You chose option B ... the meanest option. Well, for Maddie anyways.

Really, what is wrong with you? No compassion? :-P

But, I have to admit: C was my favourite ... but I realised that only after I updated and asked you to vote. I integrated that as well now, because it still kind of fit in, hope you don't mind!

In case you mind: Please don't start reading this chapter.

In case you don't mind: Please start reading this chapter. :-)

Dammit. Now Maddie couldn't leave the rats in the old room, she couldn't put them back in her locker, and she didn't want to abandon them outside.

Maybe she should bring them back to the pet store ... they would be safe there.

But then she thought about the possibility that somebody might walk in and buy them. But they were her pets, nobody else's!

Becca saw things a little bit more rational:

"Do you want them dead?" she whispered. The class hadn't started yet, but they still did not want to be overheard.

"No!" Of course Maddie didn't want that.

"Do you want to get in trouble?"

"No!"

Becca didn't even know the meaning of trouble in her household ... Maddie's parents were old-fashioned, after all. Of course she didn't want to get in trouble! Her butt didn't want to get in trouble!

And then Becca gave Maddie the only option. "Then you have to take them back!"

Maddie crossed her arms over her chest and sulked.

But her friend was right ... wasn't she?

"All right," Maddie eventually muttered and excused herself again ... she desperately needed to use the restrooms. Haha.

Retrieving the little box from the closet in the dusty room, she put the little rats in there, grabbed the pet food and, after putting it all in a bag, she left the room.

Now came the tough part ... the headmistress was still informing the classes of the happenings for the next day, the secretaries were running around, as well as some teachers ... it was just too busy at that time of the day.

So the escape hatch it was.

Maddie walked over to the restrooms on the second floor, opened the window and climbed out onto the brick wall that parted the school grounds from the neighbourhood. Yeah, she knew ways to leave the school without anyone noticing.

So, part one of her mission: accomplished.

Now she just had to hurry back to town, find the pet store, give the rats back, and run back to the school.

Easy.

It all went smoothly, the walk into town, that is.

Maddie found the pet store and walked up to the door.

Oh no.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

NO!

She growled, turned around and leaned against the locked entrance door with an angry snort escaping her lips.

Just her freakin' luck.

The store was closed. A note over the door knob informed possible customers that - due to personal reasons - it would remain closed on Thursday and Friday.

Maddie would have laughed if the situation didn't look so bad for her.

Breaking into the store wasn't an option, obviously. Couldn't do something like that in broad daylight.

Besides, it probably had an alarm system and Maddie couldn't take care of shattering glass and disabling the alarm at the same time - people would hear.

She impatiently tapped her foot and tried to think of another solution to her problem.

But she didn't come up with anything.

The only option was taking the rats back to school and then beg Becca to take them with her. Only for the weekend! She'll do that, right?

"I won't do that," Becca whispered fiercely during their last class of the day.

Maddie really thought about making her ... but then decided against it. Becca was kinda like a friend, and she didn't want to taint that relationship by treating her like a puppet.

Yeah, sometimes Maddie did have a conscience.

"I cannot take them either!"

"Take them back to the pet store!" Becca whispered after making sure that the teacher wouldn't notice her talking.

"I just went there, it's closed!"

"Do it tomorrow, then!"

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Closed!"

"Oh."

Maddie blinked a couple of times. "That's all you have to say?"

The teacher fixed them with a stern look before continuing to tell the class about ... whatever. Maddie wasn't listening anyways.

When Becca was sure that she wouldn't get caught talking, she breathed, "Sorry. We'll come up with something, it's still time."

Maddie walked out of the school, said goodbye to some girls and then walked on towards the silver Volvo that stood parked next to the school's iron front gate.

"Hello. How was your day?" Edward asked and opened the driver's door.

"Good," Maddie smiled and opened the door on the passenger side.

They both got in, closed the doors and buckled up.

"Something is up with you," Edward remarked and started the car.

They drove on, and Maddie watched her brother intently.

"Don't look at me like that." Edward shot her a sideways glance, then focused back on the road ahead.

"What do you know?" she asked slowly.

"I saw you in Carlisle's office."

Her eyes widened at that. "Huh?"

"Maddie, you knew it would wear off," Edward said, his tone completely nonchalant.

"I really thought I was getting better at that."

"Blocking abilities doesn't work for long." That was true. It was easy for Maddie to manipulate humans, but vampires were a wee bit more difficult. Blocking gifts was hardest - it was like they were fighting her influence off. So if she managed to do it, it would lose its effect after a couple of days.

"Apparently." She sighed and looked out of the window, scowling. After a minute she couldn't suppress her curiosity anymore, so she asked, "What did you see?"

"Exactly what I told you."

"Anything else?"

"No. I only get bits and pieces from Alice since two hours ago."

"Okay," Maddie commented. At least Edward was still suffering from bad reception.

"What are you trying to hide?" he suddenly asked.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Well, the cussing in your head does lead me to the assumption that you are trying to hide something you did."

"Excuse me? You just told me that I'll be in Carlisle's office soon. I hate being in there!"

Edward smirked.

Parking his car in the garage, Edward stopped the engine and both got out.

Maddie was determined to make her way up to her room and stay in there until she got an idea that would get her out of all this mess.

No such luck.

"Madeline? Carlisle wishes to speak to you in his office." Jasper was sitting at the counter in the kitchen, reading.

Maddie stopped moving immediately. Okay, that office-talk was obviously sooner than she had expected. "Do you know why?"

"No. He just told me to inform you," her brother replied.

"Why is he home anyways?"

"I think somebody passed away, so the operation this afternoon ended a lot sooner."

"Huh," Maddie replied and leaned against the counter, her backpack dropping to the floor.

What the heck did Carlisle find out?

Jasper looked up from his book then. "Maddie? It is impolite to make somebody wait."

"Oh, sorry. I'll be right up," she said timidly and left the room, tiptoeing up the stairs.

She didn't like the office ... so going to her room first seemed to be a clever move right now.

Maddie hoped to be able to pass her Dad's office on tiptoes, so he wouldn't notice her walking to her room.

But this was not her lucky day.

The door to his office was wide open. Maddie stopped and listened to find out what he was doing in there.

She heard the scratching of a pen on paper, then him picking up the phone, dialing a number.

A moment later, he started talking. Sounded like something work related. But he was distracted all right.

Phew! Thank God she got that chance.

Sneaking closer to his office, she tried to quickly hurry by to the next flight of stairs.

It worked, she reached the stairs. But before she could set foot on the first step ... "Madeline?"

She cringed at the sound of her Dad's voice.

Turning around, she trudged over to the open door and peeked in.

Carlisle looked up, and motioned for her to come closer with the hand that was still holding the pen. Then he pointed to the chair in front of his desk and continued to make notes while listening to the person on the other end.

When she remained standing in the doorway, he looked up again, held a hand over the mouthpiece and said, "Sit down, Madeline.", nodding his head towards the chair.

She made a face, but complied after closing the door behind herself.

Carlisle scribbled something into his organizer, then thanked the person on the other line and hung up.

Grabbing a file from his bag, he wrote something down in it, too. Then he put the file and the pen away, folded his hands on top of his desk and faced his daughter.

"There you are, dear." His voice was neutral. No anger, which was good.

"Uh-huh." She nodded.

"How are you feeling?"

Maddie crossed her feet underneath her chair. "Fine."

"Are you sure?" His slightly narrowed eyes unnerved Maddie a little, she had to admit.

"Yes?" she said, a wee bit of nervousness detectable in her voice.

"Then I am glad you made such a quick recovery, cystitis can be very unpleasant," he stated and looked her straight in the eye.

Maddie looked like she just turned to stone. Here eyes were wide and she was too shocked to move.

She couldn't even stammer an excuse.

How the fuck did that happen? How did he find out about that?

Carlisle did not take his eyes off his daughter. "So?"

Silence.

Finally Maddie unfroze; she used her newly regained mobility to ... avert her eyes.

"Madeline, I am talking to you."

What an interesting desk. Very dark in colour, pretty carvings and -

"Madeline!"

Unwillingly, she looked back up at her father.

"Would you like to explain to me what that was all about?"

She grimaced slightly, but did not talk.

Carlisle sighed, then spoke up again. "Fine, then I will talk first. Just half an hour ago I got an interesting phone call from your school."

Maddie cocked one eyebrow - and that was all she managed to do.

"Yes, I was also very surprised," Carlisle confirmed. "But what surprised me even more was the information I was given."

Maddie started chewing on her lip; this was not good, not good at all.

Your teachers are concerned about your health, because - apparently - you have been absent from your classes half the time this week. The secretary, Mrs. Fisher, suggested I take you to the hospital for a thorough checkup and different medication, since your condition has obviously worsened."

His amber eyes bore into her honey-coloured ones.

Too bad he did not sound like he thought this was amusing. Even though it was pretty amusing, wasn't it? It was, right?

"And I hadn't realised that we were that late on Monday, that you even missed your first class."

She would have preferred if he yelled at her ... this calm tone of voice was something Maddie hated. She squirmed in her seat.

"Luckily I called in time and let them know, hm, Madeline?" he informed her - there was an edge to his voice now.

Too bad Maddie did not have a plan - but then, if she indeed had one, it would be going down the drain right now.

"You may explain yourself now."

Okay. Think, think, think.

"I'm sorry." Maddie slumped down in her seat and pushed her bottom lip out.

"No, Madeline, I expect an explanation from you. Sit up straight and tell me everything." Uh-oh, that came out strict.

"I don't like that school, you know that," she argued.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know perfectly well what let to us sending you to this school, don't you?"

She looked to the ground while playing with the hem of her ugly skirt.

"Madeline?" he prompted.

"Yes," she grumbled.

"Do I have to be concerned that you are repeating your misdeeds? Are you trying to get yourself expelled?"

"No, Sir."

"Then explain to me why you have been cutting class for four days now."

"I don't like that school, you know that," she tried again for lack of a better reason.

"You are very much mistaken if you think I would remove you from this school just because you don't feel like attending your classes right now." They had to keep up appearances after all.

"Daddy, come on! I didn't do any harm, just left during classes once or twice."

"Once or twice is thoroughly understated. You constantly left during each and every class."

"What the hell do you know? You weren't there," she huffed in annoyance.

"Listen, young lady, and listen closely: I will not put up with your insolence. Let this be a warning to you."

In order to not roll her eyes at his admonishment, she settled for something different: She took a deep breath before murmuring, "Sorry."

Then she realised how stupid cussing would be right now. Skipping wasn't that bad, right? And she had been at school and done her homework, so Carlisle wouldn't be too mad at her ... as long as she kept herself from mouthing off to him.

"Have you been struggling with your thirst?"

"No."

"Have you been struggling with dealing with anger? Did something infuriate you?"

"Nothing apart from the fact that I have to go there . . ."

Carlisle sighed, glad that her skipping hadn't been due to real problems but just due to her caprice. "Have you done your homework this week?"

"Yes, I have."

"All of it?"

"Yes," she said through gritted teeth.

He looked at her, one eyebrow raised at her attitude and waited if she had anything else to say. She wisely kept her mouth shut, so he nodded his head before proceeding.

"Tell me the truth: Did I call the school's office to excuse your absence?" He wanted to know if Maddie made him do that, or if she just told the secretary so.

"No."

"So you just made the secretary believe I did?"

"Yes."

"What did you do during that hour you weren't in class?"

Buying rats, sneaking them into the school, ...

"I read, listened to music." Maddie shrugged.

"And the times you left during classes?"

"The same."

"So all that just so you could do what you do at home?" He shook his head in disbelief.

Maddie just grimaced. It did sound stupid ... but telling him what she really had been doing would be even more stupid.

"You didn't leave the school grounds, did you?"

"No, I didn't."

Carlisle was relieved. He had explained to her how important it was that they always knew where she was. But, even though she skipped, she didn't leave the school, which was good.

"You're grounded," he informed her while pointing a finger at her.

"Dad, I am already grounded." She snorted and looked at her father like he was an idiot.

Oh no! Her eyes widened when she realised what she had just done.

Carlisle jaw clenched at her attitude, then he remarked, "You obviously enjoy it very much. So you can add another week."

"Yes, Sir." Maddie hung her head.

"And you must not cut classes anymore. Leaving the room during the lesson is distracting, you are not just harming yourself, but all the other girls who wish to learn something as well."

"Yes, Sir." Wish to learn something ... in which world was he living in?

"Madeline. I do not wish to hear of you not attending your classes again. And I certainly do not want you to lie to the school staff about illnesses or me excusing your absence. Next time I will not be so lenient with you."

She nodded.

"Will there be a next time?" he questioned.

"No, Sir."

"You're in trouble, Tiny?" Emmett asked the moment Maddie stepped out of Carlisle's office. His eyes held concern while he watched her from his position leaning against the door frame of his and Rose's room.

"Fuck, he's just pissed somebody died on him today," Maddie grumbled.

"Madeline!" came from the inside of the office, then the scratching of chair legs on the wooden floor could be heard.

Maddie's eyes widened before she took off, running upstairs and into her room. She could hear a door being forcefully opened and angry footsteps following her up the stairs.

Carlisle did catch up with her before the door to her room could click shut.

When she turned around, she was promptly bent under his arm and felt how several sharp smacks were applied to her behind.

They lit her butt on fire - Carlisle definitely wasn't in the mood for her nonsense today.

As soon as he let her up again, she rubbed furiously at her behind, having easy access since she was still wearing her school uniform and could snake her hand under the skirt.

"I warned you about your attitude. Can I trust you to watch your mouth now or do I need to put you in a corner for a while so you have time to think and calm down?"

"I'll be good now," she mumbled. Standing in the corner wasn't that bad - but it was unbelievably embarrassing to get punished like a toddler.

Carlisle's face softened instantly. He cupped her cheek in his hand, then took a step closer and embraced her in his arms.

"Sweetie, what is going on? Would you like to talk about what is bothering you?"

"I'm good, nothing is bothering me." Except for the fact that she wasn't allowed to have pets, but had them anyways.

"I'm just offering in case you wish to talk."

"I just wanna be alone right now, Daddy," she said and looked up at him.

"I understand. I'll be in my office, so you know where to find me."

She nodded her head before he left the room and shut the door behind himself.

What do you think? I know I promised that this chapter would be of Esme and Carlisle finding out, but that way you would have to wait even longer. So I just split the chapter, because it is still not finished yet.

REVIEW please :-)