The Wrong Student: The Crossroads of Maddie Sawyer

The Wrong Student: Crossroads Act 0

PROLOGUE
In a courtroom filled with witnesses, lawyers, and families of the victims of this young woman's crimes, Madeline 'Maddie' Sawyer has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison due to numerous crimes such as stalking Coach Dominic, the murder of Riley Jones, the attempted arson and threats against the Halligan family. On her way to prison, she reflected on what has happened between herself and Amber Halligan in their tenure in high school together as well as the soccer team. During her time in prison, she faced regret, remorse and most of all guilt for what she had done to Amber (& her family), Riley, and Coach Dominic. In that time at least in the first couple of weeks alone in prison, Maddie hasn't eaten and barely slept in days. Her roommate in her cell named Patricia (who pulled a similar stunt by murdering a well known musician's girlfriend out of spite) stopped her from doing the deed of starving herself to death from not eating by giving her a sandwich and told her that herself and most of the inmates in there has hit rock bottom. Although Maddie told Patricia she has nothing due to her heinous actions, she told Maddie that what she needs is a friend something that she abused the privilege of years earlier. Meanwhile, she finished her studies in prison as well as taking a couple of college courses to help better herself. Furthermore, she has her life sentence to reevaluate herself of the choices and consequences she brought upon herself as well as finding religion.

Dr. Matthew A. Vargas is assigned to have a series of chats with inmate Madeline 'Maddie' Sawyer regarding her problems in life and why/how she got into the mess she'd made for herself. This is one of the snippets of their session in the correctional center.

Dr. Vargas: What has caused you to be angry during your last days in high school Maddie?

Madeline: I had a misplaced love for my former coach Dominic Antol in my late high school years. My 'love' for Dominic stemmed from in the middle of my childhood when I watched his games/interviews both in front of the TV and in the stands with my parents. In addition, I had been bullied and humiliated by some of my classmates by which they made fun of my body type and destroying some of my items that meant a lot to me over the years. In one notable incident, during a meet and greet of the Dragons in one of the games, my bullies literally held me back as one of them played air guitar with my ukulele and later destroyed it right in front of me. (Note: the ukulele was given to Maddie as one of her first gifts from her parents and she played music with it everyday. She wanted to bring it with her because she loves it so much and meant a lot to her) As they were continuing the onslaught, to my surprise a tall and muscular individual named Dominic Antol after witnessing what was going on stood up for me when no one else could and chased the bullies away. Afterwards he comforted and consoled me. In that respect, he's like a Superman to my Lois Lane and I haven't played with a ukulele since then. Even though the bullies later met their fate (of expulsion) the damage was already done. When I got home from school after the last meeting, I stumbled upon an interview of Dominic A. telling the viewers including myself to never give up on life and that people care about you when things get rough. Dominic was the only one that cared for me aside from my parents when nobody else did. Furthermore, since I didn't have any friends or family since my parents died in the house fire, I believed that he is my knight in shining armor since he indirectly cheered me up and made my day much better. In the process, I endangered the Halligans, Riley Jones, and Dominic's safety. I became angry and hating myself for believing in the sick fantasy I created for myself as well as hurting my victims both emotionally and physically.

Dr. Vargas: What are some of the feelings and thoughts you have experienced from all of this?

Madeline: I gotta be honest with you on that one, I had a LOT of guilt, resentment, regret from what I did. I felt bad and horrible about what I put Amber & Kelly Halligan, Riley Jones, & Dominic etc through not too long ago. Funnily enough, after I got subdued by Kelly's pot and got arrested, I sat in the police car. My head was hurting me inside and outside and the smashing noises were echoed inside my head several times. If my parents were here right now, they would've asked me 'Madeline, how did it get to this point, what happened?' I would've answered without hesitation that I had let them down and I polluted the example of what my parents wanted me to be: a great daughter, not a great monster like I am right now. Furthermore as soon as I got into prison, I wanted to punish myself even further for taking away & interfering with Riley's life & Dominic's love life respectively.

Dr. Vargas: I'm really sorry about your parents Madeline, and what you're doing right now is the process of trying to change for the better for your conscience. I think your parents would be proud of the process. Why did the ordeal make you angry inside and out?

Madeline: It drives me nuts because I'd been living a lie of being with Dominic for a long time (in retrospect) and I attempted to do whatever it takes to win Dominic's heart. By any means necessary. As a result of that, I threw away my life and my future in the real world. In addition, I could've used my engineering skills I'd learned in grade school to create a technology business or building toys for children. That's obviously not going to happen now and I've gotten myself to blame for that. Even though I watched Dominic's games on TV & in person, I still don't know him personally. I know that he had indirectly saved my life numerous times via his lectures/interviews from some of the darkest moments of my life and for helping me to keep my head up when things get tough.

Dr. Vargas: I see, long story short, your feelings for this man was something that you made up because deep down inside, you are alone and not to mention unofficially isolated from the community. It had also clouded your judgments and decision making skills is that correct?

Madeline: Yes, that is correct

Dr. Vargas: If you could change what happened, what would you do?

Madeline: Obviously, even though I wish to have the ability to do that, I can't change what I've done to these people and myself but to answer your question: I should've seek help sooner rather than later. In that respect, I would've realized that my 'love' for Dominic Antol was nothing but a myth. If that had happened, Dominic would be able to live his coaching life without me sabotaging his love life. Riley Jones would still be alive and able to accomplish his academics, his hopes and his dreams. I would also be having the privilege of being best friends with Amber Halligan. The woman who metaphorically opened the door for my high school experience. At the end of the day, I'm going to have to live with the consequences I had created for myself.

Dr. Vargas: Its great that you had a lot of remorse of what you've done to these people and yourself. And as we've discussed, you can't change what already has happened. Our session's almost up and if you're interested, a school system is sponsoring a program called 'The Straight Path'. Inmates like you would persuade students to not make the same mistakes they had before their prison sentence. In the program, students like you when you were younger faced similar challenges in their lives that causes them to put themselves and others at risk. Who knows, with a story like yours maybe you might make a difference in a child's life and yours as well if you want it too. If possible, maybe you might have time off of your sentence for helping to steer the youth offenders in the other direction. Unless if you have anything better to do in prison in the next series of years.

When its all said and done, the choice is yours Maddie...