Maddie hoped things would be better between her and her mother from now on. It seemed she'd finally pulled her head out of her butt and realized how difficult she'd been making her life. She was looking forward to a weekend with her father. On Friday morning, she took an overnight bag to school and shoved it in her locker. She took the subway to his place after school.

When she arrived, she was surprised to find another kid about her age already reclined on the couch. She realized she must be his girlfriend's daughter. What the hell was she doing here? Maddie figured she had the same thought about her, because she studied her with a confused look.

"Who are you?" she asked Maddie.

"Madeline," she responded, setting my bag down. "I'm Jason's daughter."

"Oh," she said, stuffing a Cheeto in her mouth. "I'm Charlie. Charlotte."

She didn't go to Maddie's school. Maddie went to one of the cabinets and found a granola bar for a snack.

"Is my dad home?" she asked her as she sat on the other couch. She shook her head.

"I think he works until six," she responded.

She had MTV on, which was fine with her. They watched silently without talking, wondering what to think about each other. Was she going to be here the whole weekend? Was she staying the night?

Her mom walked in a few minutes later with some grocery bags. "Hi, Charlie!" she called, setting her armload of bags down. "Can you can help me?"

Charlie sighed and walked to the kitchen, where she helped unload groceries. Her mom caught sight of Maddie.

"Oh, hi Maddie!" she said, smiling.

"Hi," she responded politely. She was in Dad's apartment with two strangers. It was super uncomfortable. She wished her dad would be home soon. A little after six, he finally arrived.

"Hi, sweetheart," he greeted his daughter, planting a kiss on her head. She was relieved as he sat down with her. He chatted with Julia about their days as they all relaxed in the living room. Well, Maddie wasn't very relaxed. Her dad announced he was going to go change and then they could all go out to dinner. Maddie gave him a minute, then walked back to this bedroom. She knocked and heard him tell her to come in. She stood a bit nervously while he combed his hair in the bathroom.

"Uh...Dad?" she asked a bit timidly.

"Yep?" he asked.

"Is Charlie gonna be here all weekend?"

"She's staying til tomorrow afternoon," he told his daughter. "She'll be back with her dad then."

Maddie bit her lip, feeling disappointed.

"Where are we sleeping?" she asked. There was one guest room with one queen sized bed.

"Uh, we'll have to figure that out. The couch is a pull-out. Would you mind being there?"

She shrugged. "I guess not."

Her father walked out and squeezed her upper arm, smiling. "Great. Thank you. I think you'll like Charlie. She's a nice kid."

He walked out, leaving Maddie trailing behind him. Jason found his shoes and began lacing them up on the couch.

"Have you girls talked much?" he asked Maddie and Charlie. "I think you're both in the same grade."

"Sophomore?" Charlie asked, and Maddie nodded. "Where do you go?"

"Hunter," she responded.

"Smarty pants," she quipped. "I go to Stuyvesant."

Madeline nodded. She didn't know anyone who went there. It was a huge city, after all. She kinda hated how adults thought that just because two kids were the same age that they would get along. Maddie studied Charlie. She seemed to be going for a bit of a hipster vibe, but wasn't sure she was completely pulling it off. They would never be friends. Maddie wondered if they would eventually be stepsisters.

"Everyone ready?" Julia asked, putting on some lipstick. Everyone got up and they headed to a diner down the street. Madeline was quiet during most of the meal. It seemed like the three of them were all buddies. They talked and joked around easily, and Maddie couldn't really find a way to insert herself into the conversation. She just listened, getting more and more annoyed that she couldn't just spend time with her dad. Why did they have to be here? Didn't they have their own place?

She trailed behind them on the way home. The plan was to eat popcorn and watch movies. Maddie kind of just wanted to disappear and be by herself, but since her bed was the couch, she couldn't. She tucked herself into the single couch chair and scrolled through her phone.

Finally, everyone went to bed. Her dad helped make up her bed, then kissed her good night. Maddie climbed under the covers and tried to settle in. She could feel the springs in the mattress and felt a pang of jealousy that Charlie got the good bed.

In the morning she awoke, not feeling very refreshed, when Julia walked into the kitchen to make coffee. She must have forgotten Maddie was there because she was pretty scantily clad. What she was wearing almost looked like lingerie. Gross.

As she moved around the kitchen, she caught glimpse of Maddie again, who was starting to sit up in bed.

"Oh! Madeline!" she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I forgot you were here."

She rushed down the hallway and returned wearing a robe. Maddie rolled her eyes as she got out of her 'bed', and stumbled to the bathroom. At least she was first to the shower. When she came out, Julia had already changed the pull-out bed back into the couch. The news had been turned on and she was sipping coffee.

"Hey there," she greeted Maddie. Madeline grabbed a breakfast bar from the kitchen and sat down in the single chair again, scrolling through her phone. She hoped it sent the message that she didn't want to talk. Her dad wandered out a few minutes later, yawning. Charlie, it seemed, like to sleep late. That was fine with Maddie.

"Maddie, do you wanna go do something today?" he asked, sitting down with his coffee.

"Just the two of us?" he checked.

"Sure," he said, taking a sip.

Maddie shrugged. "We could go to a museum or something," she said. They decided on MoMa. Julia went to wake up her daughter a little after ten. She had to meet her father around noon. From Charlie's reaction, she didn't like her father that much. Maddie felt lucky that she liked both Lin and her father.

"Can't I just stay here with you?" she complained on the couch, curled up with a blanket.

"That'll upset your father," Julia said, "And then he'll call me and complain and I don't want to have to listen to that."

"I don't want to listen to him either!" Charlie pointed out.

"It's the custody arrangement, Char," Julia shrugged. "Nothing I can do about it."

Charlie grumbled and turned her attention back to the TV.

___

Over the next month or so, whenever Maddie visited Charlie was there most of the time. It was starting to get super annoying. She thought Charlie was obnoxious and loud, and her fake-hipster thing was getting stupid.

The worst, though, was when Maddie went to her father's, expecting to spend time with him, but he was out with Charlie. She thought he knew she was coming over, but he had taken her to see Dear Evan Hansen. Madeline had wanted to see that. Why was he doing father/daughter things with Charlie instead of him? It seemed a bit childish, but Maddie was starting to get jealous.

They arrived home after 10:30. Maddie had claimed the bedroom since she was there first. They walked in, talking about the show excitedly. Apparently, it was amazing. Jason saw his daughter as he came in, and it registered shock and regret.

"Oh my God, Madeline!" he said apologetically. "I completely you forgot you were coming over. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," she lied, scrolling through her Twitter feed. He sighed as she set down his keys.

"Well, it's a school night for both of you, so time to get to bed," he told both girls. Charlie nodded and went to the bathroom. Maddie crossed her arms and frowned.

"How could you take her to the show and not me?" she asked her father, hurt.

Jason sat down, sighing. He felt terrible. "Maddie, I'm sorry," he apologized. "She's been begging to see it for months and I've been trying to get a little closer to her."

"But I'm your daughter," she pointed out. "Why are you spending so much time with her?"

"Julia and I have been together for six months," he told Maddie. "We'll probably end up getting married so Charlie will be my stepdaughter."

For some reason, that hurt. Madeline knew she had plenty of adults in her life that cared about her, but Jason was her father, not Charlie's. She had her own dad.

"Good for you," she mumbled. It was like her father was creating his own new family, and she wasn't part of it. If he married Julia, they'd be a cute little family, and Maddie would just be a tagalong. Charlie would live with them full time and she'd be forever stuck on the pull-out couch.

"Maddie, don't make a big deal out of this," he begged his daughter. Madeline narrowed her eyes at him.

"Not make a big deal? I'm with you every Wednesday and you forgot. You were with Charlie instead of me. That's shitty," she told him.

"Watch your mouth," he told her. "I'm not going to apologize for spending time with Charlie. I'm sorry I forgot about you being here, but that doesn't mean you have to be unreasonable about things."

Maddie was filled with anger. She stood up and grabbed her backpack.

"I'm going home," she announced, pulling the straps over her shoulders.

"No you're not," Jason told her as she walked to the door. "It's almost 11:00. You're staying here."

Maddie just ignored him and stormed out of the apartment. She knew none of her parents liked her being out alone at night, but right now she felt like no one better mess with her. She walked quickly to the subway and caught her ride home.

When she arrived, she figured her mom and Lin had probably already gone to bed, but Jason must have texted them. Lin was waiting for her in the living room.

"Madeline," he began, his arms crossed.

"Save it," Maddie snapped as she tried to walk past him to her bedroom. He grabbed her by the upper arm to stop her.

"You cannot just take off at 11 p.m. and ride the subway," Lin told her firmly. "It's not safe."

"Well, I didn't die, did I?" she pointed out, shrugging his hand off. Lin let her go but wasn't done yet.

"Thank God," he said. "But you know better. What happened?"

"Dad forgot I was coming and he took Charlie to see Dear Evan Hansen," she told him. Lin could tell she was really upset. He knew she looked forward to spending time with her dad and to have him forgot and take Charlie instead must have hurt.

"Well, that sounds really upsetting," he acknowledged, sighing. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she grumbled. "Can I just go to bed?"

Lin rubbed his eyes. "Promise me you won't do that again. If you're that upset in the future, call me and I'll pay for a cab."

"Fine," she said again, then stormed back to her bedroom. Finally, as she was alone, she let the tears fall.