Madison was lost in a sea of green fabric. She twisted and contorted her body every which way but it only exacerbated the problem.  Wildly flinging her arms about, she yelled, “Help me!”

She heard her bedroom door open and blindly turned toward the sound. There was a long pause, and then her mother sighed, “Honestly.”

She knew she must look ridiculous—head stuck in her dress with one hand through the armhole while the other was trapped at her side—but there was no reason for her mother to sound so annoyed. After all, she wasn’t the one fighting with an inanimate object and losing…badly.

“It’s being stuck in the ultimate corn maze,” Madison complained, craning her neck in hopes of finding the opening.

“If you’d just waited like I told you too you wouldn’t be in this predicament.”

“I want to put it on before Avery and Kelly get here.” They would be arriving at any minute. The plan was for the three girls to get ready for Homecoming together at Madison’s house then the boys would arrive at six.

“You should put it on after you apply your makeup and do your hair. It’ll get crinkled this way.”

Grunting, Madison bent at the waist and wiggled her hand up. “Will you please just help me?” she grumbled, not wanting a lecture on proper etiquette.

Her mother turned her around and found a zipper hidden in the seam on the side. She unzipped it and suddenly the fabric gave way and Madison could breathe.

“That’s so much better. Thanks,” she told her mother as the dress slipped into place. After zipping the dress up, her mother removed the strands of hair caught in the back and swept it over her shoulders, smoothing the riot of curls along the way.

“Beautiful,” she stated, turning Madison to the full-length mirror near her closet. The pride in her mother’s eye caught Madison off guard. They’d been so at odds with each other over the past year she rarely saw anything but frustration.

She looked in the mirror and gave her mom a shy smile. “A chip off the ole’ block, huh?”

Her mother laughed and rested her hands on Madison’s shoulders. “I’m not so bad in my old age.”

“You’re not old.”

“I feel it. My high school Homecoming was so long ago and nothing as fancy as what you kids have now. There was a few streamers and balloons, but that was about it.”

“Who did you go with?” she asked, her eyes sparkling with mischief. This was the first time since the incident last week they were at ease with each other. She’d apologized the next morning and her mother accepted but it had been a stiff and short conversation. After that, she went out of her way to avoid her mother. Not hard to do considering she was rarely home.

Her mom pointed her nose in the air and said primly, “A very respectable young man.”

Madison knew her mother was lying. From the stories her grandma told, her mother was something of a wild child. “I heard that respectable young man rode a motorcycle and wore a leather jacket. Very Rebel Without a Cause.”

Her eyes narrowed and she tugged on one of Madison’s curls. “You’ve been talking to Grandma again, haven’t you?”

“She might have spilled the beans about some of your childhood escapades. From the way you made it sound, you were the epitome of all things good in the world. Certainly opened my eyes.”

“I didn’t think my wilder times were a necessary learning tool. Thank God you haven’t followed in my footsteps.” Wrapping her eyes around her from the back, her mother pressed their cheeks together and looked in the mirror. “I know we don’t always get along or see eye to eye, but I am proud of you, Madison. I wouldn’t trade you for anyone else in the world.”

Guilt slammed into Madison full throttle. She almost winced at the impact. “Mom…I—I’m sorry for the other day. I know I shouldn’t have skipped school like that and made you worry. I didn’t mean too. Honestly.” She spun so she could face her mother. “I just needed to get out. I felt like I was drowning and I needed air.”

Her mother let out a sigh. “My issue wasn’t with you skipping school, although,” she gave her a hard look, “that’s a big no-no and if you do it again you’ll be punished, but it was the fact that you didn’t have the simple courtesy to call and tell us where you were.”

When Madison opened her mouth to defend herself, her mother raised a finger and continued. “You talked about earning respect, well with the way you’ve been behaving, you haven’t earned ours either. What you did—running off and not returning till evening—was incredibly selfish. The only reason your father and I are even letting you go to this dance is because this is the first time you’ve shown an interest in something social since we’ve moved. But after this, you’re grounded along with extra chores. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she said, knowing she deserved the punishment.

“And your curfew is eleven o’clock—a minute, even a second after that, and you won’t be going anywhere till you graduate. Capisce?”

Madison nodded.

“Good. Now where’s your camera? I want to take a picture of us.” Her mother went to her desk and opened one of those drawers. “What do you call those things? Selfies?” She poked around, then closed it and moved on to the next.

Before she could open it, Madison cried, “No!” and rushed in between. That particular drawer held the pouch full of FEC coins. There was no way she was going to let her mother see that. “I mean, if you want to take a selfie use my phone. No one uses actual cameras for that.”

She raised her hands and back away. “Sorry, guess I’m not hip with the times.”

“The fact that you use that term in the first place says it all.” She didn’t move till she was sure her mother wouldn’t go looking. Then she picked up her phone off her nightstand and they took a picture together.

“Is the reason you don’t want me to look in your desk because that’s where you’ve hidden your diary?” her mother speculated.

“I don’t keep a diary.” Madison sent a quick text to Avery, telling her to hurry up. She loved her mother, but she was starting to switch into interrogator mode, which never boded well for Madison.

Her mother crossed the room and sat at the edge of her bed. “Who are you texting? A boy? Is he the reason you’ve been acting jumpy lately?”

“I’m texting Avery.”

“You know, if you are seeing a boy you can invite him over. Your father and I wouldn’t be too harsh on him.”

Madison sent her a knowing look. “Thanks, but I’ve learned my lesson.” The one time she brought a boy home for dinner, her parents scared him so badly he never spoke to her again. Not that she could blame him. Faced with a cop, armed with a gun and background check, she’d run the other way too.

“Oh come on,” her mom wheedled. “Even you had to admit it was hilarious. How was I supposed to know he’d take it so seriously?”

“You had an entire folder dedicated to information about him and his family! How else was he supposed to take it?”

“I did you a favor. If he really liked you, he would have stuck it out,” her mother insisted. Madison rolled her eyes and hauled her mom off the bed. Without saying a word, she dragged her to the door and opened it. “I’m getting the sense that you want me to go,” her mother said, stepping into the hallway. “I’ll let you know when your friends arrive.”

“Thanks,” she said and shut the door behind her. She hurried to the desk and grabbed the velvet pouch. She needed to hide it somewhere else because the second Madison left, her mom would be in here searching for it. Looking around the room, she spotted her pencil pouch on the floor next to her backpack. She dumped out the contents and shoved the coins inside. Grabbing her backpack, she placed both pencils and pouch on the bottom and stacked her books on top. Satisfied, she zipped it shut and threw a jacket on top.

She’d just gotten to her feet when the door opened and Avery and Kelly walked inside. Both had dresses draped over their arms and a duffle bag hanging across their chest.

“You made it,” she surmised, hurrying to help them unload.

“We got your SOS message while we were on the road,” Avery told her. “What happened?”

Madison closed the door and explained the situation.

“You didn’t want to tell your mom about Carson?” Kelly teased. She set her duffle bag on the carpet and before unpacking. Hair straighter, different size curling irons, bobby pins, hair spray and an assortment of other products were soon spread out.

“Absolutely not. He may be a cop’s kid, but he’s still male.”

“Male indeed,” Kelly hummed in approval. She fanned herself. “Have you seen him after a long run?”

“Kelly,” Avery warned.

“I can’t help it if he works up a sweat and his shirt sticks to his body. He may not be built like Zach Brewer, but he’s not skimping on the protein powder either.”

“No one is built like Zach Brewer,” Avery sighed, a dazed look in her eye.  

“Wyatt would be jealous if he heard you say that,” Madison teased.

Avery settled in front of the mirror with a bag of makeup in her lap. “Good. I want him to be so incredibly jealous he won’t be able to keep his hands off me. Although, if I can’t have Wyatt, I’ll take Zach.”

“Get in line, girlfriend,” Kelly told her. “I’ve been wanting him since the first day of high school. He is by far the best looking guy at our school.”

“Agreed.” Madison hadn’t seen him up close, but from what she could tell, he was absolutely gorgeous. And knew it to boot which was off-putting.

“Better not tell Carson that,” Avery teased back. “He seemed awfully attached to you this past week.”

Since the handholding incident, they’d been spending more time together. In the mornings, he would wait for her by her locker. They spent the few precious minutes before the morning bell saying hello and catching up on what they did the previous night. Then he would hold her books and walk her to class. At lunch, they developed a ritual of eating with their friends, then ten minutes before the bell, meet up and roam the hallways…holding hands of course. During journalism class, they were kept their relationship professional. No touching or flirting but the minute school was over, he would grab her hand and not let go till they parted ways.

Some girls might complain at the slow pace their relationship was taking, but for Madison, it was perfect. She wasn’t in a rush to label their connection or hasten the physical nature. She wanted to enjoy the feeling, savor the experience. People tended to rush into relationships, sprinting past the beginning so they could reach the goal—having a boyfriend or a girlfriend. But to Madison, that type of relationship seemed fake. They were more interested in the concept of a relationship than in actually being in one.

Kelly rolled a desk chair into the middle of the room. Urging Madison to sit, she said, “I can’t believe you turned down his invitation to Homecoming so you could go with us instead.”

She shrugged. The truth was that she wasn’t entirely comfortable spending an evening with Carson’s friends. It would have been awkward trying to think of things to say to virtual strangers.

Kelly plugged in a curling iron and began brushing Madison’s hair. “Well, I’m glad you are. It’s going to be a fun night, girls. I can feel it in the air."