Chapter 60: Waking up to Madison Torres ...Skin-to-skin contact with Madison Torres while my mom serves scrambled eggs on chipped plates. The universe has a twisted sense of humor, throwing supernatural abilities and billionaire girlfriends at a kid who used to get his lunch money stolen on a weekly basis... Mom set a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of Madison, the same ceramic we’d been eating off for years, and I watched carefully to see how the princess would react to peasant food—would she pick at it politely, make excuses about being on a diet, or somehow manage to swallow our poverty breakfast without gagging? She took a bite, and her face lit up like she’d just discovered fire, like those scrambled eggs contained some secret ingredient that her family’s five-star chef had never managed to capture. "Mrs. Carter, this is incredible," Madison said, and I could tell she wasn’t performing—there was genuine surprise in her voice, genuine pleasure. Well, surprise mom is a good cook. "My family never even eats breakfast together. This is... really nice." ...Ah. Rich kid syndrome strikes. They have everything money can buy except parents who actually give a shit about their daily lives. Madison’s probably used to eating gourmet meals alone while her parents work eighteen-hour days building their empire and forgetting they have a daughter and themselves. That is where I come in... Rich kids always envied normal family dynamics, I’d learned that from movies and TV shows, but seeing it play out in real time was something else—Madison was staring around our kitchen like it was some kind of everything she hoped for, "Nuclear Family Breakfast, Circa Working Class America," while Mom poured orange juice from a plastic pitcher instead of fresh-squeezed from crystal glasses. "You’re welcome here anytime, sweetheart," Mom said, already adopting Madison into our family unit with that fierce protectiveness that made her take in a dead escort’s baby sixteen years ago. "Any girl who makes Peter smile like that is family to us." ... Like that Madison got into the Carter club. Welcome to the team, princess. We don’t have money, but we have feelings and homemade food and conversations that don’t revolve around stock portfolios... Emma looked up from her phone with that mischievous expression that meant she was about to cause chaos, the same look she got right before asking our substitute teachers if they knew what a "MILF" was or telling Mom’s coworkers about my "special computer time." "Madison, can I ask you something?" Emma said with a grin that should have come with a warning label. "Of course," Madison said, clearly having no idea what kind of chaos Emma was capable of unleashing with a single innocent question. Here it comes... This is going to be beautiful. My sister has no filter and no concept of social hierarchy—she’ll ask a billionaire’s daughter the same shit she’d ask the cashier at 7-Eleven... "What do you actually see in my weird brother?" Emma asked with that brutal honesty that only teenagers possessed. "Like, no offense Peter, but you’re kind of a nerd." Oh, fuck I was the one getting it not, Madison. Didn’t see that coming, Classic Emma Carter. "Emma!" Sarah protested, but she was fighting back laughter because let’s face it, Emma wasn’t wrong—I was a nerd, even if I was now a nerd with supernatural abilities and a girlfriend who looked like she stepped out of a magazine. Madison squeezed my hand under the table and smiled, and I could feel something shift in the room—not just the temperature, but the entire emotional landscape. "Your brother is incredibly smart, really sweet, and... he makes me feel like the most important person in the world." ...She gave the most diplomatically perfect answer in human history. She could run for president with that level of political finesse; except she probably already owns half the politicians anyway through her family’s connections... Classic sister behavior—they’d spent the entire morning calling me a nerd and questioning my life choices, but the second my girlfriend gave me a compliment, they were ready to crown her queen of the family and probably start planning our wedding. Mom went full maternal approval mode, that soft expression that meant Madison had just passed some invisible test. "That’s exactly what I wanted to hear." She said adding her more food with a big smile. Sarah was practically glowing, like Madison’s approval somehow validated our entire family’s existence. "Madison, you’re officially family approved." "Can I have breakfast here every morning?" Madison asked, looking around our disaster kitchen like it was the Ritz Carlton, like our peeling linoleum and outdated appliances were somehow more appealing than whatever architectural marvel she called home. "This is better than eating alone in our giant dining room." ...It was a bad trade to trade her mansion kitchen for our collapsing disaster zone but with actual warmth. Rich people are genuinely fucking insane, but I’m not complaining if it means waking up to Madison Torres every morning... "Absolutely," Mom said without hesitation, and I could see her already mentally rearranging our morning routine to accommodate a billionaire’s daughter. "You’re always welcome here." Emma was staring at Madison like she’d just witnessed a unicorn performing Shakespeare. "You actually want to eat here every day? Instead of at your mansion?" "Your family actually talks to each other," Madison said simply, and there was something almost heartbreaking in how matter-of-fact she made it sound. "At my house, everyone just stares at their phones until someone leaves for work." ...Money can buy designer kitchens but apparently not basic human interaction. The Torres family dinners probably sound like a morgue with better silverware and imported wine... * After breakfast, Madison grabbed her keys—those expensive car keys that probably cost more than most people’s jewelry—and looked at Sarah and Emma with that casual generosity that rich people wielded like a superpower. "You two want a ride to school?" My sisters’ eyes went wide like Madison had just offered them front row seats to the apocalypse, or maybe like someone had just told them they could keep the winning lottery ticket they’d found on the ground. ...Madison just broke my sisters’ brains with pure generosity. They’re about to experience luxury transportation for the first time in their natural lives, going from our mom’s beat-up Honda to a Range Rover that probably has more technology than our entire house... "Are you serious?" Sarah asked, already grabbing her backpack like Madison might change her mind if she moved too slowly. *** A/N: A humble request guys, if you have time, please vote the characters and add popularity as well as liking the CHARACTER PERSONALITY. I hope I am not asking for too much.