Forgotten by My Twin

Chapter 16- Maddie

I looked back to see Caleb with a sad smile on his face. He sat down next to me, also leaning against the tree. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I leaned my head and my hand on his chest as I felt warm liquid flowing down my cheeks. In no time, I was sobbing uncontrollably as he rubbed his hand on my back whispering reassuring words in my ears.

I don't know how long I sat there with my head on his shoulder and his on my head. Once a while, Caleb would lay a kiss on top of my head. We had to get up when the bell rang indicating that it was time to back to our classes.

"Anna. Do you want to skip the rest of the day? I think you need a break from high school drama" I could see the worry on his face so I nodded my head with a small smile. We walked towards the parking lot and Caleb drove me towards an unknown direction.

"Where are we going Caley?" My voice was laced with confusion.

"We are going to the beach. Not many people are going to be there since it is week day and weather is not that warm so I thought you'd like quiet and peaceful place." His worry and hesitation made a smile grow on my face

"I'd love that" I smiled.

"Thank you Caley. You have no idea what all this means to me. You are helping me when even my twin has left me alone" I whispered out as both of us sat at the sand looking at the waves flow in a manner so peaceful that it had to calm me down.

"Anna you deserve so much better than Tony is giving you. He loves you more than anything else, even his own life doesn't matter to him if it is compared to yours. He is just confused. He is not sure how to act after all these years. I think he is scared of the heartbreak he would feel of you leave again."

"But I'm not going to leave again. Not unless papa tells me that he doesn't want me to live with him. Even then I'm not going to leave forever. Not like before when I was a kid. I was a kid who didn't have any thing that could help her contact her family. I'm 17 now. I can handle myself. I will keep coming here. I have Aly and even if he doesn't care bout he Tony here. I have you here. I can't abandon all this." My voice sounded desperate to make him believe me. I needed him to trust me.

"Anna, your father is a great man and I know he won't ever tell you to leave. He loves you just like Tony and I do. Please just ignore Tony's stupid words because whenever he says anything harsh to you, trust me, he doesn't mean it."

***

I called Matt after I got home because he is someone I really love and it's been two days since I last talked to him. I know two days don't seem long but when it's someone you love, even a day is very long.

"Matty! How are you? I miss you" I whined as soon as he picked the phone up causing him to chuckle at my childishness

"Hey Addie baby. I'm great what about you and I miss you too. But don't worry, me and Mark are going to be visiting soon."

"Really. When are you coming?" I screamed excitedly

"You know Ads if you keep yelling like that, I'm going to get deaf before you know it. And I have a feeling that I would've heard you even if we were not taking on the phone" he said and I whined again. What? That is my brother I'm talking to. I'm allowed to act like that.

"Hey, that's not true. And even if you did hear me it's only because you have excellent hearing"

"Really now" I hummed in response "anyways, what were you doing? Anything new?" I thought about my day but pushed the thought away because right now I'm happy and I don't need Tony to ruin it all for me.

"Nothing really. Same high school drama." I sighed "school's annoying"

"Hmm. Want to continue on that?" He asked

"Well as you are an wise old man, I should really ask you for your opinion" I heard him groan because of my comment and chuckled " well the thing is... one of Caleb's friends girlfriend is cheating on him and I am the only person who knows. I asked Caleb if his friend really like her. Apparently he is a player so no. Now the girlfriend is really trying and failing to make my life shit because of Caleb and Alyssa being by my side. Caleb's friend doesn't know about the cheating so he took his girlfriends side and commented about... about what happened to Lucy. So in response I called him a stupid attention seeker and some other stupid things. Now I don't regret saying them but I do at the same time. I don't know what to do." I tried my best to avoid telling Matt that I'm talking about Tony.

"Ok. Let me get this straight. It's been a few weeks since you have gone to this new school and you already found yourself some enemies." I could practically hear the smile that was laced with concern.

"Not true. The enemies kind of found me. Not the other way around. Now. Any advice?"

"I think you should ignore their behavior. Try telling Caleb about her. I think he should decide if telling his friend is the right thing or not." he said

"Thank you so much Matty. You are seriously a lifesaver." He simply laughed at my childish exaggeration. " okay. Away from the drama. Tell me something. Have you found yourself a girl yet?" I asked not only knowing this would annoy him but also because I was a curious.

"No. Addie please. Can we not talk about this?" Matt groaned

"Ooh. Someone is acting defensive. Who is it?" I heard another groan

"Well- there is this girl I work with— BUT she is just a friend. Nothing more" he said the last part quickly.

"What is the name of this just friend of yours?" I inquired

"Madison. Aka Maddie." He whispered out

"Maddie. Sweet. I want to meet her. I am going to meet her when I come back to Utah right?" I asked

"No. Not anytime soon. She is just a friend. I can't ask all my friends to meet my family"

"Do you like her?" I asked in a serious tone

"Um"

"Do you?" I repeat

"Maybe a little" he said slowly making me squeal before I cleared my throat.

"My turn to give some advice. Grow some pair and ask her out before she starts dating someone else. She is single right?"

"Yes she is single. And can you be a little bit more respectful please. I mean I'm kind of 9 years older than you you know" he tried and succeeded at changing the topic.

"How dare you Mr. old man. I am very respectful already" I faked angry tone it still had a smile on my face.

"You know I can practically hear that smile of yours right?" I just hugged in response.

"This is not fair. Why do you know me so well?"

"Because Addie baby you are my little baby sister. I have to know you very well in order to be a good older brother."

"Well. Older brother of mine, don't think for a second that I wasn't able to hear you pinching your nose when telling me about Maddie"

"I guess we both know each other pretty well then don't we?"

"Yep" I was happy at that moment.

I just wish it could've stayed that way for longer...