Bruises- Shane Madej

2. Spiders (and more airplanes)

- hey guys. i'm writing this on my phone so there might be lots of mistakes in the next 2 chapters. i am planning on editing it on my chrome book before i release it but i'm not a very good editor so i apologize for all spelling and grammar errors now- 

~~~~~~

The next day, Maddie found herself with a camera on her shoulder and filming the boys as they rode through the canals of Mexico City on a boat. 

Eventually, they made it to The Island of the Dolls. 

Maddie was a little disturbed by the amount of spiders hanging around the island. When she voiced this thought, Ryan seemed incredulous. 

"It's the spiders that surprise you?!?"

Maddie could see why Ryan felt this way; they were surrounded by hundreds of dolls hanging on the trees. She shrugged. "They're just kids' toys; spiders are scarier than dolls."

Shane smirked. "Maddie, are you a Shaniac?" he asked accusingly. 

Maddie recoiled. "No, I just don't believe in ghosts."

"That makes you a Shaniac!" he smiled triumphantly. 

"Why can't I just be a skeptic? Why do I have to consider myself one of your fans?"

Shane smirked. "You're a Shaniac," he teased. Maddie rolled her eyes and they got on with the filming of the video. 

There really wasn't much compelling evidence that pointed to ghosts existing; only a few little things that could be easily explained away. 

Maddie did feel a little uneasy while on the island, but she attributed that to her fear of spiders. 

Her arachnophobia wasn't just an irrational fear like other people's was. When she was in elementary school, the other kids would find lots of spiders and sneak them into her backpack and her desk. 

Maddie was the victim of bullying a lot of times throughout her public school experience. It only stopped once she became close with Ryan and found a good friend group. 

She didn't know how Shane was still sane; walking around with his hair full of spiders. He was tall, so his head caught on lots of the webs hanging about the island.

Eventually, it was late at night and they were back on the boat in the canals. 

Ryan seemed pretty unsettled by the island. 

Maddie had to admit, it had made her feel uneasy, too, but, again, that was only because of the spiders. 

Shane (like always) seemed to be on top of the world.

Once they got back to the hotel, Maddie didn't waste much time before she crawled into bed and fell asleep. 

—-

The next day, the trio were on an airplane yet again. This flight was considerably better than the last one; Maddie was not bleeding from her thumb. 

Sadly, she was still in the middle of Ryan and Shane. However, this time, Shane was by the aisle and Ryan the window, so Shane would be able to stick his legs into the aisle if needed. 

Maddie tapped on her little entertainment screen and scrolled through the available TV shows. She saw that they had the office and clicked on it. Only season 5 was available, so she just chose an episode and started watching.

A couple minutes into the flight, Shane tapped on Maddie's shoulder. She took out an earbud. "What?"

"My screen isn't working."

She glanced to his screen and saw that it was blank. A part of her wanted to say "That's tough" and just go back to watching The Office, but this was a 7 hour flight and she knew that the right thing to do would be to share with him.

She looked over at Ryan. He was fast asleep. Maddie sighed and gave him one of her earbuds so Shane could watch The Office with her. 

The ended up watching a couple episodes of the TV show, but eventually got bored of it. She scrolled through the movies and saw that Titanic was available for watching. Maddie smiled and clicked on it.

Shane frowned. "Really? Titanic?" 

She shrugged. "It's my screen."

He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat, watching the movie. 

Maddie settled in as they watched the opening scene. This was her favorite film. She was a hopeless romantic. She promised herself she wouldn't cry.

Approximately 3 hours later, Maddie was utterly disappointed in herself; she was crying quite a bit. 

However, she was able to quickly get her emotions in order and that was that. Shane just rolled his eyes at her.

"Okay what do you want to watch next?" she asked as she scrolled through the list of films. 

"Hmm." Shane said, squinting at the screen. 

"Ooh! Mamma Mia's a good one!" 

Shane nodded. "Yeah, alright." 

Maddie was a little surprised at his response. "You like Mamma Mia?" 

"I mean, yeah, it's a good film." 

"Huh.." Maddie said, nodding. She didn't take Shane as a "Mamma Mia" type of person. 

However, they only got about halfway through the movie before their plane landed in Kansas. 

"No!" Maddie exclaimed. 

Shane sighed. "I guess we'll have to finish it another time." 

She frowned. "Damn it I was getting really into it." 

"Maybe on the plane ride home," he comforted. 

Ryan ribbed his eyes and unbuckled the seatbelt. "Am I still asleep or are you two getting along?" 

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Maddie. 

"Yeah, we're acting completely naturally," Shane added. 

Ryan shrugged and began gathering his stuff. 

All in all, Maddie was pretty glad that she and Shane were getting along better. He was actually a pretty nice and funny guy when you weren't fighting with him. 

She grabbed her luggage and started walking off the plane. 

Their next location was the Sallie House. 

~~~~~~