Aaaah! I am so, so sorry you guys! I really should have added this conversation to the last chapter. But it wasn't completely finished, so I decided against it in order to update sooner.

It is a short chapter this time. I will be gone for the next couple of days, but I wanted to update before I leave. So, here you go!

And before I forget: Thank you for all your reviews! I love reading them! So keep 'em coming, eh ;-)


Maddie was lying on her stomach on her bed - reading a book that she found on a shelf in the living room. She needed something to do for the next couple of days, so reading sounded good enough. Watching TV all the time was starting to bore her.

Suddenly Rose barged into Maddie's room, stopped right next to her sister and let her hand crack down thrice on Maddie's behind, with a force that would break a human in half.

Huh? OW!

Maddie couldn't even say anything, she was completely stunned. So she quickly rolled onto her side - before Rosalie could decide to give her some more - sat up on her knees with her hands on her buttocks and looked at her sister open-mouthed and with wide eyes.

Whoever said Emmett was the strongest in this family obviously got it wrong. Those smacks hurt - a lot.

"So you're stealing now? !" Rosalie demanded, eyes sparkling with anger.

Oh no ... how did she find out?

"Rose, I'm so-" "Don't you dare tell me that you are sorry, because I don't think you are!"

An angry Rose was definitely a scary Rose. Maddie wanted to crawl under a rock and die.

Then Rose turned to the side, let her fingers run through her blond locks and took a deep breath. She was beyond furious, but at least tried to calm herself. It was a futile attempt though.

"What's next, huh? Are you going to murder someone? Is that next on your list?"

"What? No! What are you talking about?"

Rose huffed angrily. "Tell me: What is wrong you?"

Maddie just looked at her with a desperate look on her face. "Well, right now I'm in pain ..."

"You deserve so much more for what you did," Rosalie replied while pointing a finger at her sister.

Maddie looked down at the floor.

"Now, I want you to sit down so we can talk about what exactly happened. I really want to understand why you keep on misbehaving that much."

Maddie sat down next to Rose ('Ouch!') and waited for her to ask the first of a million questions.

"The most important question first: Why did you do it?"

"I didn't want to get in trouble," Maddie replied meekly.

Rose huffed, grabbed her sister by the wrist and made to pull her over her lap, but Maddie scooted away panic-stricken and shouted, "No! I'm serious!"

Rosalie let go of Maddie. "You get in trouble in order to not get in trouble?" This was ridiculous.

"Yeah, kind of. I didn't think anyone would find out," Maddie explained and scooted a little further away from Rose. Maddie had never been walloped by her sister - and wanted for it to stay that way. Rose has never been that livid, it was really scary.

Rose was that close to losing it. "Explain," she said through gritted teeth.

"I thought that if I didn't get in trouble at school, Jasper wouldn't find out that I lied to him."

"And the only possibility that came to your mind was stealing?" Glare.

"I had to act fast. Rose! I really did not plan it! I didn't think it through!" Madeline started to become desperate. And her bum hurt.

"Start from the beginning, you are confusing me."

"Okay .. I lied to Jasper, because he ruined our game."

Rosalie nodded. "Continue."

"Well, when I was at school I realised that that had been a really stupid move, because Jasper would find out about the lie if I got detention and I didn't want to get in trouble with him."

"Go on."

"It was two minutes before my last class, I had to act fast or I would get caught."

"That was when you chose to manipulate your classmate," Rosalie concluded.

"Yeah." Her sister nodded her head, but avoided Rose's eyes.

"Did you pick a specific girl or just the next best?"

"I chose a girl I don't like. And she doesn't like me," Maddie admitted.

"How so?"

Maddie looked at her, obviously internally debating whether to tell her or not.

Rose was far from patient today. "Maddie? I am waiting. I really want to know what is going on."

"We just don't get along, okay? It is as simple as that."

Rose sat there and waited for her sister to continue, who eventually did.

"From the first day on she has been acting bizarrely towards me. Told her clique to not talk to me and stuff. As if I would want to be friends with thirteen-year-olds. But now she goes one step further, because I ignore her. So last week, she poured chocolate milk all over my essay, ruining it. Just to get me in trouble."

"Did you tell your teacher?"

Maddie snorted. "No? I chose detention."

Rose tried to comprehend her sister's trains of thought. And then it clicked.

Maddie did not primarily act out of selfishness - she acted out of vengeance.

An eye for an eye.

Well, lying to Jasper had been a childish mistake. And since she still had a score to settle with her classmate, she manipulated her. That way she got even with that girl and remedied her mistake of lying. Win-win.

That was a completely different motivation than what Rose thought at first.

It never crossed Maddie's mind that she was actually stealing from her classmate - she just wanted to get square.

"Why didn't you tell your teacher that she ruined your essay?"

"I don't tattle," Maddie stated and she sounded a little offended that Rose would even consider asking her something like that.

"Oh, Madeline." Rose pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes.

"Hmm?" Maddie bent towards Rose a bit in order to see her face. An that moment Maddie looked so clueless, and so young.

"Why do you make it so hard for yourself?" Rose asked in exasperation, looking up.

"What do you mean?" She still had no idea what Rose was talking about.

"It is not tattling if somebody doesn't treat you right. If you had told your teacher right away, you wouldn't be in trouble now."

"But I can handle things myself," Maddie replied petulantly.

"No, you can't!" And then Rosalie groaned. "Maddie, you took revenge!"

Maddie nodded her head in affirmation, but her eyes showed confusion at Rose's reaction. What was she implying?

All of a sudden, Rose stood up and said, "I want you to stay in your room for the rest of the day."

Huh? "Oh, come on! I'm grounded for the rest of the week!"

"Do as I say," Rose ordered strictly and walked out of her sister's room, closing the door behind herself.

Dear Lord.


Short, I know. Next chapter will have a lot of Rose in it.

Does Rose's conclusion make any sense? Well, it did in my head but what about you? REVIEW and tell me!