Unseen

Chapter 29

"Do you ever wish Dad and Pop never moved away from here? So we could've grown up here?" Maddie asks as we sit on the beach, watching the waves crash against the shore as the sun dips below the horizon.

"I've never really thought about it," I reply honestly with a half shrug. "Sure, there were times over the last couple years where I contemplated begging them to let me move down here to finish out high school, but... I think everything happened just the way it should have."

"I'm sorry, Dalton." I glance over at her with a frown as a tear falls from the corner of her eye. "For the part I played in everything that's happened in the last few years, and... for everything. I am truly sorry."

"You've already apologized, Maddie. We've had this conversation before."

"I know, but I don't think I'll ever stop feeling guilty about it. I was horrible to you."

"You were," I say with a nod and she lets out a choked laugh as she squeezes her eyes shut. "But I wasn't exactly the best to you, either." She sighs and starts to shake her head but I cut her off, "I said and did some pretty mean things that no sibling should ever say or do, and I don't think I've ever actually apologized for my part in our crumbled relationship, so with that being said, I'm sorry."

"Every action has a reaction, Dalton. I don't blame you for reacting, not one bit."

"How's this... we're both sorry, we both forgive each other, and we never speak of this again? Water under the bridge. Can we just move on?"

"I'd like that." She smiles which I happily return before she leans over and rests her head on my shoulder as we watch the sun finally set. "Part of me doesn't want to go home," she admits and I glance down at her in surprise.

"Really? I thought you loved your life back in Cali?" She laughs quietly and shakes her head slowly, eyes still pinned to the horizon.

"It's exhausting, if I'm being honest with you. I unknowingly built a reputation for myself but by the time I realized what I had done, it was too late, so now I'm stuck following in my own footsteps. Here, there's no expectations, no preconceived notions, no mean girl persona. I can just be me, just Maddie."

"You could be just Maddie back home, too. Just because you built a reputation for yourself doesn't mean you can't reinvent it."

"Maybe if I had come to this realization sooner, but we're halfway through senior year now, so what's the point? In the fall, I'll be going off to college, and then I can reinvent myself. Be around people who have never met me or know who I was and what I've done. I can be whoever I want to be, and that thought feels pretty damn good." She sits up with a small smile and turns to face me. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. You went from the quiet introvert with the obnoxious best friend to the schools punching bag to one of the most envied guys in our entire high school, all within the span of three years. What's next?" My eyebrows shoot up as I stare at her, her words swirling in my head.

"Most envied guys? What the hell are you talking about?" She rolls her eyes and lays back on the sand to look up at the stars.

"The first day back to school, do you have any idea how many people were whispering about the 'hot new guy'? At first, I was intrigued, but then when I saw who they were talking about..." she trails off with a fake gag and I scoff as I nudge her. "You waltzed into that school with zero fucks, your head held high, and confidence practically dripping off of you. Then there were all your showdowns with Flynn in the beginning, and now... Dalton, you're dating your former bully who is the captain of the football team and every girls wet dream." My nose scrunches at that visual and I shudder slightly as Maddie giggles beside me.