All Men Are Not The Same

Some Wounds Never Heal

It was a few days before Maddox's sixteenth birthday. These were the days which kept him locked in his room - moody and engulfed in sorrow.

Maddox's phone, which he recently received from Lydia for his good results, was ringing incessantly with the name of Deborah illuminating the screen. Yet, lost in a world of his, he did not answer the phone. In normal days, this was something he would never do - firstly, because he would not want to face Deborah's tantrums and secondly, because she was someone he would never want to displease.

It was nine months since Maddox first met Deborah. Since that day onward, their friendship kept growing until they were both nearly inseparable. Not a single day went by without them calling each other to talk, tease, laugh or argue upon stupid things.

Although both of them grew closer to each other, Maddox would still switch to his taciturn nature from time to time. In fact, the tanned-skin brunette was so talkative that, at times, Maddox hardly had his opportunity to talk. And on other occasions, Maddox would just prefer to spend some time alone with his own self, surrounded by memories of his late sister and mother. Despite the sad moments which would often pop up, Maddox was somewhat growing happier as days went by.

On one hand, he had a friend by his side and on the other hand, he had Lydia who slowly became his confident. She was someone who would always listen to him and advise him on issues regarding his studies as well as his personal life.

As for Mr Howard, he was still the heartless person he has always been. Most of his time was spent away from the house. He was enjoying himself by spending Lydia's money lavishly in clubs and gambling houses.

"Don't you feel the need for your dad's affection?" Deborah once asked Maddox.

"Not anymore. As it is, I have never received his love my whole life. He was never here when I most needed him. I'm now used to live without his love. So used to it that it doesn't pain anymore," was Maddox's cold answer.

Maddox's heart was content with Lydia as a guide in his life and Deborah as his friend. Yet, deep down his chest, there was an emptiness left by the departure of his mother. When Elisa, his twin sister, left a similar emptiness in Maddox's life, Miranda fought her soul to fill in that emptiness. But when the latter died, no one could ever fill in the emptiness she left in her son's heart and life.

Maddox's phone rang once more and this time, it caught Maddox's attention. But by the time he dried up his tears and picked up the phone, Deborah already disconnected. Maddox tried to call back but the brunette's phone was switched off.

"Oh no! Twelve missed calls!" Maddox exclaimed. "Now, she'll be angry at me for the next twelve hours. Her anger period is always proportionate to the number of calls I miss from her," Maddox smiled at his deduction and attempted to call Deborah once more, but her phone was still unreachable.

"Never mind, in twelve hours, my favourite day of the week will already be here and I will be at the park where Deb will surely meet me. I'm sure by then, her anger will have subsided," the young boy said to himself as he jumped into his bed and decided to sleep early so that the night goes by quickly.

The next morning was a usual Saturday routine where Maddox rushed out of bed, had his breakfast so as not to have to listen to Lydia's lecture, put on his hooded jacket and rode to the park. He no longer had to walk kilometers as he now had a bicycle of his own - one more 'favour' of his stepmom, as he called it.

Maddox waited for two long hours without any sign of the brunette. He called her several times and despite that her phone was ringing, she was not answering it. Maddox was worried. Is she still angry or is it something else? I hope there's nothing serious. He then decided to give up and return home as grey clouds hovered over the park, threatening to pour down at any moment.

The first thing Maddox did upon entering his room was to log onto his Facebook account to check whether Deborah was around. Once more he was disappointed as there was no sign of her.

The weekend passed by with a grumpy Maddox staying confined within the walls of his room. With his birthday getting even closer, his pain amplified. He still freaked out when the memories of his seventh birthday would pop out of nowhere and creep into his days and nights. His father's words gave him a wound which never healed over time.

To ease the grief that his upcoming birthday was bringing him, he plunged into his laptop, keeping himself busy learning more about computer programming which was once his only hobby. From time to time, he would peep onto his Facebook account to see whether Deborah has left him any message but in vain.

The following two days were not any better than the morose weekend. They were rather worse as Maddox had no idea why Deborah was not talking to him for so long. He could neither concentrate on his lessons at school nor could he stay calm at home. He was so agitated that Lydia noticed there was something wrong.

"What's the matter my dear? Why do you look so lost?" his stepmom asked as she saw the young boy lying on the couch for hours, overwhelmed in a world made of his past memories.

"Maddox!" Lydia called again.

"Y-yes aunt Lydia, what happened?" he answered stumbling out of his thoughts.

"I asked why you look so lost. Anything troubling you?" Lydia repeated with a reassuring smile adorning her face.

"No, not really. I mean, there is nothing to worry about," Maddox smiled back attempting to hide his nervousness.

The two distressful days were over and on Wednesday morning, when he least expected it, Maddox received a message from Deborah while he was getting ready to go to school. As his phone beeped, he instantly stretched his hand out, reaching for it and in no time, he was reading the brunette's message.

"Hi. Meet me at the Park after school. Got to talk to you about something serious," Maddox read aloud.

But why does she want to meet me today? Awkward! She didn't even apologise for not having met me on Saturday and for having ignored all my messages and calls! She just sent a message saying she needs to talk!

Although he was upset about the message, Maddox went to the park after school eagerly waiting for his friend to come. It was not long before the brunette appeared, dressed in her navy blue school uniform.

Before Maddox could react, he saw two more girls and a little boy, all dressed in their school uniform, walking towards him as they all started singing excitedly, "Happy Birthday to you. Happy birthday to you Maddox, happy birthday dear Mad Cow! Happy birthday to you!" It was only then that Maddox noticed Deborah was holding a little birthday cake with two candles fitted on it - one shaped like a number one and the other carved into number six but they were misplaced such that they made sixty one instead of sixteen. Instead of laughing at the situation, Maddox remained silent and his face went expressionless.

"Hey birthday boy! Why are you standing like a statue?" Deborah laughed.

When she did not receive any answer from Maddox, she punched him lightly and joked, "You are shocked right? You did not expect this, did you?"

Maddox raised his eyes which were filled with tears and stared at his friend standing in front of him.

"Why?" He muttered in a broken voice. "Why did you do that?"

"What...what's the matter Maddox? What's...what's wrong with you?" Deborah stammered.

Maddox turned back to leave. The worried brunette quickly asked one of her friends to hold the cake while she walked after the birthday boy, grabbing his arm to stop him.

"Please, you have to tell me what's wrong! You just can't leave like this!"

"Go away Deb! Please leave me alone!" Maddox yelled as he ran back home, leaving a heartbroken Deborah behind along with her friends at the park.

He failed to realise that an unexpressed feeling, an unsaid word and an unexplained behaviour are all what's needed to sink a friendship.