by Nicola Haken
“I’ve got a Madonna Davis?” she said my name as if it was a question.
“Yep, that’s me.” Blaine snorted back a laugh and almost choked on his own saliva. “What can I say, my mum is her biggest fan.” And she was probably high as a kite when she sauntered into the registrar’s office.
The round lady twirled around on her swivel chair and rustled through a stack of papers on the shelf above a desktop computer. She snatched a handful and swivelled back round.
“Well, Madonna-”
“Please, call me Maddie.” Please. Please. Please.
“Maddie, I’m Mrs Jenkins. This is your schedule.” She handed me the wad of papers. “Unfortunately with it being the middle of the semester most of the electives are full, so I’ve pencilled you in for Spanish and dance.”
Dance? You have got to be fucking with me…
“Okay. Thanks.” I wasn’t planning on returning tomorrow so it didn’t really matter.
“There are also some brochures in there detailing our extensive range of extra curricular activities and also a guide to the school. You should find the map very helpful.”
“Thanks.”
“If you have any problems or queries you know where I am.”
“Thanks.” Christ, was I incapable of saying anything else?
“Come on, lish, I’ll show you to your first class,” Blaine said, taking the schedule from my hand and accidently brushing the edge of his fingers across the back of my hand. The warmth of his skin injected me like a surge of electricity causing me to gasp like an idiot. Although he didn’t make eye contact, a devilish grin spread across his lips and I knew damn well the gorgeous bastard was painfully aware of the effect he had on girls… on me.
“We’ve got physics together second period, pre-calculus fourth and economics fifth,” he stated, tracing the schedule with his taught finger. “You’re also in my humanities class on Wednesday’s and history on Friday’s,” he added with what I wanted to believe was a genuine smile. “But right now you’ve got English Lit. Come on, I’ll show you the way.”
Holy shit I was nervous. Actually screw that I was completely petrified. The sneers and whispers from nearly every passer-by hadn’t gone unnoticed.
“Nice sweater!” a girl with poker straight copper hair muttered sardonically as she sauntered past me, causing her group of clones to giggle as they twirled their ponytails around their fingers. One even had pigtails. Actual bloody pigtails. I’d not worn pigtails since I was five – and neither should she.
“Get fucked, Liv,” Blaine snapped. Copper Bitch blushed, threw a look of disgust my way and left without another word.
“It’s cold in England. This move was kind of sprung on me – I didn’t have time to shop for summer clothes.” Or the money… I felt compelled to justify myself as I fiddled with the hem of my jumper.
“Don’t sweat it, lish. You gotta feel sorry for ‘em really… what with only having one brain cell to share between ‘em.” Blaine winked at me and somehow it managed to send my insecurities packing. Until I remembered he wouldn’t be in my first class...
Thousands of evil butterflies from hell with shards of glass for wings took up flight in my stomach when I realised I was about to endure a whole hour of snide comments and cackles with nobody to defend me.
Lucky me.
Blaine paused by a strip of metal lockers and after double-checking the letter attached to my schedule he pointed to the one reserved for me. I twisted the combination to the numbers printed on my letter and peeked inside at the empty space which smelled of sweaty socks and aftershave. Yum. As yet I had nothing to put inside so I closed it again and turned to Blaine for further directions to my class.
“English Lit’s right through there,” Blaine gestured his hand towards a door with ‘3B’ etched onto the square pane of glass.
“Thanks,” I said, making no attempt to move.
“Don’t take no shit from anyone, lish. Them girls can smell fear.” I nodded weakly and reluctantly started to drag my feet across the floor. “Hey, Maddie!” he called after me and I yanked my neck around to meet his gaze. “I’ll meet you back here and walk to you to second period.”
“Thanks,” I uttered with a heartfelt smile. I really needed to Google alternative words of gratitude.
Walking into the lion’s cage I kept my eyes firmly focused on my destination – the teacher’s desk. I heard whispers and giggles but maybe I was just being egotistical to assume they were directed towards me. I wasn’t that special. I approached the desk prompting Mr Franks (according to the silver name plate) to look up. He was younger than I expected – mid-twenties at the oldest. I wondered idly if he was even old enough to teach. He ran a hand through his thick brown hair and widened his greyish-green eyes when he stood to greet me.
“You must be Madonna?” he said. A painfully thin girl with bottle-blonde hair scraped into a ponytail so tight it made her look like she’d had a facelift made no attempt to hide her amusement. I glared at her as she whispered to the girl behind her and pointed her thumb in my direction over her shoulder.
Bitch.
“I prefer Maddie.”
“Maddie it is then. Well, here you go, Maddie. There’s a spare seat just over there. Go and make yourself comfortable.” He handed me three textbooks and pointed to a double table at the back of the room. My heart sank when I noticed a girl already sitting at it and started to pray that she was a ‘keeps herself to herself’ type.
I should’ve know better than to pray for the impossible…
“You know Blaine Elwood?” she asked incredulously as I slid in beside her. I couldn’t help but be taken aback by her blatant disregard for the word hello.
“His step-mum and my mum are old friends,” I replied nonchalantly.
“Oh my god, you’re British!”
I know.
“Do you know Robert Pattinson?” she asked enthusiastically.
Is this chick for real?
“Sure, he came round for tea with the queen last week.” Her bright green eyes widened in astonishment.
“She’s fucking with you,” the most deliciously deep, smooth voice in the world interrupted. He laughed and I swear I could hear several people around us literally piss their pants.
“Blaine! What are you doing here?” the shamefully dumb blonde next to me asked, her face falling like she’d had a stroke as she gawped up at Blaine. Honest to god, a shallow pool of drool formed on the curve of her lips threatening to spill over at any given moment. I hadn’t noticed him creep up beside me and my heart began to thud so loudly I was almost certain he would be able to hear it.
“This paper was due in yesterday. I just found it in my locker and thought I’d drop it in. Better late than never.”
“Are you going to Wayne’s party a week on Saturday?” she asked eagerly and my eyes blinked rapidly as my brain struggled to catch up with the fact this wasn’t déjà vu – this was life actually repeating itself.
“Probably.” He gave the same answer in the same uninterested tone as he did the last girl who fluttered her eyelashes at him.
“Me too.” She grinned like a desperate idiot, twisting a rogue tendril of her hair (which had been bleached to the point of being almost white) around her small finger. At that moment in time I was feeling fairly confident I would not be coming back tomorrow.
“I’ve gotta get going. I’ll wait outside for you, Maddie.” I nodded a little too eagerly and realised I had just turned into the puppy-eyed blonde to my left.
“O.M.G are you two like a thing?”
“No!” Wow, I wasn’t expecting that to sting so badly. What the hell was wrong with me? “We’re new to the area and like I said my mum knows his family. He’s just being friendly.”
“Blaine Elwood doesn’t do friendly. Blaine Elwood does screwing and fighting and not much else. I’m telling you he’s crushing on you, girl.” I allowed myself to consider her words for a second, and then immediately wanted to slap mys
elf for being so stupid.
“That’s ridiculous. He’s just showing me around, that’s all.” Blondie surrendered her palms.
“Whatever you say. I’m Lori. Lori Hanson.” Lori offered her tiny manicured hand to shake and flashed me a genuinely warm smile. It was like she was actually happy to be sat with me. I shook her hand gratefully, pathetically desperate for her to like me.
“Maddie Davis.”
Blaine
I gave Mr Peterson a dodgy excuse about a dental appointment so I could cut Biology early and make sure I was outside Maddie’s English Lit class on time. Loitering outside the door to class 3B in the derelict corridor I stole a peek through the window. In all honesty I was more nervous than I should’ve been when I saw her laughing with Lori Hanson. Were they talking about me? I bet she couldn’t wait to fill Maddie in about my reputation.
Immediately I wanted to punch myself in the head for thinking I was that freakin’ important.
I was so engrossed with my stalking I almost shit my pants when the bell rang, deafening my ears and making me jump. Along with everyone else Maddie gathered her books and stuffed them into her backpack before throwing it over her shoulder and following Lori down the aisle between the desks.
I retreated back a few steps and then purposely mingled with the exiting crowd so it looked like I’d just arrived. Maddie spotted me immediately, eyeing me up with those big chocolate eyes from under her lashes. I’d be damned if she wasn’t flirting with me.
“How’d it go?” I asked casually.
“Better than expected, I suppose.” She shrugged and I had to blink my eyes away when I noticed her pert tits heave up and down with the roll of her shoulders.
Think kittens and grandmas.
I walked Maddie to second period and found myself balling my fists in my jeans pockets to stop me reaching out and holding her milky hand. She informed me of how much she liked Lori and my instinctive reaction was to laugh. Then she said Lori had talked her into a trip to the ice rink Thursday night. She couldn’t have seemed less enthusiastic about that if she’d tried. Then she gave me a recap of her English Lit lesson and said she got through it with only one derisive comment from Tamara Hammer.
“Yo, Dora! Boots not with you today?” My best friend and brother from another mother, Jason Fuller, hollered when he spotted Maddie sliding her purple backpack off her shoulder. I opened my mouth to tell him to fuck off but unexpectedly Maddie got in there first.
“Last I heard from him he was at home screwing your mother.”
I swear I just fell in love with this girl a little bit.
“Meow!” Jason retorted in a pitch I’d not heard since his balls dropped. Maddie shrugged, her lips pursed together in a firm line. She looked seriously pissed… and hot.
“I’ll be back in just a sec,” I said to Maddie, summoning Jason to follow me with stern eyes. He followed me down the corridor until we reached the double glass doors which lead out onto the courtyard.
“You got a feisty one there, man. Fucked her yet?”
“It’s not like that Jase. Her mom is old friends with Trudy. She’s new around here - I’m just showing her the ropes. I need you to lay off her, okay?”
“Whoa, you got it bad ain’t ya? Since when do you care how I speak to girls?”
“She’s not like other girls, bro. She’s…” What is she? “Look, Jase, just back off, okay. You screw with her, you screw with Trudy. You screw with Trudy and I’ll be the one getting the shit off my dad.” Yes. That sounded like a perfect excuse for being protective of her. So, why didn’t I believe it?
“Sure, man. Whatever you say,” he agreed, surrendering his palms in the air. “You’re gonna fuck her though, right?”
“Drop it, Jase,” I snapped firmly and then that stupid thing happened again where ridiculous words flop out of my mouth without permission. “You up for a trip to the ice rink Thursday night?”
Seriously, what the fuck was I playing at?
“Cute chicks falling on their ass and giving me a chance to play hero? I’m in.”
Funny, that would have been my reaction two days ago. But now the only girl I seemed to want to play hero for was the feisty British cutie waiting for me by the lockers.
Before walking back to Maddie, I’d planned to ask Jason to switch places with me next period, knowing he had the only table with a spare seat for her to sit at, but that would only have fuelled his belief that I wanted to get in her panties so I left it. I spent the whole of physics gawping at them, scrutinising Jason’s every move. Each time I saw him brush her arm with his or saw him making her giggle my blood simmered a little hotter. I’d be damned if I knew why.
The hour-long lesson dragged by in a haze and I was thankful Mrs Montgomery didn’t call on me during the question and answer session. When it was time to leave for third period I saw Jason guide Maddie towards the door with his hand on the small of her back. I clenched my fists by my side, eager to punch him in the face. Realising I had no claim over her only made me madder, and so I shoved past the pair of them and got the hell out of there before I did something stupid.
I sat in my car and worked my way through four smokes, too irate to actually drive anywhere. What the hell was wrong with me? I didn’t want to screw Maddie. Honestly. Sort of. Well maybe only a little. So why did I have such a problem with Jason getting a shot? My cell phone dinged twice… speak of the devil.
Where u ran to man? We got practice in 10. U gona be there?
Shit. My dad would go ballistic if I missed football practice. But I just didn’t think I could face it today – face Jason and his inevitable interrogation. Plus, it was just one time. How would he even find out?
Tell coach I’m sick. CBA today bro.
Jason replied almost immediately.
U never miss practice. What’s gotten into u man? Wanna talk?
Christ, what are we, girls?
No I’m good. Just feel rough. Prob too much beer last night.
Tossing my phone onto the passenger seat I sparked up another smoke. Then I cussed out loud when my cell dinged again. Leave me the fuck alone!
U need me to give Dora a ride home?
Fuck. I’d not thought that one through. Like hell I was going to let him be alone with Maddie for that long. He’d have fucked her and thrown her to the curb before they’d even made it out the parking lot.
No. I’m actually feeling better. C U at practice. By the way, her name is Maddie.
My aim all morning had been to convince Jason I wasn’t interested in Maddie. Yeah, I was doing a real great job of that.
After flicking my cigarette butt out of the window I headed round to the trunk to grab my kitbag for football practice. I was grateful today was just conditioning exercises. I just didn’t think my mind would have been on the game out on the field. Noting Jason was using the pull up bar, I had no choice but to opt for the bench press at the opposite side of the room – it was the only piece of equipment that was free.
I hated the bench press. It made me remember… Shuddering, I blocked all thoughts from my mind, focusing solely on a loose ceiling tile above me as I pressed ninety kilograms with Ben Duran spotting me from behind.
Heading to the locker room after finishing up I’d got away without the third degree.
Almost.
“So, you gonna tell me what the hell’s eating you or what?” Jason cornered me by my locker.
“Nothin’ to tell.” Now fuck off.
“It’s Dora ain’t it? You can’t bullshit me, man, you been in a funk ever since that chick showed up.”
“She only showed up yesterday! You say it like I’ve been pining after her for months.”
“So, if you’re not interested… mind if I take a shot?”
Damn right I mind!
“Sure. Just don’t fuck her around, bro. It’s not worth the shit off my dad.” That had to be the most difficult lie I’d ever told. And the most ridiculous. Hell, my dad couldn’t hold me responsible for ev
ery guy that thinks with his dick. Plus I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even like her. He sure as hell made it clear he thinks her mom’s nothing but a piece of cheap trash last night.
“Cheers, man,” he beamed, punching my shoulder. “I’ve never fucked a British girl before. Hell, it’ll be like screwing the queen herself.”
“You sick bastard. The queen is like two-hundred years old.” That was my first reaction. The second was a warning.
“I mean it, Jase. Don’t hurt her,” I said firmly, glowering at him. “She seems real nice that’s all– not like the rest of the sluts round here,” I tacked on when I realised I had no right to be so protective of her.
“Scouts honour,” he said, holding two fingers in the air. “I can be a gentleman. Hell, I might even buy her a pizza first.” He winked at me and I was almost certain he’d have screwed her before sundown. The thought rippled through my stomach like vomit. What had I done?
Maddie emerged from last period with Lori, giggling and whispering like they’d been friends for years. It felt good to see her happy and that confused the hell out of me.
“I’ll call you later, Maddie!” Lori practically sang in her ear before hugging her and skipping away.
“You made a friend?” I asked her.
“You sound surprised,” she replied, with an offended glint in her eyes.
“No, I didn’t mean that. I’m just- I mean… Lori Hanson? Seriously? I think my left shoe has more brain cells.”
“Well I think she’s great,” she snapped defensively. “If for no other reason than she’s the only girl who hasn’t been a total bitch to me today.”
“They’ll warm up to you.”
“I wouldn’t want them to. I’d shoot myself before I’d be friends with vindictive arseholes like them.”
“That’s so cute,” I said, throwing my head back and laughing.
“What is?”
“The way you say ‘arse’.” I tried to mimic her accent but I’m pretty sure I sounded like some kind of Chinese/Irish crossbreed. She giggled and I swear it was the most adorable sound in the world.