A/N: I know. I know. I haven't written anything in FOREVER. I have school and work and boyfriend and family. And to be honest, I didn't finish reading when Maddie had left me. So I had read it when I got the chance to. And when I read it, I either lost one of her little books, or she just didn't write for about a month and a half. After Bryce cuts in, I don't have anything. So what I am writing is about a couple of weeks after the dance.
~~
"You're transferring out of Carnegie Mellon because of Bryce?!" Blair shouted at me. "BECAUSE OF A GUY?! BULL- SHIT!"
"Blair! I have to spend every second I get with him! HE'S IN THE MARINES. HE CAN DIE TOMORROW!" I yelled back at her.
"WELL I CAN DIE TODAY!"
"How?!"
"A CAR CAN HIT ME!"
"THEN BE MORE CAREFUL!"
"UGH! Maddie! I came to Carnegie Mellon because of you! You BEGGED me to come with you! I GOT ACCEPTED TO FUCKING GEORGETOWN."
"What?" I was confused. Senior year. Oh gosh. Probably the best and worst year ever. Blair's dream college was Georgetown University. It was perfect for her. And we decided to go to the same college and be best friends forever. She never even thought about applying to Carnegie Mellon until I begged her to.
"I got accepted in to Georgetown. And I declined Maddie because of you!"
"You told me you got rejected!"
"I know I did!"
"What happened?!" Why didn't she go to Georgetown.
"Remember Midnight Scavenger?" She asked me. That was a party almost all the seniors attended. It was a scavenger hunt. And every time you found an item, you drank to it cheering that you found an item.
"Yeah," I nodded my head.
"Well, that night, you got so drunk. And I was pretty lucid. You told me this entire story of why I had to go to Carnegie Mellon with you. You told me that I was your best friend in the entire world. And when you get married, I was going to be your bridesmaid. And if I didn't go with you, you were afraid that you would find a new best friend and forget about me. At the moment, I felt the same about loosing you. But as it got closer to making my decision, I realized that Georgetown was my place to be. But I declined because you were more important to me. Because even if I don't get a job in the future and you do, I know that you are going to take care of me. So I was set for life as long as you were my best friend," She told me as my eyes filled with water. "So I didn't go to Georgetown because of you Maddie. And now you're going to transfer," She shook her head disapproving. "Because of a guy," Sigh.
"I'm sorry Blair. I didn't know. I wish you would have told me," I wiped the tears away.
"And what good would that have done?" She had a point.
"I don't know," I shrugged.
"Whatever, I'm out. Have fun making babies with Bryce," And Blair left, just like that.
I didn't talk to her until Christmas Break.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bryce and I sat in front of the fireplace at his house. His parents were out for dinner like any other Friday night. There was a family photo above the fireplace. His dad was sitting down on a chair next to Bryce while his mom was behind them. She was standing up with on arm on Bryce's shoulder, and another arm on her husband’s shoulder. Everyone was smiling.
"Are you going to go to Blair's party?" Bryce asked me holding the invitation up.
"I don't know. She was pretty pissed off when I left. I didn't even say good bye to her," Bryce had his arms around me. "How did you get an invite?"
"Do you really think my parents would go out for dinner alone? They go out with Blair's parents every Friday night," He explained. Honestly, I was a little jealous when I heard that. I wanted my parents to be close with Bryce's parents. But my parents hated his parents.
My mom hated his British accent. She said she hates accents and she can't understand anything they said. But in reality, my mom had a Greek accent and no one was able to understand her either. My dad didn't like his parents because they didn't think golf was a true sport. And my dad loves golf. These seemed like stupid reasons to hate them, and they were. My parents just liked Nate. My mom still nags about how Nate was a lot better and more handsome. I told her to divorce dad and marry Nate if she loved him that much.
"Oh, I see. Have you heard anything about Blair?" I asked him.
"Not much. I just know she has a boyfriend," I felt a knife stab me in the guts. She always told me when she had a boyfriend or a crush; even when she was mad at me. Bryce saw how hurt I looked in my eyes. "I'm sorry," he kissed my head and held me tighter.
"It's okay," I whispered.
"Wanna watch a movie?" He asked me.
"Yeah," We got up and went downstairs to his home theater. We ended up watching Toy Story. And half way through the movie, we heard the garage doors open along with laughter.
"Seems like someone is in the basement," Bryce's mom, Carol, opened the door. And there was Bryce's father, Matt, and Blair's mom, Shannon, her dad, Alex, Blair, and Nate.
Blair and Nate saw me and then looked at each other.
"Oh hey guys," Matt walked into the room. "What are we watching here?"
"Why is Nate here?" I asked everyone.
"Madeline? Is that you?" Shannon asked. "Oh I didn't know Bryce was your boyfriend."
"Nice to see you again Shannon," Bryce stood up from his seat leaving me alone. "You too, Alex," And gave Alex a firm handshake.
"Is this Toy Story?" Shannon asked.
"What is Nate doing here?" I asked again.
Everyone ignored me.
"Wow, I haven't watched this since Bryce was a little boy," Matt said.
"Come on guys, let's watch too. Do you mind honey if we start the movie over?" Carol asked.
"No not at all," Bryce said.
"Mom, I think Nate and I are going to go home now. We're going to go pack," Blair said.
"What are you doing here with Nate?!" I began raising my voice.
"Oh you and Nate know each other?" Shannon asked.
"Yes! He is my boyfriend!" I shouted.
"I thought... Bryce was," Carol was baffled like the rest of the room.
"She meant ex- boyfriend," Nate corrected her as he reached for Blair's hand. "She's my girlfriend," He raised their intertwined hands up in the air. "Come on lets go, we need to finish packing if we want to leave early in the morning tomorrow."
They turned around, leaving without a goodbye. I got up from my seat and ran after them.
"What the fuck happened?!" I shouted from a distance.
They stopped walking and turned around. "You happened," Nate began to explain. "After you disappeared with Bryce, I knew that you picked him. And I went to the bar to get a drink and Blair was there. And at that moment, I didn't know who she was cause you never introduced me to her. And we just began talking and hit it off."
"How can you do this to me Blair?" I didn't understand why she wanted my sloppy seconds.
"Do what?" She said with a hint of bitchiness in her voice.
"Date him! He was mine!"
"Exactly, was! He was yours! You picked Bryce. What's the problem?!" She asked me.
"Girl code!" I stomped my feet.
"Girl code only says you can't steal your friend's boyfriend. I'm not stealing. He came to me."
"Ugh! Whatever! Keep my sloppy seconds!"
<Just so you guys don't hate me. He came up to me and he didn't know who I was. I told him who I was. And he said, "well it's not like we're going to like each other, so who cares" and we just become really good friends and sort of fell for each other. No one picks the person they want to love... Anyways, he is still my boyfriend. And after Bryce's death, he decided to take part in the Marines.>
"Don't talk to her like that. At least she knows what she wants!" Nate spoke up.
"She's not even worth it," Blair said grabbing his hand and dragging him away.
I went back to the house to find everyone watching the movie. But Bryce wasn't there. I went upstairs to look for him and he was in his room.
"Hey," I walked in.
"Get out," He pointed to the door.
"What?"
"Get. Out!"
"Why?"
"Why?! Are you really asking me why!? Well let me ask you this, why do you care so much about Blair and Nate?! Hmm?" He questioned.
"I- I don't know," I said.
"Yes you do Madeline. And tell me why!"
"I don't know! Why are you so mad?!"
"Why am I mad? Because you ran to get Nate in front of my parents and Blair's parents! Do you know how embarrassing that is?! Oh my god! My girlfriend running after her best friend's boyfriend. Just leave. Please," He took a deep breath.
"No," I shook my head.
"Maddie, I'm serious. Leave."
"No, I'm not going anywhere."
"Leave!"
"No! I don't know when you are being deployed! And I'm not going to waste a second without you!"