Page 36 of Love me, Maddie Mendoza

We were barely surviving.

It was the truth that rang in my ears as I pushed myself harder and harder during my morning run. I felt the muscles of my thighs burning, my lungs gasping for air, but I couldn’t find a single reason to stop.

I never felt so lost. The truth didn’t set me free. It just showed me how little control I had over everything. My feet pounded the pavement, it vibrated through my body as I pushed myself to exhaustion.

It felt dumb; I knew better than this. The boys on the basketball team still followed my exercise routine. It was my major. I knew how much I could push my body, and yet remaining still wasn’t an option. Angry running turned into angry exercising. I went to the gym and pushed weight like an idiot. Why everything felt suddenly in the air?

Rationally, I knew it wasn’t. I was still in college. My life was still the same for the next few months. I had no reason to panic, but maybe the panic was bound to catch up with me. Since last year I felt lost, and like Maddie, I also wasn’t sure what to do with my hands.

It bothered me I couldn’t fix myself. Or her.

After hours of punishing my body for the things my mind insisted on thinking, I gave up and went home.

I opened the front door, planning on moving straight to the shower, just to findeveryonewaiting in the kitchen. Aisha, Maddie, Nick, and Jason. Beers in the middle of the table, they were dressed in comfortable clothes, talking between themselves until I arrived. Four sets of eyes turned to me. The chatter stopped.Now what?

“Oh great, you’re here!” Maddie jumped up and down.

I pulled my shirt off and wiped the sweat off my face with it. “What’s going on?”

“We have great news!” She was still in a creepy cheerful mood. I looked at Nick, who usually was the voice of reason, but he seemed to be one of them.

Wait.

From Nick to Jason, Aisha and then my eyes landed back on Maddie. Nick and Jason dressed in basketball shorts, the girls in denim. One thing was the same, though.

A horrible orange t-shirt.

My eyes narrowed. It was a uniform.

A team uniform.

They were all dressed in orange, which was worrisome on its own, but I knew for sure it was trouble when my gaze slid to the middle of the table where a lone orange t-shirt rested.

I looked right into my best friend’s eyes and declared, “No.”

“No?” She gasped, hand on her chest like in aTelenovela.

“Maddie, no.”

It was that time of the year, of course it was coming. I just never cared to pencil it on my calendar. It was the annual Statham University Scavenger Hunt and apparently we were the orange team. It was a tradition that Maddie was very fond of and made us be part of it every year. I didn’t think she wanted to do it after last year.

Like she knew what I was thinking. She stepped forward. “It won’t happen this year, you know?”

Jason chuckled at the background. “For one, we don’t have Peter around.”

Sure, that on its own guaranteed a better time for everyone. Last year, Peter threw a tantrum when we couldn’t do one of the challenges and soured the night. He was too competitive and made every single step of the way stressful. I definitely didn’t want to repeat that one.

“It will be different. We are just doing it for fun, Zeek.” Maddie guaranteed.

Jason cleared his throat. “Our sessions are back to their original state, brother King. The tradition of gaming and drinking for fun is back.Rejoice!” He was the one who got extremely offended when Peter threw his tantrum. Jason was one for traditions and he wasn’t a fan when people soured his milk.

“I…” I started.

“Rejoice!” Jason interrupted.

I threw him a look, daring him to say it one more time. I had the refusal resting on the tip of my tongue when Maddie handed me the orange t-shirt. “One last time, Z.”

Goddamn, Maddie Mendoza.

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