Chapter Six

*Madison's POV*

I walked into the house as quietly as I could. I didn't want to draw attention to myself. I looked into the living and saw Dad passed out on the floor, Mom passed out on the couch. Not surprisingly they both clutched bottles of Jack. I rolled my eyes and took off my shoes, quietly going upstairs and going to my room, locking my door.

I changed into flannel pajama pants and a baggy Van Halen t-shirt. I sat down on my bed and looked around at all the unpacking I still had left. I groaned and stood up, going over to my window and opening it, then smiling when I saw Austin sitting on his roof, reading a book.

I leaned on my window sill. "What are you doing?"

He looked up, confused, then he saw me. "Oh hey." He smiled. "Just reading."

I looked down and saw that the roof under my window was big enough for me to sit outside too. Then I saw the garden arch. I could easily climb down.

"What are you doing?" Austin asked.

I looked at him. "I was just gonna finish unpacking."

He smiled. "Where's your parents?"

I shrugged. "Downstairs."

He motioned to the small tree by his roof. "Wanna climb over?"

I nodded. "Yeah. One sec." I went and locked my bedroom door, then climbed out my window, down the arch, and across our yards, going up the tree and stepping on to Austin's roof. I sat down next to him and smiled. "What book are you reading?"

He handed it to me. "Of Mice and Men."

I took it. "I love this book. It's one of my favorites."

He laid back and sighed. "I can't wait for this week to be over."

I looked at him. "How come?"

"This weekend my parents are going out of town and Alan and Mark are gonna stay the weekend." He said. He looked at me. "Maybe you can come over?"

I nodded. "Maybe." I sat back and laid down next to him, looking at the stars.

"So, tell me about yourself. You're the new girl in town." He smiled at me. "Very mysterious."

I smiled and looked at him. "Tell me about you."

He chuckled. "I asked you first."

"I asked you second." I said.

He smiled. "Okay. Fair enough." He thought for a second. "I live with my parents. I'm really close with my mom. I have a dog named Charlie. I love the ocean more than anything. I hate conflict. I hate bullies." He thought again. "Uh, I love music and baseball." He smiled. "I would love to make it to the big leagues one day." He nodded. "That would be amazing." He looked at me. "Your turn."

I sighed and smiled. "I live with my parents too. I'm not close with either of them. I love music too. I love art and nature. I hate school and my parents." I thought for second. "I don't really have a dream career. I just wanna travel the world with someone I care about. I wanna find a home. Somewhere I belong."

He was quiet for a minute. "Why do you hate your parents?"

I shrugged. "They don't act like parents."

He nodded. "Well. Just for the record. I think you're really awesome. So you can stick with me if you want."

I looked at him and smiled. "Thanks."

He sat up and peeked inside his bedroom window. "It's getting pretty late. I'm gonna head to bed."

I nodded and stood up, being careful not to fall. "Okay."

He stood up too. "Hold on, one second. I have an idea." He ducked inside his window and came back out a second later, handing me a flash light.

I frowned. "What's this for?"

He smiled. "If you ever need to talk or just need to escape, flash this light in my window 3 times. I'll make sure I keep my window open. And I'll try my best to always be here when you need to talk." He smiled bigger when I smiled. Then he shrugged. "I saw it in a movie once."

I chuckled. "Okay. Thanks."

He nodded and hugged me. "See you tomorrow morning."

I started climbing down the tree. "See ya."