Believe

Chapter 5: MADELINE

Maddie pulls her earphones out of her drawer and plugs them into her iPod. While lying down on her bed, she scrolls through her playlist that contains an endless number of songs – most of which she hardly listens to anymore. She finally decides on Taylor Swift and lets the songs calm her abundant thoughts. When she reaches the song Sparks Fly her mind goes to Conner and she realises how relevant the song is to how she feels at the moment.

Coz’ I see sparks fly whenever you smile…

That is exactly how she feels when Conner smiles at her as if the smile is only meant for her and no one else. When he smiles it shows in his eyes as well, they kind of shine with happiness.

Lord, I think I’m going ahead of myself, I just met Conner. Maybe I should pray about this. Maddie thinks to herself.

She sends a little prayer up to God while thinking about the situation with Conner. She doesn't want to rush into things with Conner because she doesn't know his feelings for her yet. They barely know anything about each other and what if he doesn't feel the same way about her? She would rather become friends with him first and see where it will go from there onwards. She is afraid that he only sees her as a friend but she tries to push the thought from her mind and carries on listening to her songs while singing along.

I wish I could write songs like Taylor does. Maddie wishfully thinks after a moment.

Or at least I wish I could write songs in general, I really suck. Maddie thinks to herself and laughs.

She packs her writing things up and stuffs them back into the drawer with a sigh.

No point in attempting to write when I feel defeated like this and as if there is no hope for me writing songs. Maddie thinks.

Maddie wakes up earlier than usual the next morning. She lies in bed thinking of what she is going to do in the second week of holidays. She wants to stay in the warm and comfortable bed and go back to sleep but she is too wide awake by now.

Oh well, I might as well get up now. Maddie thinks to herself.

She decides to take a shower and grabs her clothes for the day. When she steps into the shower the hot water stings her body for a second but then it becomes soothing. She notices that her mom has bought a new brand of shampoo and conditioner. She pops open the cap of the foreign shampoo bottle and pours a bit into the palm of her hand. It has a deliciously fruity smell and she realises then that her hair will smell like a fruit salad after it’s been washed. Today is the day that she is going to try and finish the song that she had been working on for far too long. After drying off and dressing into comfortable clothes she walks back to her room while humming a One Direction song. She grabs her guitar and starts strumming the first verse. Just as she is finishing up the second verse, her phone starts ringing. It's Emily.

"Hi Em."

"Hey Maddie, what you doing right now?" Emily asks.

"Trying to finish this song," Maddie sighs.

"Still trying to finish it hey? Well I was wondering if you would like to go to Wakaberry?" Emily asks.

"Sure! Sounds great, what time?" Maddie asks.

"Around about 12, I will pick you up on the way," Emily says.

"Okay awesome, see you then," Maddie says and after quick goodbyes she hangs up the phone.

She tries to carry on with her song but sighs in frustration after five minutes and packs away her things for the thousandth time in the past week. She looks at the clock; it reads 9:00. Maddie wonders if anyone else is up and by the sound of the silent house she guesses everyone else is still sleeping. She walks downstairs and peers into the lounge and kitchen but there is no one to be seen and all the curtains are still closed. When she walks into the kitchen her stomach growls and she laughs to herself. Since it seems that everybody else is still asleep, and not likely to go anywhere anytime soon, she decides she will make breakfast for everyone. She doesn't do this often enough anymore. She always feels as if she is too busy with school work and her friends to make a meal for her family. However, since she has already finished all of her holiday homework, she feels that she finally has time to do this for her family, and her mom especially, who does the cooking most mornings and nights even when she is very busy. Maddie opens the fridge and takes out the eggs, bacon, onions and tomatoes. She bends down to get the frying pan out of the bottom drawer and puts it onto the stove plate. She plops the bacon into the pan and lets it fry while she moves onto cracking the eggs into a bowl to make scrambled eggs. Her stomach growls again as she begins to smell the bacon cooking. As Maddie butters the toast her mother walks in.