~Five Years Ago~
"C-Chloe?" Maddie whimpered into the phone.
"Maddie, are you okay? What did she do to you?" Chloe raised her voice nearing the end of her sentence, Melissa was the only woman Chloe despised more than her own mother. She couldn't count the number of times Maddie had cried to her because of her mother, Chloe could hardly refrain from bursting through their front door and taking a meaningful swing at Mrs Gissoni.
"I- I couldn't finish my dinner. She just, she-"
"She what? Maddie c'mom, spit it out." Chloe needed to hear this.
"She threw the salt jar at my head." Chloe's chest tightened as thirteen year old Madison Ziegler burst into tears. Chloe knew Maddie was crying because of not just this incident, but the many years of abuse.
"I'm coming over." With that, Chloe tip toed over to her closet and pulled out a black jumper. After grabbing her wallet, she slowly made her way to the window.
Chloe and Maddie both had Windows that were easy to slide in and out of, they had been doing so for years. Chloe was grateful that her room resided downstairs, their was hardly a drop. Madison however, was not so lucky.
Chloe made her way to Maddie's house on foot. Any normal girl would be frightened while running through the dimly lit streets of Pittsburgh at one am, but not Chloe. She wasn't afraid, especially when there was only one thing on her mind, Maddie.
"Maddie!" Chloe whisper-yelled up to Maddie's window. Maddie peered out her window and down at Chloe, the large bump on Maddie's forehead from the salt jar completely visible. "Maddie! Maddie! Let down your hair!" Maddie's tear-stained cheeks began to glow along with her warm smile, she let out a small giggle.
Chloe grabbed hold of the ladder and slid it across the wall to where Maddie's window was. They had previously wrapped the ends of the ladder in grip cloth, not only did it help the ladder stay still as they climbed up and down, but it also prevented any scratching and scraping sounds that may alarm anyone. Maddie's parents were oblivious when it came to things like this, they had absolutely no idea.
Once Chloe reached the top of the ladder she slipped into the bedroom stealthy. She looked straight at Maddie, instantly pulling her in for a tight hug. "Wanna talk about it?" Chloe questioned softly.
"Sure." Maddie grabbed Chloe's hand leading her to the bed. They both laid down on top of the covers, staring at the ceiling.
Maddie had attached glowing star stickers on her ceiling, again something her mother and father were too pre-occupied to notice. It kept Maddie reasonably calm at night, when Maddie had just been beaten and screamed at, she would look at her starry ceiling with blurred vision and imagine she was somewhere else, somewhere safe. Having Chloe with her was of even greater value to Maddie, when Chloe was here they could both escape and pretend to be somewhere else, together.
"Why can't our parents love us, are we that horrible?" Chloe choked out, tears now brimming her hazel eyes.
"No Chlo, you aren't horrible at all, they're the horrible ones, trust me." Maddie sighed.
"I do." Chloe spoke softly.
"You do what?" Maddie said slightly confused.
"I do, trust you." Chloe's response sparked something deep within Maddie, an idea she'd pondered many times before. Something to reignite hope inside of Maddie and Chloe, even being as crazy as it may sound.
"Chloe, run away with me."
haiii
okay so just a lil update.
i deleted killiker for a few reasons
1. it was so unrealistic and I couldn't deal.
2. CLADDIE CLADDIE CLADDIE
3. overall, it sucked lmao.
but yay for a new start! I'm really excited for this book and hopefully I'll finish this one! ;)
-mj
