Page 16 of Love me, Maddie Mendoza

I entered the kitchen again and clocked the table runner, vase, and stove topper. If she had an image of Jesus somewhere, I’d believe we were in abuelita’s home.

“Maddie…”

“I only brought the essentials!” She defended herself.

“Is anyone going to tell me why our toilet has a skirt?”Jason begged us.

Maddie laughed like he was making a joke. “Sit down, Jay, I made pancakes. Is Nicky coming?”

“Yay, pancakes!” Jason forgot completely about the skirt problem and sat down with a flourish. Smiling when Maddie served the pancakes, he added, “Nick goes to practice on Sundays. He’ll be back soon and will try to marry you when he sees the spread.”

My mouth watered at the image of Maddie’s pancakes. Plain, chocolate chip and blueberry piled in perfect stacks. The woman was the devil. The crochet devil.

“I will let Pete know.” She laughed.

I swallowed my groan, and I noticed Jason did too. We were trying to ignore the inconvenience that came with her, and it wasn’t the crochet. Unless she crocheted a real sized Peter. I wouldn’t suggest that, even joking, just in case she thought it was an excellent idea.

I sat down. Maddie was watching me. Blinking her long eyelashes she offered, “I can put them away if you really hate it.”

I had to roll my eyes.When did I ever said no to her?

I waved the still empty plate in front of me. “Just give me pancakes, Mad Max.”

“I’m out!”

“Zeek!”

“Out!”

I trotted to my truck I left running after the second warning I gave her. Sitting down, I grabbed the wheel and counted to ten.

When I reached seven, Maddie rushed out of the house. Her yellow backpack swinging on her left shoulder, a cropped tee and denim shorts. I heard the flap of her flip-flops running to my truck as she opened the door with a smile.

“I’m sorry, but Jason took ages in the bathroom.”

I tsked, and she climbed in. Yes, Jason took his time to do anything, but Maddie wasn’t much better. I took her in, two braids and a floppy orange hat. It had two green leaves on top, like a little orange. I chuckled and started the car.

It was the first Wednesday since Maddie moved in. From our first semester at college, we decided to select one subject to have together each semester. We chose things at random, trying to fit my schedule and hers, and this time around was anthropology. We weren’t so lucky at other times, but we always tried to make our day on a Wednesday. Maddie said it broke up the week real nice. She was the one insisting on anthropology, even though the class was only introductory and useless to someone majoring in Egyptology.

I drove us to campus while she talked about the books she almost finished, movies we watched and what would we order at the café after class. We knew the menu by heart, so it wasn’t uncommon to decide before we were even inside the restaurant.

“Are you going to the party this Friday?” She asked after telling me she was getting a turkey burger this afternoon.

“Hm… on the fence.”

“Come on… we’re all going!”

“Who arewe?” I asked as I turned to the right and tried to find a parking space in front of the Humanities Building.

“Jay, Aisha, and Pete.”

I wasn’t in the mood for a party. With all the excitement of Maddie moving in, I craved a chill weekend. I thought maybe Maddie wanted the same and we’d end up watching scary movies on the couch, but I guess it was just me.

“I’m not sure,” I said as I finally parked.

“But it would be our first party as roommates!”

“We’ve been to many parties together…”

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