Chapter 11: Madison (1)
Jack had just exhausted the figurative gold mine of sapiens-in-snapshot achievements, and was excited to maybe finally get his questions answered, when he heard his doorbell ring. At this time of day, it was almost certainly solicitors, and he was planning on just ignoring them, but then they rang the bell again. And again, and again. Seriously?
Thoroughly annoyed at whoever was answer-blocking him, got off his bed and stomped towards the front door. If this wasn't a solicitor offering a god damn free blow job, he was going to be doing some yelling.
Not bothering to look through the peephole to see who it was, he just jerked the door open. Standing on his doorstep was a young woman with frizzy reddish-brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, wearing baggy black denim jeans and a gray hoody large enough to qualify as a short dress. She was looking down with slightly hunched shoulders and flinched when Jack yanked the door open.
"Madison? What was she doing here?" He'd known her since sixth grade, and she was the only person he considered as a friend. They spent a lot of time together during the school year, but her home life was complicated. Like him, she was an orphan, but unlike him, she had living relatives, and had ended up living with her aunt and uncle. They were weird; controlling, and permissive in strange ways. They hardly ever let her out of the house except for school and didn't let her have a cell phone. But at the same time they give her a laptop and Internet access, never seeming to care what she did with either. So, he was surprised to see her on his front porch.
"Um, hi?" she said, timidly. She was unusually subdued.
It was at that moment he noticed she was also wearing a backpack and had a small roller suitcase next to her. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"Maybe? Can we, um talk inside?"
"Sure, okay." He stepped back, holding the door open, and waved her inside.
She picked up the roller case and hunched her shoulders as she squeezed past him, stopping just at the edge separating the hardwood foyer from the carpeted living room.