Ex's Can't Be Oh's

Hours passed before Madeline understood that the boys sitting in her lounge had no intention of leaving until tomorrow. When the horrid realisation dawned on the already frustrated brunette she had excused herself from the group and retreated to the solace of her bedroom.

She had been making nice for four and a quarter hours, and just knowing that she would have to endure a whole night with people she couldn’t stand brought her right back to her sweet sixteen.

July 19th 2004 was a Saturday and Madeline’s sixteenth birthday. Her parents, although out of town on a convenient business trip, had planned and put together her party inviting almost every single pupil in her grade from school. The whole house was decked out in streamers and banners declaring the Happy Birthday message in seven different colours.

All the family valuables and her mother’s favourite vases had been locked away in the master bedroom and all alcohol had been hidden somewhere even Madeline wasn’t aware of, but she knew that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be drinking at her party, because there most certainly would be.

Madeline’s friends were not the sort to attend mellow, alcohol free parties. Since the age of thirteen she had been attending drink, and occasionally drug, fuelled parties with her so called friends. Usually because she was the only one who didn’t touch the stuff she would have been ditched by the end of the night to make her way home alone or she would leave early, and get home to bed before eleven.

She had hoped that this night would be different though.

It wasn’t. By the time the house was half full Madeline had shut herself away in her bedroom and was celebrating alone. She could hear the guest enjoying themselves downstairs, she was aware that a game of beer pong was about to ensue and that most of the people attending her party had been wasted before they even set foot in the front door.

She was also very aware of the couples hooking up on every step of her parents spiralling staircase.

The music downstairs was loud but with her door shut it was muted simply to a dull thud that she could easily cope with. Sitting down on her bed with her back resting against the headboard she held the remote control towards her television and turned it on. She could hardly believe that she was spending her birthday this way and the longer she sat up there alone the more agitated she became.

No one had even come looking for her, and these people called themselves her friends. Madeline knew that they weren’t her friends though, they only socialised with her because she was rich and her parents were well respected people; her father a solicitor specialising in family law and her mother a paediatrician at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Every single one of the people closest to her were the children of other wealthy, popular and respected people of the community and since early childhood they had all been thrust together as friends by their parents.

As she settled down to watch ER Madeline kicked off her shoes and picked up a cushion to cuddle. She was just getting into the episode when her door was thrust open and a young intoxicated girl fell into the room sideways a guy Madeline vaguely recognised attached to her lips. Rolling her eyes she coughed obnoxiously and gestured for the couple of leave the room.

Her door had barely closed before it was pushed open again by two boys, neither of whom she recognised. More than a little startled Madeline began to cough loudly having swallowed too much air and as she thumped herself on the chest she realised that one of the males had left. It was when she realised that she was alone with a complete stranger that she came to her senses and told him to get out of her room.

“Relax doll, I’ve just come to snoop around Macey’s room,” he grinned without so much as glancing up at the girl sat on the bed.

Assuming the guy knew something of her Madeline stood up off of the bed and followed him around her room as he rummaged through her wardrobe and cupboards, taking a particular interest in her CD collection. She watched him with an agitated glare as he scrutinised almost every aspect of her private, personal space.

“Don’t you think it’s a little rude to be in here, rifling through someone’s belongings?” she asked quietly watching him shrug in response.

“Hey, what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” he smirked before standing up to face Madeline.

She stood before him hands on hips and a raised eyebrow, “Oh but she does know, and she’s going to kick your ass if you don’t leave right now.”

He must have known that her threat was empty because the boy simply laughed before turning on his heel to replace the CD he had picked up. Madeline threw her arms up in exasperation and turned away from him, taking her seat once again.

“You know, you look really different all made up like a hooker,” he grinned and she flipped him off.

“Who are you to say that, you don’t even know me,” she bit back causing him to smirk at her and wiggle his eyebrows.

“I probably know you better than you know yourself,” he answered back and she itched to ask him what he meant by that, she needn’t have worried because soon he was elaborating to a full extent. “I believe you know my friend Zack?” Madeline thought madly for a second before shaking her head; she didn’t know any Zack’s. The boy nodded before turning his back on her once again, “Well he certainly knows you, actually likes you for some reason.”

Maddy coughed a couple of times to clear her throat and cover up a weird noise while the boy shook his head a couple of times. It was silent for a few minutes until Madeline plucked up the courage to say something.

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

Just before the guy opened her door and left the room with a ceremonious slamming of her door he turned to face her and with a heart melting smile whispered, “You can call me Alex.”

She spent the rest of the evening locked up in her bedroom only leaving once at two in the morning to check who was still at the house, passed out in her lounge.

As a general rule it was how Madeline liked to spend her time at parties. She preferred it to being smashed in between two sweaty strangers as everyone around her grinded against one another in some bizarre mating ritual.

A series of knocks on her bedroom door shook Madeline from her revere and she scowled before shouting for whomever it was to enter. Her face softened as Cassie poked her head through the gap she had created just enough to glance at her best friend, waving a pair of white cotton pants in the air.

“Can I come in?” she asked timidly and Madeline nodded. Awkwardly she shuffled into the room and closed the door behind her gently. Although still slightly annoyed that her friend hadn’t spoken to her about their visitors Maddy couldn’t stay mad at her no matter how hard she tried. “Okay so I know that I should have cleared it with you first, but well I knew that you’d say no so I didn’t bother,” Cassie started with a grin. “And I know that this probably means that I’ve sentenced myself to weeks of being in your bad books but you know what, as much as I love you, it is totally worth it.”

Maddy sighed softly and shook her head biting back a smile, “it’s okay, I mean it’s not okay but it’s okay.”

Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief and ran over to give her a giant hug. Madeline laughed softly as she embraced her friend emitting a groan when the front door was knocked upon; she didn’t think she could deal with anymore visitors.

“Do you want to get that, I need to use the bathroom,” Cassie suggested as she ran from Maddy’s room and into the bathroom. Taking the hint she stood up the edge of her bed and made her way to the front door on her tiptoes. Without even looking through the peephole Madeline swung open the door to their apartment, the smile falling from her face.

“Hi Mads.”