It was as if the car were telling me where to go. I felt like Michael Knight in Knight Rider as I drove towards Manor Road. I knew the way well as I had taken the exact route so many times. I pulled up to the street about twenty minutes later and parked in the same spot my dad had every time he drove us here.
I stared at the house for what seemed like the millionth time. It was so big that as a child, I had always wondered what people did with houses so big. Did they sleep in a different room every night? It was so different from what I was accustomed to. So grand and alluring. I wondered what it would be like to live in a place like that. To make enough money to afford a house that rivaled any Beverly Hills mansion. I sat back in the seat with the engine off and just stared. I thought about all the other times I had been there, and the vitriol my dad had spewed about the mayor and his family. The vitriol that had been the foundation of my hate for Maddie and her family. Only, as I sat there, I found it hard to hate her.
“That’s what these worms do,” I berated myself. “These parasites try and pretend to be someone else and then they f**k you over.” I was mad at myself, I was mad that I was wondering and concerned about how Maddie was feeling. I didn’t want to care about how she was feeling. She deserved everything that she got. She was a spoiled bitch. Who tried to find some guy she didn’t know and then sleep with him. She was crazy. She’s not that crazy and she’s not a bitch, another voice whined inside my head. I jumped out of the car, confused and angry at myself.
I grabbed some gravel from the side of the road and ran up to the house, throwing it at the front door. My aim was off and I heard the sound of windows cracking as the small rocks slammed into them. I saw a light come on, and I stood there defiantly. I wasn’t scared and I didn’t care what happened. It was time for me to face the mayor. I needed to let him have it, and I didn’t care if I was arrested in the process.
Chapter 4
Maddie
I heard the sounds of thunder against the windows downstairs and I sat up, slightly frightened. My mother’s cat came running into my room hissing, and I jumped out of bed, unsure of what to do. I wanted to go downstairs to see what had happened, but I knew that was a bad move. I’d seen enough horror movies to know that only idiots went to see what was going on. But I also knew I didn’t want to stay in my room, waiting for something to happen. I sighed and reached for my old tennis racket in the corner of my room. It wasn’t a baseball bat, but it would have to do. Why had my parents chosen this week to go out of town? I was super pumped when they had told me they were going out of town and they hadn’t made me go with them. I had almost been in shock; my dad was so overprotective that he usually liked to accompany me to the grocery store. It had taken me four months to convince him that I would be safe going to a college out of state, without a private bodyguard. It was so annoying and cloistering, and I hadn’t known what I was going to do if he kept hovering over me as if I were some soon-to-be-extinct species.
The fact that they had chosen to let me stay home by myself was a huge feat, and I knew that if he knew what I had done the previous night, I’d never be let out again. But I wouldn’t have changed a thing. It had been the best night of my life. I hugged myself as I thought of my time with Logan Martelli; it had been magical. He was magical when I got into the car to be with him, or maybe that feeling was due to the fact that my heart had still been racing after my attempted car theft. That had been crazy, and I still couldn’t quite believe that I had done it. I hadn’t planned on trying to steal it; my only plan had been to go down to the pier to bump into Logan. That was the best way to meet him; at least that was what I had been told. But then as I was walking and saw the cop car with the keys in the ignition, something came over me. I wanted to know what it felt like, but I panicked when the cops saw me pull away, and I jumped out of the car and started running. I knew I could outrun them; being the track star of your high school will give you that confidence. And then I saw Logan staring at me, and I paused for one brief second. And as our eyes connected, I saw the amazement, respect, and surprise in his eyes. And I felt like I was on fire. He was even more gorgeous than I had expected. I wanted to run over to him and kiss him, but I knew I couldn’t stop.
My immobile body started shaking as I heard the sound of cracking down the stairs. My grip tightened on the tennis racket and I took a deep breath and crept through my open bedroom door and walked down the stairs slowly. I listened to the creaking of the stairs underneath my feet and cursed that my parents hadn’t updated the historic mansion and put in a marble staircase. I tiptoed down and held my breath. I looked into the formal living room that was next to the entryway and realized that the windows were cracked and not broken. I peered through the windows and my breath caught as I saw the solitary figure standing by the main gate at the front of the house. It was Logan. What was he doing here? And why was he trying to destroy my house? Was he mad? I ran to the front door without thinking and ran outside in a hurry.
“Logan,” I screamed at him, my heart beating rapidly. “What are you doing?”
“Where’s your dad?” His voice was hoarse and he had a crazed look in his eyes.
“He’s not here,” I shouted at him as I ran down the porch steps. “Come inside.”
“What do you mean, he’s not here?” He frowned at me. “You told me you didn’t want to come home right away because you didn’t want to deal with your parents.”
“I lied.” I looked at him coolly, still mad at how he had treated me earlier in the evening.
“You lied?” His eyes narrowed and he took a step back. “What the f**k?”
“Would you have taken me to the field if you had known my parents weren’t home?” I shivered in the cool night air. I was only wearing a pair of short-shorts and a tank top. I saw Logan look down at me, and his eyes took in my whole appearance. I shivered again, but this time it wasn’t because I was cold.
“You were in bed?”
“Yeah, it’s still nighttime, you know.”
“Actually, it’s morning.” He gave me a sarcastic smile, and I resisted the urge to kiss him and wipe the cocky smile off of his face.
“Actually, most normal people are still in bed sleeping at this hour.”
“Actually, most working-class people are getting up at this hour because they have to get to their minimum-wage-paying jobs.”