"...Jarred? What are doing here?" I asked furiously.
"Maddy where the heck have you been? I've been so worried." Jarred ignored me and kept on rambling.
"Where is my Dad?" I pushed passed him.
"He's been looking for you. Where the heck have you been?" Jarred demanded.
"That's none of your business anymore!" I snapped. Jarred was taken back for a minute, but he suddenly shook it off and continued.
"Maddy, I came all the way over here to..." He began.
"Jarred, save it. Whatever you had to say to me, you could have said back in London. We have nothing else to speak about. I want you to leave immediately." I demanded.
"Sorry babe, no can do!" He sat down with a condescending smirk.
"Don't call me that! Why can't you leave?" I asked using up the last nerve that was left in me.
"Because your Dad asked me to stay here until he got back." He said dryly.
"Fine then I'll leave." I replied simply.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." He said quickly getting up beating me to the door.
"Jarred I swear if you don't move right now I'll..." My anger wouldn't permit me to finish my sentence.
"You'll what? Hurt me? It's kind of to late for that!" He said a little more seriously.
"Save your soap opera BS for someone that gives a crap, we're done, I'm done!" I screamed. I tried to push past him, but he wouldn't budge.
"That may be so, but I'm going to get you back. You don't want to admit it Maddy, but you're still in love with me, and I'm still in love with you." He said. My heart gave in for a minute, because it was true. I did still love him, but I would never give him a chance to hurt me again.
"Jarred you're extremely delusional if you think I don't respect myself enough, to go back with you. I deserve better, and clearly once a cheater, always a cheater." I said backing away. Tears started to run down my cheek involuntarily.
"That's not true Maddy. It was a mistake, a one time mistake, why don't you believe me?" He asked frustrated.
"Because as much as you talk and talk, all I hear are lies." I ran away trying to remember where the bathroom was. I wiped the tears away to clear my blurry vision. It quickly all came back to me when I saw the narrow hall way. I went down the hall passing my old room and locked my self in the bathroom. I sat on the floor and cried my eyes out. I really couldn't deal with this right now. I searched in my purse for my cell phone to call my Dad. I couldn't find it.
"Maddy open the door!" Jarred knocked, calling in. All of a sudden I heard the doorbell ring. I heard Jarred's foot steps retreating away from the door. I slowly got up and unlocked the door. I don't care how mad my Dad is, before we talk. He's getting Jarred out of here.
"Who the heck are you?" I heard Jared exclaim angrily.
"Who are you?" Aden said amused.
"Aiden?" I said to myself as I was reaching the end of the hallway.
"I'm Maddy's boyfriend! What do you want? " Jarred replied rudely.
"Ex-boyfriend." I interrupted angrily. The amused smile on Aiden's face dropped.
"Mads what the heck happened to you? Have you been crying?" He asked in a more eager way. He pushed past Jarred.
"I'm fine Aiden." I tried to calm him down. He was holding my cell phone in his tight fist. I must have dropped it in his car.
"The heck you are! What did you do to her?" Aiden got in Jarred's face.
"Nothing!" Jared replied. I watched in horror.I didn't need this to happing now. Jarred was about the same height as Aiden, and it looked like it could go either way, if this went down.
"Nothing? Nothing? Look at her! Why is she crying?" He exclaimed. I knew Aiden well enough to know he was a few seconds away from punching Jarred's face in. As much as I believed he deserved it, I just wanted Jarred to go.
"That's none of your business." Jared replied back.
Aiden slammed his fist into Jarred nose. Jarred fell against the wall, and I ran to Aiden to try to stop him, but Jarred was already getting up. Jarred rammed him self into Aiden and the both went over the couch.
"Please stop!" I begged. They both got on their feet again. Aiden had a drip of blood slide down from a cut on his brow and Jarred nose was still bleeding.
"Stop now!" I yelled frustrated. If they didn't stop soon the neighbors were going to call the cops. They both walked to separate side of the room and sat down. Both still catching their breath and watching the other.
"Aiden maybe you should go before my Dad gets back." I said truly worried. I didn't want to get him into more trouble.
"Only if you come with me. I'm not leaving you here with him." He replied fiercely. I hesitated for a moment.
"Aiden I'll be fine, just let me call...." I tried to convince him.
"No Mads, I'm not leaving you here by yourself!" For a minute he reminded me so much of Cameron. I wanted to smile, and cry. I wish Cameron were here.
"I'm not going to hurt her, idiot!" Jared interjected.
"Just shut up. I don't know who you are, and I really don't give a crap, but I'm not leaving her here with you!" Aiden snapped.
"Whatever, at the end of the day she always does what she wants." He shot at me. I glared at him. He was the last person that should be pointing any fingers. I looked at Jarred, but spoke to Aiden.
"Fine. Just give me a sec." I walked to the bathroom and got my purse and washed my face. No wonder Aiden almost broke Jarred's face. I looked horrible. Although I knew it was a bad idea to leave with Aiden, considering how mad my Dad must be already, Aiden was right, if Jared wouldn't go then I should. Our fights always got bad. Jarred never hit me, but still it was always so emotional, and to be completely honest, I didn't want to deal with it anymore.
Jarred was in the kitchen with the water running. Aiden was waiting for me by the door. I looked at Jarred and realized I really never wanted him to get hit. I walked over to him and just looked at him.
"Maddy if your going to go, just go." It sounded like it pained him to say it.
"Jarred I wish you wouldn't have come." I said honestly.
"Yeah, It sucks meeting your replacement." He laughed bitterly.
"He's not your replacement. For heavens sake Jared, not everyone is like you. I can't just leave someone, and be with another person the next day!" I shot back.
"That's not fair." He said upset again.
"No, what's not fair is that you just won't let me move on. You hurt me Jarred and I really just want to forgive you and move on but you're making it really hard." I said.
"It's because I don't want you to move on. I still love you. Doesn't that mean anything to you anymore?" He asked.
"At one point that was all that mattered, but not anymore. Please just do us both a favor and go back to London. You'll be over me in a few months, or weeks." Jared looked at me with hurt in his eyes. He would never understand how much he hurt me, never. I brushed a tear from my eye and approached Aiden.
"Ready." I said with a failed attempt of a smile. Aiden just shook his head and gave me a hug. I could tell it really bothered him to see me upset like this. He put his arm around my shoulder and walked me to the car.
"Why don't you give your dad a call, and tell him you'll be waiting for him at my place." He said thoughtfully as he opened the car door. I nodded in agreement.
I dialed his number in and it went straight to voice-mail.
"Crap... It went straight to voice-mail." I said a little worried. "What if He's out all night looking for me ?." I got more worried. "What if something happened to him?" I was starting to panic and Aiden noticed. Aiden looked at me then at the road.
"Hey, Hey, take a deep breath. Just relax. "
"But..." I tried to interject.
"No buts, lay back and relax!" He said with a serious smile. Only Aiden could pull that off. I slouched in my seat, and before I knew it, I'd dosed off.
I woke up to a beeping noise. I looked around at my unfamiliar surrounding. I was in a simple light blue room with plaid curtains. All of a sudden I smelled the distinct odor of something I couldn't put my finger on in my half asleep state. Then it hit me.
"What? Is something burning?" I exclaimed.
"I ran out of the room and headed toward the sound of the beeping noise." I reached the kitchen to find a thin woman chaotically running around the kitchen. I ran to the stove where a pan had something that was clearly burning. I took the pan out the back door and dumped the black lump of unknown in the garbage. I left the pan out on the back porch to cool off and I came back in. The lady was trying to pull the batteries from the fire alarm so it would stop beeping. After it stopped, I looked around the smoky room for a window. When I finally found one, I pulled it open and gasped for air. I coughed as the fresh air entered my lunges. The ceiling fan went on suddenly and the room started to clear up.
"Darling are you okay? I'm so sorry for waking you up!" She exclaimed apologetically.
"It's fine. I'm fine. Are you okay?" I asked still a little shaken by the whole ordeal.
"Oh, I'm fine dear. This happen all the time." She said carelessly and laughed.
"Really?" I asked hoping she was joking.
"Unfortunately, I am the worst cook that's walked this earth, my husband says I can burn water. I try to stay out of the kitchen, but my husband had to leave early, and I thought you'd be hungry." she said disappointed.
"You did this all for me?" I asked feeling guilty.
"Yes, but now its all ruined." She said sadly. I smiled at her kindness.
"Oh goodness where are my manners. I'm Helen, Aiden's mom, I'm not sure if you remember me." she said a little unsure. It all came flooding back, and yes as memory serves, she was the worst cook I'd ever met. The hard macaroni and cheese I would endure every time I came over for a play date, still haunted me.
"Of course. I remember you. This is all very thoughtful, but you shouldn't have gone through all that trouble just for me." I said earnestly. She was a sweet heart.
"Oh honey, anything for you is no trouble at all. Honestly, when Aiden came into my room last night and told me you were here I thought I'd dreamt it, but then I went into the guest room to get some candles in the morning and I found you sleeping. I was nothing short of shocked, but then I remembered." She laughed.
"Speaking of Aiden, where is he?" I said curiously.
"He's in school right about now, darling. He didn't want to wake you, but he told me to tell you that he would be back around twelve." she smiled as she started cleaning up her latest disaster.
"School days are short around here." I said confused.
"Well they usually get out around two-thirty, but Aiden has half days now, senior stuff. I don't understand it. On the other hand Josh comes out of school at three." she smiled with what looked like relief.
"Josh?" I asked confused again. Who was josh?
"Oh that right, you'd already left. Well Josh is our little miracle. Greg and I wanted to have another baby and we had been trying for a long time after Aiden, but after my second miscarriage we decided just to give up. A couple years later a friend suggested adoption. At first I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, I was scared that Aiden wouldn't want another sibling considering he had been alone for so many years, but we spoke to him and explained it to him as well as we could. It took about two years, but we finally got Josh. He was one when we brought him home and he's been part of our family since. He knows he's adopted and he also knows that he's loved more then Aiden. " She laughed out loud. I couldn't believe she had just said that, and it made me laugh even more.
"...but don't tell Aiden, he thinks he's the favorite." she playfully whispered.
"What's so funny?" Aiden walked in grabbing an apple from the counter.
"Aiden! what are you doing home so early?" his mother quizzed him.
"Well I'm happy to see you too, thanks!" Aden said sarcastic.
"You know what I'm mean!" his mother shot back amused.
"I didn't need to go to practice today, coach went to the camp grounds this week to prep."
"You mean for football camp, already?" I interrupted.
"Yeah Madds, you remember. It like a couple months away." He said. His mother stood up from the kitchen table.
"Well I've got an appointment at the Hair salon in thirty minutes so if you both would excuse me I'll be on my way." She smiled as she grabbed her keys from the hook in the kitchen. It looked like it had been a usual spot for her keys. The light grey paint on the wall had light scratches from the keys. Maddy admired the whole kitchen, which appeared to be stainless steel. Except the counter-tops which no doubt were granite. The Barns were loaded, they always had been. I remember as a child when I first came to Aiden's house I was shocked at how...well...how humongous it was. I mean who has a circle driveway with a fountain in the middle? Apparently every person on the block.
"Earth to Mads.....Maddy......Madeline!" Aiden screamed.
"Ah...what?" I exclaimed trying to get heart to go less then 300 mph.
"You totally spaced on on me!" He said with an amused smile. "Are you going?".
"Going where?" I asked confused.
"To camp this year?" He asked more clearly.
"Heck no! Are you?" I replied.
"If I ever want to be a pro player, I have to!" he said sincerely. "I mean don't get me wrong it's fun, but I'm not going to lie it's tough out there. It's not the little middle school crap we used to do. Now that was fun." he said smiling.
"Fun for who?" Maddy said annoyed.
"Oh come on Mads, we had some fun." He smiled an evil grin.
"You guys were horrible, you picked on me all day. I swear, I dreaded June seventeenth, like doomsday." I said exhausted from just thinking about it.
"We were not mean, just a little jealous, that all." He said playfully.
"Of what? Being the coach's child, believe me, there aren't that many perks." I said honestly.
"Maddy, come on, you know and I know that you played better then at least seventy-five percent of the guys out there, and from the looks of it, much hasn't changed." He said laughing.
"I think my dad would have disowned me if I wouldn't have learned to throw a football." I joked.
"Well there was obviously no disappointment then." He said searching though the cabinets. Hungry?" He asked.
"I mean no offence, but I'm not hungry if you cook like you mom!" I said only half jokingly. I was hungry, but I'd prefer the house to stay in one piece and wait till I got home to eat.
"She tried to cook for you this morning? After I specifically told her not to." He shook his head in disbelief and amusement. "Don't worry, I took the cooking genes from my dad." He laughed.
"Well okay then, I'm starved, what are we making?" I asked eagerly.
"You are not working today, so sit down and relax and let me do the work." He said smiling.
"I can't just sit here and do nothing, that's boring!" I said.
"Fine, have you ever made pizza?" He asked.
"No, not from scratch." I said.
"Good, me either." He laughed as he pulled a frozen pizza out of the freezer.
"You have to be kidding me!" I said rolling my eyes. "So much for the cooking gene."
"Hey, we can cook something that will take more then an hour or we can be eating pizza in 15 minutes!" He smiled at his resourceful thinking.
"Fine, but you still owe me dinner." I said as I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Deal, I'll pick you up at eight." He smiled mischievously.
"Wait, today?" I asked confused.
"Yes, well, unless you're not game." he said challenging her.
"Aiden, I'm always game. DO yourself a favor and remember that." I said smiling. Aiden had just teased me into accepting to go on a date with him. At least that's what I think it is. No, it's just a day out with a friend, yeah that's what it was. I smiled, now that I had that figured out I could focus on the count down for the pizza. Right when the alarm went off I quickly beat Aiden to the oven. I opened the oven and held my breath. The heat brushed over my face as I reached to pull the pan out.
"For being frozen pizza this looks pretty good." I admitted. After we waited like ten seconds for it to cool off we went to the dinning room.
"So you actually think you're not coming to camp this year?" He said again almost like he knew something I obviously didn't.
"Aiden, I know that I'm not going to camp this year, besides It's guys only remember?" I smiled victoriously.
"Believe me I remember, but knowing you Dad, he's not going to let you out of his sight." He replied with a devilish smile.
"Oh please, I'm almost eighteen, I'll be fine for eight weeks." I said brushing him off.
"Alright, you know best. I guess I heard wrong." He threw the bait, and I felt like I was so going to hate what I head next.
"And what exactly is it that you think you heard wrong Mr.Barns? " I said more then just out of curiosity.
"Well what I heard was that as we speak your father is setting a one bedroom cabin up, just for you!" He smiled victoriously.
"HE'S DOING WHAT!" I jumped up and exclaimed. His amused smile said it all.
"As we speak your father is making sure that you have a place to stay in camp. I don't know about you Mads but I think this summer just got interesting!" Screw this summer, my life was over.