CHAPTER ONE
1577 Words
Madeline continued to lag behind the others: a rather eccentric gang containing the typical college divas, the hottest college guy and his park. They all made their way to the students parking lot leisurely, of course, Roxy didn’t notice because she was occupied with staring at Archer; the quiet and ethereal one in the park.
And she was also enrapt in what the twins were saying. Walking and talking with them, she felt as though she had achieved greatly, as though she was on top of the world. Being a rich kid and the typical wallflower all her life , she had decided to change after having an introspective discussion with a cousin of hers who happened to be the total opposite of her.
‘Look at you, Annie, you’re pretty, you’re rich, you’re attractive as heck! You can’t possibly let your years in college waste like you did in high school’. She had said to her.
Her words had sunken into Roxy’s head and they had stuck.
‘You need to enjoy college at all costs!’.
And that was the plan for her ever since. She had gotten a makeover, had changed her wardrobe and hairstyle, she had even opted for contacts so she could ditch the thick framed glasses she always wore around.
‘You need to step out, you need to bloom like the true flower you’re meant to be!’.
And she was doing just that. A part of her had always wanted to step out, the part that always watched her peers have fun, the part that watched them live their lives to the fullest, she had always wanted that, but that very same part of her was far too shy and cowardly to let her try. And it had taken pretty much all of her to approach Madeline on the first day of college. Somehow, she had known that the petite cinnamon-haired beauty was exactly what she needed to ‘step out’.
It wasn’t like she was using her or something, no, she ……just really needed a social butterfly by her side. And Madeline happened to be just that, she was a girl all the boys wanted to be with and all the girls wanted to hang with, and she was….naive; she was perfect,
“You’re gonna ride with us, right Mads?”. Madison was saying.
Madeline’s gaze flickered to Roxy’[s at once, she didn’t want to be left alone with the picture-perfect twins, she had nothing against them but she’d rather just be with Roxy since she was more comfortable with her.
“I…..”. She begun saying but Roxy shook her head quickly.
“Sounds great!”. She chimed. “Can I join you guys?”.
Alison offered her a Saccharine sweet smile before saying:
“We’re riding I Shawn’s car you see, it’s kinda a two front- two back thing”.
Madison nodded agreeing. It was pretty obvious to see that they weren’t exactly thrilled with having her around, but they liked Madeline; she fit their standard perfectly, and they wanted her to hang with them, but with her came Roxy.
“Oh”. Roxy replied. She didn’t let herself sound too disappointed.
“I’m sure we can fit in the…..”. Madeline began saying once more but stopped when Archer spoke up.
She noticed he had been quiet most of the walk, only saying a thing or two when he needed to. He had this cool and calm personality, and she found he was even cooler than Shawn; the supposed leader of their…..gang?
What was she to call a group of college guys anyway?
“You can ride with me, Roxy”. He said.
Roxy’s eyes lit up at once and she nodded as subtly as she could.
“Alright then”. She replied.
Madeline swallowed a small lump that had formed in her throat, she was glad that Roxy would be spending some ‘alone time’ with her crush and al, but she truly would have preferred to not get separated from her.
Her gaze flickered to Shawn’s back and for some reason she felt an urge to roll her eyes.
“It’s settled then”. Madison said. She brushed a golden lock of hair from her face with perfectly manicured fingers as she cast yet another saccharine sweet smile at Roxy.
They had gotten to the parking lot now and Roxy wasted no time in following Archer to his sleek black Mercedes. Madeline watched as he opened the door for her and gestured for her to climb in, Roxy surprisingly did so gracefully, she didn’t let her jitteriness get the better of her.
“Cinderella”.
Her gaze flickered to Shawn’s when he spoke. He had that smirk on which she just didn’t find appealing, he was holding the door to the front passenger’s seat open for her, of course she shook her head.
“No I’ll sit at the back if that’s okay”. She said.
God, she just wanted to be done and over with this hangout. It wasn’t hard to guess that hanging out with her peers wasn’t her cup of tea, plus, she always had to leave early, hence the name Cinderella.
“Maddie and Ally are sitting at the back, they‘re inseparable”. He told her.
Her gaze moved to Madison and Alison, they nodded agreeingly.
“Come on princess, I don’t bite”. Shawn said to her.
She let out a somewhat exasperated breath before walking to the car and getting in. All the while she averted her gaze from his but she felt his gaze on her skin.
Heavens, why did she agree to this?
“Great”. He said once she was settled in. He shut the door softly and she blew out yet another breath to calm her nerves.
The others climbed in soon enough and the twins begun chattering about a topic she found no interest in.
“So Mads, you don’t seem like you’re from around here. Why’d you choose Greyman’s?”. Alison asked her on noticing that she had been awfully quiet.
She shrugged. She hadn’t exactly chosen Greyman’s College so basically had nothing to tell them.
“I’m…I’m actually from around here”. She lied.
She hoped she sounded convincing, or at least that it wasn’t a small town in which everyone knew one another.
Madison and Alison seemed shocked but Shawn remained passive and quiet, she preferred it that way, she didn’t want him talking to her. Or was she just over doing the whole thing now?
Perhaps she was being bitter towards him because Roxy had had the gall to compare him with Alvise, her regal and magnificent….fiancé. Was it even right to call him that?
He had after all said he wanted to marry her, yes, they weren’t engaged, but it truly didn’t matter to her.
“What? Really?”. Alison said snapping her out of her thought.
She nodded.
“Where do you live anyway?”. Madison asked her.
Her gaze traveled to Shawn once again and he seemed focused ahead as he smoothly veered the car out of the parking lot.
“Bascaville Street”. She replied. She was careful enough to not add the ‘De Luca’s Estate’ else she’d definitely be busted. Alvise had after all told her that everyone who lived here knew the name ‘De Luca’, and after seeing just how he influential he was, she believed him wholly and truly, and perhaps she had been a fool to have doubted him in the first place.
Alison and Madison nodded. They seemed even more impressed now. Bascaville Street was well known, only the Elites lived there.
“Cool, maybe we can pay you a visit sometime?”. Madison asked her.
“Sure. Cool”. She replied though she was anything but cool with that.
“Do you have any brothers?”. Alison asked her dreamily.
She shook her head. Even if she did, she wasn’t sure she would be cool with them hanging with her brothers.
“Sisters then?”. Shawn asked with a deviant smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
She shook her head still.
“You’re an only child! Cool, we have that in common”. Alison and Madison said in unison. it was almost as though they had been waiting forever to say that.
They may have been without siblings but they were almost like sisters since they did almost everything together
Madeline let out a breath she hadn’t known she had been holding.
“You know Mads, we can do a lot of fun things together, we usually have sleepovers and now that we’re three. It’ll be so much fun!”. Alison said.
Madeline chuckled nervously.
“We’re actually four now”. She said quietly.
They didn’t reply immediately, she wasn’t looking at them but she could tell that they were either rolling their eyes or scowling.
“Right, Roxy”. Alison said rather dryly.
Madeline nodded; she wanted them to know that she wasn’t doing anything with them without Roxy.
“Oh well, we’ll all have fun then”. Madison said. “I’m already excited”.
And had Madeline been looking at Shawn she would have seen the amused smirk that curved his lips.
- Writer
