Changing in the Bathroom

Madison Ashford’s mornings were always about control. From the moment her alarm clock buzzed, her routine was a symphony of precision: a perfectly steamed latte, a carefully curated outfit, and a carefully executed walk to school that announced her presence without a word. Madison wasn’t just a girl at South Point High—she was the girl. The one everyone watched, even if they pretended not to.

But something was off. She couldn’t put her finger on it.

It wasn’t the coffee spill, though that had been annoying. Her outburst outside had only been to reinforce her position at the school, remind people that she wasn't to be trifled with. Madison was in control, and nobody should mess with her. As she entered the bathroom to wash her coffee scented hand, she thought about that stumble-prone loser, Joey Granger. An insignificant hiccup in an otherwise smooth day.

Or at least, that’s what she kept telling herself.

Staring at her reflection in the mirror, something bubbled under the surface of her thoughts as the water bubbled down the drain.

"You’d be lucky to have a guy like me."

How dare he? And in front of all those people, too! That jerk had some nerve, speaking to her like that, acting as if his opinion mattered. Madison's whole image was based on being in control, her psychological make-up was one of self-reliance. She didn't need a man in her life. Yes, she'd dated, but those were distractions, extracurricular activities, games, really. Each one of the boys she'd gone out with hadn't lasted long, being shown the door once she got bored. They were lucky to have spend time with her, not the other way around.

And Joey Granger? He wasn't even worth Madison's time to consider.

Still...

Something about Joey Granger was different from the boys she'd attracted in the past. She'd never noticed it before, but Joey Granger didn't pay attention to her. He didn't watch her like the rest of the school. Why was that? Did he know something she didn't know?

Not that Madison had put a lot of effort into garnering his attention, but that hadn't stopped the other nobodies in the school from staring at her as she passed them in the hallways. Maybe it was chance that he never looked her way. Maybe Madison wasn't lucky enough to have his eyes on her.

That was it. Luck. Madison wasn't lucky. She depressed the soap dispenser onto her soiled hand and began to wash the spilled coffee off of it, satisfied that she had come to a conclusion. Madison didn't have the luck to have Joey Granger notice her.

No, that was close, but it wasn't quite it. There was more. Joey shouldn't just watch her, he should want her! If suddenly things changed, if Madison suddenly had Joey's attention, if he suddenly noticed and wanted her, Madison would be lucky!

She'd be lucky to have a guy like him!

"A guy like me would be the best possible thing for a girl like you."

The next thought slapped her across the face, chasing away any feeling of celebration she had from her previous revelation. Best possible thing?

As if.

It was one thing to realize how lucky she'd be to have a guy like Joey Granger, but the best possible thing? That was a bit of a stretch. There were so many things that would be better than ending up with him.

Madison had drive, she had ambition, she knew who she was and what she wanted. She had worked hard to achieve the GPA that she currently held. She had and acceptance letter to the best university in the state. She would have a successful career, and once she was ready, financially successful and set up, she would decide whether she wanted to settle down with a man and have a family.

She turned off the water and shook her hands into the sink, smiling. Madison's life was all planned out. She was in control of her destiny.

Well, almost. There was an element of luck involved. Maybe she'd end up with a bad professor who messed with her grades, keeping her from her dreams. Or maybe she'd be passed over in her career aspirations. Or maybe, when she finally decided to get married, she'd be old, wrinkled, bitter, and too late.

Madison would be alone.

She squeezed her eyes shut, her wet hands holding onto the edge of the sink in front of her. The words of her mother rang in her memory. "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." What was that supposed to mean? Her thoughts flitted to Joey Granger, the boy she'd be lucky to have. Maybe if she tried a bit harder with him he'd start to notice her, if she was lucky. Joey was, after all, right here at the school. Her dreams were far away, so ethereal. Perhaps it was better to try for dreams that were more realistic, more achievable.

Joey Granger was achievable.

No, that's ridiculous. Give up her future for a boy like Joey?

At the same time, Madison wracked her brain trying to find a reason that it was a bad idea and came up with nothing. Joey was, after all, quite cute, in a skinny, scruffy, kind of dorky way. More than cute. He was hot. He was the kind of boy that Madison would be lucky to be with. And to top it all off, she was really starting to think that pursuing him would be good for her. A girl like her needed to have someone in her life, someone who could ground her, someone who she could love, someone who was a sure thing.

Yes, that was what she needed.

A sure thing.

Madison needed to make sure that Joey Granger liked her, loved her, so that her future would be secure. It was, he was, the best possible thing for a girl like Madison.

"You're just too dumb to have figured it out on your own."

As soon as she had come to realize the truth of what Joey had spoken, the third statement rose to the forefront like a knife in her back. Yes, she knew she'd be lucky to be with him, yes she knew that he would be the best thing for her, but did he have to be so rude, so mean?

And of course, so wrong.

Madison, according to her report cards, was brilliant. She was the top of her class! Valedictorian! Her teachers sang her praises during parent teacher meetings, and she'd had her pick of universities for when she graduated. She was not dumb.

And yet she had spend her entire life at public school not only ignoring Joey Granger, but not realizing what a pivotal role he would and should play in her life. Joey wasn't just a guy to end up with, Joey was her future, her ambition, her goals. Without Joey, she'd be settling for something less than the best, and Madison was the kind of girl who always went for the best.

How could she have not noticed for so long? How had it slipped by her? It was, now that she'd realized it, the most obvious thing in the world. Nothing anyone could tell her could possibly convince her otherwise. Not only would Madison be lucky to be with Joey, but he was the best possible thing for Madison. To believe otherwise would be like thinking that gravity wasn't real, or that the world was flat. Only an idiot would think otherwise.

An idiot.

She had thought otherwise for her entire life!

Like being punched in the stomach, Madison doubled over in the realization. She had been too dumb to see it before, to figure it out. Only Joey, her destiny, had figured it out. He'd figured it out for her. Maybe that was why she needed him so badly. Madison had thought she was smart, but she was dumb. Far too dumb. She needed Joey Granger in her life to help her figure things out. She was far too dumb to do it on her own.

Joey wasn't just some guy at South Point High - he was the guy.

Madison Ashford straightened, a new woman, with new purpose and new understanding, and crossed to the paper towels. She had work to do. All of her goals would have to realign, all of her efforts would have to be retooled. The most important thing to do was to get Joey Granger in her life. She needed him, desperately. While she was sure that she was too dumb to figure out what her future would like without him, she was at least smart enough to know, now that he'd pointed it out to her, that the first step was to get herself into his life, then see where it would take her.