In Five Years

Chapter 16

Maddie

"You guys were so embarrassing!" I screech as soon as I get back inside, storming into the kitchen to glare at my beyond-incompetent family. Why did they all have to make that so awkward?

Ethan shrugs, and he clearly helped himself to another plate of pancakes. "You're going to sit there and lie to us again?" He glances around the room at my parents. "Am I the only one having a flashback here?"

"Nothing happened," I reiterate. "He just stayed the night. That's it."

"Well, that's a damn shame," Ethan replies. My parents remain quiet.

"Since when the hell do you approve of us anyways? Weren't you the one a few years ago that tried everything possible to break us up?"

"Maddie." He sighs, completely exasperated. "That was years ago. I was immature and selfish back then. Just like I told Cameron, I'm fine if you guys want to be together. You can tell me the truth if you're dating."

Is that why Cam said Ethan wouldn't care about him spending the night? Ethan had a fucking conversation with him about us? What did Cam say? Did he say he wanted to get back together?

"I can't believe you!" I shout, and I find myself getting angrier by the second. "What did you guys talk about? What did he say?"

"He didn't say anything. He said he was with Katie, but he just spent the night with you, so..."

Why couldn't Ethan have been like this years ago? Why the change of heart? If he would have thought like this a while ago then maybe we still would have been together. Granted, his opinion wasn't the only reason why we broke up, but it was a factor for sure. What if Cam and I were still together right now? Katie never would have existed.

I blink away tears that are threatening to pour down my cheeks. "Nothing happened," I whisper, feeling completely and utterly defeated. "And I'd appreciate it if you stayed out of our business."

"Maddie, your brother is just trying to help," my dad intervenes.

"Well he's not!" I completely lose it, the anger and sadness I've hidden for the past two weeks starting to spill out. "And what would you even know about it, dad? Where have you even been for the past two weeks?"

My mom drops her pan into the sink that she's washing, biting onto her bottom lip when my dad clears his throat. What the hell is going on? Why aren't I being let in on anything in this family?

"What?" I laugh in disbelief. "I just go away to college and get exiled from the family? Nobody wants to fill me in on what I'm missing here?"

"Honey, just leave it alone," my mom says lowly, but even I can tell that she's holding back tears of her own.

"Whatever," I say. "Tell me or don't tell me. I don't care anymore."

Stalking upstairs, I slam the door loudly enough to where they all can hear it, ignoring the fact that I'm acting like I'm in high school all over again.

As soon as I go to flop down onto my mattress my phone starts to ring. Tre's name flashes across the screen, and I swipe to answer it.

I sigh. "Hello?"

"Maddie, I'm so sorry." Tre says. "I wanted to call and apologize again. I don't know what came over me. I was jealous, and I just said the first thing I could to hurt you, and it was so wrong."

"It was." I agree, and I can't help but notice that my pillow smells like Cam. "But it was also a really awkward situation that I shouldn't have put you in, to begin with. It was both of our faults in a way."