Preface
August, 2007
Boise, Idaho
“Stop it, stop it!” Ten year old Madeleine choked back a sob as her backpack was pulled roughly from her grasp and tossed back and forth over her head. “Please, stop it!
The larger of the two bullies, a boy a head taller than Madeleine, stopped throwing her backpack back and forth with his pal and leaned down, sticking his dirty, grubby face into hers.
“Aww, is the little baby gonna cry? Does the baby need a pacifier? Why don’t we check her bag and see if there’s one in there?”
He took Maddie’s bag and unzipped it, spilling the contents onto the school playground. “Oh no, there’s none in here… here stupid, you can suck on this.
The bully threw Madeleine’s empty backpack, hitting her square in the face.
She threw up her hands as a shield, but the buckle on the bag hit her eye. Maddie let out a cry and tears ran over her tanned cheeks.
“Look, the stupid baby is crying!” The bully came closer and in one swift movement, he shoved her to the ground.
“Hey, that’s enough!”
Three heads turned.
Madeleine started as an older boy, around fifteen years of age, came up and pushed the bully away from her.
“What’s your problem, Zane? She’s half your size! What has she ever done to you?”
“Aw, back off, Carter, we’re just having a bit of fun. Come on, Terry. Let’s leave these two suckers to enjoy themselves.”
The two bullies walked away, crude laughter fading with their footsteps.
Madeline wiped her tears away hurriedly and began to gather her backpacks’ spilled contents; though she hesitated in surprise when her hero bent down to help her.
“Are you ok?” He asked gently.
Madeleine looked up and was even more surprised to see that his face was sincere. She nodded slowly and sniffed. “Yes, thank you…”
“My pleasure. My name’s Noah Carter by the way. What’s yours?”
His name was Noah. “I’m Maddie.”
Noah smiled. “What’s Maddie short for? Or is it just Maddie?”
“My name is Madeleine.”
“Madeleine… What a pretty name. I like it.”
Madeline stared up at him. “Aren’t you a little old for Elementary School?” She asked quietly.
Noah laughed. “I am, aren’t I? Well, my mom is a teacher here, so, sometimes I’ll come down to help with the little kids.”
“Oh.” Maddie blushed and looked away. Her books, papers, and pens were all gathered now, and tears came to her eyes when Noah gently lifted her backpack and began to place everything inside neatly.
“There we are.” He zipped it up and handed it to her, but his smile vanished when he saw her tears. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Noah put her bag down and leaned over, giving her a slight hug. “Madeleine, what’s the matter? Why’re you crying?”
She shrugged. “I always cry when someone does something nice for me,” She sniffed. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey, hey, hey, don’t be sorry,” He used his thumb and gently wiped her cheeks.
The bell rang and Noah held out his hand, helping her to her feet. He folded her fingers tightly in his, and took her backpack in his other hand.
“Come on,” Noah smiled down at her, “I’ll walk you to your next class.”
Hand in hand, the two walked on.
Maddie looked up at him and gave him her first genuine smile.
August, 2010
Boise, Idaho
Three years later…
Thirteen year old Madeleine closed her eyes and leaned her head back as the wind whipped through her nut brown hair.
The tires of her bike sped over the thin dirt that wound through the neighboring hay fields.
“Hey, Maddie, wait up!”
Her eyes opened and the sun reflected off of them, making them shine like emeralds. She looked over her shoulder and laughed.
Noah smiled back at her. He had paused to take a water break a while back, but Madeleine had refused to stop, forcing him to hurry and catch up.
Maddie slowed down slightly and grinned. “What took you so long, you slowpoke?”
“Ha. Ha,” he replied sarcastically, although he wasn’t able to get rid of the grin on his face.
Three years had passed since Madeleine and Noah had met, and their mothers loved to call them two peas in a pod.
Noah, an only child, had taken on his new role as the protective older brother easily, and Maddie had taken the role as the adoring younger sister, as she had no brothers of her own.
Noah had grown to be an extremely handsome young man with thick blonde hair that fell over his broad forehead and dangled in front of his bright blue eyes.
At the age of eighteen, he was well over six feet, close to six feet, two inches. His shoulders were broad and his chest and arms were thick with muscle; and, while his hands were large and square, they had a special tenderness and gentleness that Maddie adored.
Some, well, many might say that Madeleine was puny compared to her ‘brother.’ She was five feet, three inches, with smooth, wavy brown hair that framed her sweet, heart shaped face. Out in public, everyone believed them to be the perfect couple.
As years went by, Noah’s feelings began to change, but he didn’t want to do anything that might risk their friendship. And yet, what he didn’t know was that Maddie’s feelings had also changed, and yet, she didn’t make a move because she was scared of losing Noah.
And so, here are two young people in love with each other, without knowing that the other loves them back, and neither of them making a move on the other in fear of losing them.
God certainly has a sense of humor.
