City of Secrets | kpop mafia au

Chapter 3

Maddie woke up on the day, that would confirm everything Maddie had been trying to ignore, to the sound of her screaming parents. They were arguing continually at the moment, so it was rare to get any peace. Maddie was well aware that they were arguing about her and therefore naturally it was her fault, but she still felt bitter about it. Maddie's parents were so loving, they'd always been affectionate with each other and throughout Maddie's childhood hadn't really argued much unless a sensitive topic that Maddie had always been sheltered from came up, she used to be curious what her parents would argue about in hushed whispered while her sister and her were supposed to be asleep, but over the years she'd stopped caring, like most other parts of her life. More recently, their arguments hadn't been subtle or hidden at all, they'd been yelled through the apartment, sometimes so loud that she'd get a text from Alice asking what was going on, but it was always the same reply, they were arguing about their turbulent youngest daughter.

Maddie's mind slowly de-fogged as she shook of the slight hangover she had from the excessive stress drinking she'd done last night. It wasn't the results she was stressed about, but the was the ricochet of events that were bound to play out once her parents found out that she had indeed properly thrown her life away. Maddie and Alice had decided to open their results in private then go and see each other with the news, whether it was good or bad. Maddie sat up in her huge bed and stretched, she quickly checked her phone to look at the time and immediately regretted it, as she was bombarded with thousands of posts and messages about results, most people had done very well, their school was a very prestigious private school in the city centre, so it was expected that all students do very well, Maddie was very much the black sheep in the school, no one else was like her.

She walked over to her laptop which was currently plugged in on her desk. And opened her results.

Textiles- A*
Maths- U
Chemistry- U

Maddie was actually very pleased with her results, well she was pleased with textiles, she didn't actually attend any of her other exams so wasn't surprised that she'd failed both, a U was the immediate grade for an empty exam paper and as Maddie wasn't there to answer any of the questions it was expected. From the sound of their shouts she could tell that her parents were in the study so she hit print, knowing it was safer for them to just see the results instead of her having to tell them herself. It wasn't that she was scared of her parents, they knew just as well as she did of her failure from many meetings with principles and hysterical teachers whom she'd accidentally convinced into quitting their position, honestly it was a miracle she'd not been expelled, though keeping Maddie out of jail and in school was one of her dads talents and of course her common a sense from their home. She heard the sound of the printer whirring, followed by a confused silence, then a gasp of recognition from her mother, then the booming voice of her father, juts as she'd expected.

"Madison!" His deep voice echoed around the apartment. Maddie knew she had no choice but to go and face her inevitable doom. She sluggishly dragged her legs out of the comfort of her room and made her way to the kitchen.

She sat at the kitchen table for ten minutes while her father lectured her and her mother sobbed in the background. Both of her parents had been high achieving, and as far has she knew hadn't done anything quite as catastrophic as Maddie had. And of course Maddie's immaculate, perfect older sister, who had graduated from a top British university with firsts and a whole accolade of recommendations, and now she was at a globally renowned university getting even more qualifications, when Maddie couldn't even pass her A-levels. She could hear the muffled sound of a champagne cork popping out of the neck of a bottle, letting her know that Alice had done well and all of her hard work had payed off, Maddie couldn't help but smile a little bit.

"Why are you smiling Madison, do you think this is funny? Did you even hear what I said?" The rage in her fathers voice was layered with hints of disappointment. Maddie just shrugged in reply so he repeated himself.