The Dorm Life of Maddie Fitzpatrick
Episode 2: The Roommate and The Cluck Bucket
Characters:
Maddie Fitzpatrick, Mary Margaret, Nia Moseby, Carey Martin, Derek, Chris (New Bellhop/Recurring), Professor Rick (recurring)
Now that Maddie is attending Tipton University her work schedule is a lot different. She still works most of the week at the Tipton and a couple times a week at the Cluck Bucket, but now when she has afternoon classes she works in the morning and when she has morning classes she works in the afternoon and sometimes she works until the Candy Counter closes and the same with her job at the Cluck Bucket. It's been about a week and she is still trying to adjust to her new schedule. Today she doesn't have to go to class until 3pm but she has to work from 10am to 1pm at the Tipton and then again at from 6pm to 9pm at the Cluck Bucket, luckily with her job at the Tipton she can at least study during work.
The alarm went off at 8:30am which would give Maddie an hour to get ready for work before catching a bus to the Tipton Hotel. It was also a good time for Mary Margaret to wake up because she had a class at 10:30 which would give her enough to time to get ready and eat a quick breakfast in the dorm lounge. The only person who did not need to wake up at that time was Nia who doesn't even have classes today.
"What is that noise!" Nia shouted in the top bunk of the bunk bed.
"The alarm clock," Maddie said while grabbing her robe and other bathroom supplies, she was in a hurry because she didn't want to waste any time.
"It's so annoying!" Nia complained
"Well some of us have work and classes so either get out of bed or stop your complaining," Mary Margaret said to Nia bluntly.
"I don't have either of those today," Nia responded.
"Then just roll over and go back to sleep," Mary Margaret snapped back.
"Oh, you don't want to start with me!" Nia also snapped back.
"Okay, I do not have time to deal with this so I am hoping you girls can sort this out," Maddie said while walking out of the room and heading to the bath room.
Nia and Mary Margaret exchanged a dirty look.
Maddie finally made it to the Tipton to start her shift at the candy counter. She still had to finish reading the 3 chapters that were assigned in her psychology class so she had her book with her at the counter. Normally she would have the reading done by now but she has been picking up extra hours both at the Tipton and at the Cluck Bucket.
"Hey Maddie," Carey said after getting out of the elevator and walking down the steps. It looked like she getting ready to go grocery shopping.
"Hey Carey," Maddie said with a sigh.
"Is everything okay?"
"Well I've been working so much here and at the Cluck Bucket that have hardly any time to study or do homework, and on top of that my roommates keep fighting," Maddie explained.
"Have you thought about taking fewer hours?" Carey asked.
"I can't, I need the money," Maddie said sadly "Taking extra hours here isn't as bad as taking extra hours at the Cluck Bucket, they are really pushing me there"
"Well if you need a quiet place to study my room is always open, it's pretty quiet since the boys left" Carey offered.
"And let me guess you'd also like the company because you're lonely," Maddie said.
"Maybe…" then Carey quickly changed the subject "So, have heard if they have found a replacement bellhop yet,"
"No, I haven't heard anything yet," Maddie replied.
Just then a staff member in a bellhop uniform who they did not recognize started to talk over to the candy counter.
"Well it looks like we are about to find out" Carey said to Maddie.
"Hello I'm Chris I'm the new bellhop, what's your name?" Chris said while extending his hand to Maddie, he was obviously flirting.
"Well I will talk to you later Maddie," Carey said before leaving, she didn't want to ruin possibly getting a date with the new bellhop, so she watched them from the other side of the lobby.
"I'm Maddie, I've been working here for 3 years so if you ever need to know where anything is you can ask me," Maddie said flirting back, not even realizing that Carey had said anything.
"Okay, I think I might take you up on that offer sometime," Chris said before getting back to work
"Okay…" Maddie said with a big grin on her face.
"He was cute," Carey said while returning "So are you going to go on a date,"
"I don't know, he didn't say much," Maddie said while restocking the candy shelf behind her. "Besides I told myself I wasn't going to date anymore co-workers, it didn't work out with Chuck and it didn't work out with Lance,"
"Maddie you dated both of them 3 years ago and I think that a dating someone is just the distraction you need," Carey said trying to convince Maddie to pursue.
Back at Tipton University Nia and Mary-Margaret were still budding heads.
"Okay, I'm going to go down to lounge and eat some breakfast maybe you can get some sleep," Mary Margaret with a fake smile, now she was showered and fully dressed.
"Nope, I'm coming too" Nia said, who was still in her PJs.
"Why, may I ask?"
"Because I'm already awake, I can't go back to sleep now"
"Fine, but don't sit by me" Mary-Margaret said while leaving the room.
"Not planning on it," Nia responded.
"Mary-Margaret, Nia over here!" Called a voice.
The girls who were now in the lounge looked over in the eating area, it was Derek (who planned the party with Corrie back in chapter/episode 1) who was sitting by himself and obviously wanted both of them to sit with him. It looked like their plan on not eating together was not going to work out. After getting their food they decided to sit on either side of them so they would not have sit right next to each other. The three of them sat their without saying a single word.
"Wow, you girls are very talkative," Derek said in a sarcastic tone.
"Well I would talk more if I wasn't rudely awoken!" Nia said with an evil glare directed at Mary-Margaret.
"Yeah my alarm clock went off to wake me up, my bad" Mary-Margaret said with a heavily sarcastic tone with an evil glare right back at Nia.
"Whoa! Calm down girls" Derek said who felt very awkward sitting between the girls, because it felt like they would throw down at any moment. "If you're having troubles maybe I could help," he suggested
"Thanks for the offer but I have to get to class," Mary-Margaret said while excusing herself from the table.
"Okay but I am serious about helping you girls out so let's me here in the lounge, say around 6ish?" Derek asked.
"Fine, I'll be here" Mary-Margaret said with a tone that sounded like she really didn't want to but she had nothing better to do at that time.
After Maddie's shift was over she still had some homework to do and 2 hours before her first class. She didn't want to risk going back to her dorm and hearing Nia complain about Mary-Margaret so she decided to take Carey up on her offer of using her suite to study. Luckily Carey was there so she was able to let her into the suite.
"Wow this place really looks clean since the boys left, and by that I mean Zack" Maddie said.
"Yeah it's nice not having to work hard to keep this place tidy," Carey said "Well I have to go to rehearse for my show but feel free to help yourself to anything in kitchen while I am gone,"
"Okay, thanks" Maddie said to Carey as she left.
After working on her homework for what felt like forever there was a knock on the door, she was hesitant to answer it at first because it wasn't her suite and it wasn't like when she was babysitting the boys because this time there wasn't anyone in the suite that lived there. The person kept knocking and she finally decided to open the door when she heard her name.
"Chris, what are you doing here?" Maddie asked looking confused.
"I bumped into Carey into the hall and she told me you were here," Chris explained.
"You were looking for me?" Maddie asked.
"Well I noticed you weren't at the candy counter anymore and I wanted to talk to you," Chris said.
Maddie could tell that Chris had intentions of asking her out which was kind of strange because she just met the guy a few hours ago and hardly said anything to guy. Then an alarm went off on her phone.
"I am sorry Chris, I would love to talk to you more but I have to catch a bus and go to a class" Maddie said while starting to exit the room.
"Okay, I guess I'll talk to you another time" Chris replied with a sad tone to his voice "Can I at least have your phone number?"
Normally Maddie would give a guy her phone number especially one who looked as good as Chris but Maddie really did have to go and also she promised herself that she would no longer date coworkers.
"I really have to go, I'm sorry" Maddie said before walking down the hall to the elevator.
Maddie had just enough time to go back to her dorm and change out of her uniform before going to her Psychology which she just so happened to have with Mary-Margaret. When Maddie got to the class room she took a seat next to Mary-Margaret who had gotten there first.
"So how was your day?" Maddie asked Mary-Margaret.
"Well before sitting through a couple of classes, I had to get through breakfast with Nia," Mary-Margaret replied.
"So you weren't able to sort things out yet?"
"No, not yet but Derek is really adamant about helping us work things out and wants Nia and I to meet him in the dorm lounge around 6" Mary-Margaret explained "Anyway, how has your day gone so far?"
Before Maddie could answer Professor Rick walked in so she was unable to answer Mary-Margaret's question. Professor Rick insisted that they used his first name because he has one of those really long last names that are really hard to pronounce because his grandparents are from one of those small countries in Europe. Professor Rick was also one of those young relatable Professors who really seemed to care about their education and was a cool guy to talk to.
"So does anyone have any questions about the reading?" Professor Rick asked.
Even though Maddie had to rush through the reading during her shift at the Tipton she had no problems comprehending it so she didn't have to ask any questions, and surprisingly nobody else had any questions about it either.
"Okay well if there are no questions then it's time for a pop quiz" Even though Professor Rick was cool he believed in pop quizzes.
"So how do you think you did the pop quiz?" Mary-Margaret asked while taking a sip of her coffee, the girls were now in the coffee shop of the Student Union.
"I think I did okay, I kind of had to rush through the reading" Maddie explained
"But it was assigned 2 days ago, I thought you'd have it done by now" Mary-Margaret said who was shocked that Maddie didn't get the reading done the day it was assigned like she always did in high school, much like herself.
"Yeah I would have but they have been working me pretty hard down at the Cluck Bucket" Maddie was not looking forward to going into work tonight.
"That sucks," Mary-Margaret said in comfort "So, how was rest of your day?"
"It's been okay I guess, there is a new bellhop at the Tipton and he is around our age and he is totally cute and I think he might like me but I promised myself I won't date co-workers anymore," Maddie said
"I don't know Maddie maybe a boyfriend will be a nice break from all of this school and work stuff,"
"Yeah, that's what Carey told me" Maddie said before taking a sip of her coffee, but then something caught her eyes a sign that read Now Hiring! Maddie then spit out her coffee all over the table and all over Mary- Margaret's face "THEY'RE HIRING! Oh my gosh, working here would be so much better than working at the Cluck Bucket!"
Before Mary-Margaret could even react to Maddie spitting coffee all over her face Maddie was already up at the counter filling out and application.
"Maddie you can't just start working here you have to put in your two weeks' notice first, and even then you never know if they'll hire you," Mary-Margaret said while wiping the coffee off of her face.
"Shut up! I'm writing," Maddie said, but then she stopped "Okay, Fine!" Maddie said in a defeated voice and put down the pen and threw away the application.
"Okay I'm here" Mary-Margaret said as she walked into the dorm lounge of London Hall.
"Take a seat, Mary-Margaret" Derek said professionally who was sitting a chair next to a sofa; he was now wearing a dress shirt, tie, and fake glasses and also holding a note pad.
"Okay…" Mary-Margaret said while sitting down on the sofa next no Nia was already there and finally changed out of her PJs.
"I just want to know why the heck you are wearing glasses?" Nia asked Derek with attitude.
"I thought made me look more professional!" Derek said with a smile, Nia and Mary-Margaret gave him a look "Okay I'll take them off," he then took off the classes and set them down the side table next to the chair. "So Nia, tell me about your problems with Mary-Margaret,"
"Well first of all, the first day she took the single bed without asking me or Maddie how we felt about it, and – "Nia started to say.
"I assumed it was first come first serve if you had a problem with it then you should've have said something about it," Mary-Margaret said cutting Nia off.
"Mary-Margaret don't interrupt, it's Nia's turn to speak," Derek said in his professional voice.
"I guess the most recent thing that pushed me over the edge is that she was inconsiderate to me and woke me up with her loud alarm clock when it was my day to sleep in," Nia said as if she was the victim of some crime.
"Mary-Margaret, how does this make you feel?" Derek asked.
"Well as I tried to tell her many times is that Maddie and I needed to wake up at 8:30 for classes and work, and she was being really immature about the situation as she can be about many things," Mary-Margaret said.
"Hmm… interesting," Derek said while jotting down notes on his note pad "So it seems to me in this relationship Mary-Margaret seems to be the controlling and Nia tends to act like a child,"
"WHAT!" Mary-Margaret and Nia said together who both felt a little insulted.
"Don't worry girls I feel like you can get past your differences and be able to strengthen your relationship, with my help of course" Mary-Margaret and Nia were started to get a little annoyed with Derek acting like a professional couple's councilor "So, let's start some trust building exercises," Derek said with a smile.
Mary-Margaret and Nia didn't respond, instead they exchange a look that read you've got to be kidding me.
When Maddie got the Cluck Bucket was exhausted from a long day of working at the Tipton and Classes and didn't want to do a thing, she was trying her best not to fall asleep. What made things worse was when she shift started it was the beginning of the dinner rush, normally she does really good during dinner rush and always gives people their orders on time before they get them free. But today things were going to be a bit differently.
Maddie was running on low batteries and she felt like she was moving very sluggish. She ended up messing up quite a few sandwiches and sadly was so slow sometimes some meals had to be given out free. After giving out her fifth free meal, Maddie's manager pulled her aside.
"Maddie would you please clean out the bathrooms for me, thanks" Her manager asked her.
"But that's not my job today," Maddie said confused.
"Just do it, please" Her manager demanded.
Maddie pulled out the gas mask used to clean out the bathrooms (an idea that she contributed to the Cluck Bucket after almost passing out head first in a toilet) and the cleaning supplies and got to work. Maddie was shocked when she was finished with cleaning the bathroom.
"Maddie, you're fired!" Maddie's manager said.
"But I've never been fired before. Well actually I was fired her once about 2 years ago but that was when there was another Manager and the Lon… and you don't care do you?" Maddie said after noticing the bored and annoyed face on her manager "I'm just going to go now, I'll bring my uniform by tomorrow," Maddie said taking off her chicken hat and leaving.
Nia and Mary-Margaret walked into the student union coffee shop arm-and-arm laughing out loud.
"I know I can't believe he made us do that, it was so lame!" Nia laughed about one of the lame relationship building and trust exercises that Derek made them do.
Just then they bumped into Maddie who was just about to the leave the coffee shop. .
"Maddie what are you doing here?" Mary-Margaret asked who was confused.
"Yeah aren't you supposed to be at the Cluck Bucket?" Nia asked.
"Well that's why I'm here" Maddie said, the girls looked confused "see they were pushing me so hard that I just couldn't keep up so they ended up firing me and I then I remembered that they were here so I turned in my application and resume and they gave me an interview right on the spot!"
"Well I guess that's a good sign then," Mary-Margaret said.
"So, what's up with this" Maddie gestured to Mary-Margaret and Nia's locked arms "did Derek help you work everything out?" She asked hopefully.
"Yeah, but not in the way he thought he would," Nia said with a laugh.
"Explain," Maddie said wanting more and guiding the girls over to a table so they could get more comfortable.
"Well he was trying to act all professional like he was some couples' councilor or something," Mary-Margaret began to say.
"Yeah, and then he wanted us to do all of these relationship building exercises and it was just so lame, so we just laughed about the whole thing together," Nia added
Just then Derek came running into the Coffee shop. He looked as if he was looking for them all over campus because he was so exhausted.
"There you girls are, we have to finish our trust exercises!" Derek demanded
Nia and Mary-Margaret started laughing.
"Wait, you guys left him?" Maddie asked before joining the girls in laughing.
"Forget it," Derek said defeated before leaving the coffee shop.
"Wait Derek, come back," Maddie said while trying to hold back the laughing.
Derek came back and pulled up a seat.