History class went by rather quickly, and I soon discovered that my schedule and Maddie's were the exact same except for our last class of the day. Her having Choir while I had Art. But apart from that, even our breaks were the same. I was incredibly shocked on how that came to be, and it made it even harder for me to avoid her.
After finding out how popular Maddie was, it was only natural that I was a bit scared to go around her. God knows what these rich kids would do had they found her even glancing at me. I had already gotten a handful of weird looks from other classmates, especially the girls. During lunch, I was sitting next to Maddie, I placed my fork down before looking at her.
"Can I, ask you something?" I said. She looked up from her plate and smiled.
"Sure! What's up?" She responded.
"Is something going on here? I couldn't help but notice you have a school of eyes following you... not to mention the death glares I get from just sitting next to you. What's up with that?" I asked. Although there staring made me uncomfortable, being the person I was, I wasn't going to let that continue. Her eyes silently dimmed.
"Oh... that." She said. Her expression quickly changed back into a smile before she chuckled awkwardly.
"My dad is kinda big around here, He owns a lot of things and what not." She paused and looked up at me worried. "Is that why you've been distancing yourself?" She asked. I rubbed my neck sheepishly. I nodded.
"I should have known." She sighed. "Sorry, I really didn't plan on making you uncomfortable.." she said slowly. I quickly shook my head.
"No no! That's fine! I was just curious. I'm not used to this many people paying attention to me is all." I said. She didn't respond but ate her food quietly. I couldn't help but feel guilty. She probably didn't have a lot of friends because all people used her for was her money. It made me sad just thinking about it. Despite going to a school filled with kids from well off families, there was obviously going to be a case or two like this.
"Me and my big mouth!" I scolded myself quietly. An idea then sparked in my head.
"Hey.. how about you come to my place?" I said. She looked at me confused.
"What do you mean by that?" She asked. I looked at her with a smile.
"Well, we just moved here and have lots of space! We could build pillow forts, and maybe roast marshmallows! Well, not with an actual fire... but we can use the stove! And, and there's a beach right behind our house!" I said. My excitement building up as I spoke. I noticed her not responding and I quickly looked up. Her grey eyes were clouded over with tears. I quietly gasped.
"Oh no no no! I-I'm sorry! I didn't know- I mean I didn't mean to... are you allergic to marshmallows?? I'm sorry!" I panicked while apologizing. She shook her head before wiping her eyes.
"No no.. it's just." She sniffled. "No one has ever invited me to those kind of things.." she said. I frowned, feeling sad for her. I handed her my napkin.
"If it makes you feel any better, I haven't really been invited to those as well..." I rubbed the back of my neck. She looked up at me shocked.
"But your so sweet! How come?" She asked. I sighed before shrugging.
"I'm not the type of person to go to those things I guess..." I said. "Why haven't you gone to anything like that before?" I asked. She looked back down.
"Well... I have, except it wasn't always me people actually cared about. They thought my father would give them some sort of reward for being with me." She explained.
"Oh.." I said. We paused for a moment before looking at each other. I smiled before covering my mouth. Giggles escaping my lips.
"What?" She asked. Not being able to hold in my laughter, I snorted loudly before bursting out into loud cackles. The cafeteria turned to look at me. Maddie continued to stare at me shocked.
"What is it?" She asked. I tried to take a breath but only ended up laughing harder. I pointed to her face.
"I have something on my face?" She asked. By this point I was shaking uncontrollably, holding my stomach tightly. I laughed louder. She quickly pulled out her tiny face mirror and gasped. Her mascara was running down her eyes. She looked like a panda! She joined me into my laughing fit. Smacking the table uncontrollably. People were staring at us weirdly. I looked back up at her to see her dipping her napkin in water, trying to get off her mascara. It only smudged it more. Her mascara now running down her cheeks.
"Pfffftt!" I said, before laughing again. I saw her try her best to hold her laugh in but she quickly gave up and joined me again. After what seemed like forever, we finally stopped laughing and were now just smiling brightly. She was able to wipe off her mascara. I wiped away my tears and chuckled lightly.
"I don't even have any more mascara!" She said sighing. I started to laugh again.
***
After our giggling fit at lunch, We only became closer. It felt weird being able to relate to someone so well. And although she was insanely rich, she was just like any other person you would see in school. If anything, she would have fit right in at my old school. I shook my head, trying not to think about that place.
"Somni!" Maddie called. I turned around looked at her with a smile. We had just finished our last classes. It was the end of the day and by now the halls were filled with students. She quickly ran up to me before getting caught in the traffic. I waved at her brightly.
"You taking the bus?" She asked. I nodded. She smiled. "I'll come with!" She said. I looked at her confused.
"But isn't your driver waiting?" I said. She shook her head.
"My little sister has to stay after, so he was going to come later and just pick the both of us, now I don't have to wait." She explained. I nodded.
"Okay, let me just get my bag-" I suddenly tripped in the big hallway. Falling down, I landed hard on my butt. I hissed. Giggles and chuckles made their way into my ears. When I looked up, a few girls I had seen at the beach party, and a couple of unknown guys were staring at me with dark grins on their face. Maddie crouched down and helped me up.
"Are you okay!!?" She said. Then turning to glare at them. "What is wrong with you guys?" She said. The girls laughed once more while the boys kept quiet.
"Whoops! Sorry! I didn't see you there. You must have been caught up playing with the rich kids to notice huh?" One of the girls said. I wiped my butt before glaring at them. Maddie stood their, looking at all of them with disgust as well.
"Never knew people were so ignorant.." I muttered. Maddie laughed. I looked at them with a smirk.
"And you must have been too busy playing with daddies money to notice huh?" I said, imitating her voice. They all glared at me.
"Go back to what ever slum you came from." One of the boys said. His British accent twisting into a scowl. I looked at him, a smile still gracing my lips.
"Why, so you can wave at Maddie again?" I said, recognizing his face from earlier. He looked at me, his eyes fulled with rage. I quickly stopped when I saw their faces. I shouldn't push them too far. Maddie however laughed once more. Upsetting the group of bullies even more. I quickly looked at her.
"We should go.." I said. She looked at me shocked.
"Why? I bet you could whoop all of there butts with just your words!" She said excited. "Besides, they started it!" I smiled but quickly shook my head. I remembered what happened the last time I went to far. Shuddering, I quickly put on a smile.
"That's alright, they probably have a list of other people to harass, let's just leave them to it." I said. Noticing my reluctance, Maddie nodded before following me to my locker. The group of people stood their, the girls still glaring at our backs.
Upon arriving at my locker, I quickly took out all my things and put them into my backpack. Maddie was leaning on a nearby locker, her bag strapped over her shoulders. She turned to look at me.
"Did that's stuff ever happen to you before? At your old school, I mean." She said. As if she could read my thoughts. I smiled sheepishly while stuffing my bag.
"Yea.. it has." She waited for me to elaborate. I stopped and turned towards her.
"Let's just say.. it didn't end well." I said with a half smile. Knowing I wasn't planning on saying anything else, she quickly change the topic. After I had finished packing my bag, we made our way to wards the bus section. At arriving. I noticed there were fewer kids than in the morning. Most of the ones there waiting on their phones.
"By the way, how does the bus know where to drop you off? Do you give them your address in advance?" I asked. She thought for a moment before shaking her head.
"If I remember correctly, they have a screen at the front were you type in your last name and first name initial. The address is already linked to your name." She said. I couldn't help but think about it, in awe.
"Wow! That's a first I've seen any bus do that." I said. She laughed.
"Yeah, but it's much easier this way." She said. I nodded.
"I bet it is." I replied in agreement. Soon enough, the bus pulled up in front of us. We all boarded the bus, I watched as some students typed on the screen before making
there way onto the bus.
"Woah.." I said amazed. Maddie laughed at my expression. After getting on the bus, we sat near the back. There were much more seats available from in the morning.
"So, how long is the bus ride for you?" I asked her. The bus soon started moving.
"About 15 minutes. You?" She said. I sighed remembering what I had discovered on my way to school in the morning.
"Over an hour.." I said dejectedly. She squinted her eyes and hissed.
"Ouch, but you said you live by the beach? I'm not surprised." She said. "Although that is a beautiful area, it is rather far away from the school. I'm guessing it's closest to your parents work, right?" She said. I nodded.
"About a five minute drive." I said. She smiled.
"Wow! It must be nice to live next to the beach though, you can sun bathe and go swimming all you like!" She said. I snorted.
"I guess for some people. But for one I can't swim and two I'm pretty sure I'm dark enough." I joked. She rubbed her neck awkwardly.
"Haha.. I see." She said. My mind was suddenly taken back to the beach. I remembered about Fulcrum. I had forgotten about him for a minute. My mind was so occupied with school, I had forgotten all about him. I immediately started to worry. Guilt sank into my heart.
I had said that I wouldn't see him again after making sure he was alright, but I still wasn't able to get other the fact that the crazy old man had him. I then remembered about the flower he gave me.
"Was it still alive?" I thought to myself. I had left a good amount of water in there, but I wasn't sure if it had already used up all of it. Or if I had poured into much. I started to slightly panic when Maddie shook me out of my thoughts.
"Somnium? You okay?" She said. I blinked before nodding my head.
"Yeah sorry about that." I said before laughing. She looked at me concerned.
"You look like you've seen a ghost." She said. "Are you sure your okay?" I shook my head.
Yea, I'm fine." I said.
***
Sorry for the long Chapter! Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter of "The Secrets Below". Please support this story!