I’ll Go Until My Heart Stops

I awoke the following morning to the clattering of my alarm clock. As it jumped across my bedside locker it crashed to the floor with a bang loud enough to wake the house, if it wasn’t already awake that it is. I was always last up in our family, this being another cause of arguments between my Mother and I.

One morning in particular, about six months ago, I had awoken almost a half an hour late, having forgotten to set my alarm the previous night, to find my mother standing at the end of my bed; hands on hips, her severely cut jaw length blonde hair freshly washed and make-up perfectly applied.

“About time, I’ve been standing here for ten minutes!” she barked.

To which I sleepily replied, “What? Why on earth didn’t you wake me?”

Her face lit up at this, a smug grin adorning her features her high cheekbones rising up into a smile.

“It’s time you learned responsibilities, young lady,” she replied, stalking out of my room.

However on this particular morning I had no such wake up call, just a: “Maddison Emily Stewart get up right now, you can’t be late on your first day!!”

I stumbled out of bed and danced across my bedroom floor; littered with all of my belongings which had not yet been assigned a place in my new bedroom. I pulled open my drawer and grabbed a pale blue sweater and a pair of faded jeans; slipping my Chuck Taylors on as I walked out the door.

I sluggishly walked towards the family bathroom down the hall and pounded on the door.

“Zoe come on, I’m gonna be late!” I roared at my eleven year old sister who called back, “Two seconds! I’m almost done!”

As I counted in my head my senses began to wake up. Mmmm, I sniffed fresh coffee and doughnuts - Dad had been out to pick up breakfast.

“Done!” Zoe sang as she skipped out of the bathroom, her curly black hair swinging behind her.

“Excited for your first day?” she enquired, her grey eyes glittering with anticipation.

“Yeah I guess so,” I sighed less than enthusiastically.

Satisfied she skipped down the stairs towards the wonderful smells that were wafting from the kitchen.
As I exited the bathroom ten minutes later glancing at my watch, I knew I was running late; but just enough time to grab a doughnut, a flask of coffee and say good morning to Dad. I sprinted out the door, running through the garden, no time to stop and appreciate the beauty of it today. I wrenched the gate open and I flew out onto the pavement, bumping right into an innocent passer by.

“Whoa!” she exclaimed as I ran straight into her small frame.

“Oh! I’m so sorry are you okay?” I replied flustered as I examined the victim of my clumsiness. The first thing that struck me about her was her vibrant red hair; it was hard to miss, it was so vivid - obviously not natural, I concluded. With her tiny face littered with freckles and green eyes set behind long lashes she reminded somewhat of a pixie with attitude. We were similar in one way as we both wore the same, very simple outfits. Outfits my mother would sigh at as I walked into a room. She wore a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, a dark green sweater and a pair of chuck taylors almost as worn as mine.

She snapped me out of my examination of her by answering my earlier question, “Yeah I think I’ll live. Hi, I’m Hayley by the way.”

“I’m Maddie - just moved here yesterday,” I grumbled the last part.

“You’re kidding! I just moved in two days ago. Does that mean this is your first day?” she laughed as she pulled me along with her in the direction of the school.

“Yeah, Mom was born here so we moved back yesterday,” I decided to reply as if this was normal to me and that I had no problem with it; other people didn’t need my baggage.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I think it’s fate that you almost mowed me down this morning - we are meant to start at this school together. I feel a friendship coming on!”

I laughed at this, my melancholy mood lifting somewhat. Well, at least I didn’t have to do everything alone.

“Maddie?” Hayley called, concerned when I didn’t answer her.

“Oh yeah sorry! I agree, fate works in mysterious ways and god knows I need a friend ‘round here!”

“Awesome!” she exclaimed, flashing me a winning smile and tugging me along with her as she ran towards the school gates.

***

The huge red brick building stood tall and imposing against the breathtaking landscape. The feeling of institution surrounded it, as students milled around calling to each other snippets of “Hey man!” and “Guess what I heard?”. They buzzed around me as Hayley, dragging me along, ploughed through the crowd towards the main doors. The doors were stained wood with large medieval handles added, I presumed, to make the school blend in with its surroundings. It failed.

As we fought our way through the crowded hallways searching for the main office, Hayley received several stares. I presume it was due to the outrageous colour of her hair. She however was oblivious to all of this and continued fighting her way through the masses until she stopped suddenly, so suddenly that I ran right into her with a crash.

“Ouch! Hayley what is it?” I asked, exasperated.

She turned to me, her expression vacant, and indicated her head in a ‘look over there’ motion. I followed her directions and my gaze came to rest on the most breathtaking sight I have seen in this picturesque town. Him….