Child of a King

Chapter twenty-one - Take care

Pursing my lips, I pretended to be working really hard on the written task in my worksheet, waiting for Miss Humphrey to shift her attention elsewhere in the classroom.

As soon as she did, I turned to Madelyn, giving her my best smile. "If you give me the answer for number 8, I'll listen to you talk about Tik Tak for a full minute".

"It's Tik Tok", she corrected with a small scowl. "And you can actually learn a lot from the videos there".

"Uhu", I hummed, hopefully appeasing her as I kept smiling at her expectantly.

Madelyn rolled her eyes but mumbled the correct answer underneath her breath anyway.

"How are you so good at this?" I groaned, already sighing as I read the next task that seemed to be in an entirely different language.

"It's a talent", she sassed, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Must be", I muttered, perking up when the bell sounded, indicating that school was finished for today.

After collecting our things, we waited outside in the sunny weather for Madelyn's mom to pick her up and one of my brothers to get me. Time passed quickly as we played in the sandbox, creating all sorts of things in the sand.

"Hey, what's that?"

Lifting my head, I turned my gaze in the direction Madelyn pointed. Further behind the fence that circled the elementary school, a white flash showed from the long distance, turning on and off.

"I don't know", I mumbled, squinting my eyes as curiosity filled me. Standing up, I approached the fence, glancing between the holes to get a better view. From there I was able to see a person that stood in the bushes, holding something in his or her hands, pointing it directly at Madelyn and me.

"It's a camera", Madelyn said, now standing next to me as she also gazed at the outline of the forest that was close to the elementary school's property.

"What do you think the person is taking pictures of?"

"Dunno", she shrugged.

A crease formed between my eyebrows. "Should we tell someone?"

Madelyn hummed thoughtfully as she rolled her lips between her teeth. "Nah, maybe it's just the trees they're taking pictures of".

"Maybe", I mumbled in agreement. I would feel stupid if I said something about this and it was in fact just someone who was taking pictures of nature. But on the other hand, my gut felt uneasy about this, and I couldn't tell why.

A car honk sounded from the parking lot, pulling our attention away from the forest.

"Daddy!"

Auburn hair bounced through the air as Madelyn took off running, her short legs being remarkably fast as she ran through the gate in the direction of where a man came out of a car. He wore a military uniform and black boots as a big smile formed on the man's mouth. Outstretching his arms in anticipation for my friend to jump straight into them, he swung her around bringing her into a tight embrace.

Grabbing both my friend and I's bags, I slowly approached them, keeping a distance as I watched how they hugged each other.

"I've missed you!" Madelyn said multiple times, her voice emotional and happy at the same time.

"Missed you more, sweet pea". Her dad caressed her hair fondly, planting delicate kisses along her brow.

Something inside me twisted as I observed their interaction, my heart slightly quivering.

"I didn't know you came home today".

"It was a surprise".

"I love surprises!" My friend giggled, the smile she wore almost blinding me harder than the sun, causing an unknown feeling to wrench in my chest.