Safe and Sound (Watty Awards 2012).

Chapter Eight.

"Name?"

"Madeline Harwell."

Mr Holden made a note of Madeline's name on his register, then came over and dropped a textbook onto the desk in front of her.

"Don't lose it, or you'll have to pay to replace it."

He said simply before going to stand by his desk.

"As always, I'm going to tell you what your homework is before we begin the lesson. You are all going to be working with the person beside you, and you will have to produce a ten to fifteen minute presentation on a biological issue of your choice. You will need to make a slide-show to go with your presentation. Use diagrams, and even make models if you would like to. Quickly write that down in your homework diaries. It will be due in two months from today. I'm giving you a long time to complete this project, so it better be good."

You could practically feel the good mood in the class deflate as everyone scribbled down Mr Holden's instructions. With the end of my pen, I gently tapped Madeline's ribs as she wrote.

"Looks like we're partners."

I grinned.
I wasn't expecting the whimper that left her lips as soon as my pen made contact with her side. She flinched away from the light touch of the pen, her eyes filling with pain and tears. One of her hands flew to her side, and she shut her eyes as she began to breath deeply. Poking her with my pen couldn't have hurt her that bad! She was clearly over reacting. I frowned.

"Oh come on. Baby much?"

I rolled my eyes at her, an amused smile on my face. Madeline ignored me, though her eyes opened once more. A few moments later she spoke.

"Please don't do that again."

Her voice was barely above a whisper, and the pain in it surprised me.

"I barely touched you."

I protested.

"I hurt my ribs. So it hurt."

Madeline said simply, offering me no other explanation. She must have hurt them pretty badly to be hurt by the tap of a pen. She looked at me for a moment longer before swallowing and turning her head to listen to whatever Mr Holden was saying. I frowned again before uncapping my pen and copying down what our teacher had written on the board. It didn't take long for me to speak again.

"So what did you do to your ribs?"

I asked Madeline, keeping my voice low so that we wouldn't get told off. She didn't even look at me as she replied.

"Nothing."

"What, just like nothing happened to your face too?"

She sighed, putting her pen down and raking one of her hands through her blonde hair.

"Drop it, okay?"

She said, her eyes flickering onto mine for a moment before she looked down at her notepad. Her writing was incredibly neat. A sigh fell from my lips.

"Fine...What should we do for our project?"

I changed the subject, and Madeline shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. Can we talk about it later?"

She looked at me, and I eventually nodded my head.

"Come to mine after school and we can make a start?"

I suggested, knowing that my mum wouldn't mind me bring Madeline with me. I liked the thought of Madeline coming home with me, even if it was to do school work. She hesitated, a thoughtful expression filling her eyes. A few moments later she slowly nodded her head.