Enjoy! :o)
"You do know that I'm the one that's supposed to be skipping school, right?" I said to Henry, as I plopped next to him on his window seat. He smiled at me. "I'm the teenager, not you" I said, giving him a light shove.
He gave me a shrug and went back to looking out the window. I looked around his room. It very much belonged to a ten-year-old boy. I continued looking around until my eyes landed on a picture of all three of us; my mom, Henry, and I. The picture made me smile. In it, Mom and I were kissing Henry's cheeks, as he made a silly face.
Slowly, the smile left my face and I started to feel guilty at how mad I'd been at Henry lately. I looked from the picture to Henry, and back. I was the spitting image of my mom, except for our eyes, and, well, I'm shorter. Nevertheless, she's my mom, my blood. I've never questioned that, but Henry was constantly reminded that he was adopted. I can't begin to image what that must feel like, to wonder where you came from, who you were related to? Sure, my dad wasn't in the picture, but as far as I knew, he sounded like a sleaze that we didn't need around.
I looked back to Henry. "Tell me about Emma," I prompted. He eyed me, trying to figure out my angle. "Did mom put you up to this?"He asked suspiciously.
I let out a small laugh. "No." I paused, trying to figure out what I wanted to say next. "Henry, I'm sorry I didn't take you more seriously, before. You may be my little brother, but you've always been my best friend. You got that book from Mrs. Blanchard, and I'll be honest, you sound pretty out there with these fairy tale conspiracies..."
A hurt look spread across his face, but I continued, "However, clearly, you feel very strongly about all of this. You found your birth mom and brought her back here... Dude, you're ten and have made more strides to figure things out than most adults!" I said, in a teasing voice.
I turned so that I was sitting crossed legged on the window seat, fully facing him. Folding my hands in my lap, I gave him my full attention. "Talk to me, fill me in. What's she like?"
Henry's face broke out into a huge smile as he turned his body to sit cross legged on the window seat, copying me. "She's the exact opposite of you." He teased. I cocked my head, and looked at him curiously. "She's fun." he explained.
"Hey!" I exclaimed, smacking his arm. He started to laugh, and so did I.
"I don't know much about her, yet, other than what I know from the book and the little time I've spent with, but I like her. I really like her. Plus, she'll totally break the curse." he said in a very optimistic voice. It took a lot of will power for me not to roll my eyes, but I kept an attentive face and I let him talk.
Henry proceeded to fill me in on everything. Getting to Boston, finding Emma, driving back with her, telling her about the book. All of it. Once he was done he gave me a curious look, wondering what I would say. There was one part of the story he'd left out. "So, you really stole your teacher's credit card?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"First, please don't give me that look. You look like mom and it's scary. That look makes my skin crawl." he stated in a serious voice with a slight shudder. I just rolled my eyes. "Second, how'd you know about that?" He questioned.
"Mom was at school today, looking for you I guess. I saw her and Emma barge down to Miss Blanchard's classroom, so I kinda spied. Mom wasn't exactly quiet during the visit." I said, shrugging.
A guilty look spread over his face. "I'm not here to lecture you, just making sure I have all the details." I reassured him, smiling.
We chatted a little longer, but fell into a comfortable silence as we looked back out the window. Slowly, Henry turned to me, again. "I'm sorry for getting you in trouble." He said apologetically. "I know mom has been pretty hard on you, because of me." He looked down.
"Hey," I lifted his chin to look at me. "I can handle mom, and it is partially my fault," I tried to reassure him. Henry gave me a skeptical look, clearly not believing me. I didn't really believe myself, but I was the big sister. I need to keep his spirts up.
"Ummm, Henry… Could I maybe read the book?" I asked, the idea suddenly popping into my head.
Since he had gotten the book, I'd refused to even listen to him talk about it, let alone look at it. He gave me a bummed look. "Mom, confiscated it… Why do you want it?"
"Just want to better understand it, well, you…" I said standing up. "Let me know when you get it back, slash - steal it back." I continued, giving him a knowing smile. "I'm off to do homework." I told him, heading out of the room.
As I got to the door, Henry's voice came from behind me, "Maddie?" I stopped and looked back.
"Thanks for being my sister and for trying to understand." I simply nodded and headed out of the room.
As I walked into my own room, I looked around. My eyes landed on my backpack sitting by my desk, causing my mind to flash back to this afternoon-
The bell rang, signaling lunch. I saw Mrs. Arnold head to her desk, but she turned looking for me. Sighing, I took the test out of my backpack, walked to her desk, and handed it over. She scanned the document, her eyes landing on the signature at the bottom.
Looking up, she gave me a small smile. "How much trouble did I get you in?" She questioned.
"I'm grounded, two weeks." I said, shrugging. At least it wasn't a complete lie. Mrs. Arnold handed me the test back. "Here, I have something for you." She said, as she opened a desk drawer. Mrs. Arnold pulled out a file and handed it to me. Opening it, I saw some worksheets and other papers. I looked up at her, confused.
"Extra Credit," she explained. "You finish those, do well on your history paper, and ace the final, you can still get up to a B+ in the class. I know it's not the A you're accustomed to getting, but…"
I gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Mrs. Arnold. I really appreciate all that you've done for me." I said as genuinely as I could. Tucking the folder into my backpack, I gave her one last smile and left.
I let out a long breath as my mind shifted back to the present. I walked over to my backpack and pulled my test out. There was the D-, still at the top, and my mother's name still at the bottom, where I had forged it that morning.
I thought back to what Ray had said to me earlier, in the diner. Was this who I wanted to be? Reckless, always lying, and sneaking around? Sure, I'd joked with Henry about being a teenager, but the truth of the matter was that I didn't like it. I like to follow rules. I like having straight A's. I like doing what is expected of me. Sneaking around and doing things that'll get me in trouble... That simply wasn't me.
I got up, with the test still in my hand, and looked to my door, then back at the test. I let out a frustrated sigh and headed out of my room.
Looking down, I could see my mother's door open, so taking a deep breath, I walked down the hall and peered in. I didn't see her, but could hear noise coming from her bathroom. While knocking a couple of times, I called, "Mom?"
Her head appeared from the bathroom, "Yes, dear?"
"Do you have a second to talk?" I asked. She came out of the bathroom in her pajamas, while rubbing her hands together, like she had just put on lotion. Mom walked to her bed and sat on the edge, while raising an eyebrow, prompting me to talk.
"I see what Henry meant about the look." I thought, as goosebumps formed on my arms. I shook the thought away and approached her, shaking slightly, as guilt and fear surged through my body.
I let out another small, shaky breath. Not being able to think of something to say, I simply handed her the test. My mom gave me a confused look, but took the paper and looked it over. I could see the gears turning in her head, as she was trying to process the document in front of her.
"Huh, I don't remember signing this, Madelyn." She said, clearly indicating that I should explain.
"That's because you didn't." I answered and looked down at the floor. "Care to explain?" She demanded, as she put the paper down next to her and crossed her arms.
Letting out a breath, I looked back up at her. "I'm not doing so well in History..." I really wanted to look back down at the floor, but knew better. However, her brown eyes were locked on to mine, making it hard to talk.
"I, I…"
I stopped and took another deep breath, "I got a D on the first test… I didn't really study for it like I should have. It was totally my fault, but I figured I could fix it if I did well on this one. But, uh, I… I obviously did worse, so, Mrs. Arnold told me you needed to sign it." I stumbled over the words as they rushed out of my mouth.
"That doesn't explain how my signature got on the bottom." She said, while giving me a hard look. I could feel and hear my heart pounding in my ears.
"We got the tests back yesterday and I honestly forgot about it last night because of our eventful evening," I said, somewhat jokingly. Mom's eyes widened and her lips started to purse out.
"Bad choice." I lectured to myself, so I quickly continued, "I didn't remember it until Ray mentioned it this morning… The next thing I know, I'm pulling out a pen at Granny's and signed your name." I finished, relieved I'd gotten the truth out.
My mom's face hardened as I saw eyes start to blaze. "Granny's?" She inquired, almost as if to test what I would say next.
I felt my mouth drop open, but I couldn't speak. "Really? Really, Maddie?! Good work, dumb ass." I thought to myself.
"Madelyn?" My mom pressed.
Part of me wanted to come up with a lie. It was like my brain was yelling at me, telling me to shut up. Telling me that I was an idiot for doing this. I looked at my mom, her eye were like daggers, piercing into my own.
Suddenly, it was like my brain clouded over and I heard myself say, "I sorta skipped first period to go to Granny's. I really did forget about the test, and when Ray mentioned it, I didn't know what to do and needed time to think. I also drank coffee, even though I know you don't like it when I do." My voice was laced with guilt, but at this point, it was like I couldn't keep anything in. I had to get it all out. Tell her the truth, no matter how upset she would be.
At some point during my verbal vomit, I had broken eye contact and was staring at the floor again. After a few more seconds of silence, I finally looked up at her. My mom's face was like a stone, impossible to read.
Finally, she patted the bed next to her so I sat. I tensed myself, ready for my punishment. "Why are you telling me this?" My mom questioned, genuine curiosity in her voice.
I felt my face contort in confusion, unprepared for the question, but I thought about it for a second and gave a small shrug. "I want you to trust me. I want to be a good kid, a good person. The last few days, it's felt like this other person has taken over me. Like, I'm acting and speaking, before I can think it through or stop myself..." I tried to explain as I saw a strange look cross my mom's face.
"…Mrs. Arnold offered me extra credit today," I continued. "I can't get an A in the class, but I can bring my grade up. I was thinking about that, and I realized that I needed to come clean. You might not believe this, but I hate lying to you… I just want to make you proud, but I can't do that if I lie, go behind your back, and become this person I don't recognize. Plus, the guilt was eating at me. The longer I held it in, the stronger the pull was to come tell you…" I realized I was rambling, so I faded out and waited for her to respond.
It felt like forever, when finally, mom grabbed my hands with both of hers, and pulled them into her lap. "This household has been a little crazy, huh?" She asked, with a small smile. I was surprised, this wasn't how I expected her to respond.
"Thank you for being honest with me. This is the daughter I know and can trust." I had been looking at her, but felt my eyes drop. She reached out and lifted my chin, making me look at her again.
"I haven't been fair to you and I'm sorry for that." She said, sounding sincere.
What was this? My mom apologizing?
"Henry isn't your reasonability. I was wrong to yell at you like I did last night. I'm the mom, not you." She said in a gentle voice. "Tell you what, you're already grounded for two weeks, correct?"
I gave a nod as she continued, "We'll leave it at that for now." I felt my eyebrows raise in surprise.
"Oh, don't take this to mean I'm not upset. You shouldn't have forged my signature, and I will be calling Mrs. Arnold to discuss this," she emphasized. "But, you came clean and I'm just proud that you chose to come tell me, instead of continuing to lie."
I let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. My mom stood up from the bed and looked at me, "No more lying or sneaking around, deal?" She questioned.
"I promise." I said and I meant it. I was done miss behaving, being some kid I didn't recognize. I, too, stood up. "Would it be alright if I got some more Ibuprofen?" I asked, as mom headed back towards her bathroom.
"You still have a headache?" She turned, looking worried.
"A little, but it actually feels much better. I think the guilt was partially behind it." I said with a small, remorseful smile. "I just figured if I took some more medicine and headed to bed, I'd be good to go." Mom gave me a knowing look, but retrieved the Ibuprofen.
As I laid in bed, I felt myself smiling. My headache was nearly gone and the events from the last few days were starting to fade away. The issues with Henry were beyond my control, but everything else was back on track. I was optimistic I was going to get a good night sleep, and be able to start again tomorrow.
Honestly, I felt like everything was on its way back to normal.
I'm curious to see what y'alls comments will be to this one. Obviously, this finishes out the Pilot, so I'll start working on the next episode. I know it seems like Regina is being soft, but…. ;o)
