Chapter 1
Gay.
To Maddie Harrington, the word always had lewd associations. She had grown up believing that it was a disgusting and terrible concept. It was what her mother, father, aunt, uncle and all relatives told her. She once had a cousin who revealed that she was gay. She never saw that cousin again. To her, being gay was the greatest crime of all.
Which was why she was pleasantly surprised by the butterflies that rose in her stomach when the new girl walked into her classroom.
The new girl was pretty. She was black and had long curly black hair with purple accents. Her fashion sense was immaculate. She sat down and the teacher, Mr. Martin, walked into the room.
"Hello class. I've been told we have a new student. Where are they?" his eyes scanned the room and landed on the new girl. "There she is! Come on up here and introduce yourself, please." he said. The girl immediately got up and shimmied front.
"Hello. I'm Rue Hensley. Just landed here from Chicago. First day's going well so far. Can't really judge though." She said.
"Well then," Mr. Martin said, "How about we give you a partner to give you a boost? They could definitely help you this year. Madeline! You feel up to the task?"
Maddie stammered. She'd never associated herself with a newbie. Never talked to them, never looked at them, nothing. This would damage her social standard. It was easy to say even she was surprised when her mouth parted to say "Sure."
Mr. Martin smiled wide and told Rue to move her things next to Maddie. When she had finally sat down, she leaned in and whispered, "Are you the princess type?"
Maddie looked in disbelief; Rue thought it was confusion and repeated her question. Maddie replied negative. Rue pushed her (pretty) hair back.
"Good. I don't like the princess types. We're going to be good friends if you don't act all high-and-mighty."
"What are you, British? You use words like high-and-mighty. Who does that? Or is that a dyed-hair thing?"
"It most definitely is neither. I happen to be an avid reader and picked up some of their language. Your blonde hair would look good with some pink strips all over, though."
"My mom doesn't let me. One of her 'sacred laws'." she said, and both of them laughed. Mr. Martin was at their table the next second.
"Girls, it's great to see that you're getting along, but please keep it for break? The Civil War is not the best time to share hair and makeup tips. I'm not being sexist: I happened to overhear what you said. And you are right, Rue. Madeline would look good with pink strips."
Anybody else in that situation would've blushed beetroot red, but Maddie had special training from her cheerleader / Prom Queen older sister to deal with situations.
"I'm thinking of getting some anyway. I can take Chris with me, his haircut is terrible." she stood up and said. Chris looked offended and flipped at her. Mr. Martin yelled about language and gave him detention. With a smug smile, Maddie sat back down. Rue clapped her back.
"Well handled, princess."
That was when Maddie did blush like a beetroot.
