The greatest love

SEVEN

Maddie

Four months earlier

Today was Maddie's birthday. Maddie woke up feeling hopeful that now that she is eleven years old, a teenager, this year will be better. At breakfast, her mom and dad kissed her happy birthdays and her brother even hugged her. Maddie gave them her rare smiles. Her mom promised her they would go out for dinner together to celebrate her birthday that evening to the new pizza restaurant in the city.

At school, no one knew about her birthday but Maddie did not care. And then something happened that made Maddie very happy. Nick, her classmate that Maddie has secretly liked for the past year, talked to her. It was after they had handed in their English essays together. He suddenly turned to her and said, “I bet your essay was very good. I heard Miss Evert said that you are a very good writer.”

Maddie tried to hide her surprise but she was sure her face gave it away. No one usually talked to her except to make fun of her. But she looked at Nick's face and his face looked innocent.

“It was okay,” Maddie stammered. “I'm sure you did well too. You've always gotten high marks in English.” She blushed while she said it.

“Do you want to maybe work on the next project together? I could certainly use the help. I know you are very smart,” Nick said with a smile.

Maddie's heart beat faster and she was afraid Nick could hear it. “Sure, that would be great,” she said quickly.

Then she walked to her seat with a smile still on her face. She didn’t notice Phoebe watching her with narrowed eyes.

That afternoon, her brother Timothy had an accident. He ran into the glass door that went into the backyard. The glass door crashed and Timothy had glass embedded in his forehead. Her mother rushed him into the emergency room. She and Maddie waited for hours in the hospital. Any thoughts of Maddie's birthday dinner was forgotten.

But Maddie consoled herself with thoughts of Nick and her talking and maybe working together soon. They finally got home about eight in the evening. When Maddie got back to her room, her phone chimed with a new text message. It was from an unknown number. Maddie opened it.

“Hey Maddie, it’s Nick. I got your number from Sally. I was wondering if you would like to hang out tomorrow after school. We could go to a cafe or do something fun. If you want, we could meet in the front gate after the bell. Let me know.?”

Maddie could not believe her eyes. Nick texting her? Wanting to hang out with her? She had a moment's hesitation, but Nick did talk to her today. And he never laughed at her, or made fun of her, or said anything bad about her. Well, he never talked to her at all before today. Maddie reminded herself that she liked him. He was nice to everyone, he was smart and he wasn’t ashamed of it. He would answer questions correctly in class and he'd be proud of it.

She replied quickly. “Yes, I would love to. I'll meet you at the front gate tomorrow after school.”

“Good night, Maddie.”

Maddie felt happier today than she had been for months. Maybe life was really starting to turn around for her. She hugged herself to sleep with a smile on her face. Happy birthday to me!