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"Do you ever think about the future?"
Madison's heavy eyes flickered over to her companion.
"All the time," Madison sighed.
"And what about the past?" Eric inquired softly.
Her eyes moved back to above them, focusing on the stars rather than his prying eyes. They were sitting on the hood of his car, backs pressed up against the cool windshield glass, just staring at the stars. It had been a couple of hours since Eric had said goodbye to Tommy, and the mood was still somber.
"Every day," she whispered, "Arguably more than I should."
"What happened at Oxford Mads?"
Madison sucked in a shaky breath.
"You... you don't have to tell me, I was ju-" Eric back-pedalled.
"No," Madison interrupted, "No. You deserve to know."
A thousand feelings washed over her as she stared off into the distance. Fear, sadness, anger, embarrassment, shame... all together in one wave. The story was all of them as well, but mostly embarrassing.
"The first year was perfect. I made friends, I aced my classes, I even found a bo... never mind," Madison commented, blushing, "But then..."
Another shaky breath.
"Things got bad," Madison choked out, wondering why she was beginning to cry, "I had made friends with the wrong crowd. They took me out every night, getting drunk and trashing the city. I thought it was exhilarating... the feeling of being free. No parents to tell me to behave, no expectations of being the 'goody-two-shoes'. I got to be a different person."
Madison squeezed her eyes shut, willing the memories to stop coming at her so quickly.
"But then... the summer before my second year, we happened to trash the front of the Dean's house," Madison admitted, "I didn't know it was his, but my friends did. They were mad at the University in general, for how their own grades turned out."
She could feel Eric's eyes attached to her face, soaking in every word.
"As we were running, I tripped and fell, hitting my head pretty hard," Madison growled, the anger bubbling up, "They left me. They left me to take the fall. I was arrested, and spent the night in jail."
Madison's eyes welled.
"There was no one to help me then. One of my friends called my parents, while I called the University's crisis line," Madison explained, "Long story short, I was able to be released, but I was expelled..."
Hands were brought to wipe away the tears, and she forced out a strangled laugh.
"You should've seen the faces of my parents when they picked me up at the airport," Madison scoffed, "They sent me off for the year to my grandparents in New Hope, barely even speaking to me. My mother wanted me to immediately go to Pennbrook, but my father saw it better for me to take some time for rehabilitation."
The image of her father's placid face, her mother's pursed lips and teary eyes, and her sister's pitying expression crossed her mind, causing her to cover her face in shame.
"Oh god, their faces," Madison choked out.
"Why... why did you do it? All that stuff?" Eric inquired.
Madison removed her hands from her face, head lolling to look at Eric. She was a little annoyed that that was what he had to say in response. But she knew the annoyance wasn't for the question, it was for the answer.
"I..." Madison croaked, "I wanted to forget... everything... that happened."
Eric seemed to get what she meant, and turned away from her.
"I'm sorry," Eric whispered.
"Don't be sorry," Madison sighed, regaining her composure, "It was all my fault."
A warm hand clasped around her own, and she felt a smile pulling at the edges of her mouth.
"I'm still sorry."
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Short chapter I know! But more coming now that I'm on February break!
