Madison

"Ok, Madison, your turn!" Danielle bubbled.

"Oh, it's pretty boring...I don't think anyone wants to hear it." Madison deflected. Anna and Tatiana seemed to agree with that assessment. They rolled their eyes at each other but said nothing. Danielle was not deterred.

"Oh, come on Maddy, it's just us girls!" She placed her hand on Madison's thigh with unearned familiarity. Madison gently pushed her hand away but Danielle didn’t get the hint and replaced it. Madison jerked her leg back out of reach.

She must be a new **** Ashley noted that Madison had been shooting glances at her ever since Ash told her own story. If she still reacts that way to being touched, doesn't have her hair up... Maybe we can talk about it later.

Danielle bulldozed right over Madison's hints and kept after her. "We'll find out somehow, silly!" She tried to pinch Madison's cheek like a child, which got her hand slapped away.

"Ok, fine." Madison's annoyance was plain as day. She'd better work on that. Her Master would be within his right to punish a bitchface that obvious. “But I warned you it was boring. I was a senior at Mercyside High across town last year.”

“I love their cheerleader outfits! The baby blue is so gorg!” Danielle interrupted. Are you this broken inside Danielle?

“I wouldn’t really know, I wasn’t much for the sports scene.” Madison continued. “Graduation comes around and my friend invites me over to a huge house party in the Garden District. Everyone was gonna be there. I never really went to parties. I was pulling really good grades, I had a college scholarship lined up and everything. No time for goofing off or any of that stuff. So I thought to myself ‘What the hell?’ as soon as I get to college I’m gonna be neck-deep in books again. Might as well live a little.’”

Anna shook her head. “Mi tia… sorry, my aunt, she cleans houses there. They are so big!”

“Yes, A new Versaille for the 1%.” Madison said with veiled disgust. She really needs to watch her mouth, Ashley thought with alarm.

“The place was packed when we got there. At least half the school was there, and there must have been dozens more from schools I had never been to. I immediately lost my friend in the crowd, and then I was at a loss. What do you even do at parties? I was so out of my element.” Madison shook her head. “I tried dancing a bit, but I was just getting my ass pinched, so I made my way to the kitchen. Some guys there were mixing drinks and they poured one for me. I’d never tried liquor before, but I always thought it was bitter? This was super sweet! I loved it. I had another. And a third. One of the girls tried to tell me to slow down, but I didn’t listen. I really, really wish I had listened.”

“Was it a Mai Tai? Daddy loves those! I make him one when he gets home on Friday!” Danielle said. At this point the others were pretty much ignoring her, but she didn’t seem to notice or care.

“About a half-hour later, my head is swimming and I’m bouncing off the walls. My friend finally finds me, but I can barely talk I’m so wasted. I ask her to take me home, but she doesn’t want to leave the party. ‘It’s your fault you can’t hold your booze, Mad, Don’t ruin MY night.’ she said. It’s the last thing she said to me. She led me to a guest bedroom way in the back, where it was quiet. She gave me a glass of water and left me on the bed, I was passed out in second.”

“What happened?” Ashley asked.

“The next thing I know, I’m being shaken awake by a cop with a flashlight in my face. He slaps cuffs on me and drags me back to the living room. It looked like those assholes had been there a month. Water was flowing out of the broken fishtank, the furniture was all torn up, the place smelled like smoke… Some fuckhead had even spray-painted a fifteen foot dick across the dining room wall. Of course, my friends had all run off when the cops showed up, leaving me alone in the backroom. The woman who owned the house slapped me across the face and called me all manner of vile names, but the man just stood there. He eyed me up and down like meat.” Madison shuddered. The story was ringing a bell for Ashley, hadn’t Theo mentioned something about this during his research?

“The repair bill was well into six figures. I didn’t have anything close to those kinda assets, so I was **** to file bankruptcy. And once you’re bankrupt…”

“You’re sold.” Tatiana finished. Madison nodded.

“Yeah. The man who owned the house wanted to buy me, but apparently his wife wouldn’t have it. I was bought by another man and he covered the debt. Once he found out they were opening these classes, he enrolled me.” Madison said.

“That was last year?” Ashley asked tentatively.

“Yeah…” Madison added.

Ashley dropped the subject, she didn't want to press her for more details since Madsinon clearly didn't want to talk about it.

Special thanks to Dissonant Soundtrack who contributed with this.