Page 16 of Forever Focused

Madison was always high-strung when she was growing up. When she was put on the spot in school or felt cornered, her friend would break down crying. Big crocodile tears. Madison had been called a crybaby all through elementary school and part of middle school, and Michael would blab like his mother did when she was nervous. Poppy always thought it was adorable, but knew the duo hated their weaknesses that made them exceedingly normal.

“You look good…”

“Same…”

“Michael…”

“Not now,” he bit out, shutting her down quickly as they neared the end of the long line. “I can’t do this now. I really need to go check on my sister and…”

“Go,” she interrupted softly, reaching out to touch his shoulder in support. “Be there for Madison. Trust me to have your back, and I’ll handle the rest of this crowd.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very. Text me later.”

“Will do – and thanks, Poppy. This means a lot.”

“Go,” she said simply, taking the rest of the business cards from him. Michael turned and ran off into the throng of people surrounding the ambulance, police cars, and news crew.

* * *

Hours later, Michael never texted her.

CHAPTER 7

* * *

MICHAEL

Almost two weeks later…

“Soooo big date tonight, huh?” Michael jeered, standing at the doorway to the bathroom where his sister was curling her hair – and Madison promptly shut it in his gloating face.

“Hey! That was rude…”

“You know I’m going out with Emmett tonight, so why stand there smirking like some smarmy twerp?”

“Smarmy? Really? C’mon Maddie…”

“Madison,” she corrected, interrupting him, the duo talking to each other through the door. “And I’m busy.”

“I’m not,” he retorted – and it was true.

Michael was scheduled off four days in a row, which surprised him, but that was just how the classes fell. Here, he was less than a day into this unexpected break, and he had no clue what to do with himself. His parents were talking about working in the garden together, making starry eyes at each other. Madison was going out with the guy she’d had a crush on for forever-and-a-day, which was an odd twist considering she’d scalded him less than two weeks ago.

He was alone… again.

“So go call Poppy – or better yet? Why don’t you take her out somewhere nice and quit pouting all the time…”

“You’re mean sometimes, I swear.”

“No, I just know you – and I know that you need to be stopped before your mouth runs away from you. It’s a Madison Family trait from Mom’s side.”

“Which is why you got her last name for your first one, dork.”

“Me? Pshaw… I’m cool as a cucumber.”

“Yeah, right.”

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