Sad, Beautiful, Tragic

Jack stood in Alex’s room facing the window, band practice had ended several hours before but Jack usually stayed to hang out with Alex. He was close to all of the guys, but without a doubt, he was much closer to Alex; they were best friends. Alex sat on his bed with an xbox controller cradled in his hands, furiously pressing the buttons and cursing when his player was killed.

“Your girlfriend is sneaking out of her house, who knew she could be a badass” Jack queried aloud

“She’s not my girlfriend” Alex muttered, paying no mind to what Jack had actually said.

Jack chuckled and shook his head “Okay, your friend that is a girl just snuck out of her house with a guitar…”

Alex paused his game and turned to face Jack “And?” he asked, his right eyebrow raised with curiosity as to what Jack was insinuating.

“And, I think we should follow her. Duh!” Jack proclaimed in obviousness.

“And why would we do that?” Alex prodded.

“Dude, you can’t honestly tell me you aren’t the least bit curious about where Madison is going. I mean c’mon, she’s this quiet basically friendless girl sneaking out of her second story window in the middle of the night by herself with a guitar strapped to her back.” Jack explained in all seriousness, which was a side of him that anyone aside from Alex rarely ever got to witness.

“fine” Alex sighed “but if we get in trouble you ass is mowing my lawn for the rest of the summer”

“Okay” Jack agreed with excitement as he rushed to put his shoes on before both of the boys stealthily climbed out of Alex’s bedroom window and ran to his car. Alex cringed at the sound of his car starting up, almost positive that it woke someone up. He held his breath as he watched his house for a minute but none of the lights turned on.

“Okay, we’re good” he breathed out as he backed his car out of the driveway and quickly drove down the road in the direction that Madison drove a minute before.

“There’s her car! There she is!” Jack pointed to the car three spots in front of them at the stoplight.

“Okay, so we’ll just follow her car then”

“Dude! It’s like we’re spies or something. You can call be Bond, James Bond.” Jack laughed, his eyes lighting up with excitement. Alex shook his head but laughed as well, he could always count on Jack to talk him into doing something exciting and idiotic. They trailed behind Madison for another ten minutes before Alex started to recognize their surroundings.

“We’re going to the art district…” Alex mumbled

Jack stared at him dubiously “WHAT? Dude, we’ll get killed there!”

Alex shook his head “Nah, you just have to act like you belong. It’s easy, trust me” Alex said, confidence oozing from within. Jack stared at him for a moment in an attempt to size Alex up and call out his bluff.

“How would you know?”

“‘Cause, I’ve been here before…” Alex’s hands gripped the steering wheel tighter until his knuckles were ghostly white. He was unsure as to why, but telling Jack about his rendezvous with Madison to the art district felt wrong; like he was telling a secret that he promised to keep. He knew that it wouldn’t have made a difference if Jack knew about it but it was a stolen moment that Alex wanted to keep between himself and Madison. It was like being six feet under the stars, a place where only two people can be at a time where no one can judge them and no one could try to break them apart; more importantly it was a place where he and Madison existed harmoniously. Alex let out a sigh of relief when Jack just nodded his head and didn’t further investigate him on his previous trip to the art district.

“She parked right there-“ Jack said pointing to the silver grand-am across the street in a packed parking lot

“-so maybe we should park in a lot a little further so she doesn’t see us”

Alex nodded his head and followed Jacks directions even though Jack wasn’t the one that had actually been the art district before, but it sounded like a good idea to not get caught by Madison; especially considering he had just gotten her to accept his friendship the night before. Alex parked the car and did the same thing Madison had done when he came with her. Jack sat silently and watched as Alex locked away his GPS and any power cords he had into the glove box before getting out of the car and making sure the doors were locked.

“Now what?” Jack asked, leaning against the black car with his hands stuffed in his pockets and looking unsure of himself.

Alex shrugged “We head to that coffee shop a few blocks down the road. So, just try to not look so nervous and hopefully no one tries to mug us or anything”

Jack nodded unsurely at Alex’s advice. Frankly, being in the art district scared the living hell out of him. Everyone knew that the art district became the home of drug dealers and homeless people when the city began renovating. It pushed the “city trash” to the edge of the city and eventually everyone just stopped coming out this way, it was just dangerous.

“If we get raped im blaming you” Jack said as they began walking down the dark street to the coffee shop that Alex had previously pointed out. It was the only inviting place on the whole street, even though they were a good two blocks away Jack could see that it was busy with people milling around the patio.

Alex shook his head and laughed “Dude, it was your idea to follow Madi in the first place!”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know that she is actually a psycho and comes down here!” Jack defended himself and jokingly punched Alex in the shoulder. It wasn’t long before the finally reached the front door of the coffee shop, the fresh scent of brewing coffee immediately filling their noses as they shuffled into the busy establishment. They looked to their right and found Madison setting up a stool and microphone on stage, Alex pushed Jack to the left and they made their way through the sea of people before finding a secluded table.

“That was close” Jack finally sputtered out as they sat down at the small table. Alex nodded his head but stayed silent, suddenly unsure about following Madison. He couldn’t help but remember her telling him that he wasn’t invited to see her play after her friend Rob had mentioned how good she was. He felt like he was betraying her trust, even though he had technically already done that when he spent the night stalking her to begin with.

Both of the boys stood up and peered over the heads of other people when the sound of guitar reverberated off of the walls. They could just barely see Madison as she opened her mouth and began singing. Jack’s eyes widened in shock at the brilliance that he was hearing but Alex sat down listening to the lyrics that were obviously written my Madison herself.
'
My skin doesn't fit
My words seem so hollow
I feel like a fraud
And that's a bitter pill to swallow

Madison sang out, closing her eyes as the emotions ran through her veins. She always got nervous about singing original songs, it was like setting out her diary for everyone to read and they could take her words and do whatever they wanted with them. It was like inviting people to judge her but she figured in the end it was better than keeping it all hidden inside her mind.

Sometimes it hits me right between the eyes
Everyone can see through my disguise

Madison opened her eyes and scanned the faces in front of her and for a brief moment she was sure that she had seen Jack, but quickly convinced herself that it was impossible for any of Alex’s friends to be there.

Who am I fooling
I'm just a smiling face
In a make-believe world
Who am I fooling
I'm just a wannabe
So easy to replace
Pretending I'm a perfect girl

All alone in the mirror
All alone on the shelf
I'm trying to hold on
To a little piece of myself

Doesn't anybody realize
Even I don't buy my own disguise

Who am I fooling
I'm just a smiling face
In a make-believe world
Who am I fooling
I'm just a wannabe
So easy to replace
Pretending I'm a perfect girl

Alex’s eyebrows knitted together in concentration as he tried his best to analyze the lyrics and make sense of Madison, but he was only left more confused. No doubt, she was a brilliant artist and musician but Alex couldn’t get his mind off of the haunting words she sang.

“Dude-“ Jack sat back down across from Alex. Alex looked up at Jack and raised an eyebrow beckoning his friend to continue with his thought

“Your girl is talented but im sensing some serious skeletons in her closet.” Jack confessed shyly. The last thing he wanted to do was offend Alex, especially because even though Alex denied it, Jack could tell that his friend was really into Madison.

“Don’t judge her Jack, you…we don’t know her past-“ Alex defended

“Lex, I’m just saying maybe you should be careful. I know you like her and I definitely think she’s cool but it’s like she has a secret life that no one knows about” Jack said. If only he had known the trueness that his statement held.