After a weekend of watching romantic comedies, Jungkook thought his brain might turn to mush. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy most of them. But after five or six, the story lines started becoming intermixed. Was it Mean Girls where she dressed in pink and chased her ex to law school? Several of the movies had a 'back in time' theme or alternate reality like the one where the Beatles no longer existed or the one where she was in a coma but could still talk to the guy living in her apartment.
But he had to admit, lying around all weekend with Maddy in his arms had been the best. He felt like he had recharged his batteries all weekend. And he was really glad she was recovering so well from her surgery.
Jungkook had run home on Saturday afternoon and picked up clothes and bathroom supplies for the rest of the weekend and for school. He now had a stash of extra clothes and pajamas in one of Maddy's drawers in case he needed them.
It was currently Monday morning and a little weird to be getting ready for school at Maddy's house. He had his backpack and uniform and they had spent some time on Sunday doing homework. Maddy's mom had made them a nice breakfast, packed them each a lunch, and she had asked Jungkook to be sure people didn't jostle Maddy in the hall. She gave them each a hug and a kiss on the forehead before they left. To Jungkook it felt weird, but in a really nice way.
Maddy did fairly well during the first part of school but, even though she sat out of PE, by lunchtime Jungkook could see she was exhausted. He grabbed her hand and led her to his car, "I'm taking you home." He was ready for the fight she would give him. But when it didn't come, he knew he made the right decision. If she didn't have the energy to fight him, she certainly didn't have the energy to be at school.
Maddy texted her mom saying 'Jungkook is making me come home.' And when they arrived, Maddy's mom looked him in the eyes and said "Thank you so much." Jungkook walked Maddy up to her room while her mom fixed her a tray for lunch.
He sat on her bed and ran his hands through her hair brushing it off of her face. "I have soccer practice after school but do you want me to come over after that? Or do you think they want me to stay home tonight?"
"Stay one more night at least. I'll let you know if I hear differently." Jungkook kissed her forehead and headed back to school eating his lunch in the car on the way back.
---
Jungkook was at soccer practice while Maddy was eating dinner with her parents. She had taken a long nap when she got home from school, so she was feeling refreshed. Maddy's mom was praising Jungkook to her father, "He noticed she was tired and brought her home."
"He was bossy, he didn't really give me a choice." Maddy complained.
"And you had no energy. I saw how exhausted you were when you got home. He was right." Maddy's mom defended Jungkook. "Your father and I were glad we got to meet a couple of Jungkook's brothers. Taehyung seems like a really friendly boy."
Maddy nodded, "He is, Tae is a sweetie pie. Oh that reminds me, they want me to go on their family camping trip in a couple of weeks. It is on the three day weekend. Tae said I don't need any camping gear, they have all of that." Maddy hadn't decided if she wanted to go yet. She didn't even know the answer to important questions, like if there were bathrooms or how bad the mosquitoes would be. But she thought she would tell her parents now in case she decided to go. Maddy looked up to see both her parents frowning. "What?"
Maddy's dad looked at her mom then back to Maddy before he spoke, "I think I can speak for both your mother and I when I say that we are not comfortable with you going camping with seven boys."
Maddy looked from her mom to her dad and back again, "Why?"
Maddy's mom spoke now, "Because teen girls don't go camping alone with seven boys."
"So how many can I go with? It's okay if only six go? Or five? Why are you hung up on the fact there are seven of them?"
"It doesn't have to do with the number. It is that they are all young men, Madison."
Maddy frowned, "So you want me to ask if you can go? Or who do you want to go with us?"
Maddy's mom shook her head, "No, you are missing the point. We are obviously not going camping. I'm sorry, but a group of boys between the ages of seventeen and twenty-two is not appropriate company for a high school girl."
Maddy was getting frustrated now, her parents had rarely told her 'no' before and she really didn't like this feeling. "So because they don't have a sister, I can't go, is that what you are saying? Or is it because they don't have parents? You know they can't control who is in their family, right Mom?"
"Mads, we aren't blaming them, we are just saying that you can't go with them. You will have to sit this one out. It isn't a punishment, we just aren't comfortable with it." Maddy's mom was trying to be diplomatic about the way she said it. Neither her nor her husband liked to deny Madison anything. After nearly losing her to cancer when she was nine, they wanted their daughter to live life to the fullest. But they really needed to put their foot down this time, for their daughter's safety.
This was unacceptable to Maddy, and she decided she better fight this or they would likely continue to restrict her activities. "What exactly are you worried about happening on this camping trip? Can we start there?"
Her father spoke up then, "We definitely don't need to get into specifics. But, honey, I was a teenage boy once and I know a lot of my friends were thinking of being with girls, all the time. And they weren't the most wholesome thoughts. So let's just let this one go. You may not even like camping anyway."
Maddy's mouth was set into a determined line. In her mind this was an injustice to be righted. "How do I know if I don't like camping if I don't try it? Besides, I am a good girl. I haven't ever done anything to break your trust. Heck, I haven't even kissed a boy yet and that is not because I haven't had the opportunity. I'm getting lots of love confessions every day at school and I've been turning them down. But if you don't even trust me, then why am I trying to be good?"
Maddy's mom tipped her head to the side, "Come on Sweetheart. We know you are a good girl. It isn't that we don't trust you. We just think this situation could make temptations flourish. Let's just drop it and move on, shall we? It is just one camping trip. We've almost never told you 'no', this can be one of the few times, right?"
Maddy had no intention of dropping anything. She felt the tears threatening at the back of her eyes. "You know, a lot of girls my age have not only kissed many boys but also had sex with them. I planned to wait but you need to know, I could lose my virginity this week if I wanted. There are lots of boys at school that would be willing to be with me."
Her parents gasped in shock at this statement which only egged Maddy on. "Oh is my language shocking to you?! Well, if you don't trust me enough to go camping with my friends, then I could turn into a bad girl real quick. Is that what you want?!" Maddy had tears streaming down her cheeks now.
Her tears did not keep her dad's anger at bay, "Lee Madison! How dare you threaten that just because we won't let you go camping?! I can't believe my daughter, that I love so much, would say something like that to her parents! I admit, it is partially our fault for not telling you 'no' enough! But this conversation is over. You are going to go calm down and think about what you said. We will talk again tomorrow when we can have a more rational discussion." He shook his head, then added. "And it would be best if Jungkook didn't come over for a while, until you get your thinking straightened out."
Maddy mirthlessly chuckled at that, "Jungkook? You are worried about Jungkook?" She shook her head. "He should be the least of your worries. I practically begged him to give me my first kiss and he refused. He is too worried it could ruin our friendship." She had a mocking tone with her last words. She buried her face in her hands for a moment, then looked up. "Jungkook is attracted to senior girls who fill out their uniforms better than I do. The ones who wear lots of pretty make-up and have fancy hair in lots of colors and have long elaborately decorated fingernails. Believe me when I say that Jungkook isn't interested in me at all, except as a friend." She got up from the table and ran up the stairs.
Maddy's dad looked at her mom, "I knew I liked that boy."
---
Maddy was laying on her bed still fuming when her phone buzzed.
Kookie: I'm finishing dinner but I can come over after. I'll text before I leave.
Mads: Kookie, I got into a huge fight with my parents. I think they are punishing me by saying you can't come over.
Kookie: Oof. I'll call you.
Her phone rang. "Hey."
"Hey. Sorry you fought with your parents. That's rough. Do you want to talk about it?" Maddy sighed. He was so sweet. She was so glad to have a nice, understanding friend like him.
"Yeah, thanks. I told them about the camping trip and they said they didn't want me to go because you are all boys. Ugh." She sighed. "Which is honestly ridiculous! It isn't your fault you have all brothers!"
"Oh, damn. Sorry they won't let you go. I'm not surprised though. What parents would let their girl go camping with a group of boys?"
"Well, I think my parents should trust me since I've never betrayed their trust."
There was a pause before Jungkook spoke again. "Well that's, technically, not exactly true. Does sneaking out to a party, drinking alcohol, and having a boy climb in your window multiple times ring a bell? You're maybe not quite as trustworthy as you are thinking."
Maddy frowned. "Hey, don't bring all that up. They know nothing about that. As far as they know I'm an angel. They have no right to say 'no' to camping." Sigh. "I was pretty mad though."
"Uh oh, what'd you do, Maddy?" Jungkook had a wary tone.
"Nothing bad. It's fine. I just told them that if they didn't trust me when I was a good girl then I may as well be a bad girl. My dad was pretty mad when I told them I could lose my virginity in a week if I wanted." Maddy chuckled at that.
"YOU SAID WHAT?! DAMNIT MADDY! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" If he was annoyed when she decided to kiss Juwon, he was absolutely livid about her planning to give up her V-card to get back at her parents. He couldn't believe that she would jump to defcon 1 over a camping trip with his family.
Maddy gasped at his reaction. "Don't you dare take my parent's side, Kookie. You are supposed to support me, your friend!" She could hear his car starting in the background.
"NOT WHEN YOU ARE WRONG! Maddy, you have to apologize, you have to tell them you didn't mean it. Shit! They will never let you do anything again after this."
"Or maybe they'll let me do everything now that I've played the winning card. They will probably decide I can go camping. You need to calm down. This isn't a big deal." How could he get so mad so quick? Why was he blowing this out of proportion?
"Maddy, you have the nicest parents and they told you 'no' one time and you... you....! God, it's like pulling out a shotgun at an archery match! You are going to take it back and apologize."
Maddy's face set into a determined look. "You can't make someone apologize if they aren't sorry, Jungkook."
"Let me put it this way, do you remember when you were one hundred percent sure that we were going to talk a week ago and you climbed a ladder to make it happen?"
"Yeah."
"That is how sure I am that you will be apologizing to your parents tonight. I'm downstairs, come down." Maddy heard the door bell ring but she sat down on her bed and waited with her arms crossed. Had she just thought he was nice and understanding? How wrong could she be? What a jerk, he was so bossy. He had no right to interject himself into a fight she was having with her parents. This had nothing to do with him.
Downstairs Maddy's mom opened the door to a very pissed Jungkook. "Oh, hi Jungkook." She stepped back to let him in. She eyed him warily, never having seen him this way before. "Everything alright?"
Jungkook stepped inside and put his hands on his hips. "Could you please bring your daughter down here so we can talk?"
"Um, okay, sure. Let me go get her." Maddy's mom waved Jungkook into the living room then headed upstairs.
Maddy's dad had heard the exchange from his den and came into the living room. "Jungkook," he greeted but it wasn't lost on him that this boy was mad. He was definitely not comfortable leaving his daughter alone with such an angry boy. He would be staying for this conversation.
Jungkook nodded back, "Sir." Jungkook paced back and forth with his hands on his hips until Maddy arrived.
Mrs. Lee escorted Maddy, who was still having attitude, into the living room. She looked at Jungkook standing there with his hands on his hips and his eyes filled with fire and she said, "Oh, Jungkook! What a nice surprise. Whatever could bring you here, when I told you my dad said you couldn't come over tonight?"
Jungkook stared at Maddy for a long moment without speaking. Then he finally said, "You know exactly why I'm here, Maddy. Take it back and apologize."
"Or, what?" Her eyebrows came up in the middle. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest.
Jungkook tipped his head to the side a bit as he said it, "Or you are uninvited."
Maddy's eyes narrowed, "Tae invited me, not you."
Jungkook's eyebrows came up at that, "Do you seriously not think I can get Tae and Jin to rescind the invitation? Really? Try me."
Maddy's mouth formed a line. How dare he threaten to take away the camping invitation? "Why do you even care? This has nothing to do with you." She stomped her foot a little. She was mad but Jungkook could see the beginnings of doubt in her eyes.
"This whole thing started because you want to go camping with my family! It has everything to do with me and you know it!" Maddy's parents were watching the conversation ready to jump in if it got out of control. Right now they were just trying to process the argument and what each of them were saying.
"Why are you making it such a big deal though? Just let me deal with it. I don't understand why are you so mad!" A few tears spilled onto her cheeks then.
Junkook shook his head and looked down like he couldn't believe she could say this. "I'm pissed for the same reason your dad is pissed, Maddy. Your purity isn't weapon to be used to get some silly little thing you want." He walked up to her then and put his hands gently on her shoulders. "Maddy, some day, many, MANY, years from now you will meet someone that you want to give something special to. And it will mean so much that you saved it." He brushed the tears off of her cheeks. "You are the sweetest girl at our school. You are kind, and friendly, and funny, and so wholesome. And everyone wants to be around you. It is beneath you to threaten to lose your virginity to go on a silly camping trip." Her eyes were softening. He stepped back. "Now can you please take it back, and apologize? You know it is the right thing to do."
Maddy gave a big sigh. "Fine." She turned to her parents, "I didn't really mean it. I wouldn't sleep with a guy just because you said 'no' to me. I just said that because I wanted to go on the camping trip and I didn't like your answer." She paused and everyone waited for the apology part. Her parents could see Jungkook was not going to let her get away without giving it. "And I'm sorry that I tried to get my way by using that as blackmail. Jungkook is right that it is beneath me to do it. If the invitation isn't revoked," She looked at Jungkook. "I'd still like to go camping but if you say that I can't, I'll try to understand. I won't be happy, but I'll try to understand." Then she added. "Even though I'm a really good kid, and it would be mean not to let me go."
Her last comment provoked a little smile from everyone, which broke the tension a bit. Maddy's parents came forward and hugged her and said nice things.
Then when they released her, Jungkook took her hand, "Can I come up and help you with your math homework?" Jungkook gave a little smile to her parents and saw approval shining in their eyes. He and Maddy headed upstairs.
Once they were gone, Maddy's dad said, "He has no parents right? I wonder if we can adopt him."