AN: I deleted the other version of this story due to creative differences. A lot of things have changed. Names for one. If you read this before Abbie Reynolds is now Mollie Reynolds. There are a few things about Mollie/Abbie that have changed as well. She is no longer mute but she still signs. The reason will be explained later in this chapter. Derrick Lang is now Casper Lang. The setting of the story has also changed from Virginia to the picturesque landscape of Wyoming. The name of the town is now Hidden Rocks, Wyoming. As other important elements change in each chapter I will alert you to them in notes at the beginning.

Chapter 7: Maddie

Maddie woke up in her empty house a week after camp had ended. With her father away and her mother always gone for whatever reason Maddie was always alone. Her father Eric was a stockbroker and had an office in Denver. Her mother would rather be anywhere but in Hidden Rocks, she was never in town but long enough to change out her suitcases and freshen her make-up and other essential items.

Maddie went to her closet and stared at her many designer threads. The one thing she loved about her mother was her excellent taste in everything, from fine wine to designer clothes. Every time her mother Ariel would take off for weeks at a time, she would always return with a large amount of gifts for her daughter. Some could call it a guilty conscience and others pass it off as nothing.

Maddie chose a new dress from Chanel's fall line that her mother picked up on her last trip to Paris. It was in a soft green with red lace accents. She paired it with a pair of red heels. Maddie had very little left in her life at school now that they had kicked her off the squad. If she acted like everything was still perfect in her life then no one would ever suspect anything different. Because she was such a magnificent actress, Maddie knew she would be getting away with it, at least for a few days. Her mother was due home in a week. She could make do until then.

She left her room and went through the Kingsly's immaculate and incredibly museum like home. They had a housekeeper who came in twice a week to clean and do the shopping for Maddie. It was a lonely existence but Maddie made due by hanging out with Odette and Leah more. She went to the fully stocked fridge and pulled out a carton of yogurt and the cream cheese for a bagel. Mrs. Ortiz, their housekeeper, kept a notepad on the fridge for "Missy Maddie" to make her food wish list. Maddie never asked for much except for bagels, Philadelphia cream cheese and the Yoplait Thick and Creamy yogurts.

Maddie ate her breakfast in the silence of the house, checking her phone for any missed calls or texts. She had one from Leah, reporting that Mollie and Casper had been spotted at Brannegan's last night. Maddie glared at the screen and slammed the phone shut. Brannegan's had been her and Casper's place. They would sit in the back corner booth and order all you can eat hot wings to share and a salad for Maddie. After Casper would have his fill of the wings, they would get two pieces of the Peanut Butter Explosion pie. How dare that redheaded snippet take over her restaurant!

After her light breakfast, Maddie went out to the garage and decided to take her father's Porsche to school. It was the nicer of her father's cars at the house. It used to be a bright red convertible with a tan ragtop. She loved to take it out at to the old airstrip and just drive. It was a great car for racing. There was one night she challenged the grease balls at the strip into racing her. None of them took her seriously and lost a great deal of money. In a way, she was happy that she was no longer in cheerleading. Now she had more time to work on her racing skills.

Maddie loved cars and while she didn't know all that much about cars but she did her best. She had money so she could pay the mechanics to outfit her car for a race. At first, she had her issues getting the mechanics and the intense racers to take this blonde, Barbie princess seriously. Once she started bringing in a good chunk of cash, they started to respect the princess.

Devin "Tank" Sorvino was the first guy she met when she came in with her father's Porsche. He took one look at her and started laughing. It wasn't until she slapped the wad of cash down on the counter of his greasy, dirty shop that he quit laughing.

Tank was a big, beefy Italian man. He was in his mid 20's and grew up around cars and street racing. Maddison Kingsly did not fit his description of a hard knock street racer. She was upper class, rich, blonde and a girl. Girls were never successful racers in his book. Something was different about this girl though. She drove with such anger and hatred it was almost as if it was what the one thing that fueled her. He had never seen anyone drive like she did.

After her first winning race against an enemy of his he took Maddie under his tutelage and helped her really trick out the Porsche. He added NOS, purple under lights and an engine system that was down right amazing. The paint job was changed from the bright red to a hot pink. The vinyl work was in a white and had her street name on the passenger side of the car: Royale. Of course, Maddie had no idea what any of the lingo meant but she drove the shit out of those cars.

The Porsche was barely street legal now but she still loved driving it around town. As long as no one looked under the hood or under the back hatch of the car they would never know. She peeled out of the garage and down the street to the school. If anyone knew about her racing she would never live it down. She had a hard enough time proving herself on the streets that she didn't feel the need to prove herself at school. The guys at school always mocked her for the color of her car. It wasn't until she smoked Hunter Simpson in a race at the airstrip that the mocking stopped.

Maddie zoomed into her spot in the school lot. She stepped out and hit the alarm button. Tank had the alarm rigged loud enough that it could be heard clear across the campus. Then again, everyone knew who owned the keys to the hot pink Porsche. No one dared go anywhere near the car for fear it would shoot lasers or death rays at them. She waltzed into school with not a care in the world. She wanted everyone to believe that she didn't care anymore that Casper and Mollie had been at Brannegan's the night before. All she cared about was finishing up the last few weeks of school so she could spend her summer with Tank and the boys at the garage. Frankie, one of Tank's other drivers had been asking her out every week for months. Now she could.

Leah and Odette met her by the coffee shop. Leah was bursting to tell Maddie all she had seen the night before at Brannagens. She had seen Casper and Mollie together and had so badly wanted to be the one to tell Maddie about it. She wanted to hear what Maddie had planned to do to break up Casper and Mollie. It was the only thing that Leah and Odette enjoyed, helping Maddie plotting to destroy a classmates life. Maddie at this moment didn't care too much for messing with Casper and Mollie. In the grand scheme of the things in her life, it didn't matter anymore.

"Can you believe that Casper to that whore to your place?" Leah prodded.

"Don't you have anything better to talk about this morning?" Maddie groaned. "I don't care about what's going on with Mollie and Casper."

The other girls were shocked. Yesterday all Maddie cared about was taking Mollie down one or two more pegs. But today it was if they were talking to someone in a Maddie suit.

"Okay who are you and what have you done to the real Maddie?" Leah joked.

"Shut it," Maddie snapped. "The mom unit should be home sometime today."

"Wow. That should be good. Did she say anything about your dad?" Odette asked.

"No. She hasn't said anything about Dad at all. Not like she would anyway. They haven't spoken in months," Maddie sighed. "Not like she cares what happens to him anyway."

If Mollie had the ideal parent-child relationship then Maddie had Mollie's worst nightmare. Whenever Maddie's parents were around each other it would end in a screaming match. Nothing good ever came of her parents being in the same room for longer than five minutes. Maddie's mother Ariel used to love her father Eric more than anything in the world. The irony was never lost on Maddie that her parents' names were that of a Disney hero and heroine. But none of the magic of the names seemed to have saved the Kingslys. It was common knowledge that Eric Kingsly had someone on the side. It was also common knowledge that Ariel Kingsly had multiple tennis instructors.

"Maddie is everything okay with you?" Leah asked genuinely. "You seem down."

"I'm fine. I just don't want to hear about Mollie and Casper today," Maddie replied.

"Well in that case, did you hear that Jesse caught Emma in an 'intimate' situation with Cohen Atwood yesterday after school?" Odette asked.

"Are you serious? How intimate are we talking about here?" Maddie asked, fully intrigued by this time.

"Well Carson Levine, who is best friends with Murray Janson, who is on the swim team with Justin Larson, heard from his girlfriend Veronica Mars, who heard from Lisa Tandry who got it straight from Michelle O'Hever that Emma had her arms around Cohen and was getting very close to kissing Cohen before Jesse showed up," Odette said in close to three breaths.

That was good news for Maddie. Emma's life as she knew it would be over if she and Jesse were ever to call it quits. With a renewed sense of malice and evil Maddie's mind began to plot. It would be a tough gig but Maddie was sure she could fan the right flames to let Emma's relationship with Jesse to crash and burn.

Throughout the day, Maddie kept her mind at work trying to plan the best way to get Cohen to help her break up Emma and Jesse. She knew that Cohen Atwood was unable to be bought. He was a dealer, biker and all around not a good guy. She wasn't even paying attention in her English class when Miss Richards assigned the end of semester projects and partners. She had been so deep in thought that she didn't notice Mollie standing next to her desk.

When Maddie finally looked up she was so startled that she jumped and almost fell out of her chair. "Damn Mollie! What the hell are you standing there for?" Maddie exclaimed.

"Miss Kingsly nice of you to finally join us. You and Mollie are partners for the end of semester project. You are to pick an author of common interest and do a study on their work."

Maddie was slightly embarrassed that she had been called out like that but she was more annoyed that she had to work with Mollie. She didn't really want to have to do a final project. It was Miss Richards' policy that if you aced her final project you could option out of the final exam. Maddie could use a good grade on the project and she knew that by working with overachiever Mollie she could get the mark she wanted.

Maddie cleared a space for Mollie to sit down next to her. Mollie took the seat and set down her notebook and other books. One thing about Mollie was that she always had a book with her. She even had a peice of flair on Facebook that said, "Yes I do have a different book each time you see me."

"Do you have a favorite author?" she asked Maddie.

"I don't really read that much," Maddie replied. "Whoever you want will be fine with me."

"I'm not going to do the project for you, Maddie," Mollie said, rather harshly.

"That's not what I meant at all Mollie. Way to think the worst of me." Maddie snapped back. "I just meant that I don't always have a freaking book as a third arm. Therefore I don't have a base of author knowledge like you do. So it would be better if you chose the author."

"Maddie, I am not going to spend the next week fighting with you. Tell me now and I will go to Miss Richards and request a change in partners."

Maddie took a breath and thought about what she was going to say next. On the one hand working with Mollie would be an A in the bag. But on the other side of that same hand, Mollie is staunch and unrelenting when it comes to equal division of the work. On the other hand getting a new partner could be just as bad. Maddie sighed and turned to look at Mollie.

"All I meant, Mollie was that I am willing to do my fair share if you just pick the author. Besides if it's about someone I don't know a lot about, who knows I may learn something."

Mollie smiled and wrote down the name of her favorite author ever.

"I object!" Maddie exclaimed. "I may not know a lot about much of anything but I object to Jane Austen. I only went to see Becoming Jane because of that one hot guy. That was it."

"Fine," Mollie smiled. She wrote down another name.

"Janet Fitch? Who the hell is that?"

"She wrote White Oleander. I've only read it seven hundred times since it was printed."

"Didn't they make it into a movie starring Robin Wright Penn?" Maddie asked.

"You know who Robin Wright Penn is?" Mollie teased. "You are correct. They left out a lot of the book in the movie like always but it was still made with an awesome cast. So are we in agreement?"

Maddie nodded and smiled. Mollie was the first to notice the smile. Maddie wasn't so bad when it was just her. When she was around Leah and Odette her extra mean side tended to be out on overdrive.

"You really like Casper, don't you?" Maddie asked, not looking at Mollie.

"What are you after Maddie?" Mollie replied, writing down research points for Maddie to follow.

"You have been hanging out with Emma too long. I merely asked a question. There is no agenda here or anything else. I just want to know that if you really like him, I'll back off, knowing that he has made his choice."

"That has to be the nicest thing I have ever heard you say," Mollie said. "I do Maddie. I really like Casper."

Maddie nodded and took the notes that Mollie had just finished writing out for her. "I was thinking we could do some of the research together this afternoon. Should we meet at my house or yours?" Mollie asked.

"My house would be quieter," Maddie said. "I heard your mom had the boys doing construction or something to your house."

"With Dad coming home in a few weeks, Mom's declining health and the most of the boys home for the summer it makes sense that Mom wants the house redone. It's already noisy and dusty and the boys have only been at it for a day."

The two girls worked together quietly until the end of the class. It was then that they decided that Mollie would meet Maddie at her car after school so they could run to the library and to Staples for supplies. Mollie agreed and went on to her next class. Casper was waiting for her outside the photography lab. He pushed off the wall as she got closer to him.
"Guess who I'm working with in Miss Richards' class?" she said to him, tucking herself under his arm.

"Why do you always make me guess?" Casper teased.

"Maddie," Mollie replied. "We're doing a history of Janet Fitch for our final project."

"Your idea, I imagine. The only thing Maddie reads is Teen People and Teen Vouge. Don't let her rook you into doing the majority of the work."

"We already covered that part in class. She'll do her fair share."

Just then, the bell rang and Mollie and Casper had to part. Mollie's favorite class of the day was photography. She loved taking pictures. She found a love for it after Gavin and Amy took her to a show. She loved that every time she took a picture the rest of the world would get a chance to see something or someone in the way she saw them the moment she pressed the shutter. She had been in the same photography class since she was a freshman. Most of the time she would lock herself in the darkroom and work on the photographs she had taken the day before. She loved to expeirment with color contrasting. Her newest trick she had learned was only colorizing only one or two objects in a photo.
The photo she was working on now was one she had taken of Casper the last day of camp. She had caught him leaning against the tree with the book she had been reading. He looked so different then she had seen him before. It took her awhile but was able to colorize his blue eyes. The subtle blue of his eyes contrasted the rest of the black and white image. She had half a mind to submit this photo as Casper's senior photo for the yearbook.

Mollie had been approached to be the editor-in-chief of the photography in the yearbook. Mollie had considered the job, but was still having issues with making a sure choice. If she chose to be on the yearbook staff she would add yet another high priority activity to her already very busy schedule of cheerleading, church, Casper, Big Sisters and taking care of her mom. Jillian Lewis, the editor-in-chief of the yearbook wanted an answer by next week and Mollie was still unsure of what she was going to do. Casper was supportive of whatever she chose to do.

The bell rang and Mollie was the last to leave the lab. Luckily for her photography was her last class of the day. She almost forgot that she was meeting Maddie out at her car after school so they could work on their project together. Casper was waiting for her outside the lab like he had for the last few days.

"You ready to head home?" Casper asked, taking her hand.

"I'm going home with Maddie," Mollie said. "We're going to work on our project for awhile."

"Then I'll walk you to Maddie's car," Casper said.

The pair walked hand in hand out to the parking lot. It was crowded and busy in the student lot. Students were milling about tossing around footballs and Frisbees. Mollie only had to duck a few times to escape losing a head by a Frisbee and football. It wasn't hard to find Maddie's car. It was the only neon pink Porsche in the entire lot. Mollie and Casper beat Maddie to her car. The pair waited for Maddie close to five minutes.

While Mollie and Casper were waiting for Maddie, Halle was on the interstate. After camp and the sudden date invite from Sebastian led to another all night talk with Tyler. The end of the chat the night before ended with a location for a meet. Tyler lived in Norfolk about an hour away. They agreed to meet at a Mom and Pop cafe halfway between Hidden Rocks and Greely. Halle was nervous about meeting Tyler on her own. She however didn't want anyone else to meet him until she had gotten a chance to really get to know him.

Halle enjoyed her drive. It was calming. She pulled into the parking lot of the cafe. She sat in the parking lot for a few minutes. She was crazy for doing this. A part of her wished she had brought someone along with her in case Ty turned out to be a creepo-matic ultra. Any of the guys she was friends with would have come in a heartbeat. She wasn't sure what she was going to tell her family when they ask where she vanished to all day.

She took the booth by the window and watched for cars. She was watching for a Tyler's truck. He had posted pictures of it on his page, so Halle knew what it looked like. It was a two tone Ford that Halle swore was being held together by sheer will power and yards of duct tape. She heard the backfire of car and looked out to see the truck pull into the lot. Climbing out the cab was Tyler Morris. He looked just like his pictures.

Ty was as tall as Derrick but not as built. He wore a faded Nintendo "Remember your history" T-shirt, black jeans and mismatched Converse lowtops. He had longish brown curly hairand hidden behind a pair of black rimmed glasses was the darkest brown eyes Halle had ever seen. She stood up and was ready to let Tyler Morris change her life forever.

Ty knew her instantly. Halle had stolen a Legend of Zelda T-shirt from Jesse, skinny black jeans, one neon green Converse lowtop and one pink. Both teens thought they had died and gone to heaven.

"Halle Valmont?" Ty asked, as he took steps closer to Halle.

"Yes," Halle answered, her soft English accent breaking through. "Ty Morris?"

"Most assuredly," Ty stammered. "You look great. Much better in person."

The pair sat down across from each other andjust stared. Halle had never believed in love at first sight but she was sure feeling it. They started talking. Ty asked about her family and her friends. "Tell me everything. I want to know all about you," Ty had said.

"I was born in Stratford and came to America three years ago..."

Halle and Ty talked through seven slices of pie, a seven layer chocolate cake, countless cups of coffee and tea and was now working on a large plate of onion rings. Which Halle learned was Ty's favorite junk food. Halle discovered more about Ty that afternoon in late May than Emma and Jesse had in the two years they had been together.

"My pops is an admiral in the Navy," Ty said. "He doesn't get home much. My oldest brother Alan Jr or AJ is a capitan in the army. Richard or Richie is a fighter pilot and is currently at Top Gun." Tyler paused for a second. Halle could tell that what he was about to say was really hard. "Kevin was three years older than me but we were so close Moms liked to say that we were twins seperated by years instead of minutes. Where one of us was the other was sure to follow."

Halle noticed that Tyler kept using past tense when he spoke about Kevin. Something had to have happened. Ty kept talking. "It was kind of my fault that he broke his leg one summer. I was the one driving the boat while he was wakeboarding. While he was injured we came up with the genius idea to build our own fireworks for the family barbeque."

"Jesse and Matt got the same idea, until they blew up Matt's deck," Halle said, reaching for his hand.

"Well the fireworks didn't work the way we wanted to. So we switched to sparkler bombs. Which didn't work out as well as we wanted either. The fuse was short and almost took Kevin's hand with it."

"Wow," Halle said. "Was he ok?"

"Mostly got a bad sunburn. But dear lord did he milk it."

"What happened to him?" Halle asked. "You keep using past tense."

"Kevin like the rest of the men in my family went the military route. He went into the Marines. He was killed in action last fall. The guys in uniform arrived on Halloween, Kev's and mine favorite holiday. When Kevin was killed, Moms made me swear that I wouldn't join. That pact I have honered despite the excellent records the rest of my family has."

Halle moved from her seat across from him to sitting next to him. Something happened in that moment that neither Halle nor Ty had expected. A lasting bond and connection had formed that nothing could break. Thinking back on their first kiss, Halle couldn't remember who made the first move. All she knew was that it was soft and gentle. To Halle it was a Disney quality True Love's Kiss. If she had been Snow White or Sleeping Beauty she would have conquered death. She had found him at last.

"Woah," Ty whispered. "I tell you what! Woah!"

"I know," Halle said. "I feel like there should be singing birds and dancing mice."

"I guess that means you desperetely want to see me again?" Ty teased, kissing her again.

"Most assuredly," Halle said, touching his face. "Most assuredly indeed."

She took a glance up at the clock in the cafe and realized that she had stayed longer than she intended. She didn't want to leave. It was going to be a long drive back to Hidden Rocks. "I have to go. It's a long drive."

"Gotcha. I'll walk you to your car."

Tyler walked with Halle out to her car after he paid for all their food. Halle was smitten. They kissed outside her car and again when she opened the door. She got inside and then rolled the window down and had another.

"Call me when you get home safe," Ty said.

He watched her car drive away and as soon as he could no longer see the tail lights of her car he called her.

"Ty! I'm driving! I will call you when I get home. I promise!" Halle exclaimed.

"Then why did you answer?" Ty teased. "I just wanted to hear your voice one more time. Just one more thing before I go. Halle, I could fall in love with a girl like you."

Halle smiled and drove home with that smile plastered on her face. Metting Tyler Morris face to face was the best choice she had made in a very long time. She had finally found her Prince Charming.

While Halle was on her date with Prince Charming, Mollie and Maddie had reached a standstill with their project. After stopping at the staionary store on the odd side of town they drove to the even side and they had been at Maddie's ever since. Mollie was getting quite annoyed that Maddie had spent most of the afternoon on the phone with Odette talking about nonsense. Mollie sat at the dining room table with all the research and materials for the board she had made on her own during the school day. A part of Mollie knew this was going to happen. She found the will power to stand up and went over to Maddie and nabbed her phone. With a flick of her wrist Mollie hung up on Odette and then turned off the phone.

"What the hell Mollie?" Maddie exclaimed.

Not saying a word Mollie pointed at the table. "You told me I wouldn't have to do all the work and geuss what? I have done more than you have!"

"Is that all you care about?" Maddie asked. "There are other things in life besides being a perfect Bible thumping goody-goody."

Mollie looked at Maddie, anger seeping through her. She let out a discontented sigh and began to gather up her stuff. She couldn't do this. She could do a lot of things but staying somewhere she was being ignored was not something Mollie enjoyed doing.

"Mollie wait," Maddie said. "Let's just get this done."

Mollie looked at Maddie. "I want peace between us Maddie. I would love to put all this bad blood behind us and start fresh."

"Peace? Peace, I hate the word. As I hate hell, all your friends and thee," Maddie sighed, paraphrasing the quote from Romeo and Juliet.

Mollie just sighed and finished getting her things and called Casper. She walked out the door, not saying a word at all. A few minutes later Maddie heard the distinct rumbling of Casper's truck and could soon hear it zooming away. In the next instant she heard another car pull up. Maddie went to the window and saw a tall blonde woman get out of the car. Ariel Kingsly had returned to Hidden Rocks.

Growing up Maddie always believed that she was protected by some kind of magic because of her parents' names. But that was not the case. Ariel Kingsly was a restless spirit. The Japanese would say that she had too much water in her. Maddie just called her a flake. Her father Eric showered Maddie with gifts, favors anything a little girl could want. He was just the type of father to spoil his little girl to the core.

Then when she was fourteen everything changed. Her father got sick and stayed away in Denver. Her mother was gone more and Maddie was all alone. It had been one year, seven months and fourteen years since Maddie had visited her father. She stayed away because her father asked her to. He said it was easier on both of them.

"Maddie, darling!" Ariel called as she entered the house. "Mother's home! I've got presents!"

"Yahoo for you Mom," Maddie retorted. "How long are you staying this time?"

"You can cut the sarcasm, young lady. I am here for an extended stay," she answered.

"Define extended," Maddie said. "Three days? A week?"

"I'm home for the summer," Ariel said, puttering around the kitchen. "It'll be nice to unpack for once. Was that Casper I saw leaving?"

"Yes Mom," Maddie sighed. "And before you ask, we're not together anymore. He's with Mollie Reynolds now."

"What can he possibly see in her?" Ariel snorted.

"Beats the hell out of me," Maddie said. "I don't need a guy to make me happy anyway Mom."

"That's my girl. Why don't you and I get all dressed up and go to the club and have a wonderfully expensive meal?"

"Not tonight Mom. Tank called earlier and said the part for my car was in and he wanted to get it in and tested."

"Maybe tomorrow then," Ariel said, sadly. "Are you leaving now?"

"Yeah. Don't wait up for me."

Maddie grabbed her keys and purse and waltzed out the door. Maddie could only take her mother in small doses. She figured that if she spent some time with the boys at the garage she could deal with her a little bit better. She pulled into the lot of Tank's place and beeped her horn twice. Frankie, Tank's second in command came out.

"Royale, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Mom came back. I can't deal with her right now. You were going to show me how to check something the other day."

"Come on in," Frankie said.

Maddie loved the garage. Frankie and Tank had stool just for her and a stack of her fashion magazines she could read while they worked on her car. Sometimes when she was bored enough Maddie would wander over and ask a dozen questions. Tonight was not one of those nights. Frankie got Maddie her own set of coveralls and he put her to work on the car. He took her step by step through the process of changing the oil and other fluids in her car.

By the time they were done, Maddie was the dirtiest she had ever been. To Frankie, Maddie had never been sexier. She liked the way her hands felt in his as he helped her tighten a few bolts. Maddie was falling in love with Frankie. Wouldn't her mother love that! Emma's year end party was coming up and Maddie decided that she and Frankie would go together. It would be worth the shocked looks on everyone's faces when prissy Maddie Kingsly arrived at the party with a greasy car guy.