Chemistry of a Car Crash

“Nice Jack,” Alex said pressing his hand against his forehead.
“Sorry?” Jack said with a confused expression.

“You’ll like it tonight,” Jack said patting Maddie’s thigh before standing up, “And so will the hustlers.”

“I think you should go find Taylor and tell her now,” Alex suggested with a hint of anger in his voice.
“Oh I already told her,” Jack smiled, “She said Maddie would love it.”

“Can we stop talking about me while I’m in the room!?” Maddie shouted.

“Right,” Alex and Jack both said at the same time.

“See ya later,” Jack said and walked out of the room. Alex shut the door behind him and took his spot back on the bed next to Maddie.

“Do I get to know about this plan at all?” Maddie asked.
“It’s nothing bad,” He said looking at her blue eyes, “I promise.”

----

“Alex?” Maddie called out from her closet.
“Yeah babe?” He said standing in the middle of her bedroom with his toothbrush hanging out of the side of his mouth. She flashed a little smile towards him.

“What should I wear?” She asked looking back at her closet.
“What you’re wearing right now. You look cute.”

“I can’t wear this,” She said shaking her head.
“Why not?” He asked a furrowed his eyebrows together.
“Because,” She sighed.
“Just change into dunks or converse and you’ll be good,” He said and walked back into the bathroom to finish brushing his teeth. Maddie took his opinion into consideration and grabbed her battered and torn black converse, slipping them on to her feet.

Alex came out of the bathroom and put a hand on either side of Maddie as she sat on the bed.

“Trust me,” He whispered into her ear, “You’re going to love this.”

“Ready?” Taylor said standing in front of the two.
“Yeah,” Maddie chirped, “Let’s go!”

Jack and Taylor sat in the back of Alex’s ’96 Honda Civic as the other two called the front seats. Maddie kept glancing up at the rearview mirror and saw how cute Taylor looked with Jack’s arm slung around her shoulder. Alex took one hand off the wheel and grabbed Maddie’s hand, intertwining their fingers and resting their hands on the consol between the two seats.

“Why are we here?” Maddie asked as Alex pulled in to the parking lot of Dulaney High School. That’s when she noticed the amount of cars in the parking lot.

“Just go with it,” Alex said as he let go of her hand and unbuckled his seat belt. Maddie stepped out of the car and watched as Jack and Taylor skipped their way through the parking lot. She giggled at both of their immaturity but knew that Taylor was probably the luckiest girl on earth right now. At least next to her she was.

“Let’s go,” Alex said taking Maddie’s hand and walking up to the front steps of the school. A few girls screamed when Alex came in, but not as many as Maddie would’ve expected. She knew who these people were and she was happy she was going to be sharing the same moment with them.