Behind Her Smile (8 page)

“Amen,” Steve echoed.

They stood and embraced, Ben clapping him on the back. “Madison will be okay. You’ll see. You guys will get through this stage.”

“Thanks,” Steve replied, hope surging in his heart.

School began that Wednesday, and Madison and her mother had an argument before breakfast. “You are not wearing that to school,” her mother declared adamantly.

Madison had carefully selected her outfit for the day. It was a black scoop-neck tee shirt paired with some cute white shorts. “What’s wrong with it?” she asked as she gestured down toward the clothes.

“The shorts are too short and the neckline is too low,” Michelle said. “If you want to wear that shirt, layer it with a higher neckline tank top. And your white flared skirt would be really cute with it.”

“What? That long thing I wore in eighth grade?”

“It still fits you and looks great, honey.”

Madison felt so frustrated she could cry. Why was her mother being so overboard with the dress code thing? She looked at herself in the full-length mirror. The outfit was perfect. Just like the ones she’d seen in her favorite magazine. But it was no use arguing. She knew her mother would win. She always did. Madison avoided eye contact and just said, “Fine. I’ll just wear my jeans and one of my old shirts.”

She began rummaging through her closet and pulled out a pair of jeans with torn knees, grabbing another black top with long sleeves.

“Those look a little warm for today,” her mother said softly.

“Well, at least I’ll be covered up,” Madison replied sarcastically, almost immediately regretting her tone. She watched as her mother’s face fell before walking out of the room. Sinking down onto her bed, Maddie fought back the tears. She’d ruin her make up if she started crying now. But she sure did miss the closeness she and her mom used to share.

As Madison slid into her seat in history class, she noticed a tall, thin guy with kind of long brown hair taking a desk in the row to her left. She’d never seen him before, but he was really cute. She caught herself staring, and was just about to look away, when he turned and smiled at her. Her heart froze in her chest, and she could feel herself blush.

“Name’s Miles,” he said with a slight southern accent.

“Madison,” she replied, trying to sound casual as she returned his smile.

“Nice name. I like that.”

Before they could go any further, the bell rang and class began. Madison could feel Miles’ eyes on her several times during the next hour. She glanced over once and caught him looking her way. Smiling, she turned her attention back to the teacher.

As they exited the room at the end of the period, he held out his schedule to her and asked, “Do you know where room C-30 is?” He pointed to the next class on the list.

“Yeah. It’s the portable to the left of the field out back,” she replied.

“Great. Thanks.” He flashed his big smile at her again. “See you tomorrow.”

Madison nodded, hoping she looked friendly without seeming too interested. “See ya.”

A moment later, she felt a tug on her arm. It was Lucy. “Who’s that?” she asked, pointing to Miles.

“A new guy. He’s in my history class. I think he’s from Texas or something. He’s got an accent.”

“Well, wherever he’s from, he sure is cute.”

Madison smiled and nodded. “Yeah.” An image flitted through her mind of walking hand-in-hand with him.
Like that would ever happen,
she thought dismally to herself. She glanced down at her old clothes and thought of how much more attractive she’d felt in the outfit she’d planned to wear that day. Then she remembered some models she’d seen wearing outfits like the one she had on. They’d been really thin and looked cute no matter what they were wearing.

Her parents might be able to censor her clothes, but they couldn’t keep her from getting thin. Then maybe she wouldn’t care what she wore. She’d look good in anything.

When she got home that afternoon, she found a letter from Luke in the mailbox. She read it as she ate some celery sticks. She’d been hungry since lunch—an apple and a piece of string cheese—but she didn’t want to eat much before her run that afternoon.

Luke’s letter was basically about school and his classes, although he did mention a few new friends and how much he was enjoying dorm life. He’d also gotten connected with a missions club on campus and was attending their gatherings each week. “College is even better than I imagined,” he wrote near the end, and then finished with a mention of missing everyone back in Sandy Cove. He just signed his name at the bottom.

“Like you were expecting him to say, ‘Love, Luke’?” she asked herself aloud. Clearly he saw Madison as just a friend.

She folded the letter and slipped it back into its envelope, tossing it on her desk before changing into shorts and a short sleeve tee for running. She laced up her shoes and headed out the door. It was nice being the first one home. By the time she returned from her run, her mother and brother would be back from school, too. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any more arguments today.

Miles fell in step beside Madison as they walked out of history class the next day. “So there’s a football game tomorrow night,” he said casually.

“Yeah,” she replied, acutely aware of his arm brushing against hers as they entered the crowded hallway.

“I was thinking of going. Would you like to come?” he asked.

Madison looked up at him and smiled. “Sure!”
Hope this isn’t a problem with my parents,
she thought. After all, she really didn’t know him.

“Give me your address, and I’ll pick you up around six-thirty. The game starts at seven.”

“You’ve had your license for six months?” she asked, thinking about the provisions she was under as a new driver which prohibited her from driving friends anywhere without an adult in the car.

“Yeah. I turned seventeen in July, so I moved here from Dallas with a full license.”

“So why are you a junior if you’re seventeen?” Madison regretted the question as soon as it left her mouth.

Miles laughed. “I’m actually not a junior. I’m taking history over this year. Didn’t do so well with it at my high school last year.”

“You’re a senior?”

“Yep. One more year, and I’m out of here.” He paused and then reminded her, “Wanna give me your address? I should probably have your phone number, too.” He pulled out his cell phone and clicked on his contacts.

Madison rattled off her phone number and address as he entered it into the phone. “Cool. Okay, so we’ll plan on six-thirty.”

“You should probably get there a few minutes earlier,” Madison replied. “My parents will want to meet you.”

He nodded. “Got it.”

“I’d better go. The bell’s about to ring,” she said, realizing she’d never make it to her locker and class before the tardy bell. Better skip the locker this time and just bring her history book along. Thankfully they were doing a lab in science, so she’d be using the class set of lab books rather than her text.

“See ya,” Miles replied with a tip of his head. Turning, he ambled off toward the exit door near the field.

“Was that the new guy you were just talking to after fifth period?” Lucy asked, as she approached Madison at the lockers.

“Yeah.” Madison looked really excited.

“You look pretty happy. What’s up?”

“He asked me to the football game tomorrow night,” her friend replied.

“Really?” Lucy wanted to be happy for her friend, but she secretly always hoped Madison would end up with Luke. She wasn’t sure what to think about this Miles guy.

Madison nodded. “Really.”

“And I take it you said yes.” Madison was clearly interested in this guy. It was written all over her face.

“Of course I said yes! Now I just have to figure out what I’m going to wear,” Madison replied. “Want to come over and help me pick something out?”

Lucy hesitated and then replied, “Sure. I’ll see if Mom can bring me by tonight for a while.”

“Why don’t you text her and see if you can just come home with me after school?”

“Okay. Sounds good.” Lucy turned to open her locker. Then she remembered what she’d wanted to talk to Madison about in the first place. “Hey, did you get a letter from Luke?” she asked.

Madison nodded. “He seems like he’s really happy there.”

“Are you going to write back?” Lucy asked hopefully.

“Uh…maybe. Yeah, I guess,” Madison hedged.

“You guys are still friends,” Lucy reminded her.

“Yeah. Friends.”

Lucy noticed something in Madison’s countenance dropped a little. “Who knows what could happen when he comes back,” she suggested.

Madison smiled, but her eyes looked kind of sad. “Who knows?” she echoed.

When Madison and Lucy met after school, Madison noticed Miles sitting with a few other guys on a wall by the stairs. She recognized three of the girls from the cheer squad passing them, laughing and talking. They all had on short skirts, and one was wearing an off-the-shoulder tee with a tank top underneath. Miles’ head pivoted to watch them pass. Madison could see the look of approval on his face.

Hopefully Mom won’t be so strict about what I wear out for a date. All I need is her forcing me to wear some junior high outfit, she thought to herself.

“Those girls think they’re so hot,” Lucy observed.

“Looks like the guys do, too,” Madison replied, tipping her head toward Miles and his friends.

“Hey, isn’t that Miles?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah,” Madison replied. “He’s cute. Don’t you think?”

Lucy looked over again and then turned back to her. “Sure. And so’s that blond guy next to him.”

Madison glanced at the other guy. “Miles is cuter.”

That afternoon, Madison bypassed her run to spend the afternoon with Lucy figuring out what she should wear to the football game. They pulled out all of Madison’s new clothes to try various combinations.

“What do you think of this?” Madison asked, holding up a short white skirt and a red sweater. “School colors,” she added with a smile.

“Try it on,” Lucy suggested.

Madison stripped off her clothes and pulled the skirt up, fastening it below her waist. Then she pulled the sweater off the hanger and slipped it over her head, easing the arms over hers and then pulling the neckline so that it fell partway down her arm, revealing a bare shoulder with a pink bra strap.

“Do you have a strapless bra?” Lucy asked.

“No, do you?”

Lucy shook her head.

“Would it look better with a black bra?”

“Maybe. That pink strap looks funny.”

Madison pulled the sweater off, switched bras and put it back on. “What about now?”

“Better,” Lucy replied. “But do you think your mom will let you wear that? My mom wouldn’t.”

“I sure hope so. Maybe my dad will help her understand. He seemed pretty cool with it when I wore a similar outfit out to dinner and the theater with him.” Madison studied her reflection in the full-length mirror. She pulled her skirt down just a little and adjusted the sweater to maximize her revealed shoulder.

“It does look cute,” Lucy admitted. “Hope she says yes.”

“Me, too,” Madison said, smiling.

“So I was thinking of going to the football game tomorrow night,” Madison said at dinner, hoping her voice sounded casual.

“Really?” Steve asked. “I’d be up for going, too.”

Madison paused. “Well, I was kind of thinking of going with friends.”

“Of course,” her father replied, but she could see his face fall.

“We could go together another time, though,” she suggested.

“Yeah.”

“Which friends are you planning to go with,” Michelle asked.

“Can I go?” Caleb piped in. “If Logan’s going, I want to go.”

“He’s not going, and no, you can’t go,” Madison replied.

Her mother shot her a warning look.

“Not this time,” Madison said, her voice softening. “But maybe we could all go next time.”

Caleb nodded. “Yeah. Whatever.”

“So, back to my original question,” her mother said. “Who will you be going with?”

“Just a friend.”

“Anyone we know?” her dad asked, suddenly becoming more interested.

“Oohh,” Caleb said with a sly smile. “Maddie’s got a date.”

Madison glared at him.

“Is that true, honey?” Michelle asked. “Have you got a date?”

“Well, actually, a guy did ask me,” she admitted.

“Do we know him?” Steve wanted to know.

“Uh…no. He’s new. To school, I mean. His family just moved here from Texas.”

Her mother reached over and put her hand on Madison’s. “You know the rule, sweetheart. We need to meet any guys you want to go out with before we say yes.”

Madison shook her head and sighed. “You guys are so old-fashioned. No one I know has to do some big interview with their parents before they can go out on a date.”

Her dad looked her in the eye. “We may be old-fashioned, but we’re not the only parents with that rule. You know Ben and Kelly have the same requirement for Lucy. Besides, even if we were the only parents on the planet who required that, you just happened to be stuck with us.” He smiled at her, but she didn’t return the gesture.

“I’m sixteen years old, Dad. Come on. Be real.”

“I am being real. Your real father. And I need to meet any guy who is thinking about taking out my daughter.”

“Mom, help me out here,” Madison pleaded.

“Sorry, honey. Dad’s right. That’s our rule.”

Madison pushed away from the table. What would Miles think of having to pass inspection before taking her out? He’d probably just drop the whole thing. Great. Just great. A cute guy finally notices her and she got to tell him she can’t go out with him. She didn’t mind her parents meeting him. But implying they might not let her go if they didn’t like him? That was over the top.

“Don’t forget it’s your night for the dishes,” Caleb reminded her.

“Got it, kid,” she snapped, picking up her plate and glass and storming into the kitchen. Tears were pooling in her eyes, when her mother joined her a moment later.