✅ Over Protected

13. Madison Shares her Secrets

I was chatting to Jessie when I came out of school. Our Mums would be coming to pick us up, but they were always pretty late, so we would have a long time to stand in the schoolyard talking. Sometimes Lyra would be with us as well, but she'd been less talkative since she had the virus, almost like she was too embarrassed to hang out with her friends even when we tried to include her. So today I thought I'd have plenty of time to talk to Jessie. But as soon as we came out of the building, I saw Sarah's former friend, Madison, leaning against the other side of the fence. If I hadn't known right away that she was looking for me, the way she turned in my direction would make it clear.

"Sorry, I need to talk to her," I said. "One of my sister's friends."

"Helping you find her a birthday present?"

"Heh," I tried to make it a laugh. "Not quite, but something like that. I'll be back soon, I promise."

Madison straightened up as I came closer. I wondered if there was anything I needed to say to her, but nothing really came to mind. She might have said she wanted to help, but I still wasn't going to tell her any of Sarah's secrets; and absolutely not the one I now knew about Scott.

"Hey," she said. "I think we need to talk."

"I don't want to talk about my sister," I said. "Mum worries about her, but she's got enough problems. I don't want to cause more."

"I was nervous to tell you why I was interested," she said. "After yesterday, I think I don't need to be. I know now it's similar to what happened to me, you don't have to confirm it. I just want to understand it better."

"Yesterday?" I asked, suddenly confused. I tried to think about what had happened the day before. There had been a lot of things that seemed to be important, at least to me. But none of those were things that this girl would know about. Sarah had gone out early in the morning, maybe that was what she meant. She couldn't be talking about Mum giving me permission to wear cuter diapers but imposing a set of rules that I couldn't see the sense in. And everything else followed on from that. As I left Mum's bedroom, I had seen two more things that I couldn't really understand, but neither of them were connected to Sarah's school friends.

"Same as what happened to me?" Madison said. "Or similar, anyhow. Look, I know you don't want to say anything about your sister, you don't want her to be embarrassed. So how about I tell you my story, and you can say how much it's the same. Right? I'm just curious. If I can help her out, and maybe understand a bit better along the way..."

I just nodded. She walked along on the other side of the fence, and I followed her, until we were sitting together at the bus stop. The teachers probably wouldn't have been happy about that; I wasn't supposed to leave the school grounds without Mum or somebody they trusted to pick me up, but nobody was looking right now.

"You know I used to be..." she started. "A bully, I guess. Back when friend groups started turning into cliques, and you were either popular or nothing. I was a cheerleader, right? That used to be like a hobby, and you'd hang around with other girls doing the same. But then in high school, suddenly it mattered. People acted like you're important just because you're wearing clothes that probably aren't too age appropriate, learning to show off assets you haven't really got yet. And a couple of us, it went to our heads. Sarah and me, we were the queens. Nobody dared argue with us, because we decided who was cool. I mean, it wasn't guaranteed. Bella Langtree was popular too, and we were always jostling for the top spot. Being the most popular, the most desired. It's a rush. Me and Sarah were like old friends, besties, and we trusted each other with everything. It was friendly rivalry, I thought, while Bella was... something else. She didn't have a free pass to the top just because she did the right sports. But she understood that popularity is a game before we did, and she was a cut-throat manipulator. Always ready to stick the knife in your back. Is there anybody like that in your class?"