Maddie's smile took on a twinge of sadness with the talk about old times. It didn't happen as often as it used to, but there were moments when memories of her dead brother and sister were too overwhelming to ignore. “I shared a room with my sister Sasha. Whenever I refused to get out of bed, she'd tickle me until I rolled onto the floor. She got a few accidental kicks to the side of her head sometimes, but she was pretty much the only one in the house who could get me out of bed.” A pause. “Aside from Mom. But then, she had Mom Threats, so that's pretty much a given.”
She rolled her eyes goodnaturedly. “Yeah, yeah. Don't get a swelled head. You know how much joy I'd get from popping that thing. Even worse if we both had swollen heads. We'd have to find a bigger room.”
“Definitely. Memphis had a lot of warm rains.” Sometimes, she really missed Tennessee. The warmth of the South. “I totally would've frozen to death if I had to live where you grew up. Me and cold weather just don't get along.”
Maddie wiped her hands off on her jeans and reached up to tuck her hair behind her ears. “Yeah, I was, too. I mean, I was still... like I am? Loud and whatever. I just wasn't as...” She shrugged, unsure of the word she was looking for. Mean. Spiteful. One of those. “I bet you could've stood a chance at fame, though. If stupid Taylor Swift could make it, you totally could've. My dad managed a lot of singers who I thought were really lame.”
“If you say so,” Maddie replied with a smirk. “Definitely more like Karen, though. Hopefully.” She plucked at her own hair, eying the strands of color that still remained. “It'll be the first normalish color I've used for a while. I totally trust you not to mess it up.”