Queen Of Hearts [under editing]

Chapter one

Brynn •

"She's what?" Asks Mackenzie. Her voice is half scared, half convinced that she heard wrong.

The headmistress reaches across the table and takes her hand. Kenzie pushes her chair away from the desk and backs up into the wall.

"No! No. No," she cries. "She can't be! I saw her this morning! We saw her this morning!" Her voice has reached a shout now. I sit in stunned silence. Maddie is dead. Maddie is dead? What on earth happened? But that's not important right now. I stand and walk over to Kenzie.

"Kenz?" I ask her softly. She has sunk to the floor and is crying. Her sobs are loud and she's not trying to disguise her pain. I've never seen her like this before.

I sit down next to her and pull her into a hug. She cries harder but hugs me back. I sit stroking her hair as the headmistress leaves to give Mackenzie privacy.

As I comfort her, I think. Who would kill Maddie? Who would want to? It could have been an accident but surely the teacher would have said so. I rub Kenzie's back as I think about Maddie. She was always very different from Kenz. My best friend had always worn her heart on her sleeve. She cared far too much about everyone. I remember once, in the fourth grade, she cried for an hour because she squished a ladybird by accident and it died. When Maddie did something similar she had laughed. It wasn't that she was a bad child, she was just a lot more outgoing, rebellious and just a little bit out of control. But underneath it all she had a big heart. I remember when there was a boy who stole Kenzie's sandwiches in Kindergarten. I hadn't known her then but everyone knew the story of how Maddie cut all of his hair off, when he was napping, in retaliation. Maddie would have done anything to protect the people she loved.

Rebellious or not, she didn't deserve this. No one deserved this. She was quiet at school. Well not quiet, but she never picked any fights. She started smoking to calm herself down. It was illogical but after Kenzie's parents split up she seemed to think it was necessary. I contemplate suicide briefly. No, Maddie would never have been able to do that to her sister.
Kenzie's sobs are quietening. She lifts her swollen and blotchy face to look at me.

"What happened to her?" She asks quietly.

"I don't know.". I reply. A few tears trickle down her cheeks. I'm not surprised to find that I am crying too.
The bell for the end of the day rings. School's finished for the year. I can't help thinking that something else is just beginning.

***

I forgot to mention in my last post, Megan's account is vellichorblue. What do you guys think of Maddie? What do you think happened to her?