"That's bullshit, Maddie. If I could turn ya into a bad girl, I would've done it a long time ago." he spat.
"That's what I've told him, but he thinks I'm going to wake up one day and randomly say 'I think I'll be a bad girl today because me best mate Johnny is a bad boy,'" Maddie said, "He doesn't know or care that I can't be easily persuaded."
"I guess I should go, then," John said, getting to his feet.
"Awww," Jennifer and Clara moaned, then grabbed onto John's legs to keep him from moving. "Can't you stay, Johnny? Please?" they begged.
"I'd love ta, but yer dad don't want me here. Bye girls." John said, moving as soon as the two younger sisters released his legs. He hopped the fence and went off on his merry way without another word, but he was humming something that sounded vaguely like Rock and Roll Music.
"Is he gone?" Craig peered out the door again.
Maddie rolled her eyes, "Yes, Dad, he's gone."
"Good. I don't need an academic dropout hanging around my family." her father said.
"Dad, can't you give him a chance? He's not that bad and he's doing alright without school. He has his own band." Maddie tried to reason with him.
"No, you're not allowed to visit him, invite him inside my house, or go anywhere with the likes of him."
"Well good luck trying to micromanage my life, because he LIVES in town. His house is only a couple blocks from ours."
"Maddie, if It means locking you in your room, I'll make sure you can't see him. So get up there."
"Ugh! Why do you have to be so...so difficult?" Maddie shouted before storming upstairs.
"It's not fair. I'm almost 17, my life shouldn't be controlled by my father," she said to herself. She laid down on her bed, sobbing, and eventually cried herself to sleep.
She awoke later. Much later than she had first thought, for it was 10 PM when she looked at the clock. She heard something hit her window and make a ping! sound. A few seconds later, another small ping, and then a third as she went to open the window. She looked down and called out "Hello?"
"Psst, Maddie! Down 'ere!" John said quietly.
"John? What are you doing?"
"Hang on. Is there a way for me to get up there?" he asked.
"There's a tree or you can climb the lattices up here."
John squinted at the flimsy white lattices that were stacked against the side of the house, "I'll take the tree,"
"Oh, John do be careful!" Maddie whispered. She heard a branch creak with the extra weight and then John was climbing through the window. "Really John, what are you doing here?" she asked.
"I came ta see you. I heard yer dad doesn't fancy me hanging around with his girl," John said.
"How did you know?"
"Let's just say I didn't 'leave'."
"Oh. John, I have something really important to ask you."
"Can it wait? 'Cos I've got to tell ya something." he sounded suddenly different. There was a kind of pain in his voice, a longing for something. No, a need. He needed something.
"What is it?" she asked.
"No, I can't. I'd have to be mad to even say it."
"Say what?"
"I... I can't tell you." he sounded as though he was about to cry.
Maddie, not knowing exactly what she was doing, yet understanding exactly what she was doing, grabbed his hand and caressed it. "You can tell me anything, John." she tried to reassure him.
He took a deep breath. "Maddie, I love you."
There was nothing but silence for the next couple of minutes and John became uneasy. He sat on the edge of her bed.
"I shouldn't've said that. Now look what I've done." he said, putting his head in his hands.
"John, you haven't done anything wrong. I'm just... Thinking. I don't know what to say." Maddie said.
"I know. Remember when we were little?" John said.
"When we used to sit together whenever we possibly could, and we were upset when we weren't together? When we sat in the forest at Strawberry Fields? That day when you kissed me, and the day after that when I kissed you, and we said we liked each other?" Maddie asked. She paused, "I remember."
"We didn't just like each other." John said.
"We loved each other."
"Do love, Maddie. We are in love. If I say I love you, will you say you love me too?" John asked, taking her hand and massaging it tenderly.
"Yes. I love you too, John. I'm in love with you." she said.
He ran his hands up her arms to her shoulders, and let one continue upwards, tickling her throat, tilting her chin up. Then, he pulled her in closer to him, and he leaned in until their lips were touching, and then Maddie surrendered herself completely to him. His lips melded with hers, and he slowly worked her mouth open, exploring with his tongue, tracing along her lips. And then, a sudden release. Both were breathless and left wanting more of that sweet kiss.
"I've never felt that with anyone, Maddie. You're the girl for me." John said, exhaling his sweet breath on her face, "I love you. So, so much."
"I love you too, John." Maddie said. He kissed her tenderly up her neck and then trailed hot, steamy kisses to her lips, and this time, she was the one exploring.
They were quickly broken off when Maddie heard a knock on her door.
"The perfect way to ruin a perfect moment." she whispered to John, "Quick! Hide in the closet." she pulled open the closet doors and then once he wedged himself in there, she closed them. She went back to open the bedroom door.
"Oh, you are awake. I've decided that it wasn't fair of me to micromanage you the way I did. I should trust that you won't change who you are because you have your mother's stubbornness. And even though I don't like your friends, I won't tell you that you can't ever see them again."
"Thanks dad." Maddie said, grinning.
"Goodnight sweetheart," her dad said, walking away.
She closed the door and let John out of the closet. "Did you hear that? He's gonna let me see you!"
"Great! So on the assumption that you can go out now, why don'tcha come with me to hear me band play sometime."
"I'd love to," Maddie smiled, "You should really get going before we get caught, because I really really don't want to know what would happen if I betrayed my parents."
"Right. Goodnight Maddie," he gave her a quick, yet explosive, last kiss before he climbed out the window and down the tree.
