MADISON

When it's dinner time, we order a pair of hamburgers and we eat them in silence. The day went by incredibly fast and was full of new things. I didn't think I could ever feel great with my parents again after what happened, but it seems like they aren't the way I thought, especially my mother. It's incredible for me all the things she has done for me during my whole life, she risked her career to keep me safe, even though we aren't biologically related.

"Mom?" I ask when I am done eating and she smiles eating the last bite of her burger, "you said you were there the day I born. Right?"

"Since the very beginning."

"Did you met my mother?" I say without double thinking it and she stares at me for a moment. She nods.

"I helped her to give birth to you," she replies still staring at me. Who would be able to give away a baby and let them hurt it?

"She never met you, if that's what you are thinking about," she says reading my mind again and I look at her, "the labs pay them a big amount of money for the pregnancy and they receive other payment when the baby is born, then they sign an agreement of full confidentiality and grant the custody of the child. Declaring that they would not have any interest in looking for the baby or cause any kind of trouble to the lab."

"She never wanted to see me?" I ask with a lump in my throat.

"She wasn't allowed to, the most she knew about you was how you cried when you born, she didn't know if you were a boy or a girl... nothing," she replies. "A blanket covered her vision the whole time so that she couldn't see you."

I nod and then we have a few minutes in silence, I guess she is letting me try to process everything and I do so, till Levy comes to my mind. I raise my view to see her again and she immediately asks what's going on.

"Levy knows it," I say and she smiles.

"I wasn't expecting less of you, he's your best friend since you started living," she says.

"You don't get it, Levy's mother has a case that -"

"That could end up with the experiments, I know," she ends calmly what I try to explain. "I'm going to tell her myself what's going on when it's safe."

"What?" I ask fully confused. Why would she reveal herself? When would it be safe? I understand nothing.

"The laboratories are aware of Levy's mother and the association she works with, everybody is warned about what could happen if they discover where they are."

"What do you have to do with this?" I ask.

"Since I got you out of the lab and with everything we went through with that, my thoughts about the experiments changed. To be honest, everything they test is not useful. I discussed it many times with your father, but he doesn't change his point of view about anything. Still, after so many years, she still sees you as an act that could've ended with the lab. He got so mad at me, we fight almost every time except when you are back home. We don't agree on anything. I have tried to divorce him since the moment the other girl born. I didn't want to know anything more about experiments. Nevertheless, the Control Centre accorded that my permanence in the lab was necessary and I had to sign a contract that establishes I'm going to stay till the new experiment is over."

"That explains way too much about my father," I think but actually say it out loud.

"A part of me wants to believe that despite all of this, he has a little bit of love for you, but his work needs a very hard heart with children," I nod and she forces a smile.

"What are you going to tell Levy's mom?"

"The location of all the labs," she says surprising me. I bite my lip thinking what's correct to ask next, but this time she's the one that throws the question to me, "would you like to end up with this?"

"In what way can I possibly do something?" I ask and this time she bites her lip like she isn't sure of what she will say.

"In order to attack the labs... we need something to do it with," I stare at her waiting for her to continue. "We need to take the girl out."

"How?"

"I have been thinking about this for years, I could do it and take her away, talk with Levy's mother and keep the girl as a proof, but there wouldn't be enough time to do everything. The lab knows everything about us and the places we own, everything and if I suddenly disappear they would know something's wrong."

Every word she says confuses me a bit more. "But now... there's you," she says.

"I can't take anyone, there's no way. I don't know how to drive, I don't know how to take care of a child, I wouldn't know where to go," I hurry to say.

"Haven't I said I thought of this for a long time?" my heart agitates for only thinking in the thousand ways this could end up and everything leads to the same conclusion: bad. "Trust me," she says placing her hand on mine. I nod.

"Do you remember this?" she says placing a silver key over the table, the key for the test room. "It's a copy of mine, the girl is alone at night which makes it the perfect moment. You will take her out and then leave wherever you want to."

"How?" I ask.

"You will need to ask for Levy's help." I shake my head as soon as I hear his name. "We need him."

"They know we know each other, they will look for him, they'll find us," I say. "Levy's not an option."

"Listen to me," she says seriously. "Everyone knows Clarisse is Levy's mother. So if they don't want to raise suspicions about anything, they will not interrogate her son about nothing."

It somehow makes sense but I couldn't handle if something happens to him for my fault, for something that doesn't have anything to do with him. But there's no one else that could help us. Anyone else would give information about us without double thinking it.

"He just needs to take both of you away to save us time," I nod this time. She smiles. "Excellent, once you are out I will start working with Levy's mother, so when they find you, everything is ready."

"What will happen with the girl?"

"We will protect her, you can be sure of it. As we will protect the rest of the children that exist. She might save the majority of them just for the fact of knowing the world."

"Are you sure it's going to work?"

"I am."

The next day, I keep up with appearances. Everything part of my mother's plan. Do not talk to anyone at home, not even Sarah. Go to school disheveled as the day before, talk with Levy and prepare for tonight.

Charles parks next to the sidewalk and walks around the van to open the door for me, "have a nice day Miss Wrestler," he says as soon as I get out of the car.

"I doubt it," I say and walk to the entrance without looking back.

Once I am inside, I look through the people for Levy without success. Finding disgusted looks for my apparent mess of outfit, hairstyle, and face. I look down and keep searching for him. At the cafeteria, I found my whole group, Jessica, Anne, Liam, Christina, and Levy.

"At least keep up appearances, Wrestler," nothing less than Emma Carlton, stands in front of me with her stupid cheerleader outfit and her tall red ponytail.

"It's not a good moment, Carlton," I reply trying somehow to get Levy to look at me and get him out of here. Unfortunately, his eyes just stare at Jessica who doesn't seem to have intentions of letting him go. Sometimes I wonder why when people fell in love they get so stupid they don't get to see anything else than their supposed to be soulmate.

"I assume at least you fix yourself when you hang out with my boyfriend?" another question from Emma gets me back to reality and when I do so I realize a big amount of people have gathered around us, idiots. I make eye contact with her and force a smile.

"Repeat your question," I reply even though I clearly heard what she said, but she's so stupid that she repeats it. "First of all, I have never hung out with your boyfriend because you don't have one. Second, if you want your foolish title of perfection, go ahead I don't want it, and third, I don't need to fix myself to look good, at least not in your beloved Sam's opinion," I reply while I open myself a way out of the crowd. When I'm done, Emma gets her own wave of boos and I just keep walking to the table where everyone else is.

"What was all the fuss about?" asks Anne. I flush.

"I guess I just dealt with Emma Carlton?" I reply and Anne smiles proudly.

"Loony-Carlton finally fell," says Anne now looking at her phone with a smile.

"Is she still obsessed with Sam?" asks Liam and all of us nod annoyed. Anne flushes and then rolls her eyes.

"I can't blame Emma for being jealous, I am too and you're my friend," says Jessica in an attempt to defend her. "Seriously, look at you. You are beautiful even without trying, it's not fair."

"You are more beautiful," says Levy kissing her.

"Thank you," I reply.

"I'm sorry. I am the boyfriend, I am forced to say that," he says making us all laugh, except for Jessica, who hits him with her elbow right when the bell rings.

"Saved by the bell," she says standing up kissing him once more before leaving.

"I'm going to marry her," says Levy with a silly smile on his face when we stay alone.

"Calm down cowboy," I say laughing. On our way to history class, we don't say anything and all the time the torture lasts I can't stop myself from rehearsing my mother's plan in my head with the feeling that something is missing.

In the change of class, I ask him to talk and we leave to his car. Once there, I tell him everything my mother told me. "I really hate that man," he says when I am done. "When my mother founds out she will make him pay for what all that he has done."

"Levy, we have a plan," I spit out and he frowns.

"A plan?" I nod.

I tell him about the labs knowing about his mother and what my mother is planning to go along with his, then I tell him about the part of taking the girl out and escaping as far as I can with her.

"How can I help?" he asks immediately and I gulp. Why does he have to have such a big heart?

"We need you to help me escape with the kid, to wherever you can drive that we can hide," I tell him and he thinks of it for way too much time. "It's okay if you don't want to, just don't tell anything to your mother or it would be ruined."

"Wow," it's all he says. "When?"

"Tonight," I doubt.

"I have an apartment in LA," he says after thinking of it for a moment. "Is it far enough?" he crackles his knuckles nervously.

"It's perfect," I reply. "My mother thinks they will not go after you because then your mother could suspect and fight back."

"I am staying with you then," I shake my head.

"You need to get back and pretend everything is fine. No one should where we went." He shakes in reply. "Levy -"

"I can't stay here doing nothing and waiting for them to found you. Maybe I could plan a distraction?"

"Nothing."

"Dammit Madison." He pulls me into a hug. "Be careful."

"I'm smart. It will finally help me out," I try to convince myself and a tear leaves my eyes. Why am I crying? Why am I crying for everything lately?

"Smartie-Maddie," he says calling me like he used to when we were kids. I laugh letting go of him and he smiles. "We can do this," he says showing me his fist.

"We can do this," I reply just when our fists collide.