Madeliet
✯ THE YEAR WE STAYED
a coming-of-age, slow-burn, friendship-to-something-more story
At a quiet private boarding school tucked behind maple trees and ivy-covered walls, every year leaves its mark. Some years change you slowly-others change you forever.
This is the story of the years that changed her.
You step into the life of Madeline Esther Waldorf-Richardson or Juliet Azra Özdemir-whichever name feels the most like you-and watch the world shift through her eyes.
It all starts in Year 6, when everything is still simple: new uniforms, inside jokes, secret snacks in dorm halls, and the first friendships that feel like they might last forever.
Then comes Year 7, where jealousy sparks for the first time, friendships deepen, and people begin to surprise you.
By Year 8 and Year 9, the emotions you tried to ignore start to grow louder-more confusing, more intense, more real.
High school arrives with its own storms.
Freshman year feels like a fresh start.
Sophomore and Junior year push your limits and test your loyalty.
And Senior year?
It shatters you, shapes you, and finally shows you who you are becoming.
Along the way, you meet the people who alter everything:
✦ Juliet Azra Özdemir - soft-spoken but sharp, irritated easily, secretly tender for the right person.
✦ Madeline Esther Waldorf-Richardson - kind, chaotic, emotional, and always carrying the latest tea.
✦ Liam Pham - cold on the surface, mayo-obsessed, hiding a crush that scares him.
✦ Nathan Wright Anderson - tough, popular, the boy who fights everything except his own feelings.
✦ And others who bring chaos, comfort, heartbreak, and growth.
Friendships will shift.
Feelings will blur.
Secrets will unfold.
And somewhere between childhood and adulthood, you'll wonder if this-
these people, this place, this moment-
is the year you were meant to stay.
A story about growing up, falling apart, holding on, and finally finding yourself.