Madison's Journey

Chapter 13

Madison was extremely busy during the Christmas holidays and Derrick was starting to complain about her hectic schedule; he didn’t understand that she had no choice. She was also trying to use the Christmas break to get ahead with some of her school work. She figured the more she could do now, the easier it would be when she was back to school, babysitting and working at Burger Town. A couple days before New Year’s Eve, Madison was sitting on her bed, with Mary and George asleep beside her when her phone rang.

“Hey, Aim.”

“Hey, Mads. How are you?”

Madison sighed. “Good but busy. Just working on that English assignment.”

Amy groaned. “Don’t even talk to me about that. I can’t believe you are working on it now. It’s not due until after we go back to school.”

Madison chuckled. “Well, some of us like to get a head start on things. And plus, once I get back to school and babysitting, I’ll have less time to work on it.”

“That makes sense. So, my parents said I could have a New Year’s party in the basement.” Madison could hear the excitement in Amy’s voice.

“Really? That’s awesome! I assume I’m invited.”

“Duh, of course. You were my first call.”

Madison’s lips curved upwards. “Cool. I’ve been so busy lately; it’ll be nice to see everyone and spend some time with Derrick.”

“And me. You’ve been neglecting me too, you know?” There was a slight pout in Amy’s voice that made Madison laugh.

“Yes, you too. I’m sorry, Amy.”

“That’s better. Thank you.” The pout was replaced with laughter, and the two girls spent a few minutes talking about party supplies. “Okay, so food, drinks, decorations, I think we’ve got it all covered.”

Madison smiled. “Sounds like it. You know, I’m glad and a bit surprised that your parents are okay with letting us do this considering everything.”

At that comment Madison heard Amy sigh, it was a long, deep, annoyed sounding sigh. “Yeah, well, I don’t really know what’s going on ‘cause no one will talk to me.”

Madison opened her mouth to comment but Amy kept talking.

“Every time I ask Colin how he is or what’s going on he leaves the room or tells me he’s okay and that’s it. I just don’t understand why he won’t talk to me. I mean, I am his sister. And if I bring it up in front of my parents, they tell me that it’s all under control and it’s all going to be okay. I mean, what does that even mean? I don’t even know if Carissa’s parents know yet. I just don’t get why it’s such a secret from me. Hello? I’m part of this family too.” Amy stopped to take a breath. Her voice had gotten louder, and there was a hint of anger seeping through. Madison wasn’t sure what to say, so she just sat quietly waiting for Amy to continue. “It’s just so annoying. I feel like I’m being left out.”

“I’m sorry, Aim. I’m sure—”

Before Madison could finish, Amy started talking again. “Whatever. I don’t want to talk or think about that right now. I want to focus on our New Year’s party. Okay?”

Madison hesitated. She knew she should tell Amy that she had been talking to Colin but something about Amy’s rant made Madison keep her mouth shut, she wasn’t sure what it was, but she nodded on her end of the phone and then just said, “Okay.” They hung up a few minutes later and Madison had a knot in her stomach. She felt bad for keeping quiet about Colin, but she also didn’t want to upset Amy any further. “Besides, she didn’t really let you get a word in about it anyways, did she?” She defended her actions to herself and felt slightly better.

Just after seven thirty on New Year’s Eve, Madison walked the short distance to Amy’s house. It was another chilly night as snowflakes fell around her, covering her hair and jacket in a light layer of white. Madison didn’t mind, she was enjoying the freshness of the night air and was excited for a night with her friends. She was smiling happily when she arrived at Amy’s house.

“Mads, yay! You’re here.” Amy practically jumped on Madison when she opened the front door. “You’ve been so busy lately, I miss you.”

“Hey, Aim. I know, I miss you too. I’m so excited for tonight.”

“I know. Me too.” Amy grabbed Madison’s hand and led her down the stairs to the basement.

Madison glanced around the room. “Whoa, it looks good in here.” Gold and purple streamers and balloons were hung across the ceiling and a giant ‘Happy New Year 2019’ sign hung on one wall. “Very festive.” There was a table covered with a purple tablecloth and ‘Happy New Year’ paper plates and bowls were lined up at one end of it

Amy’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “Thanks. I spent all day doing it.” She led Madison to the table and opened a bag of chips. “Here, help me get the food ready.”

“Okay.” Madison grabbed a bag of pretzels and poured it into one of the bowls. As they worked, Madison glanced over at Amy. “So, how’s everything here? Any news?”

Amy’s face turned a light shade of red and Madison saw her jaw tense slightly. “No. They still won’t talk about it in front of me, and every time I try to broach the subject with them, they tell me it isn’t my concern. Yeah, right? Like this whole thing doesn’t affect me as well.” 

Madison, who was busy with the food, spoke without thinking. “Well, from the last few conversations I had with Colin, it didn’t sound like he had heard much from Carissa, and he wasn’t sure if she had told her parents yet.”

Amy stopped what she was doing and turned towards Madison. “Wait, what? You’ve been talking to Colin?”

“I, uh, well…” Madison stumbled on her words.

“When have you been talking to him?” Amy’s voice became elevated, and Madison cringed at her mistake.

“Well, we went for a drive on boxing day, and we’ve been messaging back and forth since then. Nothing major.”

Madison watched as Amy’s face turned a deeper shade of red. “Nothing major. What does that mean? You’ve been secretly talking to Colin about his problems, that he won’t even talk to me about, and you’ve been sneaking around with him?” At that exact moment, Brad and Derrick appeared on the stairs. Amy looked at them and then back at Madison. “Does your boyfriend know you’ve been sneaking around with my brother?”

Madison felt like she had been slapped. She didn’t know what to do or say. Amy’s voice was so loud that her parents and Colin all came running down to see what the commotion was about.

“Oh, Colin. Did you come down to protect your little girlfriend? Don’t think I didn’t notice your cute little nickname for her, Mad, no one else calls her that.”

Mr. and Mrs. Fernie looked from Colin to Madison and then to Amy. Mrs. Fernie moved passed Brad and Derrick towards her daughter. “Amy, honey, I’m not sure what’s going on, but maybe we should discuss this privately.” But Amy had no intention of letting this go.

Colin looked at Madison stunned. She had tears streaming down her face. He glared at his sister; the colour of his face matching hers. “Amy, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Really? Madison just told me that you guys went out on boxing day?”

Derrick looked at Madison, confused. “You went out with Colin, but…”

“No, Derrick. It isn’t like that. We’re just friends.”

Derrick glanced at Colin and then back to Madison. His eyes turned dark and his expression became cold. “Brad, I’m leaving. Good-bye, Madison.” Anger dripped from his words.

“Derrick, wait, please. I can explain.” Madison pleaded, but he ignored her.

“I need to get out of here too. Brad, let’s go.” Amy didn’t wait for a reply, she just grabbed Brad’s hand and left right behind Derrick. 

A heart broken Madison, Colin and his parents were left standing in the basement, all thoughts of the party forgotten. Mr. Fernie was the first to speak. “What is Amy talking about?”

Colin looked at his dad, his face creased with hurt and anger. “It’s nothing, dad. Mad has just been a really good listening ear. That’s it. And we weren’t sneaking around.”

Mr. Fernie put his arm around his son. “I know, Colin. But you know how your sister is.”

“A b***h?”

“Colin,” Mrs. Fernie scolded.

“Well, it’s true.” No one responded. Instead, Mrs. Fernie put her arm around Madison’s shoulders and guided her upstairs.

“It’s okay, Madison. I’m sure both Amy and Derrick will calm down soon. Let’s go upstairs and wait for everyone else to arrive.”

Madison had almost forgotten about the party; she was definitely no longer in a partying kind of mood. “Um, okay. But I think I might just go home. I’m not feeling very well.”

Mrs. Fernie squeezed her shoulder. “Are you sure? I really do think this will all blow over.”

Madison smiled weakly at Mrs. Fernie. “Thanks for that, Mrs. Fernie, but I think I’d better just go.”

“Okay, dear. Dale can drive you.”

Madison almost rejected the offer, but she didn’t want to run into Amy out on the street, so she graciously accepted. While Mr. Fernie went to get his coat and shoes, Madison grabbed her coat and purse. Colin followed her out to the front entrance. “Mad, I’m sorry about Amy.”

“No, Colin. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything to Amy, it just slipped out. The other day, Amy told me that no one would speak to her about the whole baby situation, and I knew she was mad, and I didn’t say anything about you and I and our conversations. So, I guess she is kind of right, we were sneaking around, weren’t we?” Madison’s eyes were full of anguish as she gave Colin a questioning gaze.

Colin shook his head. “No, Mad, we weren’t sneaking around, not on purpose anyways. If someone had asked, I would have told them. Maybe I should have talked to her about it but....” He shook his head. “I don’t know, I guess I’m just still trying to wrap my brain around it all, you know?” Colin’s eyes were sad, but a hint of anger flashed across his face. “But even though we didn’t tell her, we didn’t do anything wrong. We weren’t sneaking around. I mean, we were just two people talking. Right?”

“Right.” She nodded solemnly. A knot was beginning to form in her stomach as she said goodnight to Colin and followed Mr. Fernie out to the car. She covered up her tears during the silent ride home, but once behind closed doors, they flowed uncontrollably. After a few minutes, she got control of her emotions and tried calling Amy but, as expected, it went straight to voicemail. She sent Amy several text messages, all of which went unanswered. She had the same lack of response from Derrick. She did get several messages from Christy and Kelly, however.

‘Mads, are you okay? What happened? Kel and I r worried, text me back.’

‘Hey, Mads. It’s Kel. Call me when you can? Things are crazy here.’

Madison couldn’t imagine what was going on at the party. She found herself in tears again as she thought about what Amy and Derrick must be thinking and saying. A few minutes later, her phone rang, and she answered it without looking, hoping it was Amy or Derrick.

“Hello?”

“Mad, it’s me. I wanted to see how you were doing. Dad said you were quiet in the car.”

“Oh, hi, Colin. I’m okay. I guess. How are you?” Madison said, hiding the tears from her voice.

“I’m fine, but I wasn’t the one, who…” he trailed off.

“What’s going on there?”

“Oh, well, my mom and dad sent everyone home. Amy is hauled up in her room, not speaking to anyone. I can’t believe her.” His breathing was heavy, and Madison could hear anger in his voice. 

“Colin, I’m sorry. This is all my fault.”

“Mad, don’t do that. You—we—did nothing wrong. I explained it to my parents and they understand. All we did was talk, as friends. I tried to explain it to Amy, but she wouldn’t listen. I don’t know what her problem is.”

Madison nodded. “Hey, Col?”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you start calling me Mad? I mean, I don’t really think it’s a cute little nickname like Amy said, but no one else calls me that, just you.”

There was silence on the other end, and then Colin sighed. “I don’t know, Mad. It just started the other day and I kind of liked it. Maybe I’m too lazy to add the s.” He laughed and so did she. “And honestly, I think it suits you better than Mads.”

“Oh, yeah, maybe. Well, I like it too. I like that no one else calls me that, just you.”

“Yeah, me too.” Madison could see his smirk in her mind at his words. Another silence enveloped them until Colin spoke again. “Mad?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want me to leave you alone? I’ve caused you so much trouble. We can hang up right now and I won’t text or call you anymore.”

Madison thought for a moment and realized he was right. They hadn’t done anything wrong. Derrick and Amy would come around. They would realize they were over-reacting. “No. What you’re going through right now is so much bigger than what happened tonight. Things will be fine.” Madison heard Colin laugh at that. “What’s so funny?”

“Sorry. I was just thinking that with everything that happened tonight, I forgot about my own problems for a while.”

Madison smiled in spite of herself. “Well, I’m glad I could help you!”

“No, sorry. I don’t mean to minimize your pain, it’s just…”

“I know. It’s okay. Speaking of you and your troubles, anything new?”

Colin sighed, “No, nothing really. Carissa hasn’t told her parents yet, and mom and dad are starting to get anxious. They told me that if she doesn’t tell them soon, they’re going to do it. I don’t know, Mad, this is a nightmare. I’m not sure how I got myself into this mess.”

Madison laughed. “Well, I think I know.”

“Very funny. You know what I mean.”

“Sorry,” she stifled another chuckle.

They talked for a little while longer, about nothing in particular, and Madison felt better when they hung up. She had several more text messages from Kelly and Christy but nothing from either Derrick or Amy. She looked at George and Mary who were playing together on the floor. “This is not the New Year’s celebration I had in mind guys.” Neither kitten looked at her, they just continued chasing each other around the house. “Now, that’s the life,” she thought. She chuckled to herself and wandered into the kitchen to get some cookies. She sat on the couch, staring at her phone, willing it to ring while she stuffed her face with chocolate chip cookies. She turned the TV on as a distraction and spent the next few hours staring at the pictures on the screen. It was just before midnight when her phone finally beeped.

‘I don’t know what happened with Colin, but you lied to me. We’re over. Don’t text or call me anymore. I don’t want to see you again.’

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she read the message from Derrick. She hadn’t lied to anyone, but it didn’t matter. He had left her, just like her dad left her, and just like her mom. She crawled into bed, loud sobs overtaking the quiet night. All she could do was think about everything she had lost, even the kittens, who curled up beside her, didn’t bring her any comfort. She sobbed until she had no tears left, and then she fell into a restless sleep, dreaming about all the people that had walked out of her life.