Candid

Chapter 56

Hi Babes!!

Brace yourself, this is a long chapter.

**In case you haven't seen, I have posted the Welcome Page for my new story that I will start posting in August called With Love I cannot wait to start this story; it is going to have few elements similar to the Hayes Family like, a big family, lots of sarcastic fun people and badass females!

Enjoy!

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The next week consisted of a full house and no privacy. My father moved to a private room in the hospital after the forty-eight-hour observation period. I spent most afternoons with him in his room, learning all there was to know about being a witness and court etiquette, while my mother and I shopped for an appropriate outfit.

None of my siblings could stay for the full week until they released our father from the hospital because of their own occupations and school for the little ones, so all we had at home was Grandma Vicky.

Grandma and Ellie spent the week together, keeping the house in order and my mother sane. She allowed my father to work on his laptop for a total of three hours each day before she ordered a nurse to pry it from his fingers if she had to.

School was...school. I spent most of my time studying now that we were heading towards the home stretch of senior year. I decided not to join the Senior Prom Committee this time around due to the focus needed for my studies and now with the trial having an official court date for April 16th which was less than a month before we had our finals which were followed by Prom, there seemed like too many things to do and not enough Maddie's to do it.

The first Monday back after my father's heart attack was awkward. People stared, tried to talk to me, and offer their sorrow. Thankfully, my general aura screamed 'don't come near me' so only the brave ones tried talking to me.

SJ acted like a bodyguard, more so than the rest of them. She even went as far as wearing all black, not unusual for her, but she walked around wearing sunglasses indoors and tried to tackle a sophomore guy that laid a hand on my shoulder while I stood at my locker. He ended up with a bruise on his head but no major issues.

The rumors started drifting in a different direction when people saw Grayson and me having casual conversations throughout the school day; it didn't bother me; I was just happy we were back to talking in general.

Currently, the girls and I sat in a booth at the Diner after school on Friday to work on some study points for upcoming essays and tests the teachers were giving us in preparation for our Finals. The guys were at a separate booth playing video games on their laptops.

SJ sat next to me, sketching in her notepad for an art assignment but had gotten distracted more than once with doodles. Rosie was typing on her phone, grumbling and scoffing at something on her screen. Olympia read my Biology notebook and scribbled information she found important in her own notebook. Dana pursed her lips in concentration on my other side and glanced at my laptop screen with furrowed eyebrows.

Her phone beeped, and she picked it up. "Oh my god, I keep seeing these posts about Sadie and Hunter, did anyone else see his big promposal for her at lunch?" She asked, looking at each of us in question.

I rolled my eyes. "It was nothing spectacular," I stated, "He stood on a cafeteria table and declared his love for her like they haven't been going out for the last three years before he asked her to Prom with flowers."

Dana pouted. "Aw, that sounds so cute and I missed it? Boo."

"It was sappy," Rosie informed her with a cringe.