The next day, the sun shined for all the
students at Laguna Beach High but a cloud was over Madeline's head the whole
time. Before the afternoon came, lunch started for the students and the girls,
except for Madeline, were already at their table. They waited for Madeline to
come for an unusual eight minutes.
"Hey, where's
Madeline?" asked Skye. "She's usually never this late."
"Yeah, is she
here today?" asked Debra.
"Yeah, but she
was kinda late," answered Lizzie.
"That's
shocking," commented Andrea. "How is Ms.Never-Been-Late all of a
sudden late today?"
"She's a bit
depressed."
"Why?"
questioned Debra. "What happened?"
"Well, yesterday,
her dog died."
Hearing that was like
a sting in the girls' ears. Their eyes were wide open and their jaws just dropped.
"Oh, my
gosh," said Debra. "Why? How did this happen?"
"It's kind of a
long story," responded Lizzie, playing her soda can of Coca-Cola on the
table.
"Then shorten
it," Andrea politely demanded.
Lizzie opened the can.
After she did so, she unwrapped the straw that also on the table in front of
her. "Well... I sorta... ran over her dog with my car." She stuck the
straw in the can and quickly wraps her lips around it to drink the soda.
The girls just stared
at Lizzie, almost frozen... even though it wasn't much of a surprise to them.
"Why did you do
that?" asked Andrea slowly.
"It wasn't on
purpose!" responded Lizzie.
Skye counted on her
fingers while uttering a list. "You ran over trash cans, you ran over your
grandmother, you ran over Maddie's dog. What else are you gonna run over?"
"Us," said
Andrea in a low voice. "We're next."
"No, you're not
next," said Lizzie.
"Lizzie, as long
as we're your friends," started Skye, "you can no longer drive."
"I can't just not
drive my car. It's an important aspect of my adulthood."
"Well, adults
don't run over their friend's dog."
"It was an
accident."
"I can't believe
you killed Crystal," said Debra.
"It was an
accident."
"So? She's dead.
You killed Madeline's baby. Whether it was an accident or not, you still did
it. It's just not right."
"You don't got to
make me feel bad."
"You should feel
bad. You killed your best friend's dog. You know how bad it would be if you
didn't feel bad?"
"Shh,"
uttered Andrea. "Madeline's coming."
The girls sat silent
as Madeline entered the cafeteria with the saddest look on her face. She
slumped down into her seat and didn't bother to make eye contact with her
friends.
"Hey,
Madeline," Skye said quietly. "How are you holding up?"
"I just don't feel
good today," Madeline whimpered.
"I heard the
news," admitted Debra. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay,
Debra. Maybe it was a sign or something."
"Well, do you
want some M&M's?" Lizzie queried. "I bought a huge bag a few days
ago and brought them with me."
"No thanks.
Besides, why would I take M&M's from a dog murderer?!"
"So
Skittles?"
Madeline huffed while
looking at Lizzie angrily. She clambered out of her seat and stomped from the
table, leaving the cafeteria to go to the bathroom.
"They make you
taste the rainbow!" Lizzie hollered.
"How are you
gonna offer her candy?" asked Skye.
"I was trying to
be nice. And candy makes you feel better, don't it?"
"Madeline rarely
eats sugar," noted Andrea.
"Oops. Now she
hates me."
"Madeline doesn't
hate you," said Debra. "I mean, yeah, she does hate you. But that
will only be temporary. Just until she gets over Crystal's death."
"When do you
think that will be?"
"About... two to
ten years."
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