Finding Madeline

Chapter 7

Madeline:

Briiiing. Briiiingg. I quickly stood and packed my stuff at the sound of the bell. I was eager to get out of class and join Matt and his friends. I walked over to the spot where we normally sit and received a warm welcoming from my new group of friends when I arrived.

"Hey Maddie!!! I've got some exciting news!!" Anna said as she gained everyone's attention. "I was offered a job in Hollywood! I'm going to work for a famous modeling agency!!" She shouted excitedly.

"Oh my goodness Anna congratulations! That's so exciting!" I responded.

The friends around us smiled. Obviously they already knew this story and I felt disappointed that I didn't have more classes with them. I only had math and science with my friend group and all the classes in between I was alone.

We had a fun lunch and shared stories of what we did over the weekend. We then planned to all go see a scary movie together next weekend. Everything was turning out great this year. I was glad I got to move schools and get a fresh start. This year was definitely my best year of school so far.

At the end of lunch I was packing up my lunchbox and beginning to walk to class when a nice looking black haired girl wearing a funny shirt that said, "the only running I do is after the ice cream truck." When she approached I smiled.

"Hey sorry to bother you but I just cannot find this classroom can you please point me in the right direction?" She asked.

"Oh room 47! That's where I'm headed now! Why don't you just follow me," I said as I headed off.

"Are you new here?" I asked.

"Yeah I just started today. What about you?"

"Oh my gosh it's my first year too! My name is Madeline by the way."

"Hi Madeline I'm Taylor O'Brien! It's so great to meet someone else new I've been extremely scared about my transition!"

"Oh don't worry about it you will fit right in! Why don't you sit with me tomorrow at lunch?" I asked.

"Really? Thanks so much!"

"Of course! I'm sure my friends will love you!" I replied as we walked into room 47.

~~~

Halfway through the class period, the science teacher began to show us this cool experiment about fire. She gave us the materials, told us to partner up and do the experiment ourselves.

"Do you want to be partners Taylor?" I asked.

As I looked over at her, her face was white. She gazed at the flame that was slowly fading away.

"Taylor? Are you alright?" I asked.

"Uh I don't really want to do this experiment," She replied.

"Oh, well your out of luck because we sort of have to unless your allergic to something."

"I-I don't feel comfortable around flame I don't want to do this."

"Come on, I'll show you how to do it and you don't even have to touch the materials, I'll do it all," I said as I began to light the wood on fire.

As the wood burst into flames, Taylor stood up in a panic, her eyes wide and full of fear. She looked terrified. She began to shake and backed up quickly, knocking over her chair and tripping over a backpack. She hit the ground hard and as I extended a hand to help her up, she quickly scooted away. 

"Stop! Please!" She yelled out as she looked around the room.

I looked around the room and saw all of my fellow students with fiery sticks in their hands. I looked back at Taylor and saw the reflection of the flame in her hazel eyes.

"Students! Students! What is going on?" My teacher said frantically.

She looked at Taylor who was pressed against the teachers desk.

"Okay! Okay! Get up already, your being ridiculous, its just a flame, not too dangerous okay?" She said sarcastically as if she was annoyed with Taylor.

She grabbed Taylor's shoulders and attempted to lift her up but she didn't budge. She was honestly terrified.

"Taylor, get up now! I need you to cooperate with me right now!"

I was suddenly puzzled at the fact that the teacher was being so rude to someone who looks like she's having a panic attack. Did she even realize what was going on? I thought.

When the teacher looked about ready to smash something, Dylan walked through the door.

Why was he so late to class? I thought. Out of our entire group of friends, he was probably the most studious. He always cared about his academics and was in all advanced classes. He was extremely smart.

"Sorry I was late I was held-Taylor? Oh my gosh Taylor! Are you okay?" He asked as he rushed to her side.

He must've known Taylor before she switched to this school because she relaxed at the sound of his voice.

"Dylan?" She asked as she stared up into his eyes and hugged him.

Dylan then stood up from his crouched position next to Taylor.

"Uh Mrs. Fig, let me take her to the office, I'll take care of her," He demanded to the already annoyed teacher.

She rolled her eyes and nodded. He then grabbed her hands but she could barely take a step because of how shaky she was. He put his arms around her body as she placed her head on his shoulder. This helped support her from falling over and she was able to hobble out of the classroom with Dylan's help.

"Okay class, now that that drama is over, resume your labs please," She instructed as walked back to her desk.

I was furious at her. I was confused at what had happened with Taylor, but she obviously needed help. She looked like she was about to have a heart attack for crying out loud and the teacher didn't even do anything but get frustrated. If I was a teacher I would be extremely concerned. Did she think that was some sort of joke? I took a deep breath to try to extinguish the anger building up inside of me. I continued my lab and hoped that Taylor was going to be alright.