All Men Are Not The Same

All Yet Nothing Changed

I dedicate this not-too-long chapter to a special friend of mine who hates reading! ShaheenZrk ^_^ Thank you for always being here to listen to me and my stories over and over again... :P

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For once in his life, after the 12th of July 1997, Maddox was eagerly waiting for his birthday. His eighteenth birthday. He was impatiently looking forward to that day although he has long hated his birthdays as they would bring him hurtful memories over and over again.

"Still three more years to go for that long awaited day," Maddox said to himself, emphasising on the word 'long', reflecting his immense impatience as he jumped into his cosy bed after the clock ticked midnight. Once again he caught himself lost in his thoughts which usually kept him busy for hours at night. But he had to let go of them and find some sleep after having spent the whole of his Friday evening completing his school project only to keep his weekend free of school works.

"Goodnight Maddox," he said to himself as he closed his eyes, welcoming his sleep with a tired yawn.

Like each night, Maddox slept with one hope. The hope that the years would fly by and make of him an adult, legally. He was yearning to turn eighteen for he needed to be an adult to be able to escape from that house which has been tormenting him for five years now. That house which he called his stepmother's five-star jail.

Maddox hated to live with his unfaithful dad and his stepmom. Each day, he would fight the urge of running away from that huge concrete box of unhappiness and suffocation.

The cheerful and compassionate little boy who used to be Miranda's best friend was lost into this now fifteen year old introvert who carried his melancholy and bad mood everywhere he went.

Over the years, the teenager did not even manage to make new friends. As it is, his shabby dressing sense must definitely not have helped him into making friends. Maddox was always wearing some kind of unfashionable clothing and would most of the time pull his hoodie over his head, hiding part of his face, as if concealing his gaze from the world.

The young lad found solace in his loneliness, his only friend being his laptop which he received as gift for winning a competition held by the high school he attended. He would spend most of his off-school time using the device. But unlike other youngsters of his age, he did not use it to socialise. He did not even have any accounts on social networks. He would only go around websites, trying to learn new things, especially about programming which was a field which interested him. He wanted to become a computer programmer. Probably because he wanted to hide behind a screen his whole life without having to meet much of people's eyes.

Maddox almost fell asleep when loud voices made him jump off his bed.

"Who do you think you are talking to?" Evan yelled. "Why are you questioning me like this?"

"Evan! I have only asked you where are you going at this time? Why are you reacting like this?" Lydia said stressing on each of her words, her voice mirroring her inner frustration.

"We've been married for so many years now. Why do you still act like a newly wed?" asked the infuriated man to his wife. "Even Miranda never questioned me about where I go and with whom. Stop bossing me around!"

Upon realising that it was only one of the usual fights between Evan and Lydia, Maddox went back to sleep, wishing that their shouts would not ruin his night further.

What appeared to be an infinitely sweet and romantic show-off between Evan and Lydia finally gave way to bitter fights. Maddox was again living amidst daily arguments, taunts, shouts and cries. Certain things, like his father's rude manners, did not change but the difference was that Maddox no longer cared, because that woman with whom his father was fighting was his step mother whom he could never forgive for all the pains she caused his mother.

Although Lydia tried to take good care of Maddox over the years, she failed to erase the hatred he held for her in his heart. And each good thing Lydia would ever do seemed like some show-off to her stepson who never tried to ask her side of the story. He did not even have the least idea that his stepmother may not be such a bad person.

Maddox simply slept ignoring that his stepmom had been crying the whole night. He did not know that she also had a story to share, a story she buried deep inside her soul.

The next morning Maddox woke up at the sharp voice of Lydia who was shouting over the phone seemingly in an argument with Evan who had not returned back home since he left around midnight.

"Not again!" Maddox sighed pulling himself out of bed lazily.

A few minutes later, the little young man tiptoed out of the house in his hooded sweatshirt, jogging pants and sneakers. He wanted to avoid his stepmom who would definitely make him sit for breakfast and lecture him about the benefits of a healthy meal in the morning which he hated to hear.

Maddox was on his way to his usual Saturday morning destination. He was off to that park where he used to go with Miranda and at some further point back in time, with Elisa as well. Each Saturday, during the five years which went by, he had been walking several kilometers just to spend some meaningful minutes in that park which reminded him of his mother and sister.

But he did not know that on this particular day, that park would give him much more memories to treasure later on - memories of his first meeting with the woman of his life.