Maddie's Girls

Chapter 1

"Asha, come on!" My cousin, Lottie, yelled at me as she turned her head back to me.

We were in the middle of the road, it was dark and rainy, and I was running as fast as my short legs would allow me.

"I— I'm running, Lottie," I said, gasping for air. My lungs burning.

Lottie grabbed my hand and pulled, pushing me to run even faster. "Faster, then!"

My legs were giving out on me, but Lottie wouldn't stop.

"I swear if Becca tells her, we're all done for." Maggie jogged beside me. She wasn't out of breath at all. "She'll ruin what's left of our time here—"

"Oh, yeah, because that's all you care about, right? Your reputation." Lottie's irritation was evident in her voice. Something had happened between the two of them and neither wanted to talk about it. I shook my head, wanting to say something but too out of breath to even bother.

"Really, you want to go there, right now?" Maggie laughed bitterly, jogging ahead of us.

"Can you two just shut up, we're almost there." Nina hissed, glaring at the girls.

I felt a sense of relief when I looked at the end of the street and saw Cassidy standing outside of Becca's house. Maddison's second-hand car in the driveway, parked next to Becca's black Mercedes.

"Jesus, finally," Cassie sighed, burying her hands inside her pockets, "I was scared shitless when I got here, I don't know what to do."

"What the fuck," Lottie groaned, walking past Cassie and into the large house. "You should've gone in. Stop them or something."

"I didn't know!" Cassie put her hands in the air, looking lost as she trailed after Nina.

Trying to calm my breathing, I followed after the girls inside the familiar house. It was Becca's house.

I remember that exactly a year before that night, Aunt Cecil and I were driving past Becca's house. I didn't know back then that it was her house, but we were mesmerised by it. It was by far the prettiest house in the neighbourhood. I couldn't even imagine what the house that looked so good on the outside would look like inside.

That was, of course, a year ago, before I met and befriended Becca. And once I stepped foot inside, I saw that it was everything I thought it would be. Elegant and beautifully decorated... but the reality was evident, and the more time I spent there, the emptier and colder the house became.

I walked through the house, following after the girls. My heart dropped to my feet when I walked into the TV room.

Maddie was there, standing next to Becca. They stood face to face, and I couldn't tell you if I was hurt or angry. I was something, but I was too numbed by the sudden sense of betrayal to give any mind to matters of the heart.

Becca's eyes found mine first. There was a wall between us, a wall that she was purposely trying to build to keep me out— the same wall she had when we first started talking.

She looked angry, unbothered, untouchable. I knew it was a façade, and I saw right through it, right through her anger and indifference.

"Tell me it isn't true," Maddison asked, demanding my attention. She had Becca's phone in her hand, and although I don't know exactly what she's read, I do have a pretty good idea. "All that shit you said about me, is it true?"

I found it incredibly heart-warming how she asked me to confirm something she knew to be true.

"Maddie, I— I can explain." I choked on my own words.