One For All

Chapter Nine: Owen's Mistake

Chapter Nine: Owen’s Mistake

            It was the Thursday before the camping trip. The moon was out and shone through Madison’s window. Owen could hear her breathing softly. They lay on her bed together, side by side not talking, just listening to each other’s breathing. It was calming, it was relaxing and it felt different. They weren’t saying anything to each other but in those moments Owen felt like they’d communicated everything to each other. And finally Madison broke the silence.

            “I’m scared,” she whispered. “What if we don’t make it? I want this, I really want this,” she whispered and he knew she was talking about the singing competition.

            “If we do make it, our lives will change.” He turned to look at her. She was already staring at him. Despite it being dark, the moonlight provided enough for him to see her face and realize that she really was scared. He grabbed her hands and held them as they continued staring at each other.

            “They will, I know they will. But as long as we have each other there shouldn’t be any reason for things to change for the worse,” she said and he smiled.

            “Yeah, you’re stuck with me,” he joked and she shook her head.

            “Being stuck with you would mean I don’t like having you around. You’re my best friend,” she offered and he grimaced. He wasn’t even sure why it made him feel bad.

            “You’re my best friend too,” he simply said.

            “I better be,” she said and laughed.

            “We should probably sleep, we have school tomorrow and then the camping trip,” he said and she sighed.

            “I wasn’t kidding, I’m dressing up as a guy and sticking with you, I will not be stuck with Avery,” she said and he nodded.

            “I know you weren’t kidding, that’s why I have clothes picked out for you already,” he said and she seemed to contemplate it.

            “I guess I’ll wear your clothes, but I’m making them smell like strawberries.”

            “If you do that, then they’ll find out you’re a girl,” he warned and she frowned. She scooted closer and took his smell in. He froze as he felt her smelling him.

            “You don’t smell too bad so I guess I can live with it.”

            “Go to sleep ya hoe,” he teased and she nodded. She leaned and kissed his cheek as she turned in the other direction.

            “Sleep tight, I hate you,” she mumbled.

            “Hate you too,” he answered, every night they always said their ‘I hate yous,’ it’d become some sort of tradition after getting in a fight once when they were twelve. They had ignored each other for a week and when Madison’s mom had told her that they were moving she’d freaked out and had gone running to Owen. And they’d realized just how easy life could separate them. So as she was sobbing and wanting to say she loved Owen she had accidently said she hated him instead and they had stuck to it since then. So no matter the teasing, or the complications they always said ‘I hate you’ to each other.

            After a while he heard her breathing slow down and knew that she was asleep. He stared at her slender figure and watched it rise and fall. He felt like reaching out and hugging her, but the image of spooning made him blush and he stood up and got out of bed. He looked around her room and noticed how all of her things and his were all scattered. He smirked at the mess and made a mental note to help her clean it all up when they came back from the camping trip. He looked around and spotted her laptop.