Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own anything except for my own characters.

Okay. So I'm new to this whole fanfiction thing so please be gentle. No flames only constructive criticism. If there are any editing errors let me know and I will try and fix them as soon as I can. x0x0x0 :o)

Madison Carter got out of her old white 2002 Nissan Sentra. It wasn't much but she had it since she graduated high school back in 2003. It was a gift she had gotten herself because nobody thought that she would make it in school. She felt like she deserved it considering everything she had put herself through. She had no one to blame but herself and she was going to be responsible for the consequences. When Madison was turned 8 her parents had started fighting a lot and by the time she turned 12 they had gotten a divorce. Her father was alright after that, he moved on fairly quickly dating a lot of other women. Her mother however was so distraught that she had turned to alcohol to forget about her problems. She also started to go out more and come home late at night or early in the morning. Then one day Madison had walked in her mothers room and saw her sniff something up her nose. Before she could say anything her mother looked up and saw her. She got up and stomped to Madison and grabbed her arm and pushed her out of her room and slammed the door in her face. Since then Madison had never gone into her mothers room.

As time went by it didn't take Madison long to figure out what her mother was doing. On her 14th birthday she was supposed to go to her fathers to celebrate her birthday. He called two days before and said that he had to go out of town on business so they would have to reschedule. She was angry at her father for missing her birthday. Her mother of course was out with her latest conquest so Madison went into her mothers room and opened the same drawer that she had caught her mother with that day a few years ago. She saw the little baggy with the white substance in it. She poured a little in her hand and felt it and then brought it up to her nose and sniffed it. It doesn't look so bad she thought to herself. She remembered what her mother did that day and went to the kitchen and got a straw and cut it so it wasn't so long. She poured some of the substance on a plate and stuck the straw in and sniffed strongly. Her eyes watered a little and she stood still feeling something she hadn't felt before. It was different at first but she soon started to feel better. She forgot about her father, and her mother and the next guy her mother was bound to bring home.

Her mother realized right away that her little stash had been broken into and confronted Madison the next day when she came home from school. Madison tried to deny it but her mother knew. Her mother always knew when she lied. Contraire to popular belief before the divorce they had been really close.

"Did you take from my stash Madison?" Her mother asked her in a calm voice.

"What stash mom" Madison tried to play dumb but her mother was not having it.

"Madison I swear you better not lie to me right now"

"I'm n-not lying." She made the mistake of stuttering and then knew that it was over.

SMACK. Her head swung to the side and she cupped her cheek with wide eyes that had immediatly started to tear up and looked at her mother. Her mother stood there with wide eyes as well like she couldn't believe what she had just done.

"Maddy baby I-I-I I'm sorry, I don't know what," Her mother stuttered and tried to put her arms around her but Madison stepped back.

"Please don't touch me." She said in a soft voice and then turned around and ran out the door. She ran until she came across an alleyway and stopped to catch her breath. Her eyes were blurred with tears as she touched her cheek. It was sure to be red. She looked to her left and saw a group of kids her age smoking in the corner. She starred until one of them noticed her.

"You lookin for somthin" One boy asked.

She recognized him as on of the hard cases from school. His name was Dennis Matthews but most people called him Denny. She saw his eyes eye her up and down. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared back at him as if challenging him.

" I doubt you could give me what I'm lookin for."

The other kids around him chuckled. One of the other guys stepped up and patted Denny on the shoulder. "I think the girl's askin for something don't you."

Denny shrugged the guys hand off his shoulder and stared back at Madison.

"Well why don't you come over here and tell me what you want and I will do want I can to make sure it happens."

Madison hesitated but then walked to over to the group. When she stepped into that circle it was the exact time that would change the rest of her life. It wasn't long after that her and Denny had become an item. They did almost everything together. They drank and got high and partied together. Madison probably wouldn't have gotten addicted to the drugs and alcohol if she had decided to stay away from Denny and his friends but there was something about him that just kept calling her. He was attractive but it was more than that. When she was with him she forgot about everything that was going bad in her life. She forgot that her mom had become a crack whore and that her father was now getting married to a young beautiful wife who was expecting a baby. She felt like her life was perfect when they were together. Although she knew in the back or her mind that reality was not perfect and that her life was quickly spiraling downwards. She first realized this when her and Denny were going to have sex for the first time. They had only been together for a couple of months and she wasn't even 15 yet. But he was the cool 16 year old and she couldn't say no. But she did say no and Denny wouldn't take no for an answer. He told her it was better if she went along with it or it would just hurt her more and he didn't want to hurt her anymore than it already would. At least that's what she told herself. It made her feel better. She kept up the lifestyle of drugs, alcohol and partying until she turned 16 and found out that she was pregnant. Her and Denny had gone to one of the local hangouts one night and she had planned to tell him.

They had been standing around passing a joint around and when it got to Madison she hesitated. Denny put his arm around her.

"What's up? You're usually the first to take a hit. Since when do you not want some."

"Denny could I please talk to you for a minute over there?" Madison asked pointing behind a building in the corner.

Denny eyed her suspiciously and waited a second before he answered her.

"Okay."

They walked over to the corner and Madison took a deep breath.

"Denny I don't know how to say this and I hope you don't hate me after I tell you this and I hope we can still be the--"

"Woah woah woah calm down and tell me what's goin on." Denny was getting a little impatient.

"Umm...I-I'm p-pregnant." Madison looked down at her feet afraid to look Denny in the eye.

"What." Denny stared at her hard.

"I said--," Madison started.

"I heard what you said." Denny growled. "How is that possible. We always made sure this wouldn't happen."

"Yeah well it did." Madison said softly.

"How far along are you?"

"7 weeks."

"It's not mine."

Madison's head shot up at that. She opened her mouth to talk but couldn't say anything. She couldn't believe he just said that.

"What! Of course it's yours Denny. Don't be stupid you know I haven't been with anyone other than you."

"Oh yeah how do I really know that. How do I know you haven't been fuckin' around on me. We were protected every time."

"Not at Ryan's party we never. Remember we were both too high and drunk to bother."

"No actually I don't remember. It couldn't have been me."

Before she knew what she was doing she had swung her hand back and slapped him. He slowly turned his head toward her and she saw a look she had never seen before in his eyes.

"Before you ask I'm keeping the baby with or without your support." She held her breath as she waited for Denny's reaction.

"You have 5 seconds to get out of my face before I do something I might regret." Denny said so low she had to struggle to hear.

"Huh? What? Are you serious? That's it? Denny I'm 16 years old and pregnant. You're just going to leave me like this?"

SMACK. For the second time in her life she had been slapped. She had decided at that time that she had to turn her life around. She looked at Denny one last time then turned around and walked away. The rest of her friends called out to her but when she turned around Denny was already there talking to them. She knew they would follow him. She sighed and as soon as she got home she called her dad and explained everything that had happened in her life the past few years. He promised he would help and he helped her kick her habit and with a lot of hard work and dedication she was able to finish school before her baby was born.

She's happy with her life now when her son was born it had been the happiest day of her life. She had sent a letter to Denny telling him that his son had been born but she hadn't heard anything from him. She had decided on the name Caleb after her father. She moved in with her father in Boston until she could get on her feet. Her father and step mother Michelle loved Caleb. Her half bother Mark loved him as well. They would do anything for him. She was grateful cause she knew she wasn't the perfect daughter that her father wanted. Then finally once Caleb turned three she went and got a small two bedroom apartment for herself and Caleb. It wasn't exactly the best part of town but she had to prove to herself and somewhat to her family that she could make it on her own. She had depended on them for far to long.

Now at the age of 21 and Caleb was almost 5 she was working as a waitress at a local diner and was just dropping Caleb off at the daycare. She was rushing up the steps with Caleb in her arms. She was late for work for the fourth time this week. Caleb was fussing because he hated going to daycare. She opened the door with one hand with a little difficulty and put Caleb down so he could walk but he refused to.

"Caleb come on I don't have time for this." Madison said firmly and ran a hand threw her dark hair.

"No. I don't wanna gooooo." Caleb started whining and stamped his foot on the ground making his sneaker light up.

"Please Caleb. Don't do this to me now, I have to get to work." She walked over to her son and grabbed his arm and started toward the front desk of the daycare.

"I'm sorry. I'm running extremely late today again and he's being a little fussy."

The old woman at the desk just smiled. "That's all right dear, I've been doing this for the last 30 years, I can handle it. Plus Caleb I think Alex is here and looking for someone to be a cop to his robber."

Caleb raised his eyebrows. Alex was his best friend at the moment and the prospect of running around chasing him with pretend guns seemed too good to be true. Without saying anything to his mother he took off to the playroom to look for Alex.

"Well that was easy enough. I will have to remember that for the future. Thank you so much. I have to run but I will be here at 4:30 to pick him up if I'm going to be late I will call and let you know. Thanks bye." Madison waved and ran out the door to her car to get to work.

She was supposed to be at work by 8:00am. It was now 9:25. She cursed under her breath as she rushed through the door of the diner. She ran behind the counter to put her apron on and grabbed a cloth to start cleaning the counter tops. Tanya one of the other waitresses working there and also Madison's best friend looked at her with sympathy.

"Before you say anything I know I'm late but Caleb was being difficult. He wouldn't get out of bed, wouldn't get dressed then refused to eat breakfast. I don't know what to do anymore." Madison threw the rag on the table and put her head in her hands. Tanya walked over and put her arm around Madison's shoulder.

"Relax. He's just at that age now where he has to do the opposite of everything you say. It's a child's job to make life difficult. He makes your life interesting." Tanya giggled. Madison cracked a small smile.

"Is that a smile I see?" Tanya laughed. "I mean imagine how boring your life would be without him."

Madison had to smile at that. "Yeah I wouldn't change a thing about my life. As hard as it was it gave me the best gift in the world."

"Exactly now if you would excuse me I have some people that need orders taken." Tanya walked off to a couple sitting toward the back of the diner. Madison stared at the couple and couldn't help but think back to her high school days with Denny. He was her first everything. As much as she hated him for abandoning her she couldn't help but love him for giving her Caleb. While she stood there daydreaming she faintly heard someone calling her name.

"Madison!"

She turned and spotted Bruce the owner looking at her.

"Could you come back here for a minute I wanna talk to you." He didn't look very happy. Bruce was nice enough to her. Although she didn't think that he liked her very much. He was always barking orders at her. He told her to do things he didn't ask. Tanya must have heard him call to her because she walked over to Madison and gave her pat on the back for support.

"This is not good. That man hates me for some reason." Madison whispered.

"He doesn't hate you Maddy. He's just being a boss. It's going to be fine. He knows about your situation with Caleb maybe he'll go easy on you."

Madison walked toward the back where Bruce was cooking over the deep fryer. When he saw her he put the fryer down and called one of the other cooks to look after it. He walked in a little office type area and motioned to Madison to follow. Madison swallowed and slowly walked behind him. When she was in the room he closed the door.

Tanya poked her head in the back and looked at the boy that took over the fryers.

"Did he look happy?"

The boy shook his head and offered a sad smile. Tanya winced and sighed then turned around to work the cash to some customers wanting to pay for their food.

Back in the room as soon as Bruce closed the door Madison started to apologize immediately.

"Bruce I am so so so sorry. I've been having a really bad day today and I know that's no excuse,"

"Madison you've been having a really bad last couple of weeks. Your not being consistent with your schedule and I know you can't work evenings because of your son but your late for your morning shifts too. Now I don't know what else I can do. When your not hear there's only one girl working the shift and you know how busy it gets during the morning. I don't wanna have to do this but this is a business and it comes first with me."

Madison had been looking at her hands during the whole speech but when he said this her head shot up and she stared in disbelieve at him.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I'm sorry Madison but I'm going to have to let you go. Have the uniform back by the end of the week." With that he walked out of the room and back to the deep fryers.

Madison stood there in shock. She couldn't believe she had just gotten fired. She wiped her hand over her face and slowly walked out of the room.

What am I going to do? She though to herself.

She had bills to pay, she was already late on her rent and she had Caleb. She needed to be able to feed him and he was growing everyday she needed to be able to have clothes for him. She walked behind the counter and untied the apron around her waist and put it on the shelf. She did it all in a trance until Tanya spotted her and rushed over.

"What happened? Why are you leaving? Did he give you the day off? I told you he didn't hate you-,"

"He fired me Tan." Madison interrupted her. She looked at her best friend and sighed.

"What! Fired you? That's crazy. I can't believe that."

"Well believe it."

"Aww honey I'm sorry. I can try to talk to him if you want."

"Thanks but no. If you interfere it might get you in trouble and that's the last thing I want. But at least he was nice about it right? He really seemed like he didn't want to do it."

Tanya circled her arms around her and gave her a squeeze. She felt really bad for her friend.

"It's going to be alright. You know that if you need help with anything don't hesitate to come to me. You know I'll help you out."

Madison gave her a grateful smile and kissed Tanya on the cheek.

"I know and I'm really grateful to you. Sometimes I don't know what I would do without you."

Tanya smiled. "Hey I have an idea. Tonight you and me go out, get drunk and forget about life. I have tomorrow off so I'll have plenty of time to recover and you know you have nothing to do tomorrow now."

"I don't know. I have Caleb I can't stay out all night–"

"Don't worry about Caleb. I can get Gabby to watch him. She still in school so you know you she doesn't have much of a social life," Tanya laughed at her own little joke. "You know she loves Caleb and would do it in a heartbeat. Plus I have a friend that works at a bar and she could probably sneak us a few free drinks."

"I still don't know I have to try and get a new job now and I can't afford to go out and get drunk."

"Don't worry about that part of it. I'll take care of you. Now please please will you go. We haven't had a girls night it so long."

"Alright." Madison winced as Tanya squealed in her ear. "Only as long and Gabby doesn't mind watching Caleb. If she can't do it then forget it."

"Don't worry she'll do it. Trust me."

"Okay well I have to go so you can go back to work. So just call me when you get the plans and I'm going to call Gabby myself and make sure she will be okay with watching him."

She waved as she walked out of the diner. She walked to the closest news stand to get a copy of the days paper. She now needed to look for a new job. After she got the paper she went to her car. Caleb would be excited to know he could go home early today.

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