We Shine

Broken

Broken

My friends and I pick off of each other.

If one of us is in a mood, we are all in a mood.

We've only been friends altogether for about a year, and a lot of things are strained.

James' dad has been hitting him and his Mom for a while. We told Beth, and she told us that she'll look into it.

It's hard to believe. But James doesn't really smile or talk anymore. Neither does Kaitlyn.

I think Beth is trying to convince Kaitlyn that they need to leave that environment. Or report it before something really bad happens.

When Madison is around, James' mood lightens a bit.

All of our moods do.

Marq's stories are more lively and positive.

But as of late Madison's been weird.

She's not as talkative as she usually is. She doesn't make her jokes or tease us as she does.

Although she's very much herself around Beth.

But today was different.

Today it was just me, Marq and Madison.

We have a handshake we always do.

We grab our right hands then our lefts. We raise our fists up then break apart, bringing them down. We tap our right feet against each other's three times before grabbing our hands again. We slide to our lefts then to our rights before ending off in the middle with a hug.

That's how we'd always say our hellos and goodbyes.

But she avoided any contact altogether.

She didn't sit close to us.

If we sat on the couch, she'd sit on the floor and hug her knees to her chest.

Her excuse was that she was cold.

I gave her a blanket, but her tense position stayed the same.

Today was different. Madison cancelled our plans for just us hanging out. She never does that. I saw her two days ago. She did not show signs of sickness. Maybe she was sick all of a sudden. She would not cancel if it were not for a good reason.

I need to think about this. When I think I like to go for a walk. I set out a bunch of possibilities for why we weren't hanging out today.

Sickness was number one on my list. Although she may have not been in the mood, she would tell me. Right? Maybe, she got hurt or has a lot of homework. Or maybe... "Oh, my bad."

I walk into someone, and they drop a book. It's from Madison. I walked into Madison. I go down to pick up her book. It seems like she was coming home from school.

We stopped going to the same school after the third grade. James and I go to a private school now. My school ends earlier than hers.

As I got up to give her back her book. We lock eyes. She turns around and starts walking away from me.

Fast.

"Madison, your book," I yell. She just keeps walking. I run in front of her to block her path.

"Madison, talk to me," I say. She flinches when I try to give back her book. That was strange, but I do not pay much attention to it. She runs the other way. I can easily catch up with her, but I cannot bring myself to chase after her. Something wasn't right.

I walk back home, trying to make an excuse for what had just occurred. Then I realize, I still have the book she dropped. I look at its exterior very carefully. It is Madison's journal.