Madison Ashford vs. the Hangover

The walk to school was ****. The dark glasses Joey wore over his eyes dulled the stabbing feeling somewhat, but for the most part he was left suffering the consequences of his own actions. His parents had long left for work by the time he wandered out the door, each having a significant commute to get to work, and so Joey was alone with his thoughts as he walked to school. Each step sounded like thunder, shaking his body, making his brain feel like it was the wrong size for his skull, causing his stomach to threaten to empty itself on the sidewalk.

Which it didn't.

Not that Joey had much to empty. No breakfast had passed his lips that morning. Remembering the advice of his father from before his night out, Joey had grabbed a bottle of Gatorade from the pantry and had slowly been sipping it as he walked. If he was lucky, it would start to regulate him so that he could concentrate for his test.

The Granger house was not far from the school. A quick three blocks passed by in the warm May sunshine, the pleasant feeling utterly lost on the suffering Joey, and soon he found himself standing in front of the school. He paused, looked at the drab architecture of the school, and sighed. He was glad to be at the end of his time at South Point High, the school his older sister had graduated from, the school his parents had graduated from, and soon to be the school he would graduate from. In a lot of ways, Joey Granger had missed out on a lot of the typical high school experience. He was too shy to talk to girls, so his love life was non-existent. He wasn't interested in band, drama, or sports. No, school for Joey was mostly about going to class, taking notes, studying, rinse and repeat.

He wasn't a loner. Joey enjoyed the company of a few close friends that he'd had since kindergarten. The advantage of living in a small city like South Point, growing up in the same house for your whole life, was that you could keep close friendships all the way through school.

Until graduation, that is.

At which point three of his friends had already indicated that they would be leaving town and heading to pursue higher education. Joey's grades were good, but he still didn't know what he wanted to do with his life. A 'gap year' was what his mother had called his plans for the future. Indecisiveness was what it really was.

A particular wave of bad throbbing pounded into Joey's brain causing him to wince behind his dark glasses, momentarily stumbling and bumping into someone beside him.

"Sorry," he mumbled, his mouth feeling like it had been dried out by cotton balls.

"The hell is your problem, jerk?" a sharp feminine voice spat out at him.

Joey turned and looked. Great. Madison Ashford. She was exactly what Joey didn't need that morning. Madison wasn't exactly a bully, but she sure could be a jerk. A beautiful jerk, but a jerk nonetheless. He took in her image, long dirty blond hair, cute perky nose, pink lips, all perched above a busty body dressed in stylish preppy clothes. She knew what she looked like and flaunted it. Normally Madison was someone who wouldn't cross paths with someone like Joey, but that morning, in his reduced state, he had put himself into her crosshairs.

"I'm really sorry," he apologized again, "I stumbled..."

"I don't really want your excuse, jackass," she cut him off, "You made me spill my coffee all over my hand. Now I have to wash up so I don't smell like a truck stop all day. And all you have to say for yourself is you're sorry?"

"I am," Joey didn't like the attention that Madison's rant was bringing his way. He wanted to crawl under a rock and hide, "I don't know what you want me to say..."

"Leave it to a loser like you to not even know what to say," her tone was venomous, "Guys like you are an embarrassment to your gender, "she poked him in the chest, causing him to step back, "Guys like you are why women become lesbians," she poked him again with the same result, "Guys like you should just give up on life and take a vow of celibacy," she poked him again.

"Madison, stop it," Joey said angrily.

"Stop it? You think you can tell me what to do?" she was yelling now, "Guys like you should be on your knees begging for my forgiveness, just happy to be in the presence of a woman as amazing as I am!" Again she poked him.

Joey snapped.

"Um, actually, Madison, for your information you'd be lucky to have a guy like me. In fact, a guy like me would be the best possible thing for a girl like you, you're just too dumb to have figured it out on your own!"

Blinding pain throbbed behind Joey's eyes. He could feel his stomach begin to lurch. He needed to find a bathroom FAST. Turning from his assailant, he sprinted for the building, heading straight for the first floor men's room, hoping to make it there to kneel in front of the toilet before it was too late.

So focused was he on his goal that he completely missed the look of utter confusion that had settled on the face of Madison Ashford.