The Times We Felt Alive

After reading for a few hours, Madeline yawned and padded into the living room, turning on the TV. Nothing of interest was on, so she threw Little Miss Sunshine into the DVD player. The family was just arriving to the beauty pageant when she heard soft crying coming from Ava’s room. Pausing the movie, Madeline stood up and walked into her daughter’s room. As soon as Ava saw her mother, her crying stopped at once and her face adorned a happy expression.

Madeline picked her up with a grin. “Well good morning, smiley,” she said in her cooing voice. After changing her diaper and performing a few other household tasks, she heard her phone ringing. Putting Ava in her baby bouncer, she grabbed the phone, looking at the caller ID.

“Sup, homes?” she asked after pressing the ‘talk’ button.

“You sound wide awake,” yawned Lilly. “Did you spend half the damn night awake again?”

Madeline sighed. “Yeah, I did.”

“I don’t think that’s healthy, Madds.”

“Hey, I get caught up on my sleep eventually. It’s all part of being a parent.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“So, I’m guessing you’re calling because you want to do something today?”

“I was thinking you could maybe swing by my place and then we could go to the mall in a little while,” said Lilly. They always travelled in Madeline’s car, because neither of them felt like uninstalling and reinstalling a car seat twice in order to use Lilly’s.

“Sure, sounds good,” replied Madeline. “What time do you want to go?”

“Oh, I dunno, how’s ten o’clock?”

“Ten’s fine; I’ll see you then, alright?”

“Aiight,” Lilly replied in her gangster voice. “See you then.”

By ten thirty, the two girls were at the mall.

“Okay,” said Lilly. “I have to go buy something, except you can’t come with me.”

“Why the hell am I here, then?”

“Because, silly, we need to shop,” said Lilly as if it were obvious. “Just… meet me in Pac Sun, okay? Then we can grab a bite to eat; I’m starving.”

“Fine,” said Madeline, rolling her eyes. “I’m not liking this very much, you know.”

Lilly flashed a smile before taking off in the opposite direction.

“I don’t know about her, Ava,” muttered Madeline as she walked with her through the mall. Ava made a happy sound and clung to Madeline.

After about ten minutes of browsing, Lilly walked into the store and spotted Madeline looking at a rack of jeans. Madeline looked up, eyeing Lilly and raising an eyebrow.

“I thought you were buying something,” she said. Lilly held out her arms, silently asking to hold Ava.

As Madeline passed her over to Lilly, the blonde replied, “I did.”

“Why don’t you have a bag?”

“Don’t worry about it,” smiled Lilly and gestured to the rack they were standing near. “Commence; pick a cute outfit.”

“You drive me fucking nuts, woman,” grumbled Madeline as she shuffled through clothes. She hated surprises, and Lilly knew it.

“Well it’s not like it’s a very long drive, darling,” replied Lilly in a sing-song voice and browsed through some clothing racks one-handedly.

Madeline rolled her eyes and continued her clothing search. Eventually, she found an outfit.

“So, do you mind telling me what I just spent a shitload of money for?” asked Madeline as they walked out of the mall.

“I prefer to keep you in suspense, to be honest,” said Lilly and smirked. “You’ll find out in a few days.”

“I hate you so much sometimes.”

“Yeah, yeah. Get in the car.”

------- x -------

Three days later, Madeline was in her apartment doing some cleaning and her phone rang. She put down her cloth and furniture polish and picked up the phone.

“Hi, Lilly,” she said after seeing the call display.

“Good day,” she said cheerfully. “What are you up to?”

“Cleaning, Ava’s down for a nap. What about you?”

“Just getting ready.”

“For what?” asked Madeline, sitting on the couch.

“To come pick you up.”

Madeline’s face lit up. “Does this involve your surprise which my instincts are telling me I won’t even like?”

“As a matter of fact, it does.”

She sighed. “When do I need to be ready?”

“Is an hour okay?” asked Lilly.

“Yeah, an hour’s fine.” She paused. “Ha, ha, genius! What are we supposed to do with Ava, take her?”

“No, silly,” Lilly said. “We’re dropping her off at your mom’s; I’ve already cleared it with her.”

Madeline groaned. “I bet you have.”

“See you in an hour!”

She hung up the phone, put her cleaning supplies away, and went to her bedroom. After getting dressed and applying make-up, Madeline straightened her hair. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was four thirty; she went to Ava’s bedroom and picked her up.

“Well, I suppose I need to get you dressed in something else too, shouldn’t I?” she asked; Ava cooed.

As Madeline was in the process of gathering her things together, there was a knock at her door. She sighed and went to the door, opening it. Lilly looked excited.

“This had better be good, you know,” Madeline said.

“Oh, it will be,” said Lilly with a smile. “Don’t you worry.”

“How long is Ava going to be at my mom’s?”

“I would say bring enough stuff for her to spend the night,” she said. “Do you want me to mind her while you get everything?”

“That would be wonderful.”

After Madeline prepared an overnight bag for Ava, the two girls and the baby left the apartment and drove to Madeline’s mother’s house.

“I promise we’ll visit with you tomorrow, Cheryl, but we’d better get going or we’ll be late,” Lilly said to Madeline’s mother.

“Alright, honey. Good luck!”

Madeline looked at Lilly as they got into the car.

“And why, exactly, do we need good luck?”

“I need good luck because then maybe you won’t kill me when you find out where we’re going,” said Lilly cautiously as she pulled out of the driveway.

“Lilly Marie Williams, where the hell are we going?” asked Madeline, her voice raising a little.

Lilly sighed. “When we get to a red light, pass me my purse.”

A couple minutes later, Madeline obliged to Lilly’s request. She dug through the large bag and handed Madeline a rectangular piece of stiff paper.

Madeline only needed to see three words to let an angered shriek escape her lips: All Time Low.