What the heck am I doing?
I stand awkwardly in front of Maddy's house, not having rung the door bell or knocked on the door. Pacing back and forth, I debate between going home or finally ringing the bell. Suddenly, Vincent's garage door next door starts to open.
I hear Veronica's voice ask, "You're going to fix my bike right?"
"I'm going to try to. Don't get mad if I can't," Vincent responds. They're still inside the garage, but I hear the wheels of Veronica's bike grow louder as they roll it outside onto the driveway.
"Did you buy me new wheels?"
"No, I'm just going to take off your training wheels."
"What? No!" Veronica protests.
"You need to learn how to ride a big-girl bike," Vincent insists.
"No! I like the little wheels."
"I'll buy you ice cream if you ride on two wheels by the end of today."
"Really?"
"Yep!"
I didn't realize this while listening in on their conversation, but I was crouching down, hiding my head behind a tall row of bushes beside's Maddy's patio.
Why am I hiding anyways?
The door swings open and I jump in surprise.
"Can I help you?" Maddy's mom asks, annoyed. Her eyes are swollen and puffy and her face is pale, as if her energy's been completely drained from crying.
"Sorry," I apologize, standing up straighter but still bending my head down a bit.
"Why do you keep standing outside our door?"
"Oh, um..." My mind blanks.
"If don't leave, I'll call the cops-"
"Oh, no. I'm just here to see Maddy," I quickly confess.
"Why?" she bluntly asks. "Are you the one who gave her those scratches on her face?" she glares at me, her voice getting a bit shrill.
"No, I was just getting worried since Maddy hasn't been at school lately," I explain.
Maddy's mom eyes me suspiciously. "She doesn't want to talk to anyone right now."
"Can I just talk to her for a bit? It won't take long-"
"She won't talk to you. She hasn't been talking to anyone, not even us and we're her parents," Maddy's mom turns me down.
"Well, I have her homework assignments," I say, slipping off one strap of my backpack and swinging it around before unzipping it to reveal a fat stack of papers crammed into a folder.
"I'll give them to her," Maddy's mom holds out her hand, more commanding than offering. I look helplessly and slowly give up the folder. She's about to close the door when I attempt to convice her again.
"Some of the assignments in there are really confusing!" I blurt out. "I'm not sure you'll how to explain them to her."
"Do you think I'm stupid or something? Of course I can," Maddy's mom retorts, irritated.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way." I pause to carefully phrase before speaking, "There's a review on matrices in there and everyone is class was a bit confused on it. I'm worried Maddy will get confused too."
"Ma-ma-" Maddy's mom tries to recall what it is. "What did you say?"
"It's math," I simplify my word choice.
She glowers her eyes at me, but steps aside and opens the door wide for me.
"Thanks," I quietly say.
"She's upstairs in her room. It's the first one on the left. The door's locked though," Maddy's mom says.
"Ok," I nod. Maddy's mom gives me back the stack of homework and I slowly make my way up the stairs.
I turn left and nearly step on a tray of uneaten food. There's a glass of fruit smoothie, browning on the top, and beside that a plate of steamed green beans, a pile of corn, and some strips of bell pepper, all untouched.
I lightly knock on the door, barely tapping it. There's no response, so I knock slightly hard the next time.
"I already said I'm not hungry!" Maddy yells from inside, her voice slightly muffled as if she has her face in a pillow.
"It's me, Wendy," I tell her. There's no reply. "Maddy?"
"Go away," she says.
"I have the homework you missed."
"I don't need it. I'm not going back anyways."
"What? But what about finals? You need to pass them to graduate," I remind her.
"I'm not graduating."
"Are you stupid?" I ask angrily. "You're so close! You're going to let those crazy girls stop you from graduating? You should be marching into school and showing them up, not locking yourself in your room for days on end!"
I hear Maddy burst into tears behind the door.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to call you stupid," I say.
I move the tray of food aside and sit on the ground, pressing my back on her door.
"You're right..." she squeaks. "But I can't go back when everyone's going stare and talk about me like I'm some disgusting whore!"
"But you're not!"
"That's what people think," Maddy sniffles.
"I don't think that."
"Please, you're probably happier than everyone else that this happened to me. I went around spreading rumors you were a slut, and now I have karma." I hear Maddy blow her nose behind the door.
"I'm not happy that this happened to you. No one deserves this.. even though you were a jerk."
"That stupid bitch Carla. I didn't even flirt with her boyfriend. He's the idiot who asked me to prom. It probably hurt his fucking inflated ego when I said no, so he probably made up some bullshit to Carla."
I'm reminded of the douche bag Bryan and my stomach turns.
"That's why you should go back to school. Why should you avoid her if you didn't do anything wrong?"
"It's not that easy," Maddy sniffles. "I'm not oblivious like you are."
"What do you mean?"
"People talk behind your back all the time and give you backhanded compliments, but you don't even realize it. That's why I was so annoyed with you. I wanted to be a bitch to you, but you always acted nice and polite. It pissed me off," Maddy admits.
"Sorry?" I say, a bit confused.
"See, my point exactly."
"Well, they're dumb for making fun of you when you were little. You worked hard to lose all that weight. What have they done besides sitting around and complaining?" I scoff. "You weren't even ugly anyways. You were adorable in that picture."
"Fuck! I just want to eat a sandwich. I haven't had carbs in forever!" Maddy groans.
"Then eat one. It won't hurt you to eat bread once in a while. And it wouldn't kill me to eat a vegetable...By the way, I'm sorry about the healthy fundraiser you were running. I didn't realize how important it was for you..." I apologize.
"I did the same when I dissed your junk food. I was just jealous you could eat so much without gaining weight."
"Not exactly. Too be honest, my gut's starting to show," I laugh. "And I made Vincent lose all of his abs."
"About what happened with Vincent..."
I forgot that Maddy kissed him, and there's a awkward silence.
"I didn't actually like him. Well, I did when we were little. Everyone knew I did except for Vincent, but they told me I was too ugly. I guess I thought I still liked him, but it turns out he was just validation for me, that I wasn't ugly anymore... It's fucking stupid I know, but I don't like him."
"Wait, you don't?"
"No. Not at all. He's actually a pretty boring guy. I'm guessing he got that from you," Maddy says, unable to hold conversation without jabbing me with an insult once in a while. Though, it didn't feel hurtful at all.
"He was already boring. He likes glazed donuts and vanilla ice cream."
"Chocolate's better."
"Anything's better."
It felt strange we were in agreement for once.
"Vincent's in love with you," Maddy suddenly says.
"Huh?"
"It's gross how much he cares about you. But I guess it's not surprising considering how weird you two are. You two are disgusting match made in heaven," Maddy groans, trying to mask how kind she was being with harsh words.
"We broke up."
"What?"
"Well, I broke up with Vincent," I confess.
"Why?"
"I didn't think I could handle long-distance..."
"I put you two through hell this year. Long-distance is nothing," Maddy snorts.
"Don't worry about it."
"I'm not. I just think its dumb to go through so much to keep your relationship intact only to break up when everything's fine."
"Anyways, I'll leave the homework outside your door. Make sure to study and pass your finals. Text me if you're confused on anything," I say to change the subject before getting off of the door and stretching out my legs.
"Don't get me wrong, I still think you're annoying as hell," Maddy warns.
"I know. And I still think you're a manipulative jerk. I forgive you though."
"I don't need your forgiveness," Maddy defensively retorts.
"Fine, I don't forgive you."
"Good."
"Bye, then."
"Go away."
Maddy was acting cold, but her tone wasn't harsh like before.
"By the way, I never understood why you told me you liked Greg when you didn't."
"Oh, that? I don't know. I thought it would make you jealous."
"Jealous?"
"It seemed like you and Grayson had a thing."
"A thing?"
"Are you stupid? Whatever, you're just pissing me off now. I need a nap," Maddy says. I hear her bed creak and her sheets ruffle. I take it as my cue to leave and head downstairs.
Maddy's mom is in the kitchen, hands around a cup of coffee as she stares blankly at a wall. She hears my footsteps down the stairs and looks up at me.
"I talked to Maddy for a bit and she's going to take a nap now," I tell her.
"Did she eat her food?" she asks.
"No," I reply. Maddy's mom drops and she sighs, swiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "But I think she'll be hungry when she wakes up. Maybe you can make her a sandwich."
"Maddy doesn't eat sandwiches."
"She told me she wanted one earlier," I tell her.
Maddy's mom head pops back up and she looks at me in bewilderment.
"She did?"
"Yeah."
"Are you sure?"
I nod. She excitedly gets up and heads into the kitchen, grabbing nearly everything from the fridge. Setting two pieces of bread down, she begins to stack and assemble the filling inside. By the time I'm done putting my shoes on, the sandwich is so massive, the bread is more of a topping than a component.
"I better get going," I say, opening the door for myself.
"Wait," Maddy's mom runs out from the kitchen holding a slice of ham in one hand and a piece of lettuce in the other. "Thank you for talking to Maddy. I've been worried sick since she's been in that room," Maddy's mom beams.
"It's no biggie. Bye. I'll see you at graduation," I wave, stepping out.
"Of course!" Maddy's mom waves, the ham flopping around in the air. I wave one last time before closing the door behind me.
As I'm walking out, I hear Veronica call out to me.
"Wendy! Look!" I see Veronica heading towards me with her two-wheeled bike, and Vincent running after her with his shoulders hunched over so he keep his hand on the back of her seat just in case she tips over. As she gets closer to me, I see Vincent straining to stop her before she crashes.
"Woah, you're riding on two wheels," I exclaim.
"Yep!" Veronica proudly beams. "Vincent owes me ice cream now. You should come with us!"
"Sorry, I can't." I look up at Vincent, who has his hands in his pocket and staring up at the sky. I look up and there's nothing.
"Maybe next time," I suggest to Veronica, who gets slightly less disappointed.
"Okay," she reluctantly agrees. "Don't hold onto me anymore, Vincent. I want to ride by myself."
"I'll follow you just in case you fall," Vincent insists, awkwardly looking at Veronica while briefly glancing back at me.
"No, stay here with Wendy."
"What?"
"Bye!" Veronica darts off, biking unsteadily.
Vincent and I stand, looking in opposite directions. I glance back at him a few times without saying anything until our eyes meet one time.
"It's nice you taught her how to bike," I say.
"Yeah... And I was wondering why that car looked like yours," Vincent replies, pointing to the car parked parallel to the sidewalk.
"Oh, I was dropping off homework for Maddy," I explain.
"Cool..."
"Yep..."
"I'd better go watch Veronica before she hurts herself."
"Yeah, of course. I guess I'll see you around school."
"Yeah, see you."
I get into my car and start to drive. On the way home, I pick up a party platter of celery sticks, baby carrots, cucumber slices, bell pepper strips, and broccoli. I bring them up to my room. Giving Wilbur and Charlotte their own slice of cucumber. I take a carrot stick for myself, taking small nibbles as we watch a documentary on marine animals.
I turn to Wilbur and Charlotte, happily munching their cucumber.
"I don't understand why you guys like this flavorless stuff," I say to them.
Even though turtles are slow eaters, they manage to finish off their slices before I can finish the stick of carrot. I even cheated by dunking it in ranch.
The door swings open and Wren has a plate with five slices of pizza stacked on it.
"Dad got us dinner." Wren sets the plate of pizza next to me and the delicious fumes fill up my nostrils. My stomach growls.
"I can't. I'm eating healthier now," I refuse, pinching my nose to block off the tempting smell.
Wren looks at the plastic tray of vegetables and snort. "Good luck with that," she laughs. "More for Dad and me then, she shrugs, taking my plate of pizza away without hesitation. I watch in horror as she walks out without leaving me a pity slice.
"That's what you call a monster," I tell Wilbur and Charlotte, sulkily popping a cherry tomato into my mouth.
*****
We're getting so close to the end guys. I'm so excited to write it and for you guys to read it. Thanks for reading and being so patient with my slow updates. Hopefully, I'll have time to write next week :)