The next week whizzed past very quickly for Madeline; Test, test, essay due, Oliver to do, test, Friday. Nora had been buzzing all day because Madeline had promised they would go dress shopping together and because it was their first day of dance lessons. The dress-shopping she was excited about but the dance lessons were a whole other story. She hated dancing. It made her feel awkward and lanky. Plus, she didn't even know who she was going to the gala with so she didn't know who she would be taking the lessons with. It was totally stressful.

  At the end of the school day, Madeline went to her locker only to find Nora and Oliver making out against it.

  Time and time again, Oliver insisted that his intentions were never to make Madeline jealous (which she totally wasn't) but how could she not feel at least a tiny bit annoyed while he stood there with his tongue down Nora's throat. He couldn't have just coincidentally locked lips with Nora at locker 469.

"Ahem," Madeline coughed. "You're in front of my locker."

Nora embarrassedly pushed Oliver off of her and attempted to tidy up the ruby lipstick smeared on her cheek.

  "Sorry! I've been waiting for ages and when I saw Oliver, one thing lead to another. I mean, look at him! He's gorgeous!"

Oliver was looking at the ground, avoiding the scalding laser rays shooting out of Madeline's eyes. Nora's signature lipstick was transferred to his own lips (and neck and collar).

  "Sure," Madeline spat.

  "Thanks. Uh, I'll talk to you later," He mumbled before quickly leaving the awkward situation.

'Oh, yes you will,' Madeline thought. He was meant to come over later in the afternoon.

  She swung open her locker and silently packed her Prada tote with her weekend study essentials. Madeline had no clue what she wanted to wanted to study in college but she wanted to leave her options open so she spent a lot of time studying to get high grades. It was hard being a queen and keeping a 4.2 GPA at the same time but Madeline defied all odds and somehow seemed to excel at her subjects. The only side effects were the bags under her eyes from getting so little sleep. But it was nothing that couldn't be covered by her favourite Tom Ford concealer.

Madeline wordlessly walked with Nora to the car park. She spotted her town car parked across the street from the school with Shawn standing in front of it, patiently waiting for her. However, Nora's slick, maroon Mercedes shone brightly from the parking lot nothing caught a Lockhart's attention like beautiful cars. She sent Shawn a text, telling him to take a break, before she followed Nora to her car and got into the passenger seat.

  "You want to get something to eat?"

  "Sure."

  "Do you want sushi? Or we can go to that Italian place you love? Or just grab a wooden-fire pizza?"

"Whatever."

  Madeline felt bad about her one-worded, lifeless answers but the truth was that seeing Oliver and Nora smooching really put a damper on her mood. The guilt she felt about sleeping with him had suddenly became all too real. And she knew it was wrong to take it out on Nora but she couldn't help it. A part of her wished Nora would just find out and be okay with it but obviously that wouldn't happen.

"Are you mad at me, Maddie?"

"No," She sighed. "Just tired."

  And it was true. She was tired. When did she become so boy-obsessed? Over the summer she had promised herself she wouldn't get hooked by Oliver again. The last time she fell in love with Oliver was during their skiing trip in the Alps when they were thirteen. He was her first kiss. But although it meant the world to her, he forgot about it the next day and her crush on him faded away over the years.

And now she was back to her lovesick habits. Thinking about him all the time, getting butterflies when he was around, becoming jealous when he was with Nora; it was sick. She didn't really know how she felt about him. However, the only thing she was certain about was that she did not love Oliver. She loved sleeping with him. She loved talking to him. She loved his abs. And she loved him as a friend.

There was too much to contemplate over but something told her it wasn't the time for an existential crisis in the car with Oliver's current girlfriend.

"Oh shoot Maddie. We only have half an hour until dance lessons. Will we skip food?"

Madeline had zoned out, something she tended to do a lot these days. "Huh?"

"I think it's too late to get food. Will I just drive to the dance lessons?"

"Sure."

They found a heap of freshmen in front of the studio, probably hoping one of the seniors would drop their invitation. But once they were inside, they were greeted by ballerinas and black swans leaving their session as the students took their places. The dance lessons for the gala were a must every year. To avoid embarrassment, everyone took them. Julio, a wonderful and accredited dance instructor, taught them how to properly ballroom dance and, yes, it was harder than it looked.

Julio busted into the hall. "Everyone grab a partner!"

An arm suddenly swung around Madeline's shoulder and landed on her arm. "Hey hottie."

She shuddered. Bile almost rose up her throat. "Hugh."

He tried to kiss her cheek but she quickly elbowed his rib cage and jumped out of his grasp.

  "You're really starting to annoy me. I strongly suggest you fuck off or else face the consequences of messing with me."

  Madeline kept a stoic look on her face. She couldn't let him see how angry and slightly scared she was. He had a look in his eyes akin to that of a ravenous lion.

  "I don't like the way you talk to me."

  "And I don't like the fact that you're still here."

  Madeline shot Spencer a look just as he entered the dance studio. He knowingly nodded, comprehending the 'telepathic' message she sent his way. He stopped talking to the girl he walked in with and quickly came to Madeline's side, wrapping an arm around her waist and turning to glare at Hugh.

"Why is he here?"

  "I don't know. But he is giving me the ick."

  "The ick?!" Hugh interrupted selfishly. "You are the most-"

  "Let's get away from this loser. Want to be partners, Mads?"

Madeline beamed at Spencer. "Of course. Goodbye Hugh."

  Spencer pulled her to the centre of the room. His hand was clammy and if it were anyone else, Madeline would have recoiled her arm back in disgust. He spun her around like a ballerina and she landed into his arms, feeling flustered as she hit his chest.

  "There's no music on yet!"

  "Who cares!" He chuckled, spinning her around again.

  From the corner of her eye she could see Nora and Oliver kissing. She quickly returned her attention to Spencer who had his arms around her waist. Distracting herself from the 'Norliver' spectacle behind them, Madeline focused on the honey- coloured pupils in front of her. It warmed her heart to see that Spencer was actually making an effort to follow Julio's instructions. Most teen boys were just goofing around.

  "Spencer?" She whispered, suddenly struck with a lightbulb idea.

  "Hm?"

  "Do you want to go to the gala with me?"

  "What? You don't have a date already?"

  "Nope."

  "So you're not going with one of your packing peanuts?"

  She laughed before joking slapping his shoulder. "Do you want to go or not?"

  He smiled, his arms tightening around her waist. "Of course I do. Who wouldn't want to go with Queen Madeline."

  "SWITCH PARTNERS!" Julio bellowed.

  Madeline was spun around once more before gliding to her next partner. Of course it had to be Oliver.

  "Hey gorgeous," He murmured.

"Not here, weirdo." She could feel his hands slide slowly down her back and immediately caught them. "You're so reckless."

  He shrugged. "You love it."

  She really did. A cunning smile snuck its way onto her lips. Glancing over his shoulder, Madeline spotted Spencer and Nora laughing as Nora kept getting the steps wrong.

  "Are you coming over later"

  Madeline cursed. She had completely forgotten about their scheduled rendez-vous. "I want to but I have to meet Nora to get dresses."

  "Come over after?"

  "Sure! Yeah!"

  "Cool."

  They really had nothing to talk about. As friends they could talk about anything. But now, it was quieter than Tiffany's on a Wednesday afternoon. It wasn't necessarily bad. Just... strange. And slightly worrying.

  "Oliver?"

  "Hm?"

  "... never mind."

  " 'Kay."

"...Are you excited for the gala?"

  "I guess."

  "Cool... Oh, I'm going with Spencer."

  His eyes nearly popped out of his head and he stopped swaying to look at her. "What?" He hissed.

  Madeline raised her eyebrow. That wasn't the reaction she expected. "What?"

  "Spencer? Out of all people, Spencer!?"

  "Chill, weirdo. We're just friends."

  "What about your entourage? There's so many guys that would kill to go with you."

  "Jeez, Oliver," She exhaled, rolling her eyes at him. Although, she did feel a sudden sense of excitement at his outburst. It showed he actually cared.

  Was he....? No, he couldn't be... But maybe... "Are you jealous?"

  He scoffed. "No- it's just-"

  "SWITCH PARTNERS!"

  She refused to budge and looked at him challengingly. "It's just what, Oliver?"

  He wouldn't meet her eyes and shuffled to his next partner leaving Madeline both confused and pissed off.

♛

I know it's been a while my dudes but I have exams next week that I'm going to fail and my life is a mess! So yeah!!

Next update will hopefully come in two weeks.

I love you all,
-hexed