Chapter-One

Madeline's POV:

I groaned when my alarm went off waking me up and ruining my beautiful dream. I was dreaming about getting married. I was dressed in a beautiful cream-color gown walking down the aisle while holding my dad's arm. My mom was looking at us with tears in her beautiful brown eyes while the wide smile was spread on her face.

It was such a nice dream. It felt so real that I didn't want to wake up ever.

I put my face on the pillow and smiled shyly thinking about the man who was waiting for me on the podium. From afar I noticed that he had broad shoulders and tall figure. He was wearing a black tux and tapping his leg on the ground like he was impatient and nervous to meet me. But unfortunately, I was unable to see his face because my stupid alarm decided to blare.

But damn! His back looked really sexy. I just wanted to see his face.

My train of thoughts was interrupted when my bedroom barged open.

My head snapped up to see who dared to come inside my room this early?

I groaned in annoyance to find my cousin Delia aka the queen bitch standing in my room. She was dressed in a flimsy pink gown with two large rollers on her head that looked like Satan's horns. Her face was covered in a green mask to give her that glow which blinds all the good guys and attracts all the drug addicts.

"What are you still doing in the bed? Get up and make breakfast for me." She ordered me in her snotty voice.

Who the hell is she ordering? I got up from the bed in anger and glared at her.

"I'm not your servant, Miss Perfect. If you want to eat breakfast then use your manicured hands to prepare it yourself. I need to get ready for the school." I said tilting my chin up like a stubborn kid and glaring at her.

A devilish smirk appeared on her face making me a  little uneasy.

"You know it's snowing and sidewalks are going to be slippery. I don't think you would like to walk to the school in this cold weather. And you might break your neck by slipping on the sidewalk," She said smiling devilishly in my direction.

Did I tell you how much I hate her? Well, I hate her.

After my parents' death, I came to live with my aunt Emma. I found out about Delia. She was older than me and a nasty little witch. She was always bullying me and getting me into trouble. I was a smart kid and made sure she gets what she sows.

I didn't have a car so I preferred walking to the school. But I never liked walking in the snow when the pavement is sloppy and one needs to take calculated steps like they are walking on the dynamites.

"Madeline, you have to endure her presence just a few more months. After that, you'll be free."  I reminded myself.

"Okay, fine! I'll make breakfast for you. Now, leave my room. I need to get ready," I said gritting my teeth.

"My mom isn't feeding you for free. You need to give services in exchange for all the food that you eat so don't show me attitude. Oh, I forgot to tell you what I want for breakfast." She said giving me an evil smile.

"Get a notepad, Maddy,"

"Excuse me, what?"

"Get the notepad. I am going to tell you what I want for breakfast," She said.

"If you want breakfast then tell me right now or leave!" I said glaring at her. My fists were twisting ready to throw a punch on her face.

"I want a cheese omelet with some toast and coffee." She said walking out of my room.

I wish I could strangle her and stuff her down in Laura's mouth.

"Don't say Laura's name so early in the morning. Your whole day will be spoiled." My mind reminded.

"I am Madeline Hamilton. I'm seventeen and study in high school in grade twelve. After my parents died in a car accident my not so lovely aunt volunteered to take care of me. Delia is my cousin and for some unknown reasons, she abhors me. And I don't like her very much.

She graduated from high school last year making me sigh in contentment. When she was in the highs school she made my every day hell. Surprisingly, she is in a college now. I was hoping that she would move out and go live with one of her boyfriends. But to my utter dismay, she didn't move out of the house and still lives with us. And that's how my life turned into the story of an animated character Cinderella. Instead of evil step-mom and evil step-sisters, I got an evil aunt and evil cousin."

I glanced at the wall clock and cursed for wasting my time by going through a memory lane. I opened my closet and pulled out my black high-waist jeans and paired it with my plain white sweatshirt.

Then I took the shower and dried my hair. I got changed into my clothes and combed my hair to get rid of all the tangles. I put my hair in a high ponytail and applied some gloss on my lips that my friend Millie got me from her shopping spree.

I wiggled my feet in the black boots and picked up my bag and my cell phone. I went to the kitchen and started preparing a cheese omelet and coffee.

After twenty minutes, she came downstairs dressed in a red short-dress with a black leather jacket. Her face was layered with heavy-makeup and her red lips looked like a bee-stung them.

Is she going to college or some party this early in the morning? I asked myself.

Who knows? You can't be sure of anything with Delia. My mind responded.

If you hadn't noticed yet, I like talking to myself a lot.

I placed a cheese omelet, toasts, and coffee on the kitchen counter. She sat down on the stool and took the bite of the cheese omelet. She started to gag then spit it out.

"What the hell is this? Did you put the expired cheese in it?" She asked while glaring at me.

"No. Why would I do that?" I said showing her the box of cheese.

"It tastes really bad. Why don't you eat it to prove to me that you haven't poisoned it or something?" She said.

"Okay, I'll eat it."

I stuffed the omelet and toast in my mouth while she took the hesitant sip of the coffee.

After five minutes, I was done eating the complete breakfast that I prepared for her. Delia glared at me with disgust in her eyes.

"You're so disgusting, Madeline. How can you eat something that tastes so awful?" She asked me.

"It wasn't expired or poisoned. I think I forgot to put salt in it. There's no need to be over dramatic. Now get up because I am getting super late for school," I said.

She drove me to the school and dropped me outside the school. My eyes landed on Brandon leaning on his silver Audi with some of his friends. He was looking as handsome as always in his signature black jacket and a white t-shirt underneath with fitted jeans.

"Why he always look so handsome? That's not fair!" My mind said.

I was praying that he wouldn't notice me. But he did notice me. I heard him calling my name and probably running behind me. But I ignored him and continued my journey.

He placed his hand on my shoulder making me stop. He was a quarterback and gifted with long legs to run faster.

Lucky, bastard!

I turned to face him.

"What?" I was annoyed.

He stared at me with a smirk on his handsome face. But I pretend to hate that smirk.

"Cat got your tongue? A few seconds ago you were running behind me and calling my name like some obsessive fan," I said.

His friends snickered at the insult. I glared at them and they averted their eyes, pretending to cover their laugh with a fake cough.

"I just wanted to say good morning. I didn't know that saying a good morning to a friend makes me an obsessive fan. You're getting so dramatic, Maddy." He said with the full smile, showing his pearly teeth.

He gave me this silly name "Maddy" when we were seven. We were playing a football match and he lost the match to me. He claimed that I cheated. I become really mad when he accused me of cheating so I stopped playing with him. He started calling me "Maddy" to annoy me and get my attention. In short, I punched him in the stomach and started to play with him.

"I don't have time for your stupid pleasantries, Mr. Brandon Edward. I have a class to attend." I said and left him standing in the parking lot with his mouth dropped open.

Brandon Edwards was the school's hottest guy and the quarterback of the football team who happened to be my childhood friend. We went to the same kindergarten and become friends when we were in first grade. He loved playing football and I wanted someone to play with me. Other boys in the school were pretty scared of me. In sixth grade, I beat the boy of senior year because he called me "whore" for wearing a man's shirt. It was my dad's white shirt.

It was a day before my birthday; I was missing my parents a lot. I took out my dad's shirt and wore it with my black jeans and went to school. The guy saw me started saying things. I lost my temper and beat the shit out of him.

That stunt did the trick to keep the other boys away from me.

~*~

After last class ended, I went to put my stuff in the locker. I dumped all the things in the locker and shut it.  But it didn't lock and slapped me right on the face.

"Ouch! I hate this damn thing,"

I tried again to lock it by pushing it with my shoulders. But the same thing happened. I cursed under my breath and slapped the locker.

Suddenly, a hand was placed over mine and pushed it closed. I heard the clicking noise signaling it locked.

"I know how to close my damn locker without your help. Why don't you mind your own business, Mr. Obsessive?" I asked.

Brandon's hand was still above mine sending tingles to all my body.

"I was leaning on the wall for past five minutes and watching you struggle to shut this thing. I helped you because I don't like your annoyed face. The smile looks better. But sadly, you rarely smile." He said leaning closer.

My heart started to beat faster at the closeness of our faces. His perfectly crafted face was in my sight making my body swoon. My eyes went to his plumped lips and I licked mine.

Before I would have done something stupid, I pulled myself together.

"Now you are annoying me by stepping in my personal space," I said pushing him away.

He laughed at me and flung his arm around my shoulder. He dragged us to the parking lot. The parking lot was clear. Everyone left so fast like there was a fire in the school.

He took out the keys and unlocked the car. Then he glanced at me and I frowned.

"What? Are you finally tempted to slit my throat and leave me here to die?" I said sarcastically.

He took a step closer, looking angry and caught me off guard by placing his hand on my arm around my waist. He pulled me closer to him and leaned closer to my face.

"How many times have I told you not to joke about death? I get it you don't care about your life. But I do, Madeline." He said staring straight into my eyes.

I was just completely numb looking at the disappointment in his eyes. It wasn't like I never thought about dying before. I wish sometimes, I had died with my parents.

"Promise me that you won't say this again," Brandon said.

How can you expect me not to fall for this boy? I knew it was stupid. But I couldn't stop myself from falling in love with him.

"I promise you, I will not joke about death again. I'll only talk about it when I am serious," I said.

"Just keep that pretty mouth shut. Don't talk about it at all. Get in the car. I'll drop you at your house on the way." He said, glaring at me.

He opened the car door and pushed me inside then locked the door.

I hated his bossy side. I wasn't made to be boss around. But this rich, handsome, hot-headed, arrogant, obsessive, bas–

"Hey! Stop cursing me! It's not nice" Brandon yelled.

I turned to him wide-eyed.

"Did I say it aloud?" I asked him confused.

He pressed an accelerator and put the car in reverse it jumped little with the movement.

"No, you were cursing me in your head. But I heard you." He mumbled.

My mouth dropped open in shock. His ability to read minds still shocked me sometimes. From the day we become friends, I noticed how observant he was. He could tell what is going on in others mind without much effort.

"But he is still oblivious to your secret when he claims to know everything that runs in your mind." My mind taunted.

"That's true," I said.

"Where's Laura?" I asked him glancing out from the window.

"She is in New Jersey with her parents. Her great-grandmother wants to meet her. She didn't want to go. But her parents forced her to tag with them," He said driving towards my house.

I nodded my head and a silence fell between us.

"There's this football match in the Preston high school ground. I was hoping you would like to come and...."

"No," I interrupted him before he could finish his sentence.

I knew what he was going to ask. I had stopped playing football and going to matches for some time.
Laura said it was her right to spend more time with Brandon, not mine.

"At least hear me," He said.

"No. I'm not going to play with the team. I have stopped playing football for years. There's no way you can force me to play again," I said.

My house came into view and he stopped the car.

"Thanks for the ride," I said getting out of the car and shutting the door.

He stepped out of the car. I looked at him holding his football jersey in his hands.

"What?" I asked him with bewilderment.

"I was trying to ask if you would like to come to watch the game tonight and wear my jersey." He said looking at me with hopeful eyes.

"But don't expect me to cheer for you," I said taking the jersey from him and making my way to the door.

"We'll see about that, Maddy. You will be yelling my name all night!" He yelled.

My face heated up at his stupid sentence. Without looking back at him, I unlocked the door and hurriedly went inside the house.

I closed the door and slid down on the floor. His jersey was in my hand. It smelled like fresh woods with the hint of musk combine with his after-shave.

I sniffed the jersey again and sucked in a large breath to memorize it.

"Is it creepy?" I asked myself.

"It's really creepy." My mind replied.

But I didn't care at that moment. I just wanted his smell to engulf and comfort my heart.

It wasn't the first time that he asked me to wear his jersey and come to the match. We share the craziness about football and I love watching him play. But I had been avoiding all the matches because Laura deserves to attend them more than me.

Sadly, she never attended any of his football matches. She always made a new excuse not to tag along with him.

Brandon's family sometimes comes to watch him play and it covers Laura's absence.

I removed the jersey from my face and got up. I flung my bag on my shoulder and started to walk upstairs to my room when I smelled a smoke.

I left the bag and jersey on the stairs then ran towards the kitchen. There were a fire and lots of smoke in the kitchen.

"Fu*k!" I coughed violently picked the fire extinguisher.

Hello, lovelies !!!

Finally, a first chapter of Mending Her Heart is here. I hope you've enjoyed it as I have worked very hard to put this together and published it.

If you like this chapter and want more of Madeline and Brandon, you've to vote and give me your review.

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If there's any error please forgive me for that and point it out I'll try to edit it.

Updates weekly or sometimes two in a week (Don't be disappointed) and no specific day. I'll update the next chapter on the base of review and votes...

Published Date: 15-Jan-2017

Thanks for reading 😘😘

~S.sonysa_Ivan ❤