Chapter 4

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!!!!!LONG CHAPTER AHEAD!!!!!

'Madeleine Hilton' I replied to Sarah who was asking a load of boring questions about me.

"And do you enjoy school Madeleine?" She clung to her notepad and tapped her pen on the table.

'No' I was giving her brief answers and longingly looking out the window at the front of the building where I had arrived. The grass was quite overgrown and weeds had sprung up everywhere. The sky was bright blue, the sun emerging and making the grass appear very green.

"Madeleine!" Sarah raised her voice making me jump. I lifted my hands up to sign again as she reached out and put them down.

"You want to go outside?" She grinned at me. I nodded eagerly, I'm never aloud outside without my mum before.

"I can ask you more questions once we are outside" she grabbed the handles of my wheelchair and pushed me through the double doors and down the corridor, to a door I'd never seen before. It was clearly the back of the building.

"You ready?" Sarah seemed quite excited for some reason. I nodded. She then pushed the door to reveal the garden. It was beautiful and just what I expected the front to be like when I came. The grass was cut and the pathways were winding and twisty. A great water fountain stood proud in the centre, surrounded by neat hedges. Wooden benches were dotted around. Further up there was a large area of grass, where a group of young children were playing football and a few teens were planting flowers of all different colours. My eyes swivelled round, not knowing what to look at and Sarah noticed.

"Beautiful isn't it? We make sure to keep it up to date by coming out and including everyone to plant flowers and stuff" she bent down to look at me and saw me slightly smiling, a good sign. Everyone looked so happy, could I be this happy too? We stayed near the fountain as she asked me more questions as an introduction session.

"Look Madeleine! There's Ethan! The boy you saw earlier" she pointed towards the football field (a/n: soccer) and sure enough he was there with his therapist. Sarah then grabbed my wheelchair and pushed me towards the flower patch and the other teens. I don't do well with strangers however Sarah promised to stay until I made friends then she'd leave me for 10 minutes or so.

"Hey guys, so this is Madeleine, is it ok if she hangs with you all?" Sarah asked for me, knowing none of them would be able to read sign language.

"Why can't she ask for herself?" A girl with bright red hair asked rudely as I stared at her, giving her a dirty look. I heard a snigger as I did so and looked to the side to see Ethan laughing.

"Shut up Aubrey, of course she can stay Sarah" the girl sat next to her, with hair a lot more appealing to look at said. She had blonde hair that was covered in daisies and big doe eyes that sparkled brown.

"I'm Laila & I already know we are going to be best friends" she smiled widely at me and I returned a little grin.

"I'm Mason" I saw a boy with thick framed glasses and blonde hair sat between Laila and Ethan.

"I consider Ethan, Laila and I to be quite friendly but on the other hand, Aubrey can be a bit of a bitch" I smiled. A full smile. A smile I haven't smiled in an awfully long time.  It felt good.

"Look at that! We've made her smile already!"

"I'm glad" a voice from behind me said. Ethan said.

"I'm Ethan." He stuck his hand out for me to shake, which I did.

"Are you going to say anything? Or just sit there and stare at us?" Aubrey was getting on my nerves and I'd only been here a few minutes.

'I can see your hair matches your temper' I signed, realising nobody can read it. Until I heard a laugh. Ethans laugh.

"What?" Laila and mason said simultaneously.

"She said Aubrey's hair matches her temper" they all laughed too, other than Aubrey, who stormed off towards the football field.

"I'm going to play football, want to come mads?" Aubrey smirked, standing innocently.

"Oh wait, I forgot you can't.. sorry!" She skipped off. I watched her skip down the path and joined in the football.

Suddenly I felt like everyone around me disappeared & I was just left having to watch people play football when I really want to but can't. My breathing became slightly uneven as I breathed heavily.

"Hey,hey!" I heard a distant voice and a grip on my hand.

"Should I get Sarah?" Another voice, I'm guessing Masons. Then I felt a hand on my thigh. Not a tight grip, just placed gently on my thigh, their hand warmed up my leg and instantly reminded me of my mum. It comforted me.

As my vision went back to normal I seen Laila, Mason and Ethan by my side. Ethans hand comfortingly on my thigh. I looked at my new friends and then back at him, who was already looking at me. His eyes were bright and sparkled in the sun. I placed my hand on top of his, my sudden gesture making him smile and blush.

"So Madeleine, since Laila and I can't read sign language, I got you a notepad that you can write stuff on, is that ok?" Mason handed me a pen and pad which I was grateful for. I nodded and began to write:
'Please, call me Maddie :)'
I handed him the note and he smiled.
"You're wish is our command Maddie" he smiled at me as I smiled at my new best friends. Perhaps therapy won't be too bad after all.
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- 979 words
I can't believe it's almost 2019, i don't know how to feel.

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