The Heart Exchange

Chapter Two

"Gooood morning, beautiful humans!"

The sound of my best friends entering from the back door came as no surprise. They'd long forgotten their manners and deemed knocking like normal people an unnecessary inconvenience.

"You two are early," stated Dad, unbothered by their refusal to await invitation before entering the premises.

"Time keeping is of utmost importance today," explained Nikita, throwing me a wink.

Dad nodded, seemingly in agreement.

"Nice outfit," mocked Toby, eyeing my maroon top with trepidation. "Is it new?"

I tossed him a filthy glare and lightly flicked him on the shoulder. He knew all about my 'an outfit a day keeps the mood swings away' motto, yet every now and then threw shade my way for the sake of being utterly hilarious.

Note the sarcasm.

"Would you guys like some porridge?" asked Dad, gesturing towards the bubbling substance.

Toby looked genuinely insulted. "Umm...no. I don't normally eat wallpaper paste for breakfast."

Dad turned in his stance and jokingly winked at me. "Remind me again why you're friends with this one?"

Toby gasped.

"I'm kidding," he insisted, patting him on the shoulder.

My wounded friend sat himself down on the stool to my left, nudging my arm as he went. Nikita positioned herself on the other vacant stool and accepted my Dad's kind offer for a bowl.

"So, what's the plan of action for today?" she asked, organised, like me.

"I'm doing three lessons. History and double English."

"Not bad. Both easy subjects."

Yeah, easy for you to say!

"At least you don't have economics," moaned Toby, bitching about the subject for no apparent reason other than the fact he found it boring.

His genius mind lived for science. Give Tobias Cunningham a periodic table and he was happy.

"I have Spanish first period," groaned Nikita, unimpressed. "As if Monday's aren't bad enough."

Her speciality was math.

"You kids haven't even gone back yet and you're already moaning," accused Dad, spooning some blueberries onto mine and Nikita's plate and offering Toby some toast.

"We're teenagers, babes. It's what we do best."

"Did you just call Maddie's dad, babes?" enquired Nikita.

We both giggled.

"Yes, he did," informed Dad, gesturing towards Toby's untouched toast. "Now eat up, sugar plum."

I cracked a smile at their shenanigans, appreciating their need to act normal on a day of utmost importance. They knew I was nervous. Hell, we all were. This was our first day of junior year. Anything could happen. Anything at all.

****

Orientation was uneventful. I was handed my new timetable (even though my doctors and I were emailed a copy months ago) and was told to smile at the camera in order to receive an ID badge. The entire time I waited in line for my card to print, I felt eyes on me. People whispered but not quietly enough. They wanted to know if I could still function normally. Still walk, talk and breathe. Nikita once told me there was a rumour going around that half of my face had caved in due to my fall. Of course, that was not the case but I caught people sneaking a peek. Perhaps they were disappointed?