Insecurities of Innocence

“I really do love you, Mr. Craig.” Maddy confesses her feelings for you once again, her face blushing a bright red, but she doesn't look embarrassed at all. She looks determined. It’s this determination that gets you to smile. Appreciative of her sentiment, but also to reassure her that you won’t disbelieve the genuineness of her feelings anymore.

“Maddy…” You wanted to address her, but she doesn’t let you once again.

“Don’t, Mr. Craig. You don’t have to **** yourself to say it back. I don’t need to hear what you actually feel right now either. I know you’re hesitant to date me. I honestly don’t blame you.” Maddy preempts you.

“I know I’m the least desirable among the girls that have feelings for you. I’m not a billionaire like Ms. Becca. I can’t treat you and the others to dinner whenever you want like she does. I don’t have Paige’s flirty personality either, and I definitely don’t come close to Paige’s humongous chest and butt. Not to mention the fact that—” Maddy starts to vent her insecurities.

“Maddy, you don’t need to be any of those things for me to want to date you. Stella, Cassie, Tanya, and Viv aren’t any of those things and I love them and pursued a relationship with them regardless. Brooke’s not any of those things either, and I definitely want to date her.” You assure Maddy.

“I really like Ms. Brooke too, Mr. Craig.” Maddy tells you. “You wanting to date her too is probably one of the reasons why I thought the invite to the gym with you guys meant more than it did.” Maddy adds.

“What did you think it meant?” You ask her.

“I kind of imagined going to the gym with you and your girlfriends would be like a… uh~... I don’t know… a way for you to see me as part of your girlfriends too.” Maddy admits. It’s probably why she was unenthusiastic about adding more people to the gym trip during your lunch at Viv’s.

“I’m sure you noticed, but I felt threatened by the idea of adding Paige and Ms. Becca. In my head, between a billionaire, a babe, and myself; I don’t stand a chance to grab your attention from either of them.” Maddy explains.

“I didn’t mean to be passive-aggressive, Mr. Craig. I know you and Ms. Viv noticed it back at the restaurant. I’m sorry if I acted that way. I guess I couldn’t help myself. I was just a little bit envious that Paige could do that with you openly and I couldn’t… or can’t.” Maddy apologized, before continuing her explanation.

“I don’t know how to flirt. I don’t know how to talk to boys I like. I don’t know how to handle these kinds of conversations. I don’t know how to properly respond to my feeling of envy. I know I don’t know a lot of the stuff normal people would know already because they had a more regular upbringing. I didn’t know who Cheech was before coming here. I didn’t know what a dating app was. I didn’t know what ‘gay chicken’ was. I didn’t know how to smoke weed. I’m pretty sure I still don’t know. I—” Maddy admits her insecurities to you, and the more she listed the things she was insecure about not knowing before, you couldn’t help but stifle a laugh; causing Maddy to stop listing things and just look at you in annoyance.

“I’m glad you find my stupidity funny, Mr. Craig.” Maddy says to you annoyed.

“I’m sorry.” You immediately apologize, but still trying to hold in your laughter. You take a deep breath through your nose to recompose yourself, before addressing Maddy again.

“Maddy, I had a pretty regular upbringing and I suck at flirting.” You reassure her, chuckling at your own admission. “Ask my girlfriends.” You tell her jokingly, making Maddy smile once more.

“Not knowing who Cheech Marin is, what a dating app is, or what ‘gay chicken’ is, or how to smoke weed — is not an indictment of your intellect. I’m surprised you would think less of yourself because you didn’t know useless information like that.” You tell her honestly, and she chuckles in embarrassment upon hearing it.

“I think you’re expecting too much of yourself, Maddy; or maybe you’re pressuring yourself to meet an unfair standard for yourself.” You share your thoughts. “You’re young and still discovering yourself too —” You add, before Maddy interrupts you.

“Ms. Brooke said that to me too. That I’m still young and learning about stuff. That may be because of it, I may have wanted grand gestures as a show of what someone feels about me. I need to apologize for how I reacted to that too. I’m sorry I’m so immature, Mr. Craig.” Maddy tells you apologetically, and you can only hold her hand and gently squeeze it to say that you understand why she reacted that way.

“You don’t need to apologize, Maddy. To come to that realization yourself shows me that you’re not as immature as you think you are.” You assure her.

“Does that mean I’m not completely undateable?” Maddy asks you jokingly, but you know the self-deprecation was coming from something she was insecure about, so you try to comfort her.

“Of course not. I’m more surprised you want to date someone like me.” You mirror her self-deprecating humor. “That being said, if you want, we could —” You started saying, trying to ask her out on a date, but Maddy stops you by raising her open hand towards you.

“No, Mr. Craig. Not yet. You told me it’s not just my grandparents that’s making you like that, so I know there’s one final hurdle left before you would even truly consider it. A hurdle that we need to pass before we can comfortably date each other. I don’t want to half-ass a relationship with you, Mr. Craig.” Maddy tells you. You’re not sure where she got that terminology, since you know she doesn’t talk like that, but it seems one of the girls got to her during their talk earlier.

“My grandparents said they plan to take a trip this weekend and they may not have specifically asked me to come with them, but I think I should go.” Maddy adds, taking you by surprise.

“Are you sure? What about—” You ask her.

“Positive.” Maddy answers you without hesitation. “I know I’m risking my Dad not allowing me to come back here with Grammy and Grandpa Rick, but it’s not just Grandpa that needs to talk with my Dad... I do too.” Maddy shares her self realization. “I’ve only been here a few days and I already know that the life I had back there isn’t something I want for myself anymore. I need to tell him that despite that, he and mom still raised me right; and he should be able to trust me because of it.” Maddy continues.

You can’t help but put on a proud smile at Maddy’s bravery to finally talk to her Dad. You’re not sure if the ‘Supportive Family’ trait is affecting her too, but it seems like it is. You’re even more thankful that you bought it for Maddy if this is part of the effects of the magic.

“I understand completely then.” You tell her.

“If I don’t come back with my grandparents, Mr. Craig; at least I was able to tell you how I—” Maddy was about to say, but the moment you heard her uncertainty at what might happen if she goes back home, you cut her off with a hug. It obviously surprises Maddy as she doesn’t hug you back immediately, but she does so eventually.

“Not that I think your Dad’s going to stop you from coming back here, because I think once you talk to him, he’ll be supportive of your decision…” You tell her, trying to compose yourself to not give away that you used magic to nudge that change along. “... but if he does, I’ll drive to your hometown myself and get you back here where you belong.” You tell her, as sweetly and as sincerely as you could. Maddy breaks away from the hug to look you in the eyes, to see if you were sincere with your statement.

“We’re not losing you, Maddy…” You assure her.

“I’m not losing you.”