Prologue

Third Person POV:

Madeline was sitting on the bench close to the entrance of the school, staring at the other kids with a deep longing gaze. As it was the first day of the school, all kids were accompanied by their parents. They were begging to their parents not to leave them with strangers, some kids were clutching their fathers leg and some were holding their mothers hand with a terrified look on their faces.

Among so many girls and boys, one particular boy with pretty brown hair and hints of blonde streaks caught her attention. His cheeks were chubby with the hint of rosy tint making him look cute. Her inner voice told her to go to him and say hello but remained there and grasped the base of the bench tightly watching him.

The boy wasn’t crying like other kids nor was he begging his parents not to leave him. He was smiling with the mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes; his stance was clearly promising them to create the rout.

The boy’s parents kneeled down; his mom kissed his temple and his dad whispered something into the boy’s ear. He nodded his head enthusiastically and threw his arms around their necks making knocking their heads. They all laughed rubbing their heads.

A small smile came to her face and the memories of a few months ago hit her. It was her first day of school and her parents were there with her, bidding her goodbye. She didn’t know it was the last time, she would be seeing her parents. She didn’t know that next month she would move to new city and start a new school. She had no idea that she would be living with her Aunt Emma.

She smiled bitterly, thinking about her aunt who just dropped her outside the school and told her to follow the other kids by pushing her roughly towards the entrance.

Eventually, all the kids started to make their way inside the school and she realized she had to follow them.

The thought of other kids hurting her like her cousin Delia did make her shudder in fear.

Putting brave face on, she got up from the bench and made her way inside and followed other kids to the class.

All the kids were looking at the playing section with ecstatic faces. Play station didn’t make her face lit up like it did to other kids.

She took the empty seat at the back. Her eyes fell on the boy that she saw outside earlier. He was sitting a few rows ahead of her with the girl dressed in a pink jacket. He said something to the girl and she smiled shyly.

Madeline didn’t know what she was feeling, but it was a foul feeling. She stared at the girl.

The Pink-Jacket girl was beautiful and had blue eyes like a boy but a bit darker than him. And her hair was white blonde tied back in ponytail.

The teacher asked everyone to introduce themselves.

Madeline didn’t hear what other kids were saying but when the boy with the blue eyes started talking; unintentionally her focus went to him.

“My name is Brandon Edward. I’m five. I love ice cream and playing football.”

Madeline fell in love with his introduction, his cute smile, and his chubby cheeks. She also loved playing football. Her dad and she used to play every weekend when he was alive.

A girly voice pulled her out of the memories of her father. She looked up to find the Pink-Jacket girl talking.

“My name is Laura Gonzalez. My favorite color is pink and I like to dance.”

Madeline snorted at her uninteresting introduction but all the boys in the class looked at Laura with a smile, including Brandon.

Finally, it was her turn to introduce herself. She was pretty sure no one was interested to know about her because she was the least interesting girl.

“I’m Madeline Hamilton,” she stated.

She didn’t catch other kids attention, everyone ignored her making her feel extremely uncomfortable and awkward, even the teacher was busy looking at some papers on the table. The uneasiness was making it impossible for her to continue her introduction.

She glanced around to seek some kind of attention from other kids when her eyes landed on Brandon. He was looking at her with the same beautiful smile on his face like he was waiting for her to continue her introduction so he can get to know her better.

A small smile appeared on her own lips; she felt confident and began to speak. Her eyes were focused on the boy and his eyes were watching her.

“I’ll be turning five in two months. I love reading stories and my favorite food is pizza. I love playing football.”

Brandon smile widened at her introduction making her feel giddy.

Finally, her little speech ended and the teacher started giving books to them.

She took the book from the teacher and wrote her name on it. She knew how to write and read because her mother taught her a lot of things at a very young age. She was grateful for that time that she got to spend with her mom.

After two hours, the teacher finally allowed them to have some lunch. All the kids hurriedly dug in their bags and pulled out lunch boxes full of appetizing food. She just looked around awkwardly because she had nothing to eat, no lunch box to pull out from a bag.

She glanced at Brandon who was offering Laura to share his lunch with him. The girl glared at him and pushed his box away.

Madeline narrowed her eyes at the girl’s actions.

Suddenly, Brandon leaned towards her and kissed her on the lips. Madeline gasped at his action as well as the teacher. Laura started crying in her shrill voice making her cringe while other kids looked at Laura with a frown.

Brandon’s face turned sad at Laura’s response like he wasn’t expecting the girl to cry. He looked baffled like he didn’t understand what was wrong with her and why was she crying like a dying dinosaur.

That day Madeline’s small heart broke because the first boy that she set her eyes on just kissed another girl in front of her. She sadly thought there was no way that her broken heart can be mended again.

Don't Expect Me to Cheer For You

Madeline POV:

I groaned when my alarm went off waking me up and ruining my beautiful dream. Surprisingly, I was dreaming about getting married. I was dressed in a beautiful cream-color gown walking down the aisle, holding my dad’s arm and my mom was looking at us with tears in her beautiful brown eyes, but the wide smile was still there on her face.

It was such a nice dream, it felt so real that I never wanted to wake up.

I put my face on the pillow and smiled shyly thinking about the man who was waiting for me on the podium. From afar I noticed that he had broad shoulders and tall figure. He was wearing a black tux and tapping his leg on the ground like he was impatient and nervous to meet me. But unfortunately, I was unable to see his face because of my stupid alarm.

But damn! His back looked really sexy. I just wanted to see his face.

My train of thoughts was interrupted when my bedroom door was pushed open.

My head snapped up to see who dared to come inside my room this early?

I groaned in annoyance when I turned and found my cousin Delia aka the queen bitch standing in my room. She was dressed in a flimsy pink gown with two large rollers on her head that looked like Satan’s horns. Her face was covered in a green mask to give her that glow which blinds all the good guys and attracts all the drug addicts.

“What are you still doing in the bed? Get up and make breakfast for me.” She ordered me in her snotty voice blowing on her nails.

“Who the hell is she ordering?” I asked myself in anger.

I got up from the bed and glared at her.

“I’m not your servant, Miss Perfect. If you want to eat breakfast then use your manicured hands to prepare one. I need to get ready for school.” I said tilting my chin up like a stubborn kid and glaring at her.

A devilish smirk appeared on her face making me a little uneasy.

“You know it’s snowing and sidewalks are going to be slippery. I don’t think you would like to walk to the school in this cold weather. Who knows? You might break your neck by slipping on the sidewalk or a car might hit you,” She said smiling devilishly in my direction.

Did I tell you how much I hate her? Well, here it is. I hate her.

After my parents’ death, I came to live with my aunt Emma. Apparently, I was introduced to my one and only cousin, Delia. She wasn’t friendly; she was devil in human form. She bullied me when I was a kid and got me into trouble from time to time. But I was a smart kid; I made sure she gets what she sows.

I didn’t have a car so I preferred walking to the school. But I never liked walking in the snow when the pavement is sloppy and one needs to take calculated steps like they are walking on the dynamites. And I certainly didn’t want to get hit from a car.

“Madeline, you have to endure her presence just a few more months. After that, you’ll be free.” I reminded myself.

“Okay, fine! I’ll make breakfast for you. Now, leave my room. I need to get ready,” I said, gritting my teeth.

“My mom isn’t feeding you for free. You need to give services in exchange for all the food that you eat so don’t show me attitude. Oh, I forgot to tell you what I want for breakfast.” She said giving me an evil smile.

“Get a notepad, Maddy,”

I stopped in my tracks and turned to her.

“Excuse me, what?”

“Get the notepad. I am going to tell you what I want for breakfast,” She said with a shrug.

“If you want breakfast then tell me right now or leave!” I said glaring at her.

For some unknown reasons, Delia abhors me. When she was in the high school she made my every day hell. Last year, she graduated from high school and it was a blessing for me in disguise. I was hoping that she would move out and stay with one of her boyfriends. But to my utter dismay, she didn’t move out of the house and still lives with us. And that’s how my life turned into the story of an animated character Cinderella. Instead of evil step-mom and evil step-sisters, I got an evil aunt and evil cousin.

I was twisting my fist, ready to throw a punch on her face because I was annoyed as hell. I wasn’t a morning person.

“I want a cheese omelet with some toast and coffee.” She said walking out of my room.

I wish I could strangle her and stuff her down in Laura’s mouth.

“Don’t say Laura’s name so early in the morning. Your whole day will be spoiled." My mind reminded.

I glanced at the wall clock and cursed for wasting my time by going through a memory lane. I opened my closet and pulled out my black high-waist jeans and paired it with my knitted white sweatshirt.

Then I took the shower and dried my hair. I got changed into my clothes and combed my hair to get rid of all the tangles. I put my hair in a high ponytail and applied some gloss on my lips that my friend Millie got me from her shopping spree.

I wiggled my feet in the black boots and picked up my bag and my cell phone on the way out of my room. I went to the kitchen and started preparing a cheese omelet and coffee.

After twenty minutes, she came downstairs dressed in a red short-dress with a black leather jacket. Her face was layered with heavy-makeup and her red lips looked like a bee-stung them.

Is she going to college or some party this early in the morning? I asked myself.

Who knows? You can’t be sure of anything with Delia. My mind responded.

If you hadn’t noticed yet, I like talking to myself a lot.

I placed a cheese omelet, toasts, and coffee on the kitchen counter. She sat down on the kitchen stool and took the bite of the cheese omelet. She started to gag then spit it out.

“What the hell is this? Did you put the expired cheese in it?” She asked while glaring at me.

“No. Why would I do that?” I said showing her the box of cheese.

“It tastes awful. Why don’t you eat it to prove to me that you haven’t poisoned it or something?” She said.

“Okay, I’ll eat it.”

I stuffed the omelet and toast in my mouth while she took the hesitant sip of the coffee.

After five minutes, I was done eating the complete breakfast that I prepared for her. Delia glared at me with disgust in her eyes.

“You’re so disgusting, Madeline. How can you eat something that tastes so terrible?” She asked me.

“It wasn’t expired or poisoned. I think I forgot to put salt in it. There’s no need to be over dramatic. Now get up because I am getting super late for school,” I said.

She drove me to the school and dropped me outside. My eyes landed on Brandon leaning on his silver Audi with some of his friends. He was looking as handsome as always in his signature black jacket and a white t-shirt underneath with fitted jeans.

“Why he always look so handsome? That’s not fair!” My mind said.

I was praying that he wouldn’t notice me but he did notice me. I heard him calling my name and running behind me. I ignored him and continued my journey towards my class.

He placed his hand on my shoulder to make me stop. Unfortunately, he was a quarterback and gifted with long legs to run faster than me.

Lucky, bastard!

I turned to face him.

“What?” I was annoyed.

He stared at me with a smirk on his handsome face. But I pretend to hate that smirk.

“Cat got your tongue? A few seconds ago you were running behind me and calling my name like some obsessive fan,” I said.

His friends snickered at the insult. I glared at them and they averted their eyes, pretending to cover their laugh with a fake cough.

“I just wanted to say good morning. I didn’t know that saying good morning to a friend makes me an obsessive fan. You’re getting so dramatic, Maddy.” He said with the full smile, showing his pearly teeth.

He gave me this silly name “Maddy” when we were seven. We were playing a football match and he lost the match to me. He claimed that I cheated. I become really mad when he accused me of cheating so I stopped playing with him. He started calling me “Maddy” to annoy me and get my attention. In short, I punched him in the stomach and started to play with him, but the name stuck to me.

“I don’t have time for your stupid pleasantries, Mr. Brandon Edward. I have a class to attend. Excuse me.” I said and left him standing in the parking lot with his mouth dropped open.

Brandon Edwards was the school’s hottest guy and the quarterback who happened to be my childhood best friend. We went to the same kindergarten and become friends. He loved playing football and I wanted someone to play football with me. Other boys in the school were pretty scared of me except him. In sixth grade, I beat the boy of senior year because he called me “whore” for wearing a man’s shirt. It was my dad’s white shirt.

I was missing my parents a lot so I took out my dad’s shirt and wore it with my black jeans and went to school. The guy saw me started saying things. I lost my temper and beat the shit out of him.

That stunt did the trick to keep the other boys away from me.

After last class ended, I went to put my stuff in the locker. I dumped all the things in the locker and shut it. But it didn’t lock and slapped me right on the face.

“Ouch! I hate this damn thing,”

I tried again to lock it again by pushing it with my shoulders. But the same thing happened. I cursed under my breath and slapped the locker.

Suddenly, a strong hand was placed over mine and pushed it closed. I heard the clicking noise signaling it locked.

I never liked when someone helps me and think I am fragile.

“I know how to close my damn locker without your help. Why don’t you mind your own business, Mr. Obsessive?” I asked.

Brandon’s hand was still above mine sending tingles to all my body.

“I was leaning on the wall for past five minutes and watching you struggle to shut this thing. I helped you because I don’t like your annoyed face. The smile looks better. But sadly, you rarely smile.” He said leaning closer.

My heart started to beat faster at the closeness of our faces. His perfectly crafted face was in my sight making my body swoon. My eyes went to his plumped lips and unconsciously I licked mine.

Before I had done something stupid to embarrass myself, I pulled myself together.

“Now you are annoying me by stepping in my personal space,” I said pushing him away.

He laughed at me and flung his arm around my shoulder. He dragged us to the parking lot. The parking lot was clear; everyone leaves school so fast like there was a fire.

Brandon took out the keys and unlocked the car then he glanced at me. I frowned at him.

“What? Are you finally tempted to slit my throat and leave me here to die?” I said sarcastically.

He took a step closer, looking angry. He caught me off guard by placing his arm around my waist. He pulled me closer to him and leaned closer to my face.

“How many times have I told you not to joke about death? I get it you don’t care about your life. But I do, Madeline.” He said staring straight into my eyes.

I was just completely numb looking at the disappointment in his eyes. It wasn’t like I never thought about dying before. I wish sometimes, I had died with my parents.

“Promise me that you won’t say this again,” Brandon said.

How can you expect me not to fall for this boy? I knew it was stupid. But I couldn’t stop myself from falling in love with him.

“I promise you, I will not joke about death again. I’ll only talk about it when I am serious,” I said.

“Just keep that pretty mouth shut. Don’t talk about it at all. Get in the car. I’ll drop you at your house on the way.” He said, glaring at me.

He opened the car door and pushed me inside then locked the door.

I hated his bossy side. I wasn’t made to be boss around. But this rich, handsome, hot-headed, arrogant, obsessive, bas–

“Hey! Stop cursing me! It’s not nice” Brandon yelled.

I turned to him wide-eyed.

“Did I say it aloud?” I asked him confused.

He pressed an accelerator and put the car in reverse it jumped little with the movement.

“No, you were cursing me in your head. But I heard you.” He mumbled.

My mouth dropped open in shock. His ability to read minds still shocked me sometimes. From the day we become friends, I noticed how observant he was. He could tell what is going on in others mind without much effort.

“But he is still oblivious to your secret when he claims to know everything that runs in your mind.” My mind taunted.

“That’s true,” I said.

“Where’s Laura?” I asked him glancing out from the window.

“She is in New Jersey with her parents. Her great-grandmother wants to meet her. She didn’t want to go. But her parents forced her to tag with them,” He said driving towards my house.

I nodded my head and a silence fell between us.

“There’s this football match in the Preston high school ground. I was hoping you would like to come and....”

“No,” I interrupted him before he could finish his sentence.

I knew what he was going to ask. I had stopped playing football and going to matches for some time.

Laura said it was her right to spend more time with Brandon, not mine.

“At least hear me,” He said.

“No. I’m not going to play with the team. I have stopped playing football for years. There’s no way you can force me to play again,” I said.

My house came into view and he stopped the car.

“Thanks for the ride,” I said getting out of the car and shutting the door.

He stepped out of the car. I looked at him holding his football jersey in his hands.

“What?” I asked him with bewilderment.

“I was trying to ask if you would like to come to watch the game tonight and wear my jersey.” He said looking at me with hopeful eyes.

“Okay. But don’t expect me to cheer for you,” I said taking the jersey from him and making my way to the door.

“We’ll see about that, Maddy. You will be yelling my name all night!” He yelled.

My face heated up at his stupid sentence. Without looking back at him, I unlocked the door and hurriedly went inside the house.

I closed the door and slid down on the floor. His jersey was in my hand, it smelled like fresh woods with the hint of musk combine with his after-shave.

I sniffed the jersey again and sucked in a large breath to memorize it.

“Is it creepy?” I asked myself.

“It’s really creepy.” My mind replied.

But I didn’t care at that moment. I just wanted his smell to engulf and comfort my heart.

It wasn’t the first time that he asked me to wear his jersey and come to the match. We share the craziness about football and I love watching him play. But I had been avoiding all the matches because Laura deserves to attend them more than me.

Sadly, she never attended any of his football matches. She always made a new excuse not to tag along with him.

Brandon’s family sometimes comes to watch him play and it covers Laura’s absence.

I removed the jersey from my face and got up. I flung my bag on my shoulder and started to walk upstairs to my room when I smelled smoke.

I left the bag and jersey on the stairs then ran towards the kitchen. There was a lot of smoke in the kitchen.

“Fuck!” I coughed violently picked the fire extinguisher.

You're Not Going to Forget It