University Of Heaven

Chapter 4

I was laying in bed after my first week of classes. Why did I decide to go to college? This has been a crazy week. I had that swim at the waterfall with Chris, he asked me out and now we are dating. Aubrey has been pretty much missing, so I haven't been able to tell her.

Wait a second, I sat up quickly. Aubrey! I checked my phone. Nothing. Normally she is back by now. I know she isn't working tonight, she told me her boss gave her the week off. Thinking about it, Aubrey has never actually told me what she does.

Knock. Knock.

I headed over to the door and open it. Chris was on the other side leaning against the door frame.

"What are you doing here?" I ask as I let him in.

He walked in and looked around. "I got off early and wanted to see if you were free. Is Aubrey at work? I thought she had the week off."

"Me too, which is why I wanted to find her." I looked at him. "Do you now where she is at?"

He stared at me and sighed, "Do you really want to know?"

I nodded.

He stared at me for another second before speaking. "I don't know where she is, but I have her boss's number and he should be able to tell us where she is at."

"Thank you." I ran up to him and hugged him. Thinking about what he said, I pulled away from him. "Wait, what do you mean you don't know where she is?"

He looked down at me, not letting me go. "You don't know?" I shook my head. "Aubrey works for a cleaning company around town."

Why wouldn't she tell me? Working for a cleaning company isn't so bad. That would explain why she is gone all the time. But that doesn't explain why she said she was off this week and is still working.

"Mady, I'm going to step for a second. Work is calling and after I'll call Aubrey's boss." Chris said holding his phone by his ear.

I nodded towards him and he stepped outside. Weird, I didn't even hear his phone go off. I must be losing it, this week has really messed me up. While I waited for Chris to get back, I got my bag ready. Just as I finished, Chris came back inside.

"Okay, so I got the address of the house she is cleaning tonight. Her boss said that whatever we need to tell her, we need to make it quick and not to distract her." Chris said as we headed towards his car.

"Wow, that was quick. How long does it take to get there?" I ask as we got into his car.

"Eh, not too long, we should be there in about fifteen minutes or so."

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We pulled up to a white, double story house that is in a small neighborhood. Aubrey's car was sitting in the drive way. There were no other cars in the drive way.

"Are you going to go in too?" I asked looking at Chris, as I opened the door.

"No, I'll let you go alone." Chris said looking down at his phone.

"Um, okay."

I left the car and slowly walked up to the front door. I paused at the door. Do I really want to know why Aubrey hasn't told me about her job? Maybe there is a good reason for her not telling me. I reached for the door bell. Madison this is your last chance to back out. I looked over to Chris's car, but he was busy on his phone. Taking a deep breath, I rang the door bell.

I heard footsteps on the other side of the door and took a deep breath as the door opened slowly.

"Madison?"

I stared at Aubrey. Why wouldn't she tell me she worked for a cleaning company. There isn't anything wrong with that. 

"Listen I can explain."

I shook my head and frowned, "What do you mean explain?"

"Madison," Aubrey said grabbing my hand, "Please let me explain."

"Explain what? There isn't anything wrong with working as a maid." I said still frowning.

My heart broke as I looked at Aubrey. She had tears streaming down her face. Sighing, I walk back over to her. Aubrey sat down on the top step and covered her face with her hands. I sat down next to her.

"Please let me explain." She said looking up. "I might have lied to you."

"What do you mean?" This is all very confusing.

"About why I'm living in the dorms instead of with my parents." Aubrey said as she wiped her eyes.

"What happened?" I asked quietly.

"My parents kicked me out."

"Why?" I asked looking at her.

Aubrey looked up at me for a second before looking back down. "I got pregnant, and they didn't want me around."

"Why would they not want you around?"

"Because it was a constant reminder to them of my mistake." She said sniffling.

I grabbed her hand and asked quietly, "So, you have a child?"

She shook her head, "No, I had a miscarriage."

I stared at Aubrey sadly, "And your parents still won't let you come back?"

She shook her head again, "No, I don't think they will ever speak to me again. That's why I got this job," She gestured to the house, "I needed a way to pay for college."

I reached over and hugged her, "I'm so sorry Aubrey. Why didn't you tell me?"

She looked up at me, her eyes red and watery, "I didn't want you to think anything different of me."

"Trust me I won't."

Her eyes filled up with tears even more, "How do you know?"

"Remember how I told you I didn't want to be called Mady?"

She nodded her head.

"I didn't want to call me that, because that is what my parents called me before they died."

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, "How did they die?"

"They were in a car crash, someone hit them head on. So I know what it feels like to have people look at you differently." I hugged her again. "I promise I won't look at you differently."

Aubrey hugged me back, "I'm sorry for you too. After I finish working, let's go to the cafe and talk."

I nodded and got up. As I headed back to Chris's car, I noticed he was still looking down at his phone. I got in silently and buckled up.

Chris looked up from his phone, "Everything go alright?"

I nodded and he drove off.

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