Chapter Text
Chicago was off the table.
The three friends had come to that consensus easily. Simon had blown his interview with Northwestern, and Maddie wouldn't go without him anyway, even if she did think she had a chance. Nicole not getting into those other schools turned out to be a blessing in disguise. So, they decided to set their sights elsewhere.
"I'll never forgive you two for convincing me to move to fucking Rhode Island," Maddie grumbled, leaning against the window of Simon's car. She had not pictured this tiny ass state when thinking about her college years. Providence was a far cry from the bustling city of Chicago. Still, Rhode Island School of Design- RISD- was the only school to offer sizable scholarships to the three of them.
Simon smirked from the driver's seat. "What, you don't like clam chowder?" he teased her.
She stuck her tongue out at him, the corners of her mouth turning up. It wasn't like she could complain; Providence was no New York or LA, but it wasn't nearly the shit hole that Split River was. Besides, RISD was a good school, a great school really. They were fortunate that all three of them got in.
Maddie glanced in the backseat where Nicole was slumbering away. "I'm glad she's with us," she said, smiling. "Being here without her would have felt... wrong."
"I can't believe she got her housing paid," scoffed Simon. After altering her portfolio, Nicole had impressed the RISD scouts so much that they'd given her a full ride. "Meanwhile, we're stuck job hunting."
She snickered. "How much you wanna bet our apartment's rat-infested?"
He grimaced. "Don't even joke," he warned. "Do you know how long it took to convince my mom to let me to move here? If she finds so much as a mouse dropping, she'll probably drag me back by my ear."
Maddie laughed, nudging his arm. "Never knew Providence was worse than Chicago," she teased. Simon's mom was a worrier, always had been. She had always been secretly envious of that; she would have killed for a mother who doted on her.
Not that Sandra hadn't been really trying lately. Maddie had been surprised at the progress she had been making: going to her AA meetings, getting rid of all the alcohol in the house, and she had even gotten some of her college fund back. Not all of it, but two thirds of it had been recoverable. Of course, Maddie was worried none of that would continue now that she was gone, but she was hopeful.
"Looks like we're here," announced Simon, turning backwards. "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty."
Nicole rubbed her eyes. "Oh God, I'm not ready," she stressed, yawning. "What if my roommate's, like, a psycho?"
"You get her before she gets you," Maddie advised. "Or, y'know, just come over to our place. Besides, what if she's nice? I thought a lot of people were psychos too, and they weren't."
Nicole raised an eyebrow. "Are you still trying to push that ghost story?" she asked critically. "It was funny, like, four months ago, now it's old. I'm not that gullible."
Simon and Maddie shared a look; they had tried to tell Nicole the whole story after she had taken her body back from Janet. But she hadn't believed them, convinced they were pulling an elaborate prank. She was convinced of what they told everyone else; that she had hit her head in the boiler room and was given temporary amnesia, wandering around until Simon had found her.
It took a good three hours to find Nicole's dorm, load her stuff in, and help her unpack. With some prodding from Maddie, she reluctantly stayed with her roommate instead of hiding away in their apartment.
"You were pretty stern with her," remarked Simon as they clambered back into his car.
"She can't hide from her roommate forever," she told him, mouth set into a firm line. "She should get along with the girl she's gonna live with." Which was true, Maddie wanted her living situation to go smoothly. But more importantly, she wanted Nicole to have friends outside of them. People grew apart in college, she didn't want Nicole to end up feeling alone or isolated in case that happened to them.
She wanted to believe it wouldn't, but life sucked sometimes. All the time.
Their apartment was a good half hour away from the school. They had moved most of their stuff in during the summer, the same day they went to orientation. They hadn't gotten a chance to decorate, though.
Once they got through the door, Maddie and Simon simultaneously collapsed on the couch. "That sixteen-hour drive never gets easier," the latter noted.
She nodded in agreement. "Movie night?" she proposed.
Simon grinned. "I'll make the popcorn," he offered, walking into the kitchen.
"I'll pick the movie," Maddie called after him, quickly grabbing the remote. "I'm putting on the Carrie reboot so you can learn to appreciate a good film."
"If you put that on, I'm throwing the remote out the window," Simon threatened. She cackled, going with another choice she knew would annoy him. He gave her a dry look when he reentered the living room. "Coraline? Really?"
"It's a classic," Maddie defended. Coraline was the movie that got her into horror. She'd seen it when she was five; it had been scary- terrifying, really- but no scarier than her mother's episodes. It had been an escape, a reminder that bad mothers existed everywhere. And if Coraline could make it out, maybe she could too.
"It's a kids' movie," Simon retorted. But he still sat next to her on the couch, rolling his eyes when she stole the popcorn bowl from him. Maddie smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder.
And for a minute, she put all the shit she had been through in the back of her mind. This was her life, hers. It was time to start living it.