(So, first of all, I just checked this out: How weird is it that chapter 3 had 666 words?! Fuh-reaky! Second of all...I wanna give a big shout out to Yellowfruit, Katy, Ashley, and Grape: Thanks for the reviews, y'all! You guys rock!) Now...on to the story, yes?
Meanwhile, while Derek was plotting his every move for Monday, Madeleine was also making a plan.
She had to make sure that she was ready to go on Monday. Nothing could go wrong!
Sitting at the kitchen table, she drew up a plan. Her brother and sister were in the living room watching Jumanji, her dad was at work, and her mom was at Aunt Gertrude's house for some "sisterly bonding time". (Whatever that was.) Madeleine was virtually alone.
"So, here's the plan." she said to herself, studying the page in her notebook she'd written it on. She had a tendency to be a bit…OCD at times. "I wake up at four, as usual, get dressed, and catch the bus to school. I avoid Jake and his friends all day, maybe eat lunch in the bathroom, so I won't have to get stressed out over him. I'll ask to go the bathroom in last period so I can change out of my uniform. As soon as the bell rings, I bolt out to the bus stop. If I go straight there without stopping once, I'll have plenty of time before the bus gets there to start my homework. I'll check my hair and makeup on the bus, make sure I'm not looking to grungy. Then I'll get to the museum and do my best not to screw anything up!" It was a foolproof plan…wasn't it? Madeleine sighed and leaned back in her chair. She certainly hoped so. It would so totally suck if she was fired from this job on her first day. That had happened a lot lately…
A couple of months ago, she'd gotten a job at Starbucks and was canned on her first day. That whole day at school, Jake had been taunting her. He followed her around the campus with his cronies, Nick and Mark, talking loudly about what a "whore" she was. It had affected her so much that, later at work, she'd spilled Frappucinos on at least three customers, mixed up five orders, and told a customer to "Shove it" when he had become upset that there wasn't enough foam on his latte.
Then, there was that job at Denny's a week later. Pretty much the same things had happened that day, too. Well, that and this one incident involving her boss's tie and a blender… Long story short, way fired.
Hopefully, working at the museum would be different. There wouldn't be any blenders or Frappucinos to worry about. Although, there was still that whole chance that she could accidentally give the kids some wrong information. She tended to ramble when she was nervous, and she had no doubt she'd be nervous on Monday.
Her thoughts were cut short by a tugging on her shoulder. She looked down. Marie, her sister, stood there, looking forlorn.
"What's up, hon?" Madeleine asked her, brushing some hair out of her face.
"Something's wrong with the tape…" Marie said, looking incredibly disappointed.
"I'll be right there." Madeleine assured her. Marie smiled and went back to the living room. Madeleine watched her go, once again amazed at how much Marie looked like her at that age. (Six) The only difference was that Marie's hair was longer. Madeleine had always kept her hair to about her shoulders, but Marie's was almost to her waist! She smiled and stood up, walking into the living room.
Back at the museum, Derek was finishing up some paperwork. As soon as he finished with it, he'd be going home. He couldn't wait! He planned to do some serious sleeping when he got home. Not because he was tired, mind you, but because he wanted to see Maddie. He wanted to see how she was doing, how she was feeling about getting this job.
Smiling mirthlessly, he finished with the paperwork and stood up. How sad was this? He was looking forward to seeing a girl he'd never met before live her life, completely unaware of him watching.
"How pathetic." he chided himself. "You could do the same thing by flipping on the television." Shaking his head, he left his office and made his way outside to where his car was parked. While he walked, he argued with himself.
"Well, it's not like you've got anything else to do." said optimistic, dreamer Derek.
"But you're scheduling your whole life around seeing her!" cut in pessimistic, sensible Derek. Optimistic Derek, who we'll now refer to as Derek #1, went quiet. "And you're technically not even seeing her! You're just watching her, like a stalker." Derek #1 mentally rolled his eyes at Derek #2.
"Oh, please. You're no stalker! It's not like you asked for this to happen. Though, you are glad it did, right? I mean, Maddie's the most beautiful girl you've ever seen! And you know just as well as I do that she would be perfect for you!"
"You don't even know her!" protested Derek #2.
"But you know enough!" reassured Derek #1. "You know enough about her home life to seem sympathetic and understanding if she talks to you. Which she will. And you know enough about her interests that you could start a conversation with her."
"What does that matter? Even if you do talk to her, you'll still come off as an ass, just like you always do. It doesn't matter how hard you try not to. It's just your nature."
"It is not my nature!" Derek suddenly shouted, earning himself an odd stare from the homeless man sitting on the bench he'd just passed. Dereks 1 and 2 quieted, leaving regular Derek all alone. "Er…"
He hurried to his car, his face burning. Sliding in, he shakily put the key in the ignition. The car sputtered for a moment, but weakly started. Derek sighed and drove home. He should've brought his car to the shop weeks ago! It was already on its last legs. But he just couldn't bring himself to spend that sort of money when it probably wasn't anything important. It just didn't seem sensible!
A couple miles away, Madeleine was leaving her apartment for the second time that day. She'd changed her clothes, now wearing a simple red t-shirt with the CCCP logo on it, jeans, and sneakers. She was headed to her friend Simon's apartment down the street. They were going to study for the History test on Monday. The teacher, Mr. Ramos, had promised them that it would be extremely difficult. (Not that they couldn't handle it, being an AP class and all…)
She smiled to herself as she walked. Her friend Christian never called him "Mr. Ramos". He called him "Ramosa". Christian was going to be there, too, along with his girlfriend Nadia. The four of them had "Ramosa" for the same period. That was how they'd met, actually, in his class.
When she got to Simon's building, she jogged up the stairs to the second floor. She knocked rapidly on the door of 319. It opened, revealing a tall Hispanic boy with shoulder-length black hair that covered his eyes, wearing a baggy black t-shirt and even baggier jeans.
"Mads!" he cried, hugging her.
"Simon!" she replied, hugging him back. He let her in and led her to the kitchen.
"The others are already here." Simon informed her. They entered the kitchen. Madeleine smiled at the sight of her friends.
Christian was an extremely tall Black boy, with a completely shaved head, bright green eyes, and very shiny, smooth skin. People often joked that he looked like his skin was painted on. He was wearing a dark purple shirt in the same style as Simon's and skinny jeans.
Nadia was a petite, beautiful Asian girl. Her shoulder-length black hair was extremely curly. She was wearing a tight tank top that matched Christian's shirt, and jeans that were almost as tight as his. She had glasses similar to Madeleine's, but they were blue.
Madeleine soon found herself the victim of a group hug.
"Guys? Can't. Breathe." she choked out through the wall of arms encircling her.
"Deal with it, Mads." Nadia teased. Madeleine growled.
"Can we puh-lease get to studying?" Simon whined in an…oddly feminine-sounding voice. Madeleine was released.
"Sure thing, boss-ma'am! I mean…man." Christian said, saluting him and clicking his heels together.
Back at his apartment, Derek was heating up a Swanson's dinner. He didn't really feel like eating out tonight. Something was telling him it would be best to stay home. He tapped the kitchen counter impatiently as the time on the microwave ticked down. He knew, deep down inside, that tapping wouldn't make it go faster, but that didn't really stop him.
He sighed, closing his eyes. This was going to be a long night. He had planned to eat dinner and go straight to bed, but he'd received a phone call regarding an error in the Museum's brochure that he had to resolve. Apparently, one of the museum's most generous donors, Jeffrey Mullins' name had been severely misspelled. (Although, Derek had to admit, it was quite humorous, Jeffree Muffins.) He smiled to himself.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Derek opened to microwave and took out the tray. Steam and the scent of overcooked vegetables filled the air. He sat at the table to eat.
"Oh, if only my old colleagues could see me now." he thought bitterly. "They were all jet setting around the globe, drinking martinis on cruise ships with bleached blonde supermodels at their sides; I'm stuck in New York, eating TV dinners and pining over a girl I've never met. We'd all gone to Oxford, hadn't we? We'd all graduated with honors! Hell, I'd been valedictorian! And yet, there they are, prematurely-retired millionaires, and here I am, working at a museum in a stuffy office with people who hate me." He sighed. He finished eating, then dumped the tray into the garbage. Rubbing his neck exhaustedly, he went to his desk, switched on his computer, and prepared to correct the "Muffin dilemma".
