Madcaps: Madcaps, #1

By Sierra Storm

My name is Mary Maxwell, and I've just learned that my entire life is a lie.

 

Well, sort of. A number of unexpected events led me and my coworker Max to question the truth beyond the animated show we were cast to voice-act. One thing led to another. Before we knew it, we weren't just playing the main characters: We had jumped into the fictional universe of Madcaps and become them.

 

Now we face a new question: Which world do we actually belong in? And which one do we want to make our home?

 

This is the first book in Sierra Storm's Madcaps series, a fast-paced urban fantasy comedy series that involves alternate realities, alternate identities, and zany humor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen And Glory Press LLC
• Release date: May 6, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224792696

Book preview

Chapter 1

Twenty small people sat before me, still like wax figures in a museum and fixing their gazes either at me or at the clock over my head. The children in front of me were fifth-graders at the end of the school year. I was their teacher.

The point is that there’s no such thing as a useless story, I said, wrapping my fingers around my tattered copy of C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe. No matter how strange it is, how fantastical, every story reflects reality and gives it meaning. So don’t knock the fantasy books when middle school starts next year.

I paused, and for a second, the room felt too still. I turned my attention to the doorway, where a new face had appeared during my lesson, and I found myself looking straight into the eyes of the custodian, Max Moon.

Max Moon was new in his position. He’d started last fall, like me, and whenever we crossed paths at the end of the day, his presence cheered me like a breath of fresh air. He made everything alive somehow, energizing the space around him as if transporting it to another world.

There were a lot of things that stressed me out about teaching, but Max was the one factor that kept me coming back to this place week after week.

Now he stepped into the classroom with a ready grin and waved to the kids.

Mr. Moon! they shouted at once, greeting him as if he were a celebrity guest speaker.

He cupped a hand in my direction and whispered loudly. You’ve got them really well-behaved today, Miss Maxwell. Every other room is a zoo.

We were reading a story, I said, holding up my book in one hand.

Do a magic trick, said Tyler, one of the boys in the front row whose patience had worn off for the year.

Shall I? Max asked, wagging his eyebrows at me for permission.

Go on, I said.

Max had any number of talents hidden up his sleeve, and sleight of hand was one that always got the students’ attention and favor. Now he tapped the stubble on his chin in thought. He looked restless, playful, like he might as well be a guest performer on stage. All right, I’m going to need a volunteer for this one. Who’s been good today? Addison?

The girl with blond braids beamed with a smile that displayed beautifully crooked teeth.

Max hurried next to her and leaned forward, pulling her earlobe gently and looking inside. He clucked. Lots of wax in there. I think we’ll take care of it and give it all to Miss Maxwell. What do you say?

Hey! I started.

Addison giggled.

Max looked at me with a glowing expression. Then he turned back to Addison. All right, now sit still. I’ll try to pull this out all at once, but it might take a bit of effort.

Now he cupped both of his hands over her ear and twisted one of his wrists to a certain angle, as if unlocking a door. The students turned in their seats. Some complained about not being able to see it or asked what he was doing.

Then Max grunted. He pulled his hands away from Addison’s ear, and with them a bouquet of dramatic red roses. Oh, beautiful! he exclaimed. I’m sorry. I thought that was wax. Now why don’t you give these to Miss Maxwell to take care of?

Addison took the flowers and ran between the desks until she reached me, handing them forward.

Thank you, I said to Max as a rush of blood hit my cheeks. These are beautiful.

Max pointed to Addison. She’s the one you should thank, not me.

Then the bell rang. The students rose at once and stampeded into the hall, forgetting the magic trick, leaving me alone with Max in the kind of peace that can only come when surrounded by frenzy.

Placing the roses on my desk, I stepped forward and picked up a stray library book that had fallen from one of my students' piles of books. It was a chapter book with a flashy, holographic cover. Adventures in Dimension X by Emile Phoenix. I picked it up and turned it over in my hands.

Oh, should I drop that off at the library for you? asked Max.

I looked up. I’d half forgotten that he was still here. It isn’t far, but you can take it if you want, I said. I’m so frazzled now I’d probably get lost.

Well, it’s over now.

It’s never over. I still have my checklist to finish and turn in to the office. They don’t want us coming back tomorrow. This isn’t fair, Max. I’m tired. I want to go home.

Then maybe I should make it up to you.

Again I blushed. The roses were good enough. More than good enough.

Those were from Addison, remember? he said. He reached behind his back and then presented a carefully wrapped present as if producing it out of thin air. Now this—this is from me.

The wrapping paper was shiny and red. The ribbon was black and soft, and when I took the package, I didn’t know if I should rip it open or untie it delicately.

Should I open it now? I asked.

Go ahead. It’s just a token. Not much. His grin, still wide, brightened, and he tossed the box into my lap.

I told myself not to expect much. Max was the kind of person who probably gave gifts to everyone he worked with, so I didn’t want to take the gesture personally.

Long first year, wasn’t it? he said.

I looked up, flushed. Yeah. You’re telling me.

I think you did a great job. With the kids, I mean. Tyler and JT told me you’re the best in the building. And it means a lot, coming from a pair like that.

As I unfolded the shiny red wrapping paper, Max got a closer look at me with wide brown eyes. Puppy dog eyes, the eyes no one could turn down. One question first, he said before I had finished unwrapping it. Make a guess. What do you think it is?

I blushed. I don’t know. I don’t know where to start with that.

Come on. I’m not going to let you open this unless I can have some fun with it too. His fingers brushed against my hand as he tapped on the box in my lap.

I calculated the size and weight. A mug.

A mug? Max threw his hands in the air in comic dismay.

A custom mug. With large black letters spelling out ‘World’s Number One Teacher.’

Max rolled his eyes. A mug. You think about everything that can fit in that box, and you don’t guess diamonds, you don’t guess an ancient scroll, you don’t guess a hand grenade. What’s wrong with you?

I giggled. Why on Earth would I think you got me a hand grenade?

He shook his head and turned away from me as if dismayed. Then slowly he took a breath and refocused on me. Well, go on then, Miss Maxwell. Open it. I’m not going to hold you back anymore.

I finished pulling the wrapping paper aside to find a fine black box. It was a jewelry box a little too big for a luxury watch. What...?

Max bounced on his feet. Any further guesses?

I don’t suppose it’s a candy jewel, is it? I asked.

Nothing edible, said Max. Though I suppose it would have been better of me to pair it with some chocolate. You like chocolate, don’t you?

My guilty pleasure, I admitted.

Max rubbed his hands together. All right, enough of the chit-chat. Open the box and tell me what you think.

I popped open the box. Inside was not a piece of jewelry like I was expecting. Instead, I found a hair bow. This was the fluffy, oversized variety; candy apple red and made from ribbons so shiny they reflected onto the nearby classroom wall. It was beautiful.

My lips parted when I lifted the accessory from the box and held it in the window light. I’d never seen it before, but it looked familiar, like an artifact from a dream.

I’ve been waiting for ages to give it to you, he said. It looks like you, you know?

I traced along the flashy silk lining with my fingertips. I can’t get away with this. It’s too beautiful.

Your hair is long enough, isn’t it?

I patted the back of my head with my hand. It isn’t that. The bow is too—too gaudy. I’ll never have an excuse to put it on.

Max took the bow into his own hands and flipped it around. Pardon my asking, but what sort of life do you think you need to wear something like this? I think it looks good on you. It matches your style. Your aesthetic. And you look marvelous in red, you know. You could wear that bow today. Wear it right now. Here, let me fix it in your hair, if you don’t mind.

Obediently I turned around, trying not to wince as Max tugged on my hair slightly while he fixed the barrette in place. It clasped with a satisfying click and didn’t tug as much as I had expected.

Finally Max stepped around from the back. He cupped his hand under his head and nodded approvingly.

What do you think? I asked.

He didn’t say anything for a moment. Max paced away from me, turned and narrowed his eyes. I think it’s just right for... for, what are you doing after you leave this place? This evening?

Was Max asking me out on a date? I’d never sensed a romantic element to our relationship. Ordinarily, I would have wanted nothing more than to say yes, but now my throat constricted. I wasn’t available. And suddenly, the chemistry between us suddenly felt conspicuous and wrong.

I rubbed my hands together and tried to break the spell. My fiancé is taking me out, I said. It’s the last day of school, so it’s a big deal.

Right, right. Your fiancé. He looked at the floor and scratched his neck before turning back to me.

We’re getting married this summer.

The color drained from his face. Married?

I haven’t talked much about it, I said. I didn’t want to be the center of attention.

That’s swell, Mary, said Max. I owe you a congratulations. Anyway, I guess I should be going. Do you need to drop this off at the library?

He picked up the library book, and I nodded. Then he started to swagger away.

Wait, Max, I said, standing up from my office chair.

Max turned around and squeezed his hands around the book, leaving smudges of sweat where he’d been holding it.

Thanks for the hair bow, I said. It was thoughtful. I do like it.

Yeah, said Max. I guess this is goodbye, then. Have a good summer, Mary. And when are you getting married?

The end of July. I’ll send invitations soon.

Max turned and left. I could hear the hurt in his voice. Max and I had enjoyed each other all year, but I didn’t know he saw me in that way. Romantically. Now I felt like I’d done something wrong in disappointing him. I’d never meant to lead him on.

If that wasn’t bad enough, a date with Max sounded like fun. It was just the break I needed from the humdrum and stress of my current existence. But I couldn’t have considered it, even before I was engaged.

I owed everything to my fiancé Sandy. He was the one who called an ambulance after witnessing a car accident that had landed me with a concussion a year and a half ago. He’d visited me every day and spent a fortune on things to keep me busy. He’d even gotten me this teaching job.

Sandy had proposed to me on the streets of Nashua in the middle of a heavy fall rain, right when I told him I didn’t think I could stomach teaching.

I owed Sandy. Big time. But unfortunately, I didn’t feel anything for him. Sandy felt more like an obligation or debt than a life love. My heart had never fluttered at the sight of his face. I’d never linked our names together and had planned as little for our upcoming wedding as I could get away with.

The emptiness in my relationship with Sandy led to things like this, like the frustration I felt watching Max walk out of the room without me.

Sometimes I felt like my life had an alternative, and I just wished I could find it.

Chapter 2

I left the bow in my hair after Max put it in place. It had become an amulet, a good luck charm I wanted to maintain the rest of the day.

After I went home in the afternoon and dressed for my date night out, I kept pulling my pocket mirror from the bathroom vanity drawer to revisit my new accessory, the splash of color like Dorothy’s slippers in the movie The Wizard of Oz.

The bow’s prettiness didn’t attract me as much as its otherworldliness. The bow and even its color was an artifact from a different world... and a different world was what I needed.

The house I lived in had been built in the 1860s. Originally, it had been a family home, but generations of owners and developers had split it into three different apartments, and I had the top level to myself.

When I first moved in, this place held a vintage charm, like a set of tintypes or a graveyard. Anything that blurred past and present, the living and the dead, together fascinated me.

I wanted to restore these rooms, to turn my home into a retreat where I could drink lattes and read and pretend that the world outside my windows was something fantastic instead of something ordinary.

Unfortunately, my apartment had turned into nothing of the sort. Teaching kept me busy. Spending my days surrounded by twenty-two over-energetic