That's how it could have happened. But what about this?

So, this is my first time contributing to this site, but I'm quite fond of this story, so I felt it'd be best to start out here! The cast here is slightly reworked, of course, but I tried to keep the more core characters accurate to my understanding of them. The focus here is largely romantic, but of course also sexy. It's mostly working off of the motivations behind some of the more ubiquitous characters, then some others I thought would provide good conflict and/or foils. Currently, this is ongoing, but I plan on updating it as regularly as I can. Generally, that's going to mean I'm running down the core path I have in mind narratively, but I wouldn't be surprised if a wild hair took me and I elaborated on some hinted "what-if"s. I'd just be surprised if they go very long this early in the process.

Also, I hope I've sufficiently dated myself with the Clue reference. Or is it foreshadowing? Who knows!

Me. I know. I hope you like my contribution!

"Fuck me running!" Madison Cole exclaimed, violently jostled awake by a rough jump felt throughout the old, red SUV. The short brunette, however, had the misfortune of being the only one not expecting it.

"You okay back there, Mads?" Brandon called back from the driver's seat. Madison became painfully aware of all the eyes on the car on her, something causing a bolt of embarrassment to shoot up her spine. "Did you hit your head or something?"

"I'm fine, dad," she sighed back to her twin brother, wanting to curtail the painful awkwardness as quickly as possible. Brandon's brown eyes, nearly identical to his sister's, looked in the rear view mirror for a little longer than he needed to, and Madison restrained the annoyed twitch of her lip until he turned back. She loved Brandon, but she loved him acting like their father around her considerably less. His girlfriend, Ashley, seemed to take noticed and offered her fellow cheerleader a slightly-sad smile. Madison shrugged, rewarded with her blonde friend turning away so she could return to her train of thought.

Delilah and Kevin had already snapped back to their conversation, arguing the finer points of athletic versus academic scholarship. Kevin, a tall, handsome man with deep brown skin and matching eyes, was arguing the point of ethics, namely with high-contact sports and connections to brain damage. Delilah, his cousin and a gorgeous, curly-haired dancer who Madison had never messed around with, nope, don't know where you're getting that idea, admitted the point, but that it also gave a lot of kids chances who are otherwise stuck in shitty situations.

"You know my mom, if she'd had the chance to show up some people on the court, you're telling me you don't think her twenties would have been easier? I know it's a nasty system, but it provides chances. A lot of kids like she was need that," Delilah said sternly, never breaking eye contact with her cousin. That wasn't altogether unusual. Lisa had introduced Madison to her on that basis, after all. Madison had no problem getting heated if she felt like it, while Delilah was extremely hard to move from a position she felt was right.

"Okay, yeah, but you know how many injuries there are on the field? I mean, I'm good at basketball, I like playing, but if I was as good at football, I wouldn't. Brain damage isn't a good look on me, and it's not a good look on young men and women who have to beat each other crazy to impress a bunch of rich, old, white dudes looking to make a buck on them." The basketball captain was used to holding his ground, easily showcasing their family resemblance, and no problem going at unexpected angles in conversation or in a game. Madison was still a little shocked he'd turned down a serious sports scholarship offer to some Ivy League place out of town, but from the argument, she'd have to guess Delilah wasn't thrilled by it, either.

As the two argued if academic scholarship were too elitist to help the people who needed it, Madison let her mind wander again. The jolt from the car shaking earlier made sure sleep wasn't an option, though. Leaning a little with her head pressed to the glass, she could make out the new-looking blue sedan ahead of them housing her best friend, Lisa. Madison grimaced at the thought, considering her ex, Zack Bishop, was driving that car. 'Lisa's a grown-ass woman,' she chided herself silently. 'You can't make her stop mooning after an old boyfriend just because it'll end in fire and tears. Also, not really your area of expertise, huh?'

Madison shook away the accusatory inner monologue by wondering exactly where Lisa and Zack went wrong. They on, hot-and-heavy, for three months straight, no sign of slowing down, which was appreciated for someone who had to get her hormonal thrills vicariously. But then, bam, total shutdown after winter break. Lisa was keeping the reason to herself and simply maintained she "wasn't a priority for him," which could go all sorts of ways. 'Probably another girl,' she thought, turning her attention to the Bishop boy's friend. Chloe would be her number one guess for other woman, honestly. Madison didn't think she had it in her to outright seduce Zack out from under Lisa, but they'd known each other basically their whole lives. That's a lot of history to compete with, no to the mention the redheaded Chloe being drop-dead gorgeous. Even being as big a fan of layers as she was, Madison could tell that just from seeing her at school. But if Lisa didn't want to talk about it, she didn't want to.

The other friend of Zack's in the car was Gavin, who was a little harder to pin down. The exact wording sent a few less-than-appropriate thoughts through Madison's mind, which she tamped down on. Honestly, she wanted to hook up with someone, anyone this trip, but Gavin seemed ... less than likely. He was always fine in groups, just a little quiet. But whenever they'd ended up alone together ... well, Madison figured either he just happened to be in a terrible mood each time or he had a problem with her specifically. He was just so quiet and curt about things, it was hard to engage. Whatever was going on there piqued her curiosity, though, even if she always felt like she was annoying the young man.

The car housing her friend and cheer captain, Heather Ravers, was completely out-of-sight by this point. No one had objected to the suggestion they spend their spring break up the blue-eyed bombshell's cabin, especially not Madison. Between school, college applications, and Brandon being even more particular than normal about the company she keeps, it sounded nice to get away. Brandon also coming wasn't so much a surprise as a disappointment, though at least Lisa was included in the invite. Delilah wasn't going to come, but Lisa talked her into it and, somewhere behind the veil of school politics, a no turned into a yes when Lisa mentioned her cousin was also interested. It didn't take a genius to guess why, and Madison certainly wasn't complaining about the intelligent, strapping man two seats over from her attending, but it was itching at her who had talked Heather into letting someone not on the best terms with the cheer squad come because they wanted her cousin's dick.

Victoria, about the only person Madison knew nothing about, might have been the culprit. The petite blonde was very close with Ashley, far more than Madison herself, but was perpetually hard to read. She'd been nice every time they'd talked, but as far as Madison knew, she was just like that to everyone. Even Gavin had a distinct reaction to her, Vicky just seemed to have the one for Ashley, then one for everyone else. The guess had no backing to it whatsoever, but she was weighing it slightly more favorably than her other guesses, second place being Heather herself. Madison grinned at the thought. If there was one thing Heather excelled at, it was getting what she wanted.

Her eyes gradually wandered out to the lake as it shimmered in the early afternoon sun, silver bouncing off the water in bright, even sometimes harsh flares. Madison had always loved that about the lake, the energy behind it during the day, the eerie stillness at night. Possibility and danger, both extremely welcome. The way the trees were thickening and the road stopped having branches reminded Madison they must be close, leading her to shake her head and try to finish waking all the way up. This was the last spring break she'd be seeing some of her friends for, and a good opportunity to get closer with the ones she didn't know quite as well. Bringing her A-game was important.

"Hey, are you two done fixing collegiate life for the American youth?" Ashley turned with a grin as she spoke, Kevin and Delilah looking up. "Because we're here, and I'd really like to get to something more fun."

"Of course not," Delilah answered, honestly hard to tell if she was seriously answering Ashley's sarcastic question or playing along, "but we can hold. Even if I'm already right."

"Damn, so open-minded, Del," Kevin jabbed, but with a warm grin that pulled one out of Delilah just in time for the car to pull up to the Ravers' Cabin. Madison's eyes widened a little, only having fuzzy memories of the place from three years ago, as she fumbled with the handle for a second before stepping out in front of the behemoth lakeside house.