Chapter 14
THEN: MAGGIE
Maggie was grateful that Diana hadn’t asked about that night, because it meant that Diana was respecting her privacy.
The thing was, that while she was grateful, she found herself wanting to tell Diana.
Maybe not everything. Not about her trailer, and her controlling mother.
But maybe about how she hated Friday nights because it meant her father’s friends were going to come over, and how the older she got the more aggressive Jeffrey, a man she only knew by one name, got towards her.
How on that night, two weeks ago, her mother had picked up another shift at work and was not home.
How Jeffrey had managed to break into her room.
How he’d started going through her room until he found her under her bed.
How his breath had felt on her ear as he threw her down on her bed.
How his hands had roamed her body as his weight pinned her down.
The sickening feeling of him against her.
How she’d screamed and bitten his hand when he tried to cover her mouth.
How her father had smacked her across the face for “being a little cock tease slut.” How her mother had followed up with a slap later that night for the same thing.
“If you’re going to whore yourself out Margaret, do it with a boy you meet at the Blake’s.
Hell, get knocked up and then we’ll be set for life,” she had said.
How all of this had occurred with Jeffrey still in her home and her parents expecting her to just go to sleep like nothing had ever happened. Like he wouldn’t try again.
The more time she spent with Diana, the more her mother doubled down on that talk track. It came up again the following Sunday night.
“Like I said, a nice boy you could meet with that Blake girl,” her mom had said, as if genuinely thinking Maggie had listened and was proud of her for doing so.
“Maggie?”
Maggie’s attention snapped to the pensive women in front of her. Mary McAvoy was studying her with an expression that revealed that Maggie’s drifting mind had been noticed; Emmy just seemed confused.
“Ah sorry, my mind was just, uh, wandering,” Maggie said weakly. They had just wrapped practice in preparation for the upcoming Halloween game. Emmy wanted them to do a routine to something by a new boyband or something.
“Yeah totally, like, def was wandering or whatever,” Emmy said, smiling at Mary, and then pausing to study her friend’s face. Emmy looked back at Maggie as if seeing something for the first time. “Oh my god, spill, you have a crush.”
Maggie felt her face flush and Emmy smiled in triumph.
This news seemed to click into place for Mary, and her expression turned to one of great curiosity.
“No crush,” Maggie started, but it was too late. She was amongst two sharks and there was now blood in the water. She was going to have to give them something, someone. She searched her brain for a name of someone believable. “I just think that Brandon guy is cute, is all,” she said finally.
“Oh you mean Brendon?”
Maggie felt her face grow even hotter, she thought she had gotten the name wrong, now she would have to try to convince them even—“You totally have a crush, it’s about time Maggie!
Mary and I were starting to wonder if there was anything normal in that head of yours.
” Emmy turned her head and laughed. Mary looked delighted.
Maggie silently thanked her lucky stars.
She then looked at these two friends of hers like she was seeing them for the first time.
Or maybe she wasn’t. Maybe she just realized that one of her father’s friends had nearly assaulted her, her parents had punished her for it, and the only place she wanted to be right now, the only place she felt safe, was whatever space she and Diana had built for themselves.
Well themselves and Sam, but they were almost done with the demon doll and would need to prep for their final presentation.
“Yeah,” Maggie heard herself agreeing to something but really knowing what, Mary and Emmy’s chatter having faded to the background while her mind slipped back to the smell of apples and navy blue eyes.
“Okay, so it’ll be a date, after the game, you can come with me and we’ll go!”
“What?” Maggie said, suddenly alarmed.
“You just agreed, you can’t back out now,” Mary said, her voice cool and calculating as always.
“I just didn’t hear all the details,” Maggie lied.
“I mean you’ll come out with me and David, and,” she waggled eyebrows as if making a big reveal, “Brendan Miller!” Emmy finally said.
“And Mary?” Maggie turned to the other cheerleader.
“I have a date after the game,” Mary said proudly, and Emmy also looked proud.
“Imagine if we all have boyfriends by the end of the year!” Emmy squealed. “Maggie, you headed to the Blake’s?”
“Yeah, I mean how did you—”
“You go like every Friday,” Mary answered.
“Well we have our health project and—”
“How’s that going though, I mean, the friendship, not the project, ew, this project is bogus.”
Maggie opened her mouth and then closed it.
The truth was, the friendship was going extremely well, but not in a way that Emmy and Mary would understand.
They’d wanted her to get to know Diana and figure out a way to get in her good graces.
Maggie was pretty sure she had done that, but now that she had, now that she understood what kind of grace Diana could dole out, she didn’t want to give it away to anyone. Ever.
“Are you going to miss our little Sammy?” Diana said from where she sat on her bed.
Maggie looked up at her and gave her a look. “Our demon baby?”
Diana let out that laugh that set Maggie’s soul on fire. “Wow, demon baby, don’t let Sam hear that!” She turned to the lifeless blonde doll and cooed, “Don’t worry Sammy, I have loved you this whole time.”
Maggie laughed and shook her head, spreading herself out even further on Diana’s floor.
The rug she was on was nicer than her bed at home.
The movement had pulled the t-shirt she was wearing up a bit exposing her midriff, and she went to pull her shirt down but not before catching Diana’s eyes on her exposed skin.
“So we should probably prepare for the presentation and what not,” Maggie said hurriedly, and then to break through the blush she could feel creeping up her cheeks she said jokingly, “and you should probably prepare yourself for giving Sam back.”
Diana let out a little huff, and Maggie could swear she saw a slight blush on her face as well. “Yeah, well, why don’t you like Sammy? They’re our baby.”
“They’re a creepy doll.”
“But they’re ours! They’re all we have,” Diana said, and Maggie saw her dramatic expression give way to the same realization Maggie was experiencing: was the doll all they had? No, they had started to build something more.
“Yeah well, I guess once we are done, Fridays—”
“You can still stay here, I,” Diana let out another one of her huffs of air, “I didn’t mean Sam is all we have, okay?
We are friends, despite you being a cheerleader and hanging out with the cheer girls, or whatever.
You actually seem pretty cool.” Diana said that last part like it cost her something.
And maybe it did because Maggie felt like she’d gained something.
“Yeah well, you’re pretty cool too. Even with your, uh, sad music,” Maggie said, smiling back.
“Sad music?”
“Oh god I know.” Maggie turned to see Julia entering the room.
Maggie liked Julia a lot. She was spunky and brave in ways that Maggie never could be.
Much like Diana, but way warmer and nicer.
She didn’t have Diana’s edge. While Diana had the whole angry grunge, Drew Barrymore thing going on, Julia was like if Baby Spice and Sporty Spice had a baby.
Which was fitting, because she was currently obsessed with the Spice Girls.
Maggie also had noticed that Julia only had female celebrities hung up on her walls.
She even had the words dream girl on a picture of Scary Spice, which apparently alarmed her mother but “not for the reasons it should,” as Julia liked to say.
“Hey Jules, wanna help us send off our baby Sam?” Diana said, sitting up a little straighter on the bed as if making room.
“You mean Sammy has to go back to the dollhouse?” Julia said, taking a seat on Diana’s bed.
“They are our baby!” mock-exclaimed Diana, and Maggie shook her head.
“At least you recognize it’s a doll,” Maggie said.
“Sorry Maggie, it’s just hard for my sister to say goodbye, she's secretly a sensitive soul.” Something passed between the two sisters before Diana stuck out her tongue playfully at Julia.
“And no I can’t stay, but wanted to say hi on my way to my room, gotta study for a pop quiz in math tomorrow,” Julia said, standing and leaving the room as quickly as she’d entered.
“If it’s a pop quiz, how do you know you have one tomorrow?
” Diana called after her. Unless her sister had gotten insider information, the usual Julia way.
“So I guess, she and Gretchen Maddison are getting busy these days,” Diana mumbled, and then clamped her mouth shut, seemingly realizing she’d said that out loud.
“What do you mean?” Maggie pressed.
“Nothing, just that uh, she and Ms. Maddison’s daughter are close,” Diana said quickly. “Anyway, shall we?”
Once they had put together a few slides in PowerPoint on Diana’s computer—Maggie still couldn’t get over that she had one in her room—Diana insisted on stopping for pizza and left to go ask what Julia wanted.
Maggie moved away from the desk and stretched. Looking over at the bed, she saw Sam there with that vacant doll expression and felt a shiver run through her.