US; The beginning

Chapter 10

"What the hell was that!"

"I said what was true Keith!" Rick yelled back.

"You don't get to do that, you can't say a truth that's not yours! what's wrong with you!"

"Guys, I got a new phone, top of the charts, state of the art" Max said.

"Keep that to yourself you imbecile" Keith replied.

"Rude...Sorry" Max replied and sat his sad ass down.

"I can't say that I didn't see this coming, you were so unstable from the beginning, I should have discarded you when I still had time! Now look what you've done!"

"Don't go pointing fingers, I warned you before all this playboy stuff started all over again, but it's no surprise that you don't listen to anyone but yourself! You are nothing but a pompous asshole!" Rick continued yelling.

"Just because I keep you around doesn't mean you can meddle in my freaking life!" He screamed now pouncing on Rick but was stopped by Max.

"Why the fuck do you even care what happens to her! Why!" Keith kept quiet.

"Answer me!" Rick added. Keith stormed out.

As he walked out the door he stood in the hallway transfixed, without movements.

"When are you gonna tell your best friend about us?" Ash asked the lady sitting across him at the restaurant.

"When are you going to tell your sister?" She asked back.

"They're the same person you know, right?"

"I know that"

They shared a laugh and then he stopped and stared at the beauty in front of him.

"What?"

"Your so lucky to be with me" He teased her and she laughed in response. "I'm kidding, I'm the lucky one Beth".

She blushed a little as she pushed away the hair to reveal the white-gold hoops she was wearing.

"Thanks again for these" She said touching them.

"And thank you for being my girl" He said as he kissed her hand.

"I hope you know that sooner or later we'll have to come clean about all of this" She pointed out.

"I know". "When the time is right" He added.

"And when is that?"

"Not now, let's just enjoy the moment" He said as he took her hand. "It's not every day a guy gets to meet with his amazing girlfriend, is it?"

They proceeded to talk about other stuff and their date went on.

He stood there stunned, a ghost would have been better than who had just seen.

"How much of that did you hear?" He asked.

"How much of it is true?" She asked with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Maddie, I can explain"

"How much of it is true Keith! Tell me!"

"Please let me explain" He said and stretched out to hold her shoulder.

"Don't touch me, this ship has long sailed, you can't lean on this shoulder" She said and she stormed off.

He ran back into the class.

"You asshole!" he screamed and a punch flew in at Rick's face and he went flying to the floor. "I care because...I like her!" "This has got to be good" Max whispered.

"What? Keith Song and Madeline Danvers, in what universe? What a nerd" "Who? The girl or Keith?" Max foolishly asked.

"Her" Rick said slyly.

"If you call her a nerd again or come close as even think of calling her that, I will rip both your ears off and feed them to you!" He replied as he ran after the newly-found love of his life.

As she ran the tears of a lifetime ran down her cheeks, she could not bear any of the pain -it was just too much. Heart pounding and walls crashing, she replayed the entire conversation she had just heard over and over again in her head. It wouldn't leave!

As she stopped at a patch of grasses so did he at the parking lot, he couldn't find her; he had lost her...literally.

She knelt down amidst flowers and grasses and cried every ounce of pain out enough to tire her out.

"WHY!" She screamed. "Why me!" and the crying continued.

She curled up like a foetus and began thinking. The sound of rushing water from afar off caught her attention and she snapped out of the trance. She got up and saw the site of the noise. She stood up and walked towards it. As she got to the bank, she stood and stared at her sad reflection in the clear waters and the thoughts of a solution began to paint a picture in her mind. She thought of jumping and wanted to take that action.

She put one leg in front of the other, she thought to quit but went ahead anyway. She sank and felt the weight on her shoulders disseminating into the water. She heard her sub-conscious self and swam to the top.

She crawled unto the grass, laid down and wringed out the water from her clothes. She walked home soaked in the cold, dark night.

"What happened to you?" KC asked.

"Ambushed by a sprinkler system" She replied as she walked to the stairs.

"Liar" KC replied crossing her arms and walking to where she was.

"Do not piss me off" She replied as she continued to storm off.

"Hey, dinner?" Shannon asked.

"Not in the food mood"

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Absolutely...not" She replied and left.

Getting to the bathroom, she stood under the warm shower, she wished she could lose all memory of the past few weeks and avoid Keith like a plague. She wished she had listened to Zac, she wished hadn't been so naïve as to fall for the playboy's plays.

She dressed up and glanced over at her phone.

We need to talk and 5 new messages are what displayed on her screen. She opened the phone and read.

We need to talk

Please, we need to talk

Answer me

I need you to listen to me please!!!

I can explain, call me

A tear dropped on her screen and she wiped her cheeks. She began to text back.

I have no words to say to you. She sent the message, went to her call log and deleted his phone number, she couldn't hold it in again, fell on the bed and wept to sleep.

The Next Day...

"I called yesterday, where were you?" Beth asked as they met at school.

"I was thinking maybe you and Keith could something together like go to a fun fair next week, and the one after that we can go to the Imagine Dragons concert, we could have so much fun..." She was cut off.

"I was being played"

"What?"

"Keith was...playing, using, swindling, scamming and fooling me" She replied. "All wrapped in a ball" She added.

"I am sorry Maddie" Beth said as she hugged her. "He is such an ass".

Maddie released herself and looked at Beth.

"Don't worry, you don't need Keith to live, he's not worth it" Beth said as they walked to class and Keith looked from afar off.

"Absolutely not worth it" He murmured.