Cayden's POV:
It's been five days since The Incident, as Cameron had dubbed it.
Everyone acted casual, but things between Maddie and I were... awkward.
I flashed back to two days ago. I couldn't sleep, so I had walked over to the common room to get a midnight snack. As I passed through the doorway, I saw Maddie sitting on one of the couches, sipping something from a mug and looking at her phone. When I stepped into the room, she looked up and froze.
"Uh, hi," I said hesitantly.
She blinked. "Hey."
We stared at each other for a few minutes until she cleared her throat. "Uh, nice talking to you," she said slowly.
I nodded and quickly turned around. I hurried back to my room, snack forgotten.
Give it time, Riley had said.
Five days was enough time, right?
We were all supposed to meet in the common room to discuss what we were going to do today in about fifteen minutes. If I talked to Maddie now, I could set things straight before that.
I walked over to Maddie's room and knocked on the door. The door swung open to reveal...
"Danny? What are you doing here?" I asked nervously.
He waved. "Uh, Riley and Maddie invited me to play video games," he said casually.
I peered around him. "Can I, uh, talk to Maddie?"
"Oh," he said. He looked over his shoulder. "She's in the bathroom now, but you should probably come in."
He stepped back from the doorway to let me in. I sat on the bed. Her room was in a similar style to mine, but instead of a pale grey theme, she had a powdered rose color.
Danny stepped out in the hall and called over his shoulder, "I'll give you two some space." He walked over to Riley's room with his hands in his pockets.
A few minutes later, Maddie came out of the bathroom in a black sports top, sweeping her dark hair up into a high ponytail. "You ready to lose, pretty bo-"
She froze when she saw me. "Uh, where's Danny?"
I tilted my head towards the open doorway. "He went over to Riley's room."
Maddie came over and sat on the bed next to me. We sat like that for a moment, until I broke the silence.
"I'm really sorry."
She sighed and looked down at her lap. "Cayden, I'm not mad at you."
I blinked. "What?"
She flopped back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. "I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at the situation. I'm mad at myself for being upset, for running off, I'm mad at that snake, Leila - but I'm not mad at you. Hurt, maybe, but not mad."
I paused. "She said she wanted to talk, and she seemed so genuinely sad, then. So I followed her into the living room. She started yapping about how alone and unaccepted she felt, and how she was just trying to make some friends. I was getting super uncomfortable, but I didn't want to be rude by getting up and leaving. Then she said, 'I can be nice, let me prove it to you'."
Maddie scoffed. "Nice. Yeah, right."
I laughed humorlessly. "I know, right? Anyway, that's when she kissed me. I was so surprised that I froze. I didn't think to move, much less forcibly shove her off me..." My voice trailed off, and I sat there, waiting for her to react.
"I believe you," Maddie said simply.
I froze. "Wait, what?"
She nodded. "Yeah. It fits with what Riley told me, and I know that you'd never try to hurt me on purpose. Leila's just a bish."
I grinned at her 'bish' comment, but my smile quickly dimmed. "You're really not mad?"
She groaned playfully. "Yes! Get that through your thick skull, Anderson, I'm- not- mad- at- you."
I laughed, and raised my hands in an I-surrender gesture. "Okay, okay."
Maddie nodded. "Good." She tried to stand up, but one of her legs had gotten tangled in mine. She lurched forwards and pulled me with her, causing us both to fall to the floor- with me on top of her.
Allie chose that moment to burst into the room. "What's going on, I hear yell- oh. Well, I see you two have made up," she said snarkily. She pulled out a photo and snapped a picture.
Maddie and I scrambled upright.
"It's not what it looks like," I said hurriedly.
"I tripped," Maddie said simply.
Allie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, sure."
Riley's POV:
Danny walked into my room. I looked up from the TV, eyebrow raised.
He grinned. "Blondie finally had the sense to go talk to Maddie," he said, grinning.
I pumped my fist. "Finally," I said. "Took him long enough."
He smirked. "Uh huh."
I tossed him a controller. "Wanna play?" I asked, gesturing to the screen.
He nodded. "You're on."
Three rounds later, Cameron marched into the room. "Our plan worked," she said gleefully.
"Nice," I said, high-fiving her.
We suspected that Cayden wouldn't be able to stand losing Maddie as a friend (or more), so he definitely would come to talk to her. All we had to do was wait it out. Not much of a plan, but whatever.
My phone buzzed, and I saw a message from Allie pop up on the screen. It was a picture of Cayden on top of Maddie who was sprawled on the floor, followed by a text:
Allie: Maddie claims she tripped. I say otherwise...
I laughed and forwarded the message to Cameron. I was about to forward it to Danny when I realized I didn't have his number.
"Uh, hey dude, can I have your number?" I asked.
He blinked. "Oh, yeah." He recited his number and I quickly typed it into my phone. I forwarded the message to him.
Cameron took a look at her phone and laughed. "Maddie is clumsy, though. I have no idea how she does it onstage."
Danny and I both chuckled.
Suddenly, I heard Maddie yelling from her room.
"Allie, did you send the photo?!"
I hurried over to her room to see Maddie shaking Allie by the shoulders.
"Hey, whoa, whoa, hey," Cameron said, separating the two.
Maddie pouted. "I'll get you back for this," she said, glaring at Allie.
Alex's voice cut through the air, saving Allie from having to respond. "Hey, everybody in the common room!"