Madison's Journey

Chapter 6

It took a few weeks, but Madison managed to get into a routine with school and work, and things got a little easier. She was even managing to spend time on the weekends with Amy, which was important to her. She was at Amy’s house one Saturday evening, two weeks after Amy’s first phone call with Brad. Amy and Brad were going on their first date that night. It was a big group of people going to the movies, but Amy and Brad planned to sneak off, just the two of them.

“Oh my god, Mads, I have nothing to wear,” Amy groaned. She was standing in the middle of her bedroom, her entire wardrobe spread out on the floor, bed, desk, and dresser. Madison laughed as she looked at her best friend, who appeared as frazzled as she sounded. This was the moment Amy had been dreaming about, and she wanted to look perfect. She had already tried on nine outfits, and although Madison had given her thumbs up to all of them, she had discarded them all. They were either too young looking or not cool enough. It was amusing to Madison because Amy was the best dressed person she knew, she had all the latest styles and always looked like she should be walking a runway in Paris.

“You think this is funny?” Amy’s voice was a high-pitched squeal, and Madison tried to maintain a straight face. 

“Sorry, Aim.” She jumped off the bed and rifled through a few things on the dresser. When she found what she wanted, she held them up for Amy to see. “What about this?” Madison had picked out a simple black cardigan with a short black flared skirt that looked amazing on Amy.

“Mads, you’re brilliant. That’s perfect!” Amy smiled, hugged Madison and quickly put the outfit on.

She looked gorgeous. The cardigan hugged her body and showed off her curves, and the skirt was short enough to highlight her long, perfectly toned legs. Madison was slightly envious of her friend. She was the opposite of Amy in every way, with her dark brown hair and brown eyes. And Madison was about six inches shorter than her. As they stood side by side in front of the mirror, Madison felt frumpy. She had always been a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl. She had taken her time dressing tonight, but she didn’t have the selection of clothes that Amy had. Jeans and an emerald coloured short sleeve sweater were what she wore that day. Green was a good colour on her, with her dark hair and medium complexion. She had decided to forgo her usual ponytail and let her shoulder length hair hang loose around her face as she had curled the strands to frame it. She had even put on a little make up, which was something she very seldom did. Amy, on the other hand, wouldn’t be caught dead without make up on.

Amy was admiring herself in the mirror when she glanced in Madison’s direction. “Can you believe that I, Amy Fernie, am going on a date with Brad Campbell? He’s so hot,” she moaned, and then finished prepping herself. The two girls ran downstairs to find Amy’s dad once she was done.

Twenty minutes later, Mr. Fernie dropped the two girls off in front of the movie theater. “Have fun girls. Call me when you need a ride. Not too late, okay?”

“You bet, dad.” Amy leaned over and kissed her dad on the cheek. It was sweet to watch and something that Amy always did. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Yeah, thanks, Mr. Fernie.”

He nodded and smiled at them both. “Have fun girls.”

As soon as her dad was out of sight, Amy turned to Madison. “Okay, let’s go find Brad and the gang.” She was grinning from ear to ear with excitement. They found the group quickly, and before Madison could blink, Amy and Brad had their heads together. Madison stepped in beside Kelly and Christy.

“Hey, guys.”

“Hey, Mads. I see Amy found her man,” Christy said, and they all began to laugh. This date had been the only thing Amy had been talking about for days.

“Christy, you look great by the way, I’m loving this new look. What happened to your track suit?” Kelly chuckled at Madison’s remark, and Christy gave Madison a light punch on the arm. 

“Funny, Mads. I just figured I could trade my track suit in for real clothes, since I probably wouldn’t be running anywhere tonight.”

“Okay, okay. Sorry. You know we love your track pants.”

“Funny, Mads, real funny!” Madison laughed as Brad’s group of friends milled around beside them.

“We’re going to see the new Avengers movie. Do you ladies want to join us?” Derrick, one of the guys, announced and Madison blushed, her lips curving upwards as they made eye contact.

“Awesome, I’ve been wanting to see that,” she agreed.

Derrick smiled at her, and the rest of the group agreed with the movie choice. They bought their tickets and candy and found a row of seats for the whole group. Madison had lost track of Amy and Brad by then and wasn’t sure which movie they had gone to. She settled into her seat beside Christy, and when she put her pop in the drink holder, her arm bumped the person sitting on the other side of her. “Oh, sorry.” She looked up and found herself staring at Derrick.

“Hey, Maddie. Sorry.”

She smiled, her cheeks flushing. “No, it was my fault.”

“No, it was me. Here, you take the drink holder.” He moved his drink, grabbed hers and put it in for her. “So, you a Marvel’s fan?”

“Oh, yeah. My dad used to take me to them as soon as they came out.” She looked away, thinking about her dad. A wave of sadness overcame her as she thought about the last movie she had seen with her dad, but she quickly pushed that memory aside so that she could stay in the moment with Derrick. She focused her eyes on him and smiled.

His lopsided grin had her heartbeat stutter. “Favourite?”

“Movie or character?” She asked, taking a sip of her pop.

“Character,” he clarified, popping a kernel into his mouth.

“Captain America.”

“Movie?”

“Captain America. The First Avenger.” She gave him a cheeky smile.

“Of course.” Derrick’s smile grew as he rolled his eyes playfully.

“Um, yeah. Captain America is awesome!” Maddison fought.

“Uh-huh.” He grinned, his bright green irises sparkling at her.

“Okay, you. Favourite character?”

“That’s a tough one, Black Widow is hot, but then so is Scarlett Witch.”

Madison playfully punched his arm. “Really, that’s how you pick your superheroes?”

He ran his hand through his shaggy dark hair. “Um, yeah. Isn’t that how you pick?”

She giggled a bit sheepishly. “Not entirely.”

He laughed and stuffed a handful of popcorn in his mouth. Throughout the movie Derrick would, on occasion, lean over to comment about something as they enjoyed the show together. He would put his face close to hers and her heart fluttered each time he came close to her. Most of his comments were funny and she laughed and enjoyed listening to his commentary.

“Man, that was awesome!” Derrick turned to her as the credits started rolling.

Madison was grinning from ear to ear. “Right? I loved it.” He stood up to leave but she instinctively grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?”

He turned to her, startled. “What do you mean?”

“Um, you can’t leave before the end credits. Hello? This is a Marvel movie.”

His laugh was deep and his green eyes danced as he sat back down and looked at her. “Duh, what was I thinking?”

She shook her head in mock disgust. “I don’t know. Are you really a Marvel fan?”

They both laughed and then turned back to the screen. They waited until the lights in the theatre came on to get up out of their seats. She followed her friends out, with Derrick close behind.

“We should do that again?”

Madison turned to face him. “Do what?”

“See a movie.” His gaze flashed to the ground as he spoke.

“Together?” Her eyes widened. This was a surprise.

Derrick laughed. “Yeah. You and me. I had fun tonight.”

“I, um, I, ah, yeah…me too.”

“Okay, so give me your number and I’ll call you.”

Madison was stunned and her words caught in her throat. Derrick took his phone out of the pocket of his hoodie and stared at her, waiting for her to speak.

“Oh, um, okay.” She stammered and then raddled off her phone number.

“Awesome. I’ll call you.” He smiled again, and this time she felt a chill go down her spine at the sight. He had one bottom tooth that was slightly crooked, which made him look even more cute as far as she was concerned.

By this time, the rest of the group had caught up with them. Derrick had moved away to be with his group of friends. He waved to her as he headed towards the parking lot. She just stood in shocked silence as her friends talked around her. A boy had never asked for her number before, she wasn’t sure what to do. 

“Mads? Mads, did you hear me?”

She shook her head and looked at Kelly. “Sorry, Kel. What did you say?”

“I asked if you heard from Amy. Did she text you? We’re thinking of going to Ray’s for ice cream. What do you think?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” She looked at her phone. “No message from her, so let’s go to Ray’s. I can text her from there.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go.” Kelly, Christy, and Madison headed towards the corner of the parking lot to Ray’s ice cream shop.

“So, Mads. What’s up with you and basketball star, Derrick?” Christy jabbed her elbow into Madison’s side and smirked at her friend. 

Madison felt her cheeks begin to heat up. “Um…I don’t know. Why?”

“Cause, you looked awfully cozy in that movie,” Kelly chimed in. 

“I had fun talking to him.”

“Yeah, we guessed that.”

“He asked for my number.” 

“Oh my god!” Christy exclaimed. “He’s so cute, those dimples! And he’s like the best basketball player in the school.” They started giggling and talking about Derrick while they ate their ice cream and waited for Amy. 

When Madison got home from the movies, her mind was racing with thoughts of Derrick. His dark, shaggy hair and piercing eyes were ingrained in her mind. “Let’s not forget about those dimples or that smile!” She giggled to herself. “Christy was right, he is pretty cute.” She thought about his messy hair and giggled again. He always looked like he had just rolled out of bed, but that was kind of an appealing look, especially on him. She went to bed that night thinking about him and fell asleep with a smile on her lips.