Anyone Else But You

Chapter 2 - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Park

Blind Melon - No Rain

By the time Maddie got up the next morning she had three missed calls from Ali, on all of them she’d left a blubbering, sobbing voicemail that could barely be understood. She couldn’t face the crying at this time on a Saturday morning, not after she’d only got about four and half hours sleep. She rolled over and her feet hit a warm, solid lump; she rolled back and peered over the top of the quilt. There was a ball of tan and black fluff lying at the bottom of her bed, snoring lightly without a care in the world. Teddy, the family’s Welsh terrier; he must have snuck up when she came in last night, if her mum found out he had gotten upstairs she would kill Maddie. Dog hair in the bedrooms was her mother’s pet hate – literally.

“Madeleine Jane McCarthy!” So much for her mum not finding out about Teddy, Lara McCarthy only ever used full names when she was royally pissed off. The sound of heavy footsteps ascending the stairs made her heart pound, she threw the quilt off her body so that it covered the sleeping hairball that hadn’t moved an inch. Before she had a chance to better conceal her little indiscretion, her bedroom door burst open.

“Is there something you want to tell me Maddie?” Her mother had the stern face on that she used to scare the primary school children she taught into telling the truth when they’d done something wrong. That face had cracked many a harder nut than Maddie, the snake-like eyes were enough to have you confessing to anything that had gone wrong, whether it was your fault or not.

“Have you ever heard of knocking mother? I could have been naked for all you know!” Maddie sat up in bed trying to hide Teddy from her mother’s view.

“I’ve seen it all before Maddie, I’d like to know why a certain pet is not downstairs where he’s supposed to be?” Maddie was about to protest her innocence when Teddy stuck his head out of the quilt wagging his tail profusely at the look on my mother’s face. “I see you’ve made the most of your escape from the kitchen Ted. You can take him out this morning, seeing as you like spending so much time with him. Your dad’s been called into the office and I’ve got to take Kate to her dance competition. I’ll be back this afternoon.”

Her mother left the room before Maddie could complain about the amount of work she had to do and that she didn’t have time to take Teddy out this morning. Groaning to herself she pulled herself out of bed and growled as Teddy walked straight over to the warm spot she’d just vacated. “You traitor! I can’t believe you gave us away to mum. The last time I’m letting you upstairs by accident.” The dog just lay there wagging his tail at her, mocking her.

Maddie showered and dressed in a pair of jeans, t-shirt and an old grey zip-up hoodie, her usual Saturday attire and headed downstairs in the search of caffeine to get her brain working. She grabbed her favourite green spotty mug and made a strong coffee, she couldn’t start the day without a coffee it become her daily ritual over the last few years. The strong, bitter liquid slid down her throat kick-starting her brain and body into action.

Teddy had followed her down the stairs and sat in the doorway wagging his tail at her, so much for finishing her history assignment this morning. Nobody could resist him when he looked as cute as he did then. Maddie sighed, drained the last of her coffee and headed towards the hall and Teddy’s lead. He jumped around excitedly, not staying still long enough for her to catch him. Eventually she got the hook on his collar and checked her pockets for her keys, this time she made sure she had them.