The entire day felt as though I was walking on eggshells. Be it math class or lunchtime, Maddie went out of her way to avoid Anne. But perhaps she always did, and I just didn't notice.
Regardless, my feet were killing me. For some reason, Maddie dragged us to the second floor of the school even though our next class was located on the first.
With a heaving chest, I grabbed her arm.
"T-Time out… Maddie…" I panted. Maddie turned back to face me, completely unaffected by the two flights of stairs we practically ran up.
"Are you alright?"
"Am I alright?" I coughed, squeezing out my words. "Are you?"
"What do you mean?" Maddie furrowed her brows.
"You've been running around the school like a madman since this morning!!"
She blinked, dumbfounded.
"Have I?"
"Yes!! You have!"
With a sigh, I leaned on a nearby locker, finally breathing properly.
"What is up with you? I get it if you don't want to see Anne but-"
"-Don't bring her up."
I quickly put my hands up and sighed.
"Sorry, sorry. But seriously, whatever happened between you two… it could've have been-"
"Ugh!" Maddie groaned. "I just knew you would say that!"
"Say what? You didn't even let me finish!"
She looked at me with a eyebrow raised, crossing her arms.
"Whatever happened between you two couldn't have been that serious, just make up already!" She said, plucking the words from lips before I could get them out.
"I-I, well," I sighed, shaking my head. "Regardless. Both of you have grown and changed."
"So not true, at least on her part."
"What do you mean?"
"She refuses to apologize to me! It's been two years!"
I snorted, muttering under my breath. "Well if this is how you've been avoiding her in the past two years… no wonder why."
"Somni! I'm serious!"
"Alright alright! But I'm serious as well! The Anne that betrayed your trust or whatever can't possibly be the same now!"
"And how do you know that?"
"Because!-"
I stopped, remembering that I couldn't let Maddie know about how Anne saved me from that crazy old man on the beach.
"No… if she knows about him, it could put her in danger as well…" I thought to myself.
"Well? I'm waiting," Maddie stared at me.
"It's- it's," I stuttered, quickly thinking of something else.
As I was about to give up, a lightbulb went off in my head.
"S-She's the one that told me!"
"Huh?" Maddie looked at me confused. "Told you what?"
"That that other girl was the one who posted the picture of the flower, not you!" I explained.
Maddie's face seemed to get serious.
"Wh…what? You mean Emily?"
"That's right that's right!"
"You mean, she came over just to tell you that? How does she even know where you live?"
"H-Huh?" I gulped, quickly looking for another story. "Oh! Well- that day she happened to be at the beach and saw me so…"
"Somnium, you hate the beach!"
"Well-"
"Are you, lying?" There was hesitance in her voice, worried that it would start another feud. I quickly shook my head.
"N-No! No! Absolutely not! I promise you, she really did tell me that it wasn't you! And just cause I hate the beach, doesn't mean I can't step outside once in a while!"
"..." Maddie didn't respond. I sighed.
"Forget it forget it, let's just, head to cla-"
"I believe you."
"H-Huh?" I looked up to face her. "Really?"
Maddie shrugged rubbing the back of her neck.
"It's not completely out of her character to not interfere with things. Besides, I doubt you'd make this up just for fun so-"
"See!" I smiled. "I knew you'd come around! Let's get going for class."
Maddie nodded, but still looked deep in thought.
As we walked close to the head of the stairs, she suddenly stopped walking.
I turned around to face her, confused.
"Maddie?" I asked. Her hand clasped her bags arm tightly.
"By the way," she started.
"Hm?"
"Did she, say anything? After helping you, that is."
"Oh! Umm…." I thought for a moment. Once remembering, I looked back at her.
"Right! I remember now!"
"Really?" A hesitant smile pulled on Maddie's face.
"She wished that we figure things out and whatnot. But she seemed very skittish about doing so. Then again, she could've just been shy-"
Maddie suddenly sniffled. My eyes widened, staring at her sad expression.
"M-Maddie?"
***
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