Driven to Distraction

Madison stared, confused and surprised. She stepped towards the side of the hill, putting her hands out in case maybe somehow the door was still there but invisible. "Is it just... gone?"

"I, uh, I guess so," Noah said, at a loss. "I guess that's not any weirder than it being here in the first place, but...damn. I didn't think it would just disappear on us. I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"Maybe it's only there at certain times? Or it moves around...or I don't know." Maddy turned to face Noah. "Maybe it's just gone. If that means fewer weird things getting out, that's probably good?"

Noah looked dubious but hopeful.

"Yeah, I guess its better if its just gone. If it moves or has like a schedule or something...well, I guess we'll have to see."

He seemed somewhat nonplussed.

"Well, this ended up kind of, uh, anticlimactic."

He shrugged, shook his head, and favored Madison with an apologetic grin.

"I think I promised you a movie..."

"Oh, right," Madison said, smiling back a bit shyly.  "That would be fun. ...Um, just the two of us?"  She had braced herself for him to suggest picking up David on the way, but desperately hoped that he wouldn't.  She didn't get that much time alone with him, and the last thing she wanted was a third wheel at the movies.

Noah paused a moment, his mind racing. He knew he should probably bring someone else along, call David or some of their teammates, maybe suggest Madison call some of her fellow cheerleaders, but he didn't.

He told himself it wasn't anything, that he and Maddie had been friends almost as long as he and David had, but he knew that wasn't what this was about. Hopefully David wouldn't be mad, or at least not find out.

"Well, unless there was someone you wanted to call," Noah answered finally, leaving the decision to Madison.

"No, not really," she said with a smile. "It's fine with me. What did you want to go see? I'm up for whatever you want." She blushed a little, not having meant to sound quite so eager.

Noah nodded back towards his truck as he answered, falling into step for a less, or at least differently, tense walk back to where they had parked.

"Well, I'd suggested 'The World's End.'  It looks pretty funny, and I kind of assumed you wouldn't want to go see the new Riddick.  There's not really all that much out right now."

He shrugged.

"We could always head up to Central Point, go mini-golfing or something."

"I don't know, it's kind of looking like it might rain," Maddy said, exaggerating the thin cloud cover for her own purposes. "A movie's probably a better choice." She gave a sidelong glance at Noah, picking up on his slight tension. "...I mean, if you're sure you want to."

"Oh, totally," Noah said quickly. "I could definitely use some down time. No homework, no practice. You know how it is."

"Absolutely," Maddy agreed, nodding. "And the party tomorrow should be fun too, I hope. Especially if the weather's nice and we can actually go swimming."

"Yeah, it should be all right," Noah said nonchalantly as they got into the pickup. He couldn't deny (to himself at least) a distinct appreciation of Madison in a bathing suit, but he tried putting the thought out of his head.

"Brad's parent's place is so awesome. Apparently he moved out to the garage apartment over the summer, and that thing's nicer than my dad's house. Half-court in back, pool, hot tub...gotta be nice."

"That sounds awesome," Madison agreed,trying not to dwell too long on the thought of Noah and hot tubs and. ... "and I guess he must have a lot of privacy that way too."

"Yeah, I mean, there's a ton of rooms in the house where you can get l..." Noah responded before catching himself.

"Lost, uh, get lost in," he finished lamely.

Madison looked innocent, but sort of ruined the effect by laughing. "Oh, I bet you can," she said with a smile. "So it's better not to go alone. In case you get lost."

Madison's laugh was infectious.

"Yeah, I mean, it'd be weird to go getting lost by yourself in someone else's house," Noah said, grinning.

"Yeah, that would be embarrassing," Madison agreed with another giggle. "Is it true what they say. ..?" She paused just long enough to make him wonder. "That guys hate to ask for directions?"

"Only if they're idiots," Noah responded with faux seriousness, but couldn't hold a straight face. "I'm not too proud to ask someone where I need to go."

Madison laughed, though with a 'not quite sure what we're talking about anymore' look on her face.  "Well... that's good, I guess!  In case we get lost on the way to the movies," she added with a grin.

"I think we're okay on that front," Noah responded, smirking. "I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing."

'I hope,' he thought immediately after.