.° ☀️₊˚ෆ ❝ LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE ❞
๋࣭ ⭑𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 ₊˚﹟📷' 𝘵𝘸𝘰 ˚‧｡⋆🫧⋆｡‧˚
⊹ ࣪ ˖  𝘪 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 ‧₊˚ 🌻⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ "HAVE YOU SEEN MY ARCTIC MONKEYS SHIRT?" Maddie mumbled as she drug through the closet, shoving clothes to the side and pulling shirts off the hanger.

"Are you sure it's here?" She looked over her shoulder at the ginger boy that was laid out on the bed, his hands behind his head.

"I have no idea." She sighed. "My dad had another girl over and I grabbed what I saw." She stood up and pushed her golden locks out of her face before putting her hands on her hips as she looked around the room.

"Just throw one of my shirts on." He told her, pushing himself up onto his elbows. "Put something on, at least." He motioned to her torso, all she wore was a lime green bikini top that was rather skimpy and a pair of well-worn shorts. "You're blinding me."

She rolled her eyes, her lips pulling up into a smile. "Oh, ha ha. You're so funny. I can't help that I'm pale." She shook her head then she turned back to the closet and grabbed one of his muscle shirts before pulling it over her head. She tucked it into her shorts a little then looked up at him, her hands stretched out to the side a little. "So?"

"Be still my heart." He held his hand to his chest and pretended to faint into the mattress making her laugh.

"Idiot." She mumbled as she ran her finger through her hair. "You ready to go?"

"Let's do it." He nodded, rolling off the mattress. The two best friends laughed as they made their way out of his room and through the hallway, calling out a goodbye to the boy's mom as they excited the house.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ THE DUO MADE THEIR WAY UP to the top rock that over looked the water, it was their favorite place in the whole world. Not that either of them had ever left New England. But it was a great place, it was mostly quiet, very few times did anyone actually hang out at the quarry especially during the week.

The two had the place to themselves. Maddie laid out the towels as Nathan set up his speaker and started the music, one of their favorite songs blasted out of the speaker and they shared a smile. Bruno Mars' voice spilled into the otherwise quiet air as he sang about wanting to be a billionaire.

"See? I pick good songs." The boy told her and she laughed as she pulled the shirt over her head, dropping it onto her towel, then she shimmed out of her shorts and dropped them next to the boy's shirt she had been wearing.

"We'll see." She laughed then she ran and over the edge she went. She dove into the water and swam a little ways away before surfacing, pushing her hair back and wiping the water from her eyes. She looked up just as Nathan hit the water, sending a massive wave into her face and she closed her eyes, turning away but it was too late. "Jackass!" She laughed when the ginger bobbed up out of the water, a wide smile pulling at his lips as he looked at her.

"You love me."

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes then laid back, letting herself float as she closed her eyes, a smile pulling at her lips as she hummed along to the song that she could still hear even from a distance.

"Hey." Nathan splashed to get attention and she looked over at him, letting her feet sink into the water as she used her arms to keep herself up. "My mom said you should move in. You're at my house more nights than you're at your own. She said we could bring in a bunk bed."

"I love your mom, you know that." She gave him a smile. "But I can't leave my dad. He needs me."

"Isn't he supposed to be the adult?"

"He's basically a teenager." The girl groaned. "But I love him and he's always there for me. I couldn't leave him."

"Well, the offer is still available." He told her and she nodded before she splashed him and turned to swim in the other direction. "Madison!" He shouted, laughing as he swam after her and she dove under the water, but he was faster - he was on their high school swim team after all.

"I love summer." The blonde sighed, her eyes closed as she laid out on her towel. The boy laughed from the towel next to hers and she turned her head, squinting her eyes at him. "What?"

"You've said that four times since we got here, and three more times before we left the house."

"Well, it's true." She shrugged. "Hey, I have a question."

"Shoot."

"I'm not accepting, but your mom's okay with me moving into your room?"

"Oh, God, Mads."

"What? I'm just asking because she hates my dad, for good reason."

"Mom loves you, you know that. She's just worried about you."

"She doesn't need to be." She told him. "And neither do you. I'm good."

"Good." He nodded, a smile on his face and she reached over and hit his shoulder a little, making him laugh. "Hey, we should go soon. If I stay out here much longer, I'll be nothing but freckles."

"Okay." She sighed as she sat up, him doing the then he pushed himself to his feet before extending his hand to her. She took it and he pulled her up before they got dressed and headed down to the boy's car.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ MADDIE HUMMED AS SHE made her way towards her house, passing a brunette that was no doubt doing the walk of shame, the little blonde simply smiled. "Have a nice dad, Darlene."

"It's Arlene." The woman spat back with a harsh glare, making the teenager laugh as she made her way into the living room.

"So, I met your house guest." Maddie called out as she dropped her bag onto the couch. "She seems nice." She mumbled sarcastically. "Hey, old man, you alive? Did she kill you?" Her eyebrows pinched when instead of a sarcastic response the door opened and he stepped out, his head down as he toyed with the phone in his hands. "Dad?"

"Can we talk?" He asked, motioning to the couch.

"You're scaring me." She stated as she sat on the couch and he sat next to her, not meeting her eyes. "Dad?"

"Coach Buzzer passed away."

"What?"

"Yeah, I just got a call from Lenny, an old pal of mine and, uh, he told me."

"Oh." She let out a breath as she deflated into the couch a little, her green eyes tearing up as they drifted to her hands in her lap.

"The funeral is this Friday and we're gonna be staying up at the old Earnshaw lake house for the weekend with some friends."

"Yeah, okay. I'll pack." She nodded, still a little in shock.

"You gonna be okay, Pal?"

"Yeah." She gave him a smile as she stood up. "I'll shower then make you breakfast."

"It's past noon."

"Exactly." She gave him another smile then she walked back to her room to get her clothes and to process the information.

.° ☀️₊˚ෆ ❝ nova speaks ❞

so, for those of you who had read the original version of this book, you may have noticed that i've added nathan to the first movie instead of just having him in the second movie!

i'm gonna be posting these chapters as often as possible, at least that's the hope.