Neighbors

The Next Big Thing Ever

Madison sat in the car as her mom stood in line to get her prescription filled. She rested her head on the window and huffed out of boredom "seriously, how long does it take to put some pills in a bottle"

She reached forward to turn the dial on the radio, sick of the repetitive pop song that she was sure she had already heard at least twice since her mom picked her up from the hospital. It was then that she noticed her phone sitting in the console still attached to the charger. She grabbed her phone and her eyes widened at the large amount of missed calls and text messages. She clicked the green button on the phone to get to recent calls "Alex, Alex, Alex, mom, Alex, Alex, Alex, Nate, Dad, Alex....Alex, Alex"
She felt her cheeks begin to burn and bit her lip when she brought the text messages up which were also mostly Alex

"hey, just wanted to check on you. How ya feeling, ladybug?—Alex"

"...you okay?—Alex"

"is this about the nickname? I'm sorry...--Alex"

"Madi, I'm sorry, just please stop ignoring me—Alex"

Madi exited out of the messages her heart too heavy to continue reading; she knew they were just going to get more depressing. She felt terrible that Alex thought she was mad at him this whole time and she felt like a bitch for making him feel that way, even if it was completely unintentional.

"pretty sure they had the crypt keeper working in there today, sorry it took so long sweetie" Andrea, Madisons mom said as she buckled her seatbelt and began backing out of the parking spot.

"s'okay. Hey, mom?" Madison bit her lip and stared at her mom trying to evaluate her mood. It's not that her mom was ever violent but sometimes if she was in a bad mood she would snap at Madison and she really didn't want to sit through that.

"yeah, honey?"

"Ummm is it okay if I go over to Alex's. It's just that Jack invited me and I said I would and I don't want to be a liar..." Madison rambled ironically considering she was already being a liar to begin with.

"I don't know honey, you just got released" Andrea sighed

"Mom, please! I finally have some friends a-and I promise if I don't feel well I'll come home. P-please!?" Madi begged, her bottom lip poking out in a sad pout for some extra efforts.

Andrea sighed and nodded "okay, but I want you home by seven for dinner"

Madison rolled her eyes but agreed anyways. Dinner was a pointless meal for her anyways, she wouldn't be able to keep anything down and would end up kneeled in front of a toilet but she didn't want to press her luck.

"Thanks, mom" She kissed her cheek quickly before dashing out of the car and over to Alex's house. Madison nervously lifted her hand to knock on the wooden door. She was immediately pulled into someone's body before she had the chance to react to the door opening. She reluctantly wrapped her arms around the persons waist and took a breath in, immediately recognizing the scent to be Alex's. She relaxed and hugged him tighter

"I'm sorry, madi. Whatever I did, I'm sorry" Alex said, his words muffled a bit because his face was nuzzled into her neck.

"Shhh. Alex you didn't do anything. I-I just didn't have my phone, is all." Madison admitted, sheepishly hiding her face in his chest. She felt his chest move up and down as he laughed "God, I'm such a moron"

Madi shook her head and pulled away from him, her arms still circled around his waist "You're not, Alex. It's sweet really and k-kinda cute" she bit her lip and looked up at Alex from underneath her eyelashes, waiting for some kind of reaction. She smiled when she noticed the familiar pink color paint Alex's cheeks as he warmly smiled down at her.