Owned By Her Triplet Bullies
(Bk 2) Chapter 58

Madison's POV

I heard noises coming from the living room and the voice of Rachel calling out my name repeatedly. I finished tying my hair into a ponytail before stepping out.

"What is it Rachel? Why are you hell-bent on screaming the roof down so early in the morning?" I asked, walking towards the kitchen.

"I didn't know you were awake. I tried to stop her but she forced her way in," Lexi said.

"It's fine Lexi. You don't need to explain anything. I can tell what happened here," I replied.

"Why did you lie to me at the airport? Deceiving me into believing you would join me when you knew you weren't going to?" she asked, sounding quite angry. I glanced at the steamy cup of coffee on the table. "Lexi? Can I have this?" I asked, pointing to the cup.

"Sure, I can always make another one," she responded.

"Mady!" Rachel called out furiously.

"You didn't get lost, did you? You arrived safely and are now standing in front of me," I said to her, taking a sip from the coffee. It woke me up properly immediately.

"That's not the point. The point is that you all left me to travel alone. Do you know how boring that was? Is that how you treat your friends?" she asked in disbelief.

"Keyword 'friends'. It's good that you said it. Ask yourself this question. Did you treat us the way friends were supposed to be treated that you want us to reciprocate the feelings?" I inquired dropping the cup on the counter. Lexi stood close to the door and silently watched our exchange.

"What are you talking about? Of course I've always treated you all like my friends..."

"No, you haven't. You've never seen us as your friends. If you had, you never would have done what you did. Who left for over seven years without as much as a phone call? Nobody knew if you survived the surgery or not. Who manipulated Mason during the party and made the reporters deliver fake news?" I asked angrily. "Mady I..."

"You call that friendship? It's not. You wouldn't do that to Mason if you were his friend. You said you love him but don't you think you've gone too far? I brought the idea of letting you travel alone because I was upset and I wanted you to feel the way I felt too," I continued cutting her off. Lexi stood up and walked into her room giving us privacy to talk. I took my coffee that was beginning to turn cold and gulped it down.

"Mady, I know I did wrong and I apologized. I'm sorry. Back then, we were still kids and I didn't know how to face you all in a wheelchair. I wanted to get better first but I guess I didn't know any better. I thought we were over this," she said. "We were. I had already forgotten all about how you ran away..."

"I didn't run away! Stop saying that. You of all people know how badly I was injured. It hurt me to leave Mason behind but I had no other choice. Do you know the amount of pain I went through? Not only physically but also emotionally. I lost my dream because of that accident. I went through countless surgeries hopelessly, thinking I might never walk again. You can never understand any of that," she said with tear filled eyes, her voice breaking at the end.

Looking at her now, I felt guilty for what I did. I only wanted to teach her a little lesson. I never knew it was going to end up like this.

"I'm going to go. It was a mistake coming for this trip. Mum was right. I didn't expect everything to be as it was then but I never expected it to be this bad either. I made a mistake on my part coming back to a place where I'm not wanted," she muttered, turning around to leave. I stared at her retreating back.

"Wait," I called out.

"It's fine Mady, you already made yourself clear," she replied without turning around. I hurriedly walked towards her and grabbed her hand.

"Rachel..."

"What else do you have to say that you haven't said?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," I said. She turned towards me in surprise.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted. That was immature of me but if you think about it carefully, this wasn't completely my fault. After what you did to Mason, I couldn't think clearly anymore. I know you like him but you can convey your feelings without being deceptive. Your behavior is only going to distance him from you," I explained calmly.

"I was planning on apologizing for that when we got here together before all this happened. Thinking back now, I realize that was a desperate move made on my part. I'm sorry. I've also been replaceing a way to apologize to Mason," she replied.

"I never knew you to be this type of person Rachel. You've never done something bad, ever," I said hoping she was still the same person we all knew as kids and she hadn't changed.

"I'm still the same person you knew, Mady. The only thing that changed was my love for Mason. It got stronger," she responded. I rolled my eyes and she chuckled.

"Am I forgiven now?" she asked. I nodded.

"No more leaving me out of anything you've planned out? You, Mason and Torres are the only ones I know in this school," she said.

"I promise I won't do that again if you promise to behave. He might forgive you now but if you do this again and he stops talking to you, I won't talk to you either," I warned.

"I promise it won't happen again," she replied with a smile.

"Are you ready? We need to be outside in an hour," I said. The first day of our trip here, we were always addressed by the teachers of this pack's high school to enlighten the new students who were coming for the first time. "I am. I was hoping we could go out together since I'm new here," she replied.

"Let's wait for Lexi. I think she's ready too," I said. "Lexi? We should be on our way now," I called out to her in a loud tone.

"I didn't know you were so close to her," she said with a smile.

"We are close and it's surprising because I've only known her for a few months. We just connected on the first day we met," I replied. I genuinely liked Lexi. When we first met, I never thought we would be closer than all my friends. "With Mason too? He must be very close to her since he's tutoring her. He never does that for just anybody," she responded.

"Do you think she's your competition?" I asked skeptically. She shook her head.

"I was just thinking since both of you are so close to her, she must be a likable person. I'm hoping we can get along too but I don't think she likes me," she replied.

"Lexi is a very nice person. I'm sure you must have misunderstood her," I responded just as the door opened and Lexi stepped out. She glanced at the both of us.

"Hi Lexi," Rachel greeted with a smile. She stared at her without responding.

"You must still be upset by what happened this morning. I apologize for that. I was just upset. Do you forgive me?" Rachel asked sweetly.

"You are not remorseful if you apologize but keep on doing the same thing. Your apology won't mean anything," Lexi replied calmly. I was surprised by Lexi's response. She was sounding like they had an encounter before that I know nothing of. "Shall we Mady?" she asked, walking towards me.

"Sure," I replied. Rachel held onto my hand and we all left the room together.

"Mady," someone called out to me. We all stopped and turned around. A boy I don't recognize walked up to us with a bouquet in his hands and a smile.

"Hi," he said, waving at Rachel and Lexi. They responded curtly. He turned his attention back to me.

"These are for you," he said, stretching out the bouquet towards me.

"Me?" I glanced at Lexi and Rachel, wondering if it was a mistake.

"A secret admirer," Rachel cooed.

"I saw these in the garden this morning and I immediately thought of you," he replied.

"Thank you for the thoughtful gesture but I can't accept them. I'm sorry," I muttered before dragging Lexi and Rachel along. I normally accepted gifts before but I can't anymore.

"What did you do that for? He was being so sweet," Rachel said.

I didn't want any misunderstandings. Not now that things seem to be going in the right direction with Torres. We finally decided to go with the flow and see how things will end up between us. I wasn't sure about what would happen later but I was definitely sure of my feelings at this moment.

"It didn't feel right," I replied.