Chapter 141 - There Will Be No Dropkicking People Today

"You were the one to ask him out to dinner?" 

"My friend's all grown up," she cooed, adding, "Oh come on, you have got to tell me everything, and do not spare any details, regardless of how irrelevant they may seem."

Indiana seemed nervous to tell Madeline. Fear crept over her. 

What if she slipped and admitted she had feelings for Xavier to Madeline? How would she react? 

"And how did you come to meet in the first place?" Madeline asked. 

She had never once heard Indiana mention this fellow. So, either she chose to hide him from her as well, or it was something that happened recently. 

Indiana explained, "He came up to me and said a couple of nice things."

Madeline narrowed her eyes, her instincts kicking in. So he walked up to her, told her something, and she invited him to dinner?

Curiouser and curiouser. 

"So what you're telling me is that you asked the first guy who went up to you out for dinner?" Madeline asked.

Indiana's eyes began twitching. 

Safe to say, she sounded pathetic. Then again, she was already pathetic for having feelings for Xavier in the first place, so she doubted the whole pathetic thing was supposed to be her main problem. 

"I know, but–"

Madeline glanced at her friend fretfully, wondering if this man had a motive for doing such a thing. Sure, maybe he really had no ill intentions and decided to do this.

But Madeline had learnt never to trust someone. Especially when their reasons for doing something were kept unknown. 

"Who did you say this man was, again?" She asked, raising her brow. 

Did she intend on asking Xavier about this man?

Of course not, she felt guilty after what he had to put up with because of her last night.

However, she wouldn't just sit at the side and do nothing about it. 

Then again, she knew nothing about this fellow. 

'What if, once I get to know him, he turns out to be a really sweet guy who would only want the best for Indiana?' Madeline reasoned.

After all, she didn't know him one bit. So she couldn't just jump to conclusions. That would be unfair, coming from her part. Besides, it was Indiana that had invited him. Not him, so there was that. 

"Jonathan. I said his name was Jonathan," Indiana answered, fidgeting with her hands. 

Now that Madeline had mentioned it… Indiana had to concur. Madeline was right. 

She had taken things too fast for her liking. 

Heck, Indiana wasn't usually like this.

Sighing, she told herself, 'I really screwed up this time.' 

However, one must acknowledge the fact that the dinner she had with Jonathan wasn't for nothing. It also didn't prove useless. She discovered that Jonathan and her had many things in common, and that was a great start towards what would hopefully be a great friendship. 

Besides, Jonathan seemed like a really sweet guy. Indiana wanted to believe it too. So why not? 

'Hmm, is it really a screw up?' Indiana asked, now that she had thought about it a bit before she realised this was the part of her and Madeline's conversation where she would tell Madeline what Jonathan was like, etc etc. 

"Jonathan's a really sweet guy, we even discovered that we have something in common, which is baking, and I had an overall great time with him. I'd love to have dinner with him again, that's for sure," Indiana told Madeline. 

"Wow, you already have something in common," Madeline stated, before she wiggled her eyebrows and asked her, "So, you about to have a round two of dinner with this Jonathan guy?" 

Indiana laughed nervously, "Maybe, if he still wants to have dinner with me, that is."

Looking confused, Madeline asked, "Why wouldn't he want to have dinner with you?"

Hyping Indiana up, Madeline said to her, "Dia, you have an amazing personality, you're gorgeous, you're a talented baker, I could go on and on. Again, why wouldn't he want to have dinner with you?" 

Dia was Madeline's nickname for Indiana. Since others called her Diana, or Indie or Ana, Madeline decided to come up with a brand new nickname for her that was unlike any other.

"You weren't joking when you said you'd call me Dia?" Indiana asked, staring at Madeline confusedly. 

"I wasn't. And besides, Dia is a really cute nickname. It suits you too."

Indiana was both touched and embarrassed. 

She hadn't been called Dia since she was… 

That was the same thing Rosalynn called her. It was strange to hear Madeline call her that. 

Of course, it went unbeknownst to Madeline that Rosalynn had already come up with that very same nickname, but Indiana rather not let her find out either. 

"Right, if you have nothing else to talk about, I've got to go right after this," Madeline said to Indiana.

"Oh? Are you meeting up with someone this early in the morning?" Indiana asked, blinking. 

Madeline nodded, "Yeah. Rosalynn wants to talk to me about something."

Indiana seemed even more surprised to hear that. What did Rosalynn want to talk about? 

"Oh, alright then. I don't want to keep you, I'll be on my way now."

"To Jonathan?" Madeline asked when Indiana headed for the door.

Indiana laughed. 

"You wish," she said to Madeline, before she disappeared, leaving before Madeline asked her to come visit Rosalynn together. 

"Aish, I was just about to ask her," Madeline said, pouting. 

She refused to go together to see Rosalynn with Madeline. That wouldn't end well. And by that, Indiana meant that Rosalynn would probably get distracted and begin telling Madeline stories about her when she had first met Indiana. The cute, adorable ones, especially. 

'Oh, did you know, Indiana used to…' 

'She was so adorable. The way she would scrunch her nose when she was confused…'

Rosalynn just would not stop talking if Indiana did come. That was why she was so insistent on leaving before Madeline could ask, since she knew Madeline would. That was the type of person Madeline was. Inviting and compassionate. 

She never wanted to leave anyone behind, and it could be both a strength and a weakness of hers. 

Madeline quickly got dressed, before she headed for Rosalynn's room. 

"Hello Aunt Rose," she greeted. 

'How strange it is to be called Aunt,' Rosalynn thought to herself. 

"Hello dear," she greeted in return, taking a seat.

She began, "So, I'm certain you've already heard about how me and Indiana knew each other from… You know."

Madeline nodded, confirming her thoughts. 

"Yeah, I heard about it. But… Uh… Moving on, why did you call me here?" 

Rosalynn chuckled, "Straight to the point, I see."

She gestured for Madeline to sit, "How rude of a host I would be if I didn't ask you to sit before I told you anything?"

Madeline sat down, becoming more curious. 

Was Rosalynn stalling, or was she just usually this… Talkative?

'Oh right, it's Rose I'm talking about,' Madeline reminded herself. 

"So, speaking of things we heard, I heard you unlocked your powers?" Rosalynn asked, leaning forward. 

Madeline found herself scrunching her nose at Rosalynn's phrasing.

Unlocked her powers? Did she mean to say she knew she had powers all this time?

"I knew about them, if you're wondering. I didn't know exactly what powers you would've inherited but I knew there was bound to be some since you have Cornelia's blood running through your veins after all. Hmm, I should've told you sooner."

The girl was too stunned to speak. 

"W-Was this why you came here? To monitor me?" 

To her relief, Rosalynn shook her head, "Of course not. And you're not some creature or baby - for that matter - that needs to be monitored at all times. Why I came is completely unrelated to that, so don't even think about it."

Rosalynn gulped, "I came here to see if you were doing alright. That was all. To see if you were adjusting to Eudora right. I know it doesn't really add up, since I'm not your mother. Or your real aunt, or a relative, even. I know I'm just your mother's friend."

Madeline looked at her, wondering if that was what she had been thinking all along.

"But, I could've done something about Cornelia's choice. I could have fought harder, or something. Or made sure you grew up knowing who you actually were and not learning everything now. So, I…" 

Madeline went over and hugged Rosalynn, catching her by surprise. 

"Just because we aren't related by blood doesn't mean we're not family, or that we're not close," Madeline said to her.

Rosalynn was unsure how to react. She would've dropkicked Madeline had she not been so surprised. Her instincts would have just kicked in and she would've let her other side take over. The one that wouldn't react so nicely to being hugged, even if it was by Madeline. 

"Of course we're family.. And blood never needed to play a part in it in the first place."