I know this one is a little late and it's quite short, but I'll upload the next one soon :) Hope you all enjoy :)

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Chapter 10

So it turns out that going to the mall basically involved sitting on the edge of a fountain and talking for about an hour, sipping our milkshakes. There is no actual shopping involved, which is good, since I only have twenty three dollars (and a nickel). No, wait, nineteen dollar and fifty-three cents after the milkshake.

I mostly just sip my strawberry milkshake rather than join in their gossip. They mostly just talk about the latest gossip from school, discussing people I don’t know.

“So, Madison,” Summer says, turning to look right at me. “Are you really stuck in AP Physics?”

I nod. “Yup. Sucks, huh?”

“You’re lucky you’ve got that Dwight guy as your lab partner. He is your lab partner, right?” I wobble my head ‘yes’. “Well shouldn’t be too hard. He’s such a geek, it’s kind of sad, actually. I bet you can get him to do most of the work for you.” Tiffany smiles innocently, like she didn’t mean anything horrible by it.

“Why’s it kind of sad?” I ask. “That he’s a geek?”

“Well, just, you know,” Tiffany says vaguely. “Sad.”

“Oh,” I say. “If you say so.”

I say it in a way that makes it unequivocal that I disagree with her saying it’s ‘sad’ that Dwight is smart. He was a nice person, whether he was glad to be an AP Physics student or not.

Then I say, looking back to Tiffany. “What’s the situation with you and Bryce?”

“Why? Are you interested in him?” She grins widely. “I should totally set you two up.”

“No, I’m not interested in him, I just – well I was wondering, is all. You know, he’s the star soccer player or whatever, you’re the cheerleader… The way you act around him I – I just thought you guys might be… you know…”

I trail off, feeling idiotic, because Tiffany looks a little bit like she wants to laugh. She’s halfway through putting her hair up into a ponytail, and pauses to look at me, and I can see her trying to decide if she’s going to laugh or not.

Tiffany does laugh, but it’s not in a mean, condescending way, like I expected. It’s more like she finds it amusing that I think there’s something going on between her and Bryce.

She finishes her ponytail. “Bryce is hot, and he’s a total sweetheart, believe me. But me and him? It’s just not going to happen. We’ve practically grown up together though. Our moms met in college.”

I nod, not knowing what to reply.

“Besides,” she carries on, inspecting her nail a moment, where I spot there’s a slight chip in the lilac nail varnish, “I’ve totally sworn off guys. Right, Sum?”

Summer nods. “You mean after the Steve situation, right?”

“What’s that?”

“So freshman year,” Tiffany begins, “I started dating this guy, Steve, and we were totally loved up. And then winter of sophomore year he just – whoop! – up and left. His parents moved to somewhere in Idaho. Idaho! Totally broke my heart. Sworn off guys entirely since then.”

“Entirely?” Summer raises an eyebrow and giggles.

Tiffany smiles sheepishly. “Okay, okay, almost entirely.”

I don’t really say anything much, and then she exclaims, “Oh, no, no! Not like that. I don’t, like, hook up with every hot guy who comes my way. Not like that! Making out with every hot guy who comes my way though, that’s a different thing completely…” She winks and she and Summer laugh. “But yeah, I don’t sleep around.”

“I didn’t suggest you did.”

“I know, I’m just saying. You might’ve been thinking it.”

“Oh. For the record, I wasn’t.”

She laughs, and slurps the last of her milkshake. “How’s your love life been then, Madison? Come on, tell us a little gossip about yourself. Any sex scandals? Games or truth or dare gone awry?”

I snort, and shake my head. “Yeah, right.”

“Oh, come on,” Summer says, giggling. “Spill it all.”

“There’s really nothing to spill,” I say. “No… sex scandals, no truth or dare games gone bad. Nothing.”

“Never had a boyfriend?” Summer sounds like she seriously doubts that, almost like it shocks her. I’m kind of flattered she thinks I could’ve had a boyfriend, actually.

I would’ve stammered a vague answer and tried to avoid answering, but why should I lie to them? It’s not something I should be ashamed of, but I can’t help it. When you spend years being ridiculed and trying to keep to the shadows, you kind of learn what people want to hear from you to fit in.

But I steel myself and say, “Nope, never had a boyfriend.”

Tiffany holds up her hand, palm out. “Don’t leave me hanging here.”

I give her the high five. “We should start a club.”

Summer and Tiffany both laugh at that, and I have to smile, since they think I’m funny.

“How about kissing guys?” Tiffany asks. “You’ve kissed a guy, right?”

I laugh, hoping it doesn’t sound as nervous as I feel. “Why?”

They’re not going to let me stall though; Summer elbows me playfully. “Just answer, already, we’re not going to judge you or anything.”

I close my eyes briefly and take a deep breath.

“No. I’ve never kissed a guy.”

The two of them exchange a glance and look surprised. I’m flattered, actually, that they look so shocked, like they legitimately think I could have kissed a boy.

“I’m totally setting you up with Bryce,” Tiffany announces happily. “Summer, don’t you think they’d be cute together?”

“He’s totally into you,” she agrees. “Go for it. It’s not like there’s anything stopping you.”

I shrug. “I barely know him.”

“Then you get to know him,” Tiffany says. She pulls out her phone, tapping away at it as she carries on talking. “I’m all over it, don’t worry. A little get-together at my place Friday night. My parents are out then, some conference out of town. I wasn’t planning on doing anything but I cannot resist now. It’s perfect. Just a small thing, though.”

“How small are we talking? Like, fifty people?”

“Yeah,” Tiffany says. I don’t bother to point out that fifty people hardly seems like a small get-together. “I’ve got this all under control, Madison, don’t you worry. You and Bryce will be the Brangelina of Midsommer High in no time.”

“Hey, quick question,” Summer says. “Madison or Maddie?”

“Madison,” I say quickly. “Madison. Not Maddie.”

The hastiness in my reply is the only thing that might betray a hint of the horror I feel at the name ‘Maddie’. I don’t want to be associated with the old me. I don’t want that. I can’t.

“Madison’s cooler,” Tiffany says distractedly. “Okay, done. Oh, and Madison, you need to accept my friend request on Facebook.”

*

Tiffany drops me home from the mall just after six.

“I’ll talk to you later!” she trills from her car – which, for the record, is a very expensive car. Beige leather interior, and a black paint job so shiny I can see myself in the side of the car. It’s a convertible. She and Bryce must have similar tastes in cars.

“See you,” I say, just before I shut the door. “Thanks for the ride!”

“No problem. See ya!”

I walk up to the door, and fish into my school bag for my house key. When I find them, I check the time on my cell phone as I unlock the door. It’s eight minutes past six, and Mom told me dinner was at six… Oops.

“I’m home!” I call into the house, and shut the door behind me.

“Madison?” Mom scurries out of the kitchen. I expect her to tell me off for being late to dinner. But she grins broadly and says, “How was the mall? Was it fun? How’s school? Did you make lots of friends? Did you see Dwight?”

“Whoa, Mom, calm down,” I laugh. “Breathe.”

I go into the kitchen and sit at the table. It’s meatloaf tonight, I see.

Slightly burnt meatloaf, I notice. Mom’s cooking.

“So?” Mom prompts excitedly. Her whole face is bright and happy, like a kid on Christmas morning. Dad’s put down his newspaper and cell phone to hear all about my day too. I guess my parents were just as nervous for my first day as I was.

“Bad news first,” I say, “they messed up my transcripts so I’m stuck in AP Physics.”

“Oh,” Mom says. But her excitement isn’t dampened.

Dad says, “We’ll get you a tutor.”

“Good news is, Dwight’s my lab partner, so that’s nice. Um, Carter – you know, Dwight’s friend I told you I met at the party? – is in my art class. There’s this girl called Tiffany in my homeroom, and she’s in my biology…”

I tell them a little about Tiffany, Summer, Melissa, and Bryce. I don’t really know the others very well to say much about them, and I miss out the incident at lunch where Kyle walked into Andy and made him spill his drink over himself. I don’t think that’d make the best impression on my parents.

“Well they seem very nice,” Dad says.

“I like the sound of this Bryce boy,” Mom says. “Walking you to your homeroom. Tell me all about him.”

“Oh, that reminds me. Tiffany said that she’s going to have a party at her house on Friday night.”

“A party?” Dad says. “Already? It’s the first week of school.”

“Well, it’s a small get-together,” I clarify, choosing my words carefully. I wouldn’t call it small, I’d have thought it was a decent sized party, but what did I know? They were Tiffany’s words, not mine.

“No drinking,” Dad says automatically.

“I know. I don’t even know if they will drink. They might not.”

“Mm.”

“Is Dwight going?” Mom asks me.

“Um…” I shovel a forkful of mashed potato into my mouth to delay answering. I swallow hard. “I don’t think so. Tiffany didn’t really specify who was going. But, uh, I don’t think he hangs around with the others, if I’m honest…”

“Oh. I see,” Mom says, and I know she instantly understands. “He still sounds like a very nice boy, though. Don’t not be friends with him just because your other friends don’t hang out with him.”

“Mom, I know. I’m not in kindergarten.”

“No, you’re in high school. It’s worse.”

I laugh, but the thing is, we all know she’s perfectly serious – and totally right.

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so this one is sort of a filler chapter, but I wanted you to get to know Tiffany and Summer a little better! I'll upload the next chapter on Wednesday/Thursday :)

please comment and let me know your thoughts on the girls so far! :) x