Anyone Else But You

Chapter 26 - The Perfect Team

“I know he hurt me okay, but I don’t need you to get involved every time. I know you only want to protect me but it’s too much. I need to be able to live my own life!” Kate looked at Maddie with a shell shocked look on her face, before pulling away from her sister.

“I, um, I’m sorry. I won’t try and get involved anymore.” She stormed off up the corridor with her friend in tow. Maddie thought about calling her back but it was too late. Great! She hates me now! Maddie groaned to herself and walked into the now empty classroom ignoring Jasper’s attempts to talk to her again.

Once every one was in the classroom Miss Hooper stood at the front of the class. “Right guys, I’ve managed to finish marking your projects and I’m going to give them back to you today. There was some really good work and some really amazing work. So well done!” She picked the plastic box that held the folders containing their projects up from the floor and placed it on the front table.

“Let’s see, if you want to make your way to sit with your partner I’ll start handing these out. Polly and David, Sam and Rebecca, Ali and Parker . . .” Miss Hooper walked round the classroom placing folders on tables. She smiled at each pair as she returned their projects. “. . . And finally Maddie and Jasper. Your project was absolutely fantastic guys, honestly you two make a great team.”

Maddie stared straight ahead trying not to cry, she could feel the tears threatening to fall but didn’t want anyone to see them. Instead she took a deep breath swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat and looked down at the project folder in front of her. She felt Jasper gazing at her and tried not to glance at him but couldn’t help it, when she turned she saw him smile helplessly at her. Her heart beat a little faster as she looked at him.

“I think we make a very good team.” He whispered making her shiver, she had to look away from the intensity in his eyes and found solace in opening their project folder. Miss Hooper had given the two of them an A*, the best they could have hoped for. As they looked through the pages and saw all the ticks and ‘excellents’ they relaxed a little. Maddie began to feel sad that everybody thought her and Jasper worked well together but that they were no longer together. When the bell rang for the end of the lesson she couldn’t get out of the room quick enough.

*

As she walked home she couldn’t face her sister or all the reminders of Jasper there. When she reached Elwood Street she walked straight past her house and then straight past Jasper’s. She wasn’t entirely sure where she was going, she just kept walking and found herself on Regent’s Park Road. Stopping outside a bakery she looked up and saw Gemma through the window.

The bell on the door rang as she made her way into the shop, Gemma looked up and smiled at her from behind the counter. Maddie glanced back and burst into tears, she wasn’t normally one for crying and none of her football teammates had ever seen her in tears before.

“Mads, what’s wrong?” Gemma was by her side within seconds, she had an arm around Maddie’s shoulder and pulled her towards one of the booths at the side of the room. Maddie rested her forehead on the table and sobbed heavily while Gemma rubbed her back. “Is it your parents? Kate? Jasper?” Maddie picked her head up to look at her friend.

“Everything.” She sighed. “Everything’s going wrong. Jasper and I have broken up, Ali and I aren’t friends anymore, Kate and I just got in a fight and my parents have no idea what is really going on.”

“Well I know about you and Ali, but what happened between you and Jasper?” Gemma looked at her with a concerned look on her face, Maddie sighed back heavily.

“Well Ali’s been giving me trouble since I started dating Jasper, she got a group of her friends to make cruel comments every time they walked past me. Which Jasper and my sister took to heart and starting fighting for me. This got on my nerves because they always there getting in the way. Then Jasper lied to me and went to see Ali behind my back.”

“Oh, I see. You two seemed so happy together. It seems kind of a silly thing to fall out over, with Ali as well. It just seems that everything’s been blown completely out of proportion. Maybe if you talked to the two of them you could patch it all up.” Gemma smiled hopefully at her but Maddie just shook her head. “Well then it must be time for a slice of my chocolate cake, on the house.” She patted Maddie on the back and went back behind the counter.

When she returned a few minutes later she had two huge slices of chocolate cake and two coffees on a tray. Setting them down on the table she slid into the booth opposite Maddie and looked at her with a look of pity across her face. “Please stop looking at me like that.” Maddie stuffed a forkful of cake into her mouth, it was delicious as always.

“What can I do to make it better?” Gemma asked as she took a bite of her own piece of cake.

“Let me stay in your spare room tonight? Please!” She pleaded and gave Gemma the best puppy-dog eyes she could muster given the circumstances. “I can’t go back home tonight, I can’t face Kate at the moment.”

“I don’t know, I think maybe should face Kate; if you leave it it’ll only get worse.”

“Please!”

“Okay fine, but only for tonight and you need to ring your parents to let them know.” Maddie burst into a huge grin and leaned across the table to give Gemma a hug.

“Thank you!” The two of them finished their coffee and cake then Maddie helped Gemma with the rest of the shift and closing up. They then walked home and ordered a Chinese takeaway and watched a Friends marathon. Maddie rang her mum to let her know she was staying at Gemma’s house, she may have told a slight untruth in that it was Becky who was upset at splitting up with her boyfriend, but her mum wouldn’t mind too much.

“Everything okay with your mum?” Gemma asked as Maddie returned to the lounge.

“Yes, she completely understands why. Thanks for letting me stay, I just couldn’t face Kate tonight. I’ll go home first thing in the morning and talk to her.” Maddie explained hoping to convince Gemma of the plan, she had no intention of heading home in the morning maybe tomorrow night but not first thing in the morning. She wasn’t a morning person at the best of times let alone when she’d just had an argument.

The two of them sat chatting and laughing until nearly midnight when Gemma remembered that Maddie had to be in school for 8:30 tomorrow and she herself had to be at the bakery at 7:00 for a delivery. Maddie climbed into Gemma’s spare bed and lay staring at the ceiling for what seemed like hours before she finally drifted off into a dreamless sleep.