Almost Angel

III

"Thank you for inviting us!" Derek said gratefully, smiling at Aaron as he stepped out of the house.

"Yeah, it was a blast," Madison smiled, following Derek out. Derek thought her smile looked a little forced. Then again, it had for most of the night. Did she not enjoy the games? Even worse, did she hate going out with me?!

"Anytime!" Aaron responded, smiling as they walked out to Derek's car.

Brianna came up next to Aaron, a bright smile on her face. "See you tomorrow, guys!" she said, waving.

Derek opened up the passenger side door, letting Madison get in. He closed it after her, then took his place behind the wheel.

Madi turned to face out the window as he started driving. Her face was hard as stone, a deadly fire in her eyes. Should I ask what's wrong? What if it actually is something I did, then she'd be annoyed at me for asking!

"How'd you like the game night?" he asked, trying to keep his tone bright.

"It was really fun," she said, looking out the window. Her face was emotionless, maybe even a little angry.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, forcing himself to keep his eyes on the road.

"No, nothing's wrong. Tonight was amazing. Why do you ask?" He could hear the obvious sarcasm in her voice, and he started to get worried.

"Is it something I did?" he questioned anxiously, biting his lip. "If I did or said anything, I'm really sorry, I didn't realize it-"

"No! It isn't you, I promise!" Madison quickly interrupted. "I had an amazing time with you tonight!"

Derek breathed a sigh of relief, turning onto the main road. "What is it then?"

Madison stiffened, the look in her eyes darkening.

"You can tell me," Derek assured.

"It's Aaron."

Derek glanced over in surprise, then quickly forced himself to look back to the road. "Aaron? What did he do?"

"Did you see how he looked at Brianna?" Derek could hear resentment in her voice.

"Uh... I'll admit I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to them," Derek admitted. He wasn't ready to tell her that he was admiring her the whole time. "What was he doing?"

"He totally has it bad for Brianna," Madison growled.

"Yeah? Is that a bad thing?"

"Of course it's a bad thing!!" Madi exclaimed. "If she develops a crush on him in return I don't know what I'm gonna do!!"

"I don't think she likes him back," Derek tried to assure. "She treats him like the rest of her friends, from what I can tell."

"So she just casually holds hands with other guys, too?"

Derek blinked in surprise, but didn't take his eyes off of the road. "They were holding hands?"

"Yes. And she liked it. What am I gonna do?! The only person she should be acting lovey with is David-"

"Wait, David who?" Derek clarified. "David Hansen?"

Madison suddenly went silent, her eyes widening in horror. "Oh no... oh no no nO NO NO-"

"Madi, what's going on?!" Derek asked, starting to panic as well.

"Don't tell me I just said that!" Madi exclaimed, her hands shaking.