Honor Among Friends (NaNoWriMo14)

Chapter 8-A

“Is the reason you don’t want me to look in your desk because that’s where you’ve hidden your diary?” her mother speculated.

“I don’t keep a diary.” Madison sent a quick text to Avery, telling her to hurry up. She loved her mother, but she was starting to switch into interrogator mode, which never boded well for Madison.

Her mother crossed the room and sat at the edge of her bed. “Who are you texting? A boy? Is he the reason you’ve been acting jumpy lately?”

“I’m texting Avery.”

“You know, if you are seeing a boy you can invite him over. Your father and I wouldn’t be too harsh on him.”

Madison sent her a knowing look. “Thanks, but I’ve learned my lesson.” The one time she brought a boy home for dinner, her parents scared him so badly he never spoke to her again. Not that she could blame him. Faced with a cop, armed with a gun and background check, she’d run the other way too.

“Oh come on,” her mom wheedled. “Even you had to admit it was hilarious. How was I supposed to know he’d take it so seriously?”

“You had an entire folder dedicated to information about him and his family! How else was he supposed to take it?”

“I did you a favor. If he really liked you, he would have stuck it out,” her mother insisted. Madison rolled her eyes and hauled her mom off the bed. Without saying a word, she dragged her to the door and opened it. “I’m getting the sense that you want me to go,” her mother said, stepping into the hallway. “I’ll let you know when your friends arrive.”

“Thanks,” she said and shut the door behind her. She hurried to the desk and grabbed the velvet pouch. She needed to hide it somewhere else because the second Madison left, her mom would be in here searching for it. Looking around the room, she spotted her pencil pouch on the floor next to her backpack. She dumped out the contents and shoved the coins inside. Grabbing her backpack, she placed both pencils and pouch on the bottom and stacked her books on top. Satisfied, she zipped it shut and threw a jacket on top.

She’d just gotten to her feet when the door opened and Avery and Kelly walked inside. Both had dresses draped over their arms and a duffle bag hanging across their chest.

“You made it,” she surmised, hurrying to help them unload.

“We got your SOS message while we were on the road,” Avery told her. “What happened?”

Madison closed the door and explained the situation.

“You didn’t want to tell your mom about Carson?” Kelly teased. She set her duffle bag on the carpet and before unpacking. Hair straighter, different size curling irons, bobby pins, hair spray and an assortment of other products were soon spread out.

“Absolutely not. He may be a cop’s kid, but he’s still male.”

“Male indeed,” Kelly hummed in approval. She fanned herself. “Have you seen him after a long run?”

“Kelly,” Avery warned.

“I can’t help it if he works up a sweat and his shirt sticks to his body. He may not be built like Zach Brewer, but he’s not skimping on the protein powder either.”

“No one is built like Zach Brewer,” Avery sighed, a dazed look in her eye.  

“Wyatt would be jealous if he heard you say that,” Madison teased.

Avery settled in front of the mirror with a bag of makeup in her lap. “Good. I want him to be so incredibly jealous he won’t be able to keep his hands off me. Although, if I can’t have Wyatt, I’ll take Zach.”

“Get in line, girlfriend,” Kelly told her. “I’ve been wanting him since the first day of high school. He is by far the best looking guy at our school.”

“Agreed.” Madison hadn’t seen him up close, but from what she could tell, he was absolutely gorgeous. And knew it to boot which was off-putting.

“Better not tell Carson that,” Avery teased back. “He seemed awfully attached to you this past week.”

Since the handholding incident, they’d been spending more time together. In the mornings, he would wait for her by her locker. They spent the few precious minutes before the morning bell saying hello and catching up on what they did the previous night. Then he would hold her books and walk her to class. At lunch, they developed a ritual of eating with their friends, then ten minutes before the bell, meet up and roam the hallways…holding hands of course. During journalism class, they were kept their relationship professional. No touching or flirting but the minute school was over, he would grab her hand and not let go till they parted ways.

Some girls might complain at the slow pace their relationship was taking, but for Madison, it was perfect. She wasn’t in a rush to label their connection or hasten the physical nature. She wanted to enjoy the feeling, savor the experience. People tended to rush into relationships, sprinting past the beginning so they could reach the goal—having a boyfriend or a girlfriend. But to Madison, that type of relationship seemed fake. They were more interested in the concept of a relationship than in actually being in one.

Kelly rolled a desk chair into the middle of the room. Urging Madison to sit, she said, “I can’t believe you turned down his invitation to Homecoming so you could go with us instead.”

She shrugged. The truth was that she wasn’t entirely comfortable spending an evening with Carson’s friends. It would have been awkward trying to think of things to say to virtual strangers.

Kelly plugged in a curling iron and began brushing Madison’s hair. “Well, I’m glad you are. It’s going to be a fun night, girls. I can feel it in the air."