Older Brothers

Chapter Twenty-five - Old Friends are the best friends

KHLOE

It had been three hours and I was having the best time of my life. I had missed Madison so much! I forgot how amazing she could be. Literally, the girl was probably the coolest friend I had ever had.

"Girl, what's wrong with your face?" Maddie  asked as she made us all another rum and coke from behind the bar of the barn.

Maddie's parents were filthy rich. But, they had a lot of complications. Her Dad was a bit of an alcoholic and so in any house he moved into, he would make sure there was a bar on the premises. In this house, he had converted the barn into one.

"uhh, Charlie." I huffed.

Maddie gripped my chin in her hands, leaning across the bar and she looked at it thoroughly. I watched her grimace as eyes scanned my pale skin and where the cut contrasted with it.

"He throws a good punch, you should be proud." Maddie smiled.

Taylor's jaw dropped. "What do you mean? Charlie hit her! We shouldn't be praising how good his punch was!" Taylor exclaimed.

Maddie shook her head. "The way I see it, it's a compliment to Khloe. Okay she was on the recieving end. But, it's good to know you're brother's not a weakling." She said as she handed us our drinks across the bar.

"But I've never thought that Charlie was weak." I replied, confused.

"Honey, it doesn't matter. Everyone who saw Charlie throw the punch will know not to mess with him. He will be given respect. That works for you." Maddie shrugged.

"How does that work? I mean, hasn't he just made Khloe a target at school? He made her look like a punching bag." Taylor stated, taking a sip of her drink.

Maddie smirked. "Nah. This is Khloe we're talking about. People will bow down and worship her before they try and take a swing at her."

I sighed at the reminder of who I used to be. Maddie was looking at me the same way she used to. To her, I was still her old best friend that had a permanent smug look on her face. Now, however, I don't think I was that girl anymore.

"It's not like that at my new school." I told Maddie. "I get too much attention from being my brother's sister. I haven't exactly made sure everyone knows my name."

Maddie raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"I'm already a Lakewood. That gives me enough attention. I also don't think it's a good idea for me be the person I was at our old school. I'm on thin ice with my family. They want me to grow up."

"fuck your family." Addison laughed. "What's the fun in growing up? All that happens is you spend Saturday nights alone watching tv, drinking a couple bottles of wine by yourself, the roles on your stomach increase each month and your husband goes around sleeping with other women. Now, is that what you want?" Addison asked, raising her eyebrows.

I felt guilty of the reminder of Maddie's home life. Her parents marriage couldn't exactly qualify under the definition of a marriage. Maddie's mum's husband had a Scarlett letter on his back and she was probably spent all her time wondering who he was with when she wasn't home. Hence, she would spend the night drinking alone in her bedroom.

In many ways it was Maddie's home life that made us bond. When I met her, my Dad starting going away for work a lot longer than he ever had before. My brother's were too focused on their own lives to pay attention to what I was getting up to and Maddie's house was the perfect place to do whatever we liked. It was the only good thing about no one keeping tabs or questioning what we got up to.

"Maddie, isn't that basically you're mum?" I asked, giving her a sensitive smile.

"Exactly." Addison grinned. "Do you want to end up like your parents?"