A/N: Just an introduction to the characters at first. Please please pleaaaaaaaase review, as this is my first story I have EVER posted. I'lll be aiming to add a chapter a day. Thank you all!!

1.

That afternoon Madison sat on her bed, staring out of her window. It wasn't much of a view, a tree obstructed most of the scene, as well as the houses that were tightly packed in her neighbourhood. Yet she was not focused on the view before her. Instead she was willing herself to have the strength to have a shower and get ready. Aged eighteen and she already felt like a middle aged woman. Her friends had berated her that she did not have the excuse of having no money to come to the party. They were basically dragging her there, giving her a lift to the party and sharing a taxi home. A sigh escaped her slightly parted lips. She couldn't really see a point in going to the party, as she would only know a few people. She had heard how wild Matt's party got, and it wasn't really her thing. But even as she listed her reasons for going and sitting in, she knew that she would be at that party tonight.

With this realisation, she slowly lumbered herself off her bed and walked into the bathroom to shower. Fifteen minutes later she was walking back into her bedroom, a towel around her body and one around her hair. Collapsing onto her computer chair, she switched on her computer. Leaving it to whir itself into life, it's groaning filling the room as it tried to encourage itself to function, she began to change into her pyjamas. This consisted of a pair of white shorts, with a blue ribbon threaded through to perform as an elastic. And an extremely oversized grey t-shirt with Orlando, Florida emblazoned on the front, which she had bought on International Drive two years ago. She shook her hair free from the towel, giving it a quick pat with the towel before rummaging for her hairdryer from under her bed. It was in a box of hair bobbles and ribbons that she still had from her childhood. Pulling the hairdryer out, it was soon followed a few ribbons that had become coiled around the wire like snakes. Madison wretched them from the dryer and plugged it into the wall. She dried her hair, standing in front of a gold gilded mirror that had once belonged downstairs in the living room, before being downgraded to the hall and eventually to her room. The hair dryer puffed warm streams of air into hair, blowing her hair every which way.

Running her fingers through her hair, pulling it away from her face and raking out a few of the knots, Madison looked at her room. She had gotten it redecorated over a year ago. She was extremely thankful every day that her room was no longer pink. It had previously had pink wallpaper, a pink mat, pink material that acted as curtains, a pink lamp, pink jewellery box, pink duvet, pink cushions and pillows, pink straighteners, pink storage boxes and pink mirrors. It had often entered her head that it looked like someone had violently puked pink onto every surface. In a desperate attempt to get away from the pinkness and feminity that her mother had revelled in, she had gone the opposite of pink and chosen blue for her room. To be more exact a duck egg blue. One wall had, that what was often described on television makeover programmes as a feature wall, was a duck egg blue with gold flowers that looked as if they grew up the wall. The other three walls in her bedroom where plain white, embossed paper. These walls were decorated with a television that was mounted on a wall, under which was a shelf that held a DVD player and a free view box, as well as various perfumes that she rarely used. Two gold framed prints, one depicting a geisha girl in blue, lavender and coral metallic's, and the other a section of a painting by Degas that her friend Chelsea had brought her back from Paris. And a memo board, decorated with various postcards from her travelling, concert tickets, birthday cards, photographs and invitations.

A matching duck egg blue duvet and pillow set, on which sat three teddies. Her computer desk was underneath her memo board and closest to the door. On this desk was a fish tank with two goldfish that her best friend Chris had won her at a fair over a year ago. A small mirror and an art nouveau paper weight, as well as a small, smooth black pebble that was collected a few months ago at Newcastle beach. Behind her bedroom door was a poster that Chelsea had gotten her as part of her eighteenth birthday present, a poster of her favourite movie star. And a Christmas stocking, blue of course, with two penguins wearing Santa hats hung from her door handle.

Her hair now dry, Madison turned to her wardrobe half heartedly to find an outfit. After five minutes of staring blankly a the contents, without an idea what to wear, the house phone rang. Making her way down the stairs, following the ringing, she eventually found the cordless phone on the kitchen counter. "Hello?" she asked after pushing the answer button.

"O. Mi. God!" Chelsea shrieked before jumping into a monologue, "I'm so excited about tonight, it's going to be amazing! I was talking to Matt and he said that Danny and Paul, and all their friends are coming." This news led to Chelsea gushing over Paul for a good four minutes, giving Madison a moment to lie on her bed, and close eyes for a moment to save herself rolling them at her friend. "What am I going to wear?" Chelsea asked in an overtly serious tone. Not getting an answer immediately, she began shouting "Maddie!" down the phone, knowing that her friend had the tendency to daydream.

"Um, I don't know. What are the options?" Madison asked with a slight prick to her voice. She hated to be called Maddie. Ten minutes later, Chelsea hung up, deciding that she best go to the party as dressy casual.

Exasperated, Madison threw the phone down beside her on the bed and let out a moan. The phone call had left her without an inclination of what she should wear and only further confirmed ideas that she shouldn't be going to the party at all. Just then the phone began to ring again. "Hello," she answered exhausted, thinking that if it was Chelsea ringing again she would put speakerphone on and just start getting ready.

"Sounds to me like Chelsea got to you already. Just remember, she has a good heart." Madison started to laugh.

"Chris," she gasped, "can you please tell me what dressy casual is? I haven't a clue." Chris then proceeded to explain that it was usually a pair of high heels, teamed with jeans and a low cut top. After a few more minutes of funny exchanges with Chris he declared that he had to go shower and would pick her up in an hour.

Madison decided that it would be easier on herself to start doing her hair and make up before picking out an outfit. Taking her make up bag from the confines of her scuffed desk drawer, she took out a mascara that was several months old, and coated her lashes with it. She then followed this with eyeliner, only succeeding in poking herself in the eye and making both her eyes and mascara run. Running to the bathroom, she grabbed one of her mum's baby wipes and took of the mascara and started again, once she had stopped frantically blinking. This time Madison worked much more slowly. Concluding that that was all the make up she needed, she borrowed her mother's straighteners and plugged them in, waiting only a few moments before they were fully heated. Luckily Madison had much more experience with straighteners, as she had spent many night curling Chelsea's hair with them. Chelsea had argued that she couldn't curl the back of her flaming red hair, but Madison had a nagging suspicion that she only said this to get Madison out of the house and maybe coax her to come out. Repeating the hand motions that she used to achieve curls on Chelsea's hair, Madison reached the conclusion after a torturous twenty-five minutes that maybe Chelsea was telling the truth.

Giving up on her hair, she switched the straighteners off, and looked back at her wardrobe hopefully, as if an outfit would have appeared from the last time she looked. The shrill ding dong of the front door pierced her reverie. Madison walked out of her room and jogged down the stairs, twisted through the maze of the two sofas and into the small square hallway to open the front door. Standing there was Chelsea, with her red flame hair hanging in loose curls down her back, confirming Madison's suspicions that she had been attempting to coax her out. She an outfit that was even more revealing than what Chris had described. An emerald green crop top, with a zip between the breasts hugged her curves, teamed with a pair of black leather leggings that clung to her hip bones. Her high heels were black with studs on the heels themselves. Her fingernails were painted black and filed in a square shape. "Definitely the right outfit," she joked, winking at Madison's expression. Chelsea then thrust a bag in front of her petite body, "Try these on." her voice told Madison that there was to be no arguing. Taking the bag from her, Madison's arm was pulled harshly with the weight of the bag and a gasp escaped her. Chelsea pushed past her and heading up the stairs to Madison's bedroom. Shortly after, Madison emerged from the bathroom, modelling another outfit for Chelsea. She shuffled, a mixture of embarrassment and an inability to walk in heels.

Chelsea was nodding her head excitedly, but Madison could not see this, as her head was tucked into her chest as she longed for her jeans and hoodies. "That's the one!" Chelsea squealed, throwing herself on the bed and over to Madison pulling at the material.

Madison stuttered timidly, "Are you sure?" Her voice was so low, that Chelsea had to lean in to hear her.

"Yes, I'm sure!" she said, her hazel eyes widened in surprise. "You just need," Chelsea tugged her heart charm bracelet of her dainty wrist, a present from her parents for her eighteenth, "this!" She narrowed her eyes at Madison, daring her to argue.

Madison chewed her lower lip, before whispering "Thank you." to mask the tears that were threatening to well over in gratitude.

Chelsea grabbed her hand and trailed her halfway across the room, placing her in front of the mirror so that she could view the full effect or hair, make up and outfit. Hey eyes widened as she soaked up the image in front of her. Her waist looked miniscule in a one shoulder red top, that ruffled in a way that gave the illusion of breasts. Low blue jeans melted over her hip bones, they were extremely tight and accentuated her long legs. On her feet were red patent peep toes. Madison didn't think that she could ever look pretty, but Chelsea had worked her magic. She had always been self conscious, and had known that her bow and arrow lip and high cheekbones were highly admired by Chelsea. Her phoenix eyes were a deep chocolate brown, and her hair was a shade darker than her eyes, and it hung in natural, loose and slightly mussed curls.

As Madison stared at her reflection in awe, Chelsea was gathering her purse and snapping her mobile shut, "Chris is outside. C'mon, Mads!" Madison grabbed her bag, phone and keys, and rushed after Chelsea. She took a moment to ensure the front door was locked, before walking extremely slowly to ward's Chris' car, for fear that she may stumble.

"Wow, you girls look lovely." He smiled encouragingly at Madison as she scrambled into the back seat of the car, whilst Chelsea pulled out her mirror to check her reflection and top up her lipstick. Madison took a deep breathe to steady her heart beat, and thought 'No backing out now.'

2.

The music from the party floated down the driveway to kiss the ears of Madison. As Chris drove the car further up the serpentine driveway, the bass proceeded to get louder. Matt's house was overflowing with bodies. Every light was on in the house, casting shadows of the crushed party-goers onto the blinds. Madison felt panicked as she drunk in the scene. It was only ten fifteen and already the party looked out of control. Frantically her eyes searched both Chelsea's and Chris' faces. Chelsea had a wide grin stretching her rose bud lips, as she squinted, her black thick eyelashes almost closing, as she searched the sea of bodies for Paul. Chris looked happy at the turn out as well. Sensing Madison's gaze on him, he flickered his eyes to the rear-view mirror and smiled enthusiastically. Madison's smile in comparison with his was feeble.

Chris parked the car to the side of the house, a safe distance away from any stragglers who may be feeling ill. Chelsea had hopped out of the car before Chris had turned the engine off, and was bouncing on the balls of her feet in eagerness to get inside. The click of Madison's seatbelt opening sounded ominous to her. Climbing out of the car, she felt dwarfed by the amount of drunk teenagers, and wanted to climb back inside the car and hide. Chris came up beside her and linked her arm, giving it a light squeeze. "It'll be fun." He said just to her, as Chelsea took the lead into the party. She hadn't walked five feet before a crowd had engulfed her with squeals and girls voice rose into the air proclaiming that she looked "hot". Knowing that Madison was struggling to walk in heels, he allowed her to put some of her weight on him, but she still tottered up the steps to the front door, which was wide open.

Chris let go off her arm, and took her hand as he pushed his way through the swaying crowds. Many people shouted hello's to him, but he just waved and smiled, before then pointing to the kitchen in response to them asking him to join them. Bodies stumbled against Madison, but Chris seemed to take the full force of it, lightly pushing people out of the way and holding some up. Madison began to feel extremely warm, and wished that she had sprayed some perfume on her skin. Finally she was in the kitchen, which was more quiet than the living room. "I'll get us drinks," said Chris before waving at a few guys who then proceeded to slap him on the back and hand him a beer. Whilst Chris was busy, Madison had a look around her. The kitchen was extremely modern. Black cupboards and work services, some still giving off a mirror like reflection. Yet this was spoiled due to spillages of different alcoholic drinks and take away wrappings littering the surfaces. The kitchen had an island that Madison leaned against. It's cooker was black glass with rings painted on. A silver sink took up a copious amount of space. Chris was now rooting around in the silver American style fridge freezer. Straightening his back, he closed the door with his foot and carried too many bottles in his arms over to her. Setting it down beside her, he asked "What's you're poison?"

"Oh," Madison muttered, looking at all the various brightly coloured labels. She thought of what Chelsea always drinks, and decided that she would have a glass of it. "Vodka and diet coke, please?" Chris proceeded to make a great show of making the drink, pouring in the vodka, and then spinning the plastic coke bottles, before dropping them on the floor. When he opened them, the fizzed over onto his blue checked shirt and he laughed, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners. The show had Madison laughing, in between bouts of self-consciousness of people watching them interact. Finally Chris handed her a drink, which she sipped at before coughing as the vodka burned at her throat. Chris just laughed and winked, before gulping half of his drink, his beer forgotten somewhere.

Following Chris' lead, Madison took another swig of her drink, her cheeks turning a plum shade as she attempted not to cough. A streak of fire red hair flashed past the kitchen door, a few seconds later Chelsea reappeared, her eyes twinkling. "There you are, let's dance!" Chelsea demanded as she took Madison's free hand and pulled her into the centre of the living room. A coffee table had been pushed out of the way, as well as an armchair so that there was more space for dancing. The dance space was a mixture of boys and girls, the majority of which swayed solo or pressed tightly against another person's body. "Can I have a drink? Thanks." Chelsea was too hyper and intoxicated to allow Madison a time to reply before she took her glass and drunk some of the vodka and diet coke. Once she was finished she pressed the glass back into Madison's hand and began dancing. Swaying her hips to the beat, it wasn't long before she was surrounded by boys. Madison, desperate not to look like a stiff fool took another drink before she began to sway awkwardly. However the alcohol soon began to take effect, and her limbs became much more loose. Both herself and Chelsea were now enclosed in a circle of boys, all desperate to get either of their attentions. But Chelsea was uninterested and was merely using the boys as decoys to get a reaction out of Paul. And Madison had no interest in boys, although she thought they were nice to look at and maybe kiss, often boys wanted more from her, both emotionally and physically. Soon tired from all the strenuous dancing, a flushed Madison bent over to Chelsea who was dancing provocatively with an unknown boy, her back to him and her red hair brushed over to one side so that they could be even closer to one another.

"I'm going to sit down for a while. Do you want to come or are you going to stay?" Madison had to repeat the question four times, eventually resorting to shouting.

"Stay!" Chelsea shouted back, winking at her. However Madison noted that Chelsea was unable to stop her eyes from quickly surveying the room, and resting on Paul who was acting indifferent. Though Madison had seen him almost drool at Chelsea when she could not see him.

Squeezing through the ever crowded house, Madison returned to the kitchen to see if Chris was still there. He wasn't, but she decided to make herself a drink so that she wouldn't be empty handed. After almost sloshing the vodka onto the counter, Madison held the coke bottle with both hands, concentrating greatly as she poured it into her glass. Tasting the concoction, she was unable to taste any vodka so she added another bit to the glass. Finally happy with her mixture, she moved back into the living room. Holding her glass slightly in front of her body, she squeezed her arms to her sides and bowed her head as she attempted to move through the sea of bodies. Always keeping an eye out for Chris, she moved through into the dining room and finally back into the hallway. Thinking that he had probably met a cute boy and got talking, she leaned against the wall across from the stairs, allowing her head to loll back. Her head had begun to spin a bit, and keeping her eyes closed helped the tiniest fraction. Light breezes brushed her skin as people stirred the air when they walked past her. Opening her eyes, she stared at the ceiling only to be blinded by the harsh overhead lighting . Screwing her eyes tight, she gave them a minute before slowly reopening them and taking a look around her. She was unsure how long that she had stood there, but she did not recognise anyone from before she closed her e7yes.

Tilting her head to the left, to see if Chris was maybe up the stairs, she noticed someone staring at her. On a seat underneath the stairs, beside a small table that held a phone, obviously for long phone calls, was a boy. Partially in darkness, he was reclining on the seat, his long legs outstretched before him. His long fingers were delicately holding a beer. Madison was unable to make out his features, but his posture was towards her, and she felt goose bumps raise on her skin. A couple came out of the dining room, leaving the door open behind them, before it began to swing shut. The sudden light illuminated his face for a moment. He had long, dark brown hair that was gelled in a way that seemed as if he had just gotten out of bed. His lips were full, but had a slight frown playing at the corners. He had green eyes, that reminded Madison of spring. But this imagery was ruined by the juxtaposition of his furrowed brows and look of disdain. Then the light was gone and Madison felt herself blush, as she quickly looked away from the hidden boy. "And this is Madison," Chris' voice broke through the wall Madison had retreated behind in shame. Looking in the direction of his voice, Madison noticed that the hidden boy was gone, but she was unable to mull this over as Chris was demanding her attention, parading a new boy.

"This is Justin, Mads." Justin was of average height, with blonde hair that he had artfully spiked. He had brown eyes that smiled and looked delighted that Chris was taking such an interest. Of course it also had to do with how lovely Chris looked tonight, his straight jet black hair swept to the right, bringing out the blue grey of his eyes. However Madison could not stay interested in the conversation, her politeness ebbing throughout the night as she was unable to spot the hidden boy again.

A/N; Reviews are better than handsome, hidden strangers ;)

By Natasha McCullough

"Fearless Love"