Lizzie - Chapter 8

The new day was similar in many ways to the last, with the students heading out to practice after breakfast. A quick lunch was then followed by more practice, but Lizzie was unable to focus.

Madison, of all people, is a bedwetter like me?

Lizzie had quickly left the room before Madison returned, not knowing how to confront her roommate about it. As the day wore on, Lizzie began having doubts.

What if it was just something else with a similar pattern? No, Lizzie was sure the pattern was identical to her goodnites.

Did she steal the goodnites from her luggage? No. Lizzie had actually double-checked her luggage, but all of her goodnites were accounted for.

What if it was Madison’s younger sister’s and it had accidentally fallen into her luggage?

No, are you stupid? Lizzie mentally slapped herself. She was driving herself insane.

The last sectional session of the day saw the sopranos pair up with the altos. Ms. Stevens helped the group work on harmonizing together as they practiced another new piece. Lizzie messed up her part a few times, but sang quietly as to not stand out.

The choir also had activities in the afternoon. Some went for a hike around the lake while others learned to make wood carvings.

Lizzie strolled around the lake. A few squirrels about, collecting what little food before the snow. Lizzie however, was uninterested. Her mind was preoccupied, scheming a way to confirm that Madison used goodnites. She considered truth or dare, but there was no way she would embarrass Madison like that. Not after all the times she’d saved her butt already.

Butt… Maybe she could slap her butt? No, that was ridiculous. Maybe a hug? But would she be able to feel it? Lizzie scratched her head in frustration.

Before Lizzie knew it, they were back at the cabin. The day was coming to a close and she had yet to figure out a decisive plan. The girls were preparing to go to sleep. Or at least, they pretended to. Anna’s mom came by to turn off the lights.

“Good night, Mrs. Johnson” the girls called out.

“Good night, girls,” Anna’s mom replied before shutting off the lights.

Lizzie had made sure not to change into her pajamas too early. Her precaution proved worthwhile when a few minutes later, the door creaked open.

“Psst, we’re going to Marco’s cabin, his dad had to drive back so there’s no chaperone there for tonight,” Anna whispered, before scurrying away.

Lizzie and Madison soon tiptoed after Anna. Lizzie stared at Madison, trying to discern the any outlines. But tonight, Madison was wearing a comfortable-looking pair of fleece pajamas with an oversized hoodie on top, and Lizzie couldn’t tell through the loose fabric.

The boys’ cabin was already buzzing with activity when the girls arrived. People were sprawled about, some lay on the couches watching TV, others stood chatting in the kitchen, and others yet sat playing games in the corner.

“Madison, over here!” A voice called.

“I guess I’ll catch up with you later,” she said to Lizzie. “Coming!” She called as she skipped away. Anna soon followed and before she knew it, Lizzie was alone in the middle of the party.

“Hey, glad you could make it,” Marco appeared from behind, startling Lizzie a little. “Did you want a drink?” he handed her a red plastic cup.

“Wait is that…” Lizzie recognized that cup from the movies. “Alcohol?” Lizzie whispered, attempting unsuccessfully to hide the bewilderment in her voice. Rumor was that the cool kids drank at high school parties.

“No, of course not! I meant like apple or orange juice. We have Sprite and Coke as well.” A couple of people nearby chuckled.

“Marco, I want some juice too.” A girl whined, appearing closely from behind.

“Marco, can you pour the Sprite for me?” Girls surrounded him. Lizzie seized the opportunity, taking a cup and scurrying off.

With Anna and Madison gone, Lizzie loitered around for a while, hovering like a ghost between groups. She joined in on a few games, but always felt… unwelcome. It wasn’t that her classmates weren’t friendly, it just always felt like they would rather have another friend in her place.

Eventually, Lizzie decided she’d had enough. Despite not doing much, she felt exhausted and wanted to head back. As she headed toward the door, a voice called out, “Lizzie, I’ve been looking all over for you!” Madison appeared from behind. “Come join us for spin the bottle.”

“Wait I—” Lizzie began to say, but Madison wasn’t hearing it as she practically dragged her to one of the rooms.

The room was dimly lit, but she noticed Anna and Nathan were already seated along with a couple of other boys in a circle. Madison shut the door before ushering Lizzie to sit down.

There was a glass bottle on the floor alongside a separate spinner. Spin the bottle, how did that game work again?

“Alright, who wants to go first?” Lizzie hoped that she could just watch along and figure it out.

“The eldest first of course,” Anna said.

“When’s everyone’s birthday?”

“December” Anna said.

“October”

“July”

“May”

“I’m May also,” Madison said.

“April,” Lizzie said with a frown.

“Alright, I guess you’re first then,” Anna said. Everyone turned to look at her expectantly. It was too embarrassing to ask for the rules. Lizzie looked down, staring at the green bottle in front of her. All she had to do so was spin it, right? After all, it was the name of the game.

She twirled it, and the bottle began spinning rapidly.

Watching the bottle spin, Lizzie faintly remembered the game from a movie. She knew people took turns spinning, that part was obvious enough. And she knew there was something to do with whoever the bottle pointed to.

Wait, she thought to herself didn’t they have to… kiss? What if it pointed in between people? What if it pointed to a girl? What if…?

Her thoughts were cut short as the bottle slowed to a stop pointing directly across from her. Lizzie’s eyes traced a line from the tip of the bottle, slowly craning her neck up until her eyes locked with Nathan’s. His soft brown eyes staring back at her intently. Everyone else was silent in anticipation.

Her heart raced. She was going to kiss Nathan? Tonight? Right here and right now? Lizzie began crawling forward, in a daze as her body moved by itself. She closed her eyes. Where should she kiss? The cheek? The lips?

“Wait!” Anna called out, breaking her trance. “Lizzie, you haven’t spun the spinner yet.”

Lizzie blinked. She looked underneath her to see the spinner she had completely forgotten about. Bent over it, she made out the words for the first time. The circular spinner was split into several sections with various labels: kiss on the cheek, kiss on the lips, hug for ten seconds, piggy back ride for one minute, hold hands until the next turn, give them a compliment, and seven minutes in heaven.

“Sorry,” Lizzie said, sitting back upright as her face burned.

“Someone’s eager,” one of the boys whispered to his mate, and the two chuckled.

“Hey, if you two don’t want to play nice you can always leave,” Madison said. “There’s plenty of other boys.” The boys quickly settled down, and she nodded at Lizzie to proceed. Lizzie spun the spinner and closed her eyes. Which option did she even want?

“Aww,” Anna said. Lizzie opened her eyes to see the spinner pointing to the hold hands option.

Lizzie went to sit beside Nathan who held up his hand shyly. To her surprise, his cheeks were a little red as well. His massive hand wrapped easily around Lizzie’s tiny one. Lizzie sat down without the two exchanging so much as a word. His palm felt a little bit damp. But it was also soft and warm and made her feel comfortable.

“Oh, I’m next, I’m next,” Anna said. She spun the spinner first, landing on the piggyback ride. Next, she spun the bottle, landing on one of the unfortunate boys. Anna wasted no time leaping up and hopping onto the boy’s back. She grabbed onto the boy’s hair and began steering him around the room. Everyone laughed as she rode him around the room like a horse.

The next boy got ready to spin, but looked up. “You know you two don’t need to hold hands anymore.” Lizzie and Nathan’s eyes met for a brief second, before they both retracted their hands, each blushing a deeper shade of red in the process.

They played a few more turns, with one of the boys hugging Lizzie and Anna even kissing her on the cheek. Both turning Lizzie bright red. On Lizzie’s second turn she had to hold hands with another boy. His hand was warm too, but it didn’t feel quite the same.

On Madison’s next turn, she got seven minutes in heaven.

“What’s seven minutes in heaven?” Lizzie was glad that another person asked.

“They have to stay alone in a room for seven minutes. The lights are off, and they can do anything, anything at all,” Anna explained with a wink.

Anything? Two people, alone in a dark room. What did that mean?

The bottle was spun. The boys stared intently at the bottle, seemingly a little too eager at the thought of being in a room alone with Madison.

The bottle ended up on Lizzie, much to the disappointment of the others. “Alright, let’s go,” Madison wasted no time bringing Lizzie to her feet. The two went into the bathroom where the door was shut behind them.

The bathroom was dark, except for the bit of moonlight shining in through the window. Madison let out a breath as she hopped onto the counter, her fingers playfully twirled her hair.

“So do we have to —” Lizzie began.

“Oh, no we don’t have to do anything.” Madison said. “Unless you want to of course. But we can just sit and chat quietly.”

“Sorry you didn’t get one of the boys.”

“Ew! Seven minutes with them? That would be torture!”

“If you don’t like them then why play spin the bottle with them?”

Madison thought for a bit before answering, “Well… I mean it’s fun to play around and nothing’s wrong with an innocent kiss or two. Plus, it’s fun to see everyone get a little embarrassed. But that’s all, really,” Madison waved dismissively.

“Why didn’t you invite the others like Marco?” It wasn’t exactly a secret that the two of them were close.

“Nah, we already hang out too much as it is, and I wanted to hang out with some new people on this trip.” Lizzie frowned slightly. Was this why Madison had been so nice to her? Only because she was bored and wanted something new? “Oh, no I meant…” For once, Madison seemed at a loss of words.

“No, it’s okay,” Lizzie said after a pause. “I understand. Everyone likes to hang out with you. You’re like the coolest person in our grade.”

“Thanks.” Madison looked away. Was she being… shy? There was another moment of silence between the two before Madison finally spoke, “Since we’re stuck here for seven minutes, let’s have some girls’ talk. So, which of the three boys is the cutest?”

“I… I don’t know. They’re all okay.”

“C’mon if you had to pick one,” Madison said, nudging her.

Lizzie thought for a bit. The other two boys were more popular than Nathan. They were athletic, outgoing, and pretty popular. Nathan on the other hand seemed friendly, but was a bit shy. People always teased him for his height but Lizzie admired it.

“Nathan,” Lizzie finally admitted, flinching in anticipation of the ridicule.

“He usually keeps to himself, but he’s pretty cute,” Madison replied simply with a nod.

“Okay, your turn, come up with a question.”

At the mention, Lizzie suddenly remembered about the goodnites. This was the opportunity she’d been waiting the whole day.

Lizzie opened her mouth to speak, but saw Madison looking at her with a smile, still playing with her hair.

She froze. How could she ask? What if she was wrong? What if Madison got mad at her for invading her privacy?

Madison had been so friendly to her during this trip. Even if it was just because she wanted to meet someone new, Lizzie already felt closer to Madison than she felt to most of her other classmates. Did she really want to risk losing a potential friend?

“So, do you like Marco?” There was no rush. If she was a bedwetter, she would find out eventually. If they became friends, that is.

“Marco?” Madison said with a laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Everyone thinks that, don’t they? We are close, but we definitely aren’t a thing. We’re actually neighbors and I practically grew up at his house. He’s chill though, believe it or not he’s an amazing cook.”

“Really? The same Marco that spends half hour on his hair every morning?”

“You laugh, but he straight-up made me an Italian three-course meal for my birthday last year! The dude is a literal magician in the kitchen.”

“Wow…” Lizzie still couldn’t picture Marco flipping a pan.

“But don’t tell him I told you that, he would kill me if others knew.”

“Why not? That so cool.”

“I know right? I keep telling him that but you know, guys wanting to seem manly and shit. I keep telling him that’s so 2010s, but he won’t listen. Still, I don’t mind, he promised to let me try his risotto next week.”

As if on cue, Lizzie’s stomach grumbled. “Great, now I’m hungry.”

“Oh, I got just the thing,” Madison pulled out a granola bar from her hoodie and handed it to her. “The guys were passing them out, and I somehow ended up with like, five.” She held up the others to prove her point.

“So, are you enjoying the party?” Madison asked as Lizzie chewed.

“I guess… But I’m pretty tired. What time is it?” Lizzie asked.

“Almost midnight,” Madison said, checking her phone.

“Already? It’s way past my bedtime.”

“You have a bedtime?”

“You don’t?” Lizzie asked, surprised.

“I mean, I used to, but my parents basically let me do whatever. Not that they’re home most of the time anyway.”

“Wow, that sounds great, you can stay up all night. My mom watches me like a hawk.”

“I guess…” Madison didn’t sound sincere. “Wait, so have these last two nights been way past your usual bedtime?”

“Yeah, I’m usually in bed by… like ten thirty.”

“That’s pretty early.” Lizzie looked down, her bedtime was actually even earlier.

“But I guess that’s not too bad on school nights,” Madison quickly added. “Do you want to go back and sleep then?”

Lizzie nodded.

“Then let’s go after the seven minutes.”

“Oh, no, I can just go back myself, you can stay. The others probably want you to play still.”

“Nonsense. Besides, I’m feeling a little tired too. Ms. Taylor really knows how to work us.” It was a poor excuse, but Lizzie was secretly glad that she wouldn’t have to walk back alone in the dark.

The seven minutes soon came to an end, and Madison announced that she was going to head back, much to the others’ disappointment. Back at their cabin, Lizzie quickly changed and got ready for bed.

***

Lizzie was pleasantly surprised to find her goodnites dry the following morning. A fact that set her into a cheery mood as she hummed to herself, preparing for the day. The choir was heading back after lunch, so she began packing her things, careful to store her unused goodnites under a pile of other clothes before zipping up her luggage and setting it beside her bed. Packing her goodnites reminded her of her discovery from the day before, but Lizzie still couldn’t think about a way of asking that wouldn’t potentially alienate her new friend.

After breakfast, the choir had one final practice where they rehearsed some of their songs. There was obvious improvement, and Ms. Taylor was happy to point it out. She praised the group for their hard work before dismissing everyone for a bit of relaxing before lunch and the ride back.

A few of her classmates headed out by the lake, but Lizzie had already gone the day before and didn’t feel like going again in the chilly weather. Instead, she decided to spend the rest of her morning in her room. She unzipped her luggage, pulling out her trusty copy of My 60 Memorable Games, flipping to her bookmark, she began following the game along on her board.

“Oh hey, what’s up.” Madison’s voice caused Lizzie to jump. She scrambled to hide her pieces. The last thing she needed was for Madison to think of her a giga-nerd.

“Oh, no way, you play chess too?”

“Wait, you play chess?” Lizzie couldn’t hide her astonishment.

“Well, technically I used to. My parents made me take lessons when I was young. One of like twenty extracurriculars they tried to get me on. Anyway, did you want to play a quick game? Only if you weren’t busy of course.”

“Sure.” Lizzie said, still not quite over the fact that the Madison played chess.

Lizzie setup the pieces, perhaps Madison was only trying to be friendly and only knew the basic rules like Charlotte and the others. Not wanting to get ahead of herself, she decided to give Madison a little test. “What time format?” She asked.

“We don’t have that much time, maybe rapid? Fifteen plus ten?” She replied.

“Uh, sure,” Lizzie replied, still a little shocked. She pulled out her phone, setting the timer on her app.

The two set up the board with Madison as the white pieces. Madison opened with a London, a simple, yet strong opening for beginners. In fact, it was an opening Lizzie played as well. To her surprise, she played quickly and without obvious blunders, and Lizzie found herself unable to get a strong advantage.

“Wow,” Lizzie said, realizing she’d lost a pawn.

“What, do I not look like the type that can play chess?”

“No… It’s just…”

“I’m pulling your leg, silly. I definitely don’t seem like the type, but it’s actually pretty fun you know? I just never have the chance to play anymore.”

Lizzie looked at the girl across the table. Madison was doing her usual hair twirling, eyes glued the board. Just how many other surprises did this girl have? Lizzie turned back to the board. She needed to focus if she wanted to win.

Despite the strong opening, Lizzie eventually found a few weaknesses in Madison’s mid game. Where Madison miscalculated a complex, tactical position, allowing Lizzie to win an exchange. With that advantage, Lizzie was able to trade down and close out the end game with her advantage.

“Aw, I resign” Madison said, knocking over her king. “Good game though!” She held out her hand.

“Good game,” Lizzie replied, shaking it with a smile.

“Before we go, can we take a few selfies for my Ins?” Madison asked, pulling out a selfie stick.

“Are you sure you want a chess picture?”

“Eh, maybe you’re right. How about a picture of the room?”

“Let’s do it by the windowsill.”

“Oh, and let’s do it with the suitcases.”

Lizzie nodded, pulling her suitcase over, not realizing she’d left it unzipped from earlier. As she swung it up, the contents spilled all over the floor.

“Let me help,” Madison kneeled immediately to help pick things up.

“Wai —“ Lizzie said, but it was too late. Madison picked up a sweater, revealing Lizzie’s goodnites in a plastic bag. Lizzie snatched it up and stuffed it into the bag, but Madison had definitely seen it.

It was over, her life was ruined. Madison was going to think she was a baby, and soon the whole school would know her secret. Lizzie closed her eyes, waiting for the ridicule to start.

“No way, you use goodnites too?” Madison asked.

When Lizzie didn’t reply, Madison pulled down her leggings slightly to reveal a pink goodnite underneath. Lizzie looked at her, jaw dropped. It took her a moment to remember her discovery from the day prior.

“You use goodnites for your periods too?” Madison continued. “They’re so much better than tampons, right?”

“I…” Lizzie was confused. “Yeah?”

“All this time I thought I was the only one.”

“How…? When…? Why…?” Lizzie could barely formulate the words.

“It’s a long story. But a few years ago, my family and I were out camping when my period suddenly came. Unfortunately, none of us had brought pads and tampons. I could only find kleenex but I kept bleeding through them within minutes.

“That’s when my little sister joked that if I kept peeing then I should just use her goodnites. By that point, I was desparate, so I tried them. They barely fit me but they worked surprising well for the bleeding. So well in fact that I ended up buying a box of them just for myself, a larger size of course, and I’ve used them ever since. How did you start?”

“I uhh… my mom’s uhh… friend’s uhh… daughter… mentioned it before, and I tried it, and like you said, they worked well so I kept using them.” Lizzie barely managed to string together a coherent sentence.

“Yeah, I was surprised. Back when I used pads, I had to change them every few hours and would sometimes leak overnight, but the goodnites can last a—” Madison stopped, looking up at Lizzie. “Sorry. TMI.” She ran her hand through her hair, looking away.

“Oh,” Lizzie said, having finally collected herself somewhat. “No, I was just a bit surprised is all. Do you mind keeping this a secret though? I think others mind find it odd.”

“Oh yeah, of course. Even my sister teases me about it sometimes.” Madison stuck her tongue out.

“Anyway, should we take that selfie?”

“Yes!” Madison looked a bit relieved that the conversation was over. Lizzie eyed her. By her reaction, Madison was undoubtedly telling the truth. The question was, did Madison really assume Lizzie also wore them for her period? Either way, Madison hadn’t mocked her, and she didn’t seem like the malicious type.

She zipped up her suitcase and the two took several dozen selfies all over the room. Even a few with the chessboard which Madison promised would just be for the two of them. The two also exchanged socials before getting ready to leave.

The busses arrived in the afternoon. Exhausted by the last few days, Lizzie eagerly climbed onto the bus. She took her usual spot by the front and began pulling out her earbuds.

“Mind if I sit here?”

Lizzie looked up to see Madison looking at her with a smile. While they had been having a nice chat, part of her had assumed Madison had only hung out with her since they were roomed together.

“If it’s taken…”

“Oh, no of course not,” Lizzie blurted. She shuffled her bag onto the floor, putting her earbuds away as Madison took the seat. “I just honestly thought you’d want to sit with some of the cooler kids.”

“What? Lizzie you’re super cool.”

“What type of super cool person plays chess as a hobby?”

“Okay, super cool and smart? Stop bragging now,” Madison said. “Speaking of which, how did you get so good at chess?”

Lizzie explained the story about her grandpa.

“Are you on the chess club?”

“We don’t actually have a chess club.” Lizzie explained that the club had disbanded two years prior when the sponsor teacher had retired.

“I’m sure you could find another sponsor. There’s definitely people out there who would at least give chess a try. You mentioned you played in a chess tournament before, right? Do you still play in tournaments?”

“Not really, that was a onetime thing. I just play online sometimes. Tournaments are too much pressure,” Lizzie said, shuddering a little as she thought back to her one tournament experience.

“That sucks. It’s been a while, but you seemed better than a lot of the people in my classes back then, and I heard that some of them went on to win some tournaments.”

The two had a blast chatting the rest of the way back. Before Lizzie knew it, they had returned to the school, much to her disappointment.

“I’m really glad we got to room together, I had a lot of fun, we should definitely hang out more,” Madison said with a smile.

“Me too, and for sure!” Lizzie smiled back.

“Speaking of which, are you free on the twenty-third? I’m having a party at my place for Christmas.”

“Yeah!” Lizzie said. “Oh wait… Actually, I don’t think I can. My family always has a get-together around Christmas so I’ll be out of state.”

“That’s too bad, don’t worry though there’s plenty of parties, maybe a sleepover after the new year? Anywhos, are you taking the bus?”

“My parents are coming to pick me up, I think they’ll be here soon.”

“Lucky. Imma head off then, see ya Monday,” Madison waved, heading off to the bus stop.

Lizzie’s parents soon arrived. On the way back, her mom gave her a hard time about not checking in with her every night, but thankfully, her dad helped wave it off. Lizzie talked all about the trip, conveniently leaving out how late she had stayed up of course.

“You should’ve seen the lake too, it was beautiful. I have some pictures.” Lizzie looked around for her phone, before realizing must’ve left it in her backpack.

She stretched over the seat, her bag was a few inches out of reach. Unbuckling her seatbelt, she turned around and stretched over the seat, her fingertips grasping at the handle.

All of a sudden, Lizzie lurched backwards, crashing into the back of the passenger seat as their car squealed to a stop.

“Ow…” Lizzie groaned.

“Lizzie!” Her mom called. “Are you okay? What happened?” Her dad pulled over, and both parents hopped to the backseat.

“I’m okay.” Lizzie felt around, her shoulder, which had rammed into the seat first, was a bit tender, but she was fine. “I was just getting my phone, why did we suddenly stop?”

“A truck ran a stop sign. Your father had to stop or we would’ve gotten into an accident.”

“I’m glad you’re alright sweetie.” Her parents gave her a hug.

“But Lizzie, you really need to stop taking off your seatbelt while the car is moving.”

“Yes mom.” Lizzie rolled her eyes.

“Lizzie, your mom and I are very serious. What if you’d swung through the middle and hit your head on the hard dashboard rather than the soft seating? You could’ve gotten very hurt. This also isn’t the first time we’ve talked about this.”

“Okay, I promise I won’t again.” Lizzie frowned. Even her father was getting on her case.

“We’ll hold you to it,” Jennifer replied. “Otherwise, I might just have to ask Lucas for his old car seat. I seem to recall that did a pretty good job keeping you seated nicely on the last trip.”

“Mom!”

“Your mother is joking of course. But we do expect more responsible behavior out of you moving forward. You are almost fourteen after all.” Thankfully, the discussion ended there, and Lizzie spent the remainder of the car ride and much of the evening talking about the rest of her trip.

That night on her bed, Lizzie wrote about her trip. Things had gone very different from what she’d expected. Turns out, Madison was a lot more relatable than she seemed, and a lot quirkier too. The fact that Madison knew about her goodnites did worry Lizzie a bit, but it seemed that her secret was safe for the time being. Lizzie genuinely enjoyed hanging out with Madison. She only wondered if they would actually continue hanging out once they were back in school.

---

Hope you enjoyed chapter 8, and the end of this mini-arc! What did you think about Madison? Was she what you expected? As always, let me know your comments and criticisms below! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

I've actually started writing chapter 9. But it's a longer one, and with my work schedule I have doubts of whether or not I'll be able to finish by the end of the month. That being said I'll keep you all posted.