Page 3 of The Two Halves of My Heart

“I’m the same age as Maddison.” I protested, although as I had no idea where I was walking home from, it wasn’t as powerful as it could have been.

“We’ll think about it, okay.” She used her ‘don’t push it’ voice, which translated to, ‘I’m not changing my mind’. It was the one thing I wished she’d think about changing. I wasn’t a little girl anymore.

Mum fussed with my hair and my uniform until I pushed her hands away, forcing her to leave me alone. In the next few minutes, I’d have to walk into my new class with everyone looking at me—staring and asking questions in their heads. It turned the swirly feeling in my stomach into overdrive, and I just wanted to get it over with. I knew Maddison would be in the class, but he hadn’t said much when we’d visited. The genuine happiness at finding friends had faded a little after that, dimming in my chest like a candle burning out.

Finally, I enter Class Three. And as I cast a shy glance over the room, I saw a big smile from Maddison. He beckoned to me, drawing a magical line to him which I followed and went to sit on the carpet next to him.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” I whispered back.

The rest of the day flew past, but Maddison stayed next to me for the entire day. We saw Oliver in the playground at lunch, and he came over to talk with us. The other kids in the class were busy talking about chocolate and holidays, but all I wanted to do was play with the boys.

When we came back in from lunch, our teacher sat me at a table away from Maddison. I looked back at him and forced the worry away. Nerves were normal. At least, that’s what my mum kept telling me. But as I turned away, Maddison moved off his chair and came to sit next to me. He crossed his arms in defiance and didn’t budge.

Any thought that he might not want to play with me vanished, and I wasn’t worried any longer. He stayed at my table for the rest of the day.

For the next three months, things played out much the same.

Mum would walk me to school, even though Oliver and Maddison called for me in the morning. They walked me into the playground, and Maddison didn’t move from my table in class. Every day after school, they walked me home, with my mum a step behind us.

The weekends became my favourite time. We’d play out in the fresh air and spend every minute we could together. Hide and seek, tag, or any other games we felt like making up. If it was raining, we’d go to the boys’ house. We’d play top-trumps, watch the telly, or draw pictures of dragons we made up in our heads. Oliver told me tales of different worlds he had invented where dragons were real and protected only the noblest and daring of humans or elves.

We grew inseparable. Desperate to be around each other. Every minute we were allowed to be together, we were. And I’d never been so happy.

Until everything changed.

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