on guard

CHARLOTTE

Madeline wasn’t home… again.

My fingers flew over the screen of my phone idly. The sun was barely out, the scent of coffee brewing hung in the air, and the house was silent. These were moments of the day I usually enjoyed, but lately, with Madeline’s new schedule of sneaking out in the early hours and returning late at night, I found myself unable to relax.

I considered texting her, but I knew there was no point. She was always incredibly vague about where she was disappearing to, muttering something or other before vanishing. But that was only after thoroughly pressing me to reassure her that I’d be fine in her absence.

I sighed under my breath and dropped my phone, unable to even focus on mindlessly scrolling through social media. I’d considered that Mads had a misplaced sense of guilt over her brothers’ actions, which had only intensified after the incident at the party. Something about the way she was constantly apologizing and trying to make up for their actions, even w