Sunny Days (closed)

While Madison changed, Owen managed to throw away any trash that was sitting on the couches and straighten the pillows. He had calmed down a little, coming to terms with the idea of having a girl in the dorm who was changing into his clothes. It was a normal thing. He was just helping her out as a friend, that was all.

The door opened and he looked up. His eyes widened, and his heart skipped a beat. He really didn't understand why he was feeling this way. He'd barely spent any time with Madison in the past month, but suddenly, he was seeing a different side of her, and he was enjoying it.
"Uh, you can make yourself comfortable," he told her, gesturing to the couches. Pointing at the remote, he added, "You can start something on the TV if you want while I change." Hastily, he brushed past her and into his bedroom, closing the door carefully behind him.

Before she could answer, he'd brushed past her, shutting the door. That was weird. Finally moving, and thankful to be at least somewhat dry, the girl sat delicately on a couch. She put her feet up, then immediately put them down. That was rude, wasn't it? Madison sat straight, instead,  and timidly opened her laptop. She immediately was greeted by the familiar jingle of a Skype call notification as soon as it booted up. It was her mother. Below the icon of the familiarly unfamiliar face were the green stamps of Missed Call, Missed Call, Missed Call. Her mouse hovered over the disconnect button. Her mother would know she ignored her that way. Perhaps she'd let it ring.

In his bedroom, Owen was having a small dilemma. He had given Madison his last pair of clean, dry underwear, for tomorrow was his laundry day and he hadn't expected to get soaked today. Groaning inwardly, he tugged off his shoes and socks, both items soaked thoroughly, and slipped his jeans off. They were mostly wet wherever his legs had touched them: the cuffs, the knees, and the top near his hips. Unfortunately, that meant the waistband of his boxers were wet as well, though not as wet as his socks.

He finally decided there was no way out of it. He kept the boxers on and pulled on his still somewhat clean uniform pants. Tugging his shirt off over his head, Owen crossed to the dresser, reaching into his shirt drawer and finding a long-sleeved tee. His skin was still damp, making it a struggle to get the sleeves up, but he finally managed it, and he returned to the shared space.

Madison had opened her laptop, and was looking at Skype. It appeared that a call was coming in for her. Clearing his throat, Owen moved around the front of the couch, sitting beside her.
"Are you going to answer that?" he asked.

He frightened her, to the point where she shut the laptop in alarm, loudly, like a thunderclap. She tried to play it off with a soft, "Haha, you scared me a little," an awkward downwards smile to go with the under-exaggeration. She opened the computer again, and was met with an extra Missed Call on the list. She winced, seeing the bright green online symbol beside her mom's picture. Oh well.

"Not really, I, uh...," she closed out of the window, hoping he didn't notice the contact's name was 'Mom.' "It's a spambot, or, a bad friend, or a spammy bad friend, I suppose." She coughed with no need to, crossing her feet uncomfortably, and opened up the Beata webpage. "I'm going to message them about me being locked out..."

For the first time in the past thirty minutes, Owen didn't find himself smiling. His brow creased in confusion at her reaction, as well as her odd explanation of what had happened. It seemed a tad suspicious, but he figured it wasn't his business, and he chose not to press her anymore. However, he stored the information in his mind. Maybe he could find an opening to question her later.

"How long until your dormmates get back?" he asked, sitting back on the couch and kicking his feet up on the table. He was becoming more comfortable, seated in a familiar environment. He wondered if she would be here all day, or if it would only be a few more minutes. Owen suddenly realized he didn't know much about Madison's interests and hobbies, and he wasn't sure if he could keep her entertained for much longer.

"I don't know," Madison murmured. Truth be told, she didn't even know the names of her roommates. She hadn't ever said one word to any of them. "I don't talk to them...a lot--erm, at all, and they, they're gone a lot, I--" Before she could say anymore, the Skype call pop-up intruded on her browser, as she just sent a complaint to open a locked door. Dammit. Why couldn't she leave her alone?

Owen watched her screen idly, his eyes unfocused, as she typed the message and sent it to the office for review. He was about to say something when a new call was coming in. Bewildered, he leaned forward a few inches to see the screen better, giving barely any thought for Madison's privacy.

"Is that the same person?" he asked, the name very similar to what he thought the last one was. "They must really want to get a hold of you." His tone was joking and light.

Madison leaned backwards in response to his leaning forward, swallowing a little. She decided not to lie, because she was tired of lying. It wasn't a big deal. "It's my mom," Madison said silently, hovering over the End Call button as she always did. But, a sudden lightning strike crackled outside the window, a loud boom over a silent room. She flinched, and clicked her mouse in instinct. She had also happened to move her mouse. She had also happened to move her mouse over the Answer button.

Her mother's angry face popped up.
"There you are! What have you been doing, avoiding my calls like that!? Do you hate me? And why do I sense demons on you, you look like you've been with demons, Madison, I can sense those things you know!"

Madison's face was pale with devastation. She struggled to answer the barrage of comments her mother spewed as soon as the call started, but all that came out were mumbles and murmurs, absolute nothingness. Her hands shook at her keyboard as she went. "S-sorry, I..."

"Your mom..?" He had barely started asking a question when the thunder clapped. Owen glanced at the window. His attention was dragged back to the laptop and Madison by a voice.

Listening to the lady on the other side talking, Owen was taken aback and momentarily frozen, her rapid-fire commentary and questions hardly allowing time for a response until she finally stopped, waiting for a response from Madison. Eyes wide, he looked at Madison. She appeared to be struggling with a response, clearly also taken aback by this intense barrage.

"Uh, sorry to butt in here," Owen said suddenly, turning the laptop slightly so that he was in the frame as well. He gave a small wave and flashed a brief smile at the woman. "Madison's a little busy right now, we were just, uh, studying for class and stuff. She'll call you back later. Have a good day, ma'am!" With a quick flick of his wrist, he had ended the call. For extra security, he changed Madison's status to Offline to avoid any more unwarranted calls.

His heart was beating somewhat wildly. He had never done that before, and he had never imagined doing it to someone he didn't even know. He desperately hoped he hadn't made Madison mad.

Well that was...unexpected. Owen ended her call, and Madison didn't know what to think. She was relieved to have the call finished, but knew her mother would ask her about him. Studying with a boy. She remembered the last Skype call she had with her mother, where she asked her if she had a boyfriend.

That was the days she met Nicola. Damn, that was a while ago.

Despite her surprise from Owen's action, she gave him a smile. The most upwards smile of the night. Her eyes still wouldn't quite meet his face, flicking to it for a second only to refocus on the wall behind him. Still, though, it seemed genuine. "Thank you. She's..." She never finished that sentence. It was a little complicated to explain her mother, so rather than with words, she ended it with a nod.

There was suddenly a knock at the door. She had been expecting a knock. Was it the dormitory people? She didn't want to answer someone else's door, so she just looked at him expectantly.

Owen shrugged, understanding written on his face. His best friend at home had parent troubles, the father one who was controlling and wanted to know what he was up to at all times of the day, and Owen had often been his cover story, helping him out of sticky situations when necessary. Of course, it had been a while, and this wasn't the smoothest he had been, but it had worked.

The knock at the door surprised him. He expected his dormmates to have keys to the room. Then again, Madison had been locked out of her dorm because she had forgotten a key.
"I'll get that," he said, standing up. He crossed to the door and pulled it open.

A young, disgruntled looking man stood there, a clipboard held tight to his chest with one arm. The moment the door opened, he held up a key.
"I brought this for a young lady that got locked out." The man's tone made it clear that he was rather unimpressed with someone who managed to let that happen to themselves. "Is she here?"

"Oh, yeah, she's in here. She's busy, I'm just going to take that for her." Owen reached out for the key. For a split second, he thought the man wouldn't hand it over, and they stared at each other. Finally, he closed the last couple inches and gave the key to Owen.

"Tell her to not let it happen again." With that, the men turned on his heel and stalked down the hall, away from Owen's dorm. As Owen closed the door to return to Madison, he pulled a face and mimicked the guy without real words, the sounds coming out as more of a meh-meh-meh-meh-meh.

Returning to Madison, Owen held out the key to her.
"I guess you don't have to suffer through several more hours with me after all," he said, smiling down at her.

Madison brightened when she saw the shiny key in the man's hand, the pass to Owen as she peeked over the couch at the door. But something about what he said made her feel guilty for some reason, and she said, "I can stay if you want. Unless you don't want me here, um, I guess I should go." Of course he didn't want her there, it had been awkward as hell. Her laptop was almost dead too, there wasn't much she could do on there. She stood up, stretching with an involuntary squeak, stopping immediately when she did so, and put her palm out for the key.

"Oh, you don't have to stay," Owen said, shaking his head. He pressed the key into her palm, pausing for a second. The entirety of his time spent with her that day flashed through his mind, and his smile became wider and more genuine. He finally let go of the key and stepped back a little. "You know, you're going to have to bring my clothes back at some point, though. So you can't avoid me anymore." He grinned, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Anyway, don't be a stranger," he said, returning to the door he had closed moments before. He opened it for Madison.

When he mentioned his clothes, she squirmed a little, suddenly very aware she was wearing them. She crossed her arms over her laptop upon taking the key, and nodded. "I'll bring them back, I wouldn't keep them or anything...um...thank you." She accepted his chivalry with a smile, and walked down the hall swiftly, self-conscious of being in boys' clothes and barefoot. Unlocking the door as quickly as she could, she practically sprinted in, shutting it behind her and leaning against it. She breathed deeply, turning on the light before the hallucinations even noticed her, and made her way further in.