Broken Crayon

Chapter Two

He didn't chase after her. He let her be.

Nicholas Ordaz loved scaring the little girl. He found it funny. He didn't know how much it affected her wellbeing. Nor did he care all that much about it.

Madeline ran to the music department. It was her safe space at times. She could practice her violin and forget the harsh truth of life.

She opened up a practice room and frantically shut the door behind her, breathing heavily. Sliding to the ground, she put her head in her hands. Small sobs left her mouth, and the occasional whimper escaped as well. Drawing her legs in to the fetal position, her hands left her damp face, and wandered to her backpack. Quickly unzipping it, she got out a stuffie she had packed the night before. She always brought one to school with her. Just in case.

She was glad she did.

Hugging it to her chest, she cried into it. The little lavender elephant held it's smile, but to Madeline, it was comforting her. She just hoped no one caught her doing this.

There was one person she knew accepted her. She moved away last year, to Minneapolis. Madeline considered Camille Carlow her very best friend. She only wished she thought the same of her. No one was her best friend.

Not since elementary school.

Hugging Ottie, the purple elephant, she tried to suppress the memories that inevitably came flooding back to her.

"Hey, Madi! Come play with us!" Josie said, as the other girls snickered around her. The smile she gave Madeline seemed genuine. Second grade her ran over to them.

"Really? You want to play with me?" Madeline bounced from foot to foot excitedly. Hardly anyone wanted to ever play with her.

"Of course! Now, here's the game we're going to play." she pointed to the top of the small Eiffel Tower made of rope. "We're going to jump from there! Wanna go first?"

Madeline's face dropped. "That-that's almost 30 feet, Josie!"

"Exactly! It'll be fun, come on!" She led her to the bottom of the rope structure. "Come on, you aren't chicken are you?" Josie taunted. Madeline, not wanting to be left out of this supposed new friend group, cautiously began climbing.

Some say she was gullible. Others said she was desperate.

She jumped.

It was the first long distance jump of her life. It wouldn't be the last.

The fall felt like forever. For 3 seconds of her life, she felt like she was going to be part of the group. Part of a higher society.

Her body hit the ground. She didn't land on her feet.

The last thing she saw of that moment was the others, awestruck and smirking. The several pairs of feet walked away.

She laid there. Slowly letting go of consciousness.

Madeline wailed in the practice room. It was always weird, constantly coming to the realization of having no real friends.

The first bell rang.

Getting up, she knew she had to go to class. She couldn't repeat the end of last year, and get so much detention again. Sniveling away her tears, she put her stuffie back in her backpack, zipped it up, and walked out.

She no longer feigned confidence. Keeping her eyes down, she focused on the feet surrounding her.

Getting to Pre-Calculus, she laid her backpack down and went to get a drink of water from the fountain. Rounding the corner to the bathroom, she was knocked back onto her backside.

Having the wind knocked out of her, she immediately became conscious of her dress. Pulling it back down to cover herself, she looked up to see if anyone had noticed. Luckily, everyone was trained to pay no mind to her clumsiness.

Glancing ahead, she didn't recognize the face that looked worriedly at her.

He was tall, taller than most of the kids in the school. He had black hair that was puffed up on top of his head, and it descended into a small goatee and beard. It was trimmed nicely, and suited him well. Big, brown eyes hooded by wiry eyebrows looked at her nervously. His olive skin wrinkled at the forehead.

He raised his arm out to help her out. Guardedly, she took it, and was awe-struck when he lifted her up without so much as an ounce of effort.

Smiling at her, he apologized.

"My apologies. May I walk you to your class?"

His voice was silky and tender.

"I-I haven't seen you around-I mean-I-" she stuttered. He was so good-looking, and didn't pay any heed to the surrounding girls. He only looked at her. His shining smile was enough to make a girl swoon. "I don't recognize you." she finally managed to get out.

What an idiotic thing to say, she thought to herself.

"I don't go here, I'm visiting to talk with an old teacher." he remained thoughtful for second or two. "What's your name?"

"M-Madeline. Madeline Otto."

"You seem like a lovely girl, Madeline. Ravi Shankar."

Taking a step forward, he put his hand where her back met her neck, and gestured for her to lead the way to her class.

As soon as they were out of earshot, the girls began to whisper among themselves, glaring at the two walking away from them.