"M-Maddie?!?" I was shocked to see her tears, eyeliner and mascara running down her eyes. Her panda like face returned!
"D-Did, did she really?"
I quickly waved my hands.
"Yes yes! I promise you, now stop crying!!" I quickly tried reassure her, but she only cried harder.
"R-Really???" She said in between sobs.
"Ah- hold on hold on, let's go into the bathroom first, okay?"
Maddie nodded but stood at the top of the stairs, unmoving.
I had to walk back up and grab her hand, ushering her to the closest bathroom.
Once inside, I dropped my bag, searching through Maddie's for makeup wipes. I heard her sniffling behind me.
"H-Hold on Maddie, I'm just looking for some- found it!" I smiled, pulling it out of the back and turning to face Maddie.
"Here, wipe your eyeliner-"
"Do you, want to know why we fought?"
I halted, holding the makeup wipe midair.
"H-Huh?"
"…" Maddie didn't say anything, but took the wipe from my hand.
As she wiped her eyes in front of the mirror I cautiously leaned on the bathroom sink.
"You.. you don't have to tell me if your uncomfortable."
"No." Maddie looked up at me with a firm face, despite her quivering lip.
"I'll tell you."
"…o-okay." I nodded slowly.
Maddie wiped her eyes once more before beginning to talk.
"Anne was always a caring person… that's why I liked her in the first place. Aside from you, she was one of the first people who didn't care about my image or my father's company… was was simply around me because… she wanted to be."
"The… day before the sleepover. You mentioned something about last year, how the attention on you was worse? Was that… a part of anything?"
Maddie sighed, her tongue pressed to the inner part of her cheek as she sniffled.
"By then… we were already broken up. But before that, the increasing news about how well my dad's company was doing made some people get ideas."
"Ideas? Like… trying to be your friend?"
Maddie scoffed.
"Something like that. Regardless it caused problems between Anne and I. We broke up a couple days after my 15th birthday party."
"W-What? What did you two fight about?"
"…"
I awkwardly coughed.
"Sorry. Was that too personal to ask-"
"She wanted us to go public. Officially."
"A-Aeh?"
"Anne wanted me to tell my dad. Tell her dad- tell everyone that we were together."
"…oh."
"….yeah."
Maddie moved from standing to sitting on the bathroom counter. We both said nothing.
"…."
"….."
After what seemed like a long pause, I finally spoke up.
"Why didn't you? Want to go public, I mean."
A bitter smile appeared on her lips. She brushed her hair back, tucking it behind her ear.
Out of the few times she messed with her hair in front of me, the words that followed seemed to be destructive.
"At that time… I wasn't sure how much I really liked her."
"W-What?" My eyes widened in confusion. "But… you and her were dating!"
"Dating so seriously in middle school…" Maddie scoffed. "It can't be considered real."
"I-It can!" I peered up. At my sudden exclamation, Maddie glanced at me.
"You've been in a relationship?"
I immediately blushed, lowering my head.
"A-Ah. No. But- that doesn't mean that you're relationship with Anne wasn't real!"
"…I guess your right." She mumbled while wiping her eyes. "But, it caused a big fight between us. Anne was really hurt but tried to be understanding but, we weren't able to overcome that difficulty."
"…I understand… and- I'm sorry to hear."
We had both gone quiet. Looking over, majority of Maddie's makeup had been wiped away and her eyes were reddened. She put on a smile, turning to me.
"Sorry. We're probably gonna be late to class now."
"Maybe… maybe the two of you can still be friends?"
"Huh?"
I kept speaking, watching her face to see a change in her demeanor.
"I mean… well-" I spoke up. "It might be difficult, but- if you guys still respect each other as people and stuff… it should work out well."
Maddie was quiet.
"B-But you don't have to!" I quickly nodded. "You don't want to, right? Let's just forget it."
"No I- I-"
At her voice, I looked up. Maddie coughed.
"I wouldn't mind that. Being friends with Anne, I mean."
A smile bloomed on my face.
"That's great then!" I giddily turned towards the door. "C'mon, we're gonna be late for class."
"Hang on, Somni?"
"Yeah? What's up?"
I turned around to look at her.
"Will you be there with me? When I try to clear things up with Anne, I mean."
With a smile, I nodded towards Maddie.
"Of course I will. I'm here for you! Should we get going now?"
Hesitantly, Maddie's expression relaxed, she nodded her head and picked up her bag.
"Alright. We can go-"
As we were prepared to walk out of the bathroom door, it opened from the other side.
"Oh, sorry." I apologized instinctively as I moved away from the door.
"No worries." Said a girl with a familiar, honey-like voice spoke up.
My eyes widened. Looking up they met the eyes of Anne.
"A-Anne?" I coughed.
***
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