Alright, let's get you dressed."

W.W.W.

Maddie showed off as the women in her family took pictures of her in her outfit. She wore a purple cable knit jumper with a black long sleeved shirt and purple Jordans. Her hair was in two ponytails on either side of her head with fuzzy purple holders and diamond studs in her ears.

"So cute!" Laura cooed.

Maddie just smiled. "Can we leave now?"

"Sure. I talked to his mom and she gave me directions to their house. Let's go." The two left the house and got in Laura's car as their family waved them off.

Laura drove to Lima and found the blue house easily enough. She honked the horn then looked at Maddie. "Are you ready?"

Maddie took a deep breath as the front door opened. "As I'll ever be."

W.W.W.

Now that he wasn't pulling her hair, Vinnie Roberts was nice company. They'd gone for ice cream after the movie and he was kind and respectful. He spent most of his time trying to make Maddie laugh while apologizing for being a butt in the first place.

He said he knew his mama would be ashamed of him if she knew how he acted towards her. Laura loved him instantly.

Maddie, for her part, was enthralled with the attention he was showering on her. Like her sisters, she thrived on it.

Laura looked at her phone. "It's time for me to take you home, Vinnie."

"Okay." He nodded. He turned to Maddie. "I had a really nice time."

"Me too. You're a lot nicer than your friends." Maddie admitted.

He cast his eyes down. "Yeah. They can be jerks. I promise not to let them talk about you."

Maddie smiled before leaning forward and kissing his cheek.

He blushed darkly.

Laura almost ruined their moment but only calmly stood up. "Come on, guys."

W.W.W.

"And then she kissed his cheek!"

"Aww!" Jeannette, Judy, Mercedes, Quinn and Marcy cooed as Laura told them how the date went while Maddie took her bath.

"What'd he do?" Quinn wanted to know.

"He just blushed. When I dropped him off, he kissed her back and ran in the house." Laura squeaked.

"I can't believe it. We're all in relationships!" Mercedes thought it was really cool.

Laura put her hands on her hips. "I'm not!"

"You're ending up with Marc." Marcy waved a hand.

Laura was indignant but the moms wanted to know about Mercedes and Quinn. "So these dates are working out with these boys?"

"So much!" Mercedes squealed.

Quinn nodded hard, happily.

"Good. You need nice young men. When will we get to meet them?" Jeannette wanted to know.

Quinn nearly choked. "We can't! Daddy, Pop and Papa Mike will kill them!"

"Not to meet them!" Judy waved that away. "For us to meet them. We should know who you're dating. It's only safe."

Mercedes and Quinn had a nonverbal conversation quickly before the brunette turned to their moms. "Soon."

"How soon?" Jeannette was a lawyer and knew a loophole when she saw one.

"Before school gets out."

Jeanette and Judy had their own private conversation. Judy broke away and fixed a steely eye on the girls. "Deal."

Jeanette pushed back Laura's hair from her face. "Now we just have to fix you up with Marc."

Laura's mouth fell open and she blushed. "Mrs. C!"