From the moment Madeline woke up, she knew something was off. Outside, the air was warm, a light breeze tousled the leaves in the trees, and not a cloud was in the sky. But something was defiantly not right.
Walking to school with Andrew was even weirder. He kept quiet most of the time, and kept glancing at her, looking worried, as if he was waiting for her to mention something important. But to be nice, Madeline ignored it.
As they made their way through the school doors, Madeline knew something was up. The normally loud and chaotic high school lobby silenced the moment she and Andrew walked into school.
“Alright, what’s going on?” she whispered quietly to Andrew as they walked towards their lockers.
“What do you mean?” he replied, nervously, focusing intently on opening the lock on his locker, and avoiding her eyes.
“Why is everyone staring at us?” She asked, furiously spinning her locker combination and dumping her jacket into it.
“Well, because of…you know”, he replied, nervously fiddling with his shirt collar.
“No…I don’t. What are you talking about?” She turned, looking right at him.
“You honestly don’t know?” He asked.
She shook her head.
“Oh, God” he groaned, “Come with me”.
Madeline blindly followed Andrew down the familiar school hallways where the pictures hanging up and the bricks of the building seemed to watch them on their journey.
“Come in here”, Andrew said, ducking into the computer lab, and she followed.
It took him a moment before he’d pulled up a website on one of the computers.
“Here,” he whispered, “This is why they are staring at you”.
As her eyes scannedf the page, her breath caught sharply in her throat. The flashing words, “Nerd, Skank, Teacher’s Pet, Liar”, burned a whole in her vision. But it was the headline above all these labels that really got her;
‘THINGS WE THINK ABOUT MADELINE REED’
Every word following made a little slash in her heart, until she felt she was bleeding.
“Madeline?” Andrew whispered, “Are you okay?”
“Um”, she began, eyes glued to the screen.
“Mads, are you crying?” He asked.
Quickly, she felt her cheeks. Damn, they were wet. “No”, she swallowed, wiping at her cheeks as swiftly and descreetly as possible.
“Oh, please don’t cry, Madeline”, he said, reaching for her. She leaned away from him.
“Andrew”, she began, voice wobbly, “Everyone hates me”.
“No they don’t-“, he started, grabbing her arm gently.
“Don’t touch me!” She shrieked, yanking her arm away.
With hurt appearing on his face, he quickly dropped her arm.
“Andrew, I’m sorry”, she whimpered, “I just can’t…” she trailed off.
“Come on, let’s go”, he quietly suggested, opening the door.
And that’s when things really blew up.
A crowd of at least 40 kids clumped together in front of the computer room, laughing and chanting with one another, “WE HATE MADELINE REED, WE HATE MADELINE REED!”
“Stop!”she shrieked, but her voice was drowned out.
“Guys, quit it!” Andrew tried, but his input was as equally helpful as Madeline.
“Shut up!’ she screamed as she pushed through the crowd and flew out the exit door.
“Madeline!” Andrew cried, tacking off after her.
The crowd stood and chanted, in hopes of the girl’s return for a good 15 minutes before the bell ring and they all headed to class. But the sounds of their words echoed in the hallway, in the school, and in the ears of Madeline for years to come.
~*~
On a normal day sitting in the tree house made Madeline feel better. But today, as she sat in the house in the branches she only felt worse. Her face was still wet from the tears she’d been crying. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were stained with mascara that had run down her face along with the teardrops. Her heart felt hollow and she felt almost too weak to stand or do anything. Or perhaps she just didn’t care at the moment.
“Hey anyone up there?” a voice called from outside.
“Just me”, she called in a monotone voice.
After a few moments, Andrew’s face appeared in the doorway to the tree house. Just seeing his face made her heart fill with warmth. At the same time, his concerned eyes made her want to cry all over again.
“I thought I’d find you here”, he gave a small smile and pulled himself off the rope ladder and completely into the tree house. She looked at him and took him in for a moment.
There Andrew stood in his old ripped jeans and the once baggy red tee shirt that he’d finally grown after owning for more than 3 years. his family wasn’t the wealthiest, she knew that, but she didn’t mind. After all, he was her best friend. He had been for almost all 15 years of her life. Why would she care how much money his family made? She liked Andrew because he had a good heart, could make her laugh, and because he was always there for her when she needed him. That was what mattered the most to her.
“Hi” she said quietly, watching him sit down beside her.
“Hi” he replied looking at her with caring eyes. “How are you holding up?”
She sighed. “Okay”. Even as she said it she knew it was obvious it wasn’t true. Without another word, he leaned over and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. Not hesitating she hugged him back.
“Don’t cry” he whispered, softly into her ear, his arms still wrapped around her.
“I’m trying not to” she whimpered.
He pulled away and looked at her with a pained expression.
“How could they do this to me?” She demanded, her voice taking a shaky edge. “What did I do wrong to them?”
Andrew shook his head and then grabbed her arms. “Bug”, he began using his special nickname for her, “Look at me”.
Sniffling, she did as he said.
“You’re my best friend in the whole world. You’ve been there for me so many times. Now it’s time for me to be here for you”. He took a big breath before continuing. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I know that and you know that. And I know right now, it feels like you’re never going to be able to face everyone again, but trust me, you will do it. I know you will. You’re strong enough. You’re not so weak as to give up. I know you, and I know you’ll be okay in the end”.
“But I have no one!” She sobbed, “Nobody cares about me!”
For a moment all that could be heard were the sounds of her crying.
“Hey” he said softly and after a few seconds she looked up at him.
“You have me. I care”, he told her.
Suddenly, her heart squeezed and she did something she never in a million years thought she’d do
She leaned towards him.
For a kiss.
And to her surprise, he did the same.
Her heart was pounding and her ears were buzzing, and she felt the empty, hollow feeling inside of her, slowly start to disappear. When they both pulled away, they were both breathing hard, struggling to catch their breath. He stared directly into her big brown eyes and she stared right back into his.
“Bug”, he whispered after a few minutes, “I never told you this…but I love you. In fact, I always have”.
Slowly, her famous smile began to crack for the first time all day. It was impossible for her to hide them when she was truly happy and so her unsuccessfully hidden grin came out slightly crooked on her face.
“I love you too”, she whispered.
And he pulled her close to him, stealing another kiss from his beautiful best friend.