Submission

Lost

Maddie had yelled and screamed, cried and begged.

Begged for her father to be alright and for him not to leave her in the hands of Richard, but her dad wouldn’t budge.

He kept saying he had no other option, that if Ben got it, Richard would tare down his legacy to get it.

She had asked if his legacy was worth more then the price of his daughter, and he had fallen silent.

That’s when Maddie realized that her mother wasn’t the only one who had put her trust in him, just to be let down.

He had failed as a loving husband, and he had failed as a caring farther, not only when he left Maddie to herself to Mourn the loss of her mother, but growing up, the only thing he had ever provided Maddie with, was money, yet she had yearned for his approval in everything she had done, just to be traded off, to secure what he really cared about, his empire.

What he had worked for tirelessly every day, keeping himself locked away from Maddie in his office for.

He told her she would be staying in the house until he passed if she wanted to, but the paperwork needed to be settled before his illness got worse.

She was to sign her marriage certificate at the courthouse Thursday after school, and that was final.

—————-

Monday morning Maddie didn’t go to her classes, she spent the day curled up in bed crying, refusing to see anyone, especially her father.

Alison had called after school, but Maddie had lied and told her that she had really bad period pains.

Tuesday, Maddie pulled herself together and gone to school, there was no point in ruining her entire future right?

Alison had asked if Maddie wanted to babysit and Maddie had welcomed the distraction, she really didn’t want to go home.

Maddie had played monopoly with Alison’s younger sisters, and had actually managed to chuckle a few times but Alison had sensed something was off with Maddie but hadn’t known how to address it, so she had been biting her time waiting for her siblings to go to sleep.

Once they did and Maddie was getting ready to leave, Alison pulled her in for a hug and whispered “I don’t know what is going on, but just know I’m here for you”

Those few words broke down Maddie’s defenses and she started to cry uncontrollably.

She hated that Alison knew her so well, when all she had wanted to do, was pretend everything was okay.

But the truth was, that there was so much Maddie wanted to say, she wanted to tell Alison everything, and beg her to please make it better, but that is not how life works, and all Maddie’s past secrets was holding her back.

“My dad is dying, he has cancer” Maddie sobbed, it was far from the whole truth but it was the only part of it she could share.

Alison hugged her tightly, letting her weep into her shoulder as she dragged her to her room.

Alison had been the one picking up the pieces of Maddie after her mother died.

It had been heartbreaking watching her go through that loss, and now, loosing her dad.. Alison didn’t want to imagine loosing both her parents like that.

“You will get through this too” Alison said lifting Maddie’s head and putting her forehead to hers.

“You are the strongest person I have ever met, and I pray every day, that I’ll be half as courageous as you, you got this” she said, kissing her cheek.

Alison decided that Maddie wasn’t going home, not like this.

Alison wrapped her arm around her and laid Maddie in her lap, stroking her hair for hours while Maddie cried for everything she couldn’t tell Alison until she finally lost consciousness and drifted to sleep.

Maddie woke up in Alison’s bed around noon the next day, her face was puffy and her heart was numb.

She had needed that, she had needed Alison.

Alison had always been there for Maddie, sometimes in ways like her mother had been.

Maddie wasn’t the strong one, Alison was, putting Maddie first every time she had fallen apart.

Maddie wished she had confided in Alison from the start, but now it was too late, too much had happened and she didn’t know how to even begin telling her.

Maddie climbed out of bed and walked to the living room.

Alison was sitting on the couch drinking a cup of coffee.

“We aren’t going to school today? “ Maddie asked sitting down next to her.

“Not today” Alison said putting her arm around her as they just sat there.

“I don’t know how I will survive this” Maddie said, leaning her head on Alison’s shoulder.

“We will get through this together” Alison said reassuringly, padding her back.

“I don’t know what I would do without you, I would be completely lost” Maddie said, tears forming in her eyes.

“You won’t ever have to find out” Alison answered, wiping Maddie’s eyes with her sleeve.

——————-

Maddie had gone home once Alison’s siblings had come home from school, she climbed into her bed and wrapped herself in a cocoon of her covers.

Tomorrow would be the day she lost her freedom.

————————-

Thursday morning Maddie woke up, put on some black leggings and a oversized grey hoodie, she might not have control of her own life, but she would be damned if she would dress up for her own funeral.

She grabbed her book bag, and left her room.

“Maddie” her father yelled from the door of his office but Maddie pulled her hoodie up, and turned to leave the house.

“Be we there at 4” she heard him say as she trotted down the steps.

Yeah who wouldn’t want to be late for their own wedding Maddie chuckled to herself dryly as she got into her car.

As Maddie and Alison neared the school, Maddie contemplated running away.

What was there to stay for really, her dad had traded her like a pawn, what did it matter if he couldn’t hold up his end of the bargain.

And Richard.. he had bought her like a toy, to hell with him, and if she went off the grid, there wasn’t much he could do about it was there?

Then Maddie thought about Alison, she wouldn’t understand, but would she forgive, eventually. Would she forget about her?

And would Richard forget her? Or would he do something to her to try and get her back?

Would he hurt Alison?

Maddie though back to the fighter in the ring, the awful sound of fist meeting crushed scull, the way he had snapped his arm like a twig.

She couldn’t risk anything like that happening to Alison because of her.

She didn’t trust Jason to keep her safe.

She was going to find a way out of that marriage without running away.

“Are we going in” Alison hesitantly asked, making Maddie realize she was now parked in the colleges parking lot, she hadn’t even noticed how she got there.

Her hands were clenched around the steering wheel so hard her knuckles had turned white.

“Let’s go” Maddie said letting go of the wheel.

“We could skip it today, if you want to?” Alison asked, not knowing how much Maddie truly wish she could just skip today all together.

“No, I gotta do this” Maddie whispered, as she got out of the car.

Had she been able to take Alison and run, she would, but that wasn’t fair to her family nor would Alison even agree, at least not without being told the entire story.

Maddie sighed pulling her book bag out of her trunk.

She would just have to get this day over with and then contemplate her escape.