You're Not Going To Forget It

Chapter-Two

Brandon's POV :

The instant my team was let out on the ground to play my eyes searched the bleachers for Madeline.

I realized that she hadn't come and I felt the disappointment seeping into me.

I had no idea why she suddenly stopped playing football with me. Why she didn't join the team when she loved this sport from the first grade.

After that, I started noticing that she stopped acting like herself. She stopped wearing her favorite music band shirt and her usual messy bun.

I told my mom about her sudden change of behavior. She explained to me that it was normal. She told me that as Madeline was getting older her thinking was changing so was her dressing style.

A few months later her fifteen birthday, she completely changed. She turned into a beautiful girl rather than looking like a tomboy who yet has to hit puberty. She was always cute but now she looked gorgeous.

But I knew that even now that had changed into a beautiful girl of her, she was still my Madeline. The girl that loves playing and watching football with me. It was like our thing, it was the reason why we become a friend in the first place.

I always wanted to impress Laura so I would ask her to come to my matches but she always refuses to come any of my matches. It used to hurt me but not anymore. Madeline would always come but for a year she had stopped coming. She tried to make an excuse or avoid that topic. But when she used to come to the matches we would talk about my performance, and she would tease me about other girls who shamelessly flirts with me.

Laura and Madeline, they were friends which were good for me. It saved me the unnecessary worries of my best friend and the girlfriend getting along or feeling jealous.

I had a crush on Laura in kindergarten and it never went away. She was the most beautiful girl and I kissed her on the very first day of kindergarten. And somewhere in my mind, I fell in love with her at the very first sight.

She was definitely beautiful, classy, and a dream girl any guy would want. Her oval face and big doe blue eyes made her look enchanting. Her hair was straight, white blonde like a curtain of silk. With time, I found myself getting more attracted towards her.

My feelings towards Laura never changed. I tried everything to impress her. I followed her like a lost puppy while she dated other boys. I never pressured her into a relationship and waited for her to like me on her own.

She was rich and her parents spoiled their only daughter with love and money. She felt very proud to be Mr. and Mrs. Gonzalez only daughter. Her parents one of the famous lawyers running their own firm in Boston.

Last month, I man up and asked Laura out at lunch by giving her a bunch of flowers and her favorite chocolate which she did eat despite being extremely conscious about her weight.

The whistle of the coach brought me back from my train of thoughts making me aware I was standing in the middle of the ground and match was about to start.

I pushed my thoughts deep in somewhere my mind and I ran to stand with other players.

The game started and I forgot everything. I focused on playing with my team-mates with one goal in my head that I needed to win.

The game ended and my team won by beating our opponents with four goals which were an achievement. My eyes traveled over the bleachers again in the hope that I would find Madeline in one of the seat wearing my jersey and cheering for me with her smug smile. Instead of her, I caught the sight of my father and mother sitting in the top seats with Elena and Eric.

After receiving a trophy and taking few pictures with my friends I told them to go and celebrate without me. They were disappointed and cursed at me for being the lazy ass.

I took the quick shower in the locker room and got changed into some jeans and jacket then went to the parking lot where my dad messaged me he was waiting.

"Hi, dad and mom". I said.

"Hi, son. You played well tonight" My dad said with the small smile.

Mom just pulled me into a bear hug.

She was really small like 5'3 while I was 6'2. She hardly reached to my chest. I loved my parents, they were my friends as well as my parents.

Eric also decided to join the hug and wiggled himself between us at which my mother giggled.

"Congrats bro," He said fist pumping with mine. He was getting tall after he turned fourteen.

"Thanks, bro" I replied ruffling his hair making him groan and swat my hand away.

"Thanks for coming, mom and dad. But you didn't have to come in this weather." I said glancing around for my sister.

"I cannot understand why didn't they rescheduled this match for another time if the weather wasn't favorable" My mother chimed in and said.

"Mom the management was adamant about having this match tonight. I don't know why? But I'm just glad we played and won" I said smiling.

"You are right," She said in agreement.

"Where's my baby sister dad?". I asked dad about Elena referring to her as a baby sister.

"She is hiding in the car and using her new cell phone. I'm actually regretting getting her one" Dad said opening the back door of the car where Elena was sitting wearing the pink fur jacket.

"What is she wearing mom?". I said poking the fur.

Elena glared at me scaring the shit out of me. I jumped back little making my parents laugh loudly.

"You little devil. You scared me" I said grabbing her and tickling.

Her musical giggle filled the car.

"You are looking like a furball". I said to Elena.

"It's in the fashion brother," She said.

I showed her my hands in surrender.

Mom, dad, and Eric laughed.

"Now get in the car, we need to celebrate". My dad said ushering us in the car and taking my bag then putting it in the trunk.

Dad drove us to our favorite pizza place where we ate and had the family time. I didn't know why but I missed Madeline. I couldn't stop thinking about her.

We went back home. I made my way to my room to get some sleep.

For last hour, I had been trying to sleep but I had no luck so far. I got up from the bed and checked the time on the that. It was almost midnight. I slipped my cell phone in the pocket of my trousers and shrugged on my black hoodie. I decided to go for a walk.

After locking the door, I dropped the keys in my pocket and started walking on the street without any specific destination in my mind.

The night was chilly and cold like the ice. The neighborhood was dead silent and dark. The streets lamps were the only thing illuminating the path. No stars were shining in the sky making the sky look like a black velvet was spread over.

After ten minutes of wandering around like a homeless person, I found myself standing across Madeline house staring at her window. The lights of her room were on telling me that she was still up.

I pulled out my phone and called her. After

two rings, she picked it up and said, "Hey, are you okay?"

The worry in her voice put the smile on my face.

"Hi yourself. I'm fine. Now come to your window" I said to her.

"My window?" She said sounding confused.

I could imagine a look of confusion on her lovely face at my sudden demand.

"Yes," I replied.

Then I heard the scrape of a chair like she was getting up.

After three seconds the window was slid open, and she was looking at me.

The window was long enough to provide me a view of her state. She was wearing a small jeans short and white off-shoulder shirt which hung too low from the front and revealing a good amount of her creamy skin. Her long blonde hair with the hints of brown was open touching her waist in small ringlets. Her hazel color eyes were glowing like molten lava. She was looking flawless even at this time of night staring at me like an angel from above heaven. Her delicate figure was leaning out from the window to get a better look at me.

"Come out," I said on the phone which was still pressed to my ear.

"What? At this time?" She asked me.

"Yeah, and be sure to wear something warm. It's cold outside" I said ending the call.

She gave me the glare and went inside her room.

After five minutes, she emerged out from her house clad in black trousers and grey hoodie which looked familiar to me.

"Is this my hoodie? The one that I lost in the camp last year?" I asked her moving closer to see her face.

"No... No, it's not yours. I bought it online a few months ago" She said stuffing her hands into the pocket of the hoodie.

I took the step closer to her and looked into her eyes.

"Really? So why does it have a capital B at the back? As much as I know, your name doesn't start with B" I  whispered in her ear.

Her breath hitched and she removed the hoodie from her head.

She glared at me and said, "In the middle of the night you called me out here to talk about your lost hoodie"

I pursed my lips and mumbled, "No"

The silence fell between us.

"If you have nothing important to say, Brandon, then I'm going back inside. You should go home too. It's not really safe to wander around at midnight" She said ready to leave.

I captured her wrist to stop her from leaving. I didn't what was the matter with me? Why was I acting like an attention seeker?

"Why didn't you come to see the match?" I asked her still holding her slim wrist in my hand.

"Oh, that," She said. Her mouth made a cute "O" shape.

"Well, after you dropped me off and I went inside I smelled the smoke. Later I found out that I forgot to shut the stove in the morning after making breakfast and kitchen napkin caught the fire" She mumbled sheepishly.

"Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" I asked her checking her face which looked fine.

But then my eyes landed on her palms, they were red and burned.

I traced her injuries lightly with my fingers, and she flinched.

"I'm fine, Brandon," She said snatching her hand from mine.

"You're crazy if you call yourself fine when you have injuries like this. Your hands are burned. Let's go to the hospital" I said feeling furious.

I didn't know why she was so careless when it comes to her wellbeing?

She rolled her eyes and in the nonchalant tone, she said, "It's no big deal. We don't need to go to the hospital. I put the ointment on it. The burn will heal soon"

"Madeline, why are you so careless when it comes to your health?" I asked.

"I'm not careless. I know it will heal soon. It's not that bad. And the reason why I didn't come to see the match because aunt Emma grounded me after she found out what happened. She thinks I planned to burn the whole house" She said with the sad smile.

"I think if she gives little attention to her house instead of getting wasted in bars and hooking up with guys, and stop being careless about her responsibility this wouldn't have happened in the first place. You take care of her house, clean her shit and cook for them just because she put the roof over your head after your parents' death. You are not her servant and she should stop treating you like one" I said feeling so much hatred towards her aunt.

The scowl was etched on my face.

She was not like a mother figure at all, she was so careless and only lives for herself. It was beyond me how she took Madeline under her care after the death of her parents when she wasn't even responsible enough to run her house on her own.

"Brandon, she is my aunt. I would be living in some orphan if she hadn't volunteered to take me to her home. And what if I do house chores for them. That's not a big deal. I am just repaying them for the favor she gave me years ago. The fire was my fault. I should've been careful and shut the stove after cooking" She said with her eyes downcast.

"Stop thinking like they did a favor to you by taking you in. They don't treat you better than a servant" I said to prove my point.

"Brandon, I don't have any choice. What do you want me to do? Leave them and live on my own. I don't even have a job. I can't pay bills and rent a place" She said ending the argument.

"I'm sorry for upsetting you, Madeline. I just hate when you get hurt" I said.

She smiled at me.

"Now tell me why did you come here in the middle of the night?" She asked me raising her brows.

I couldn't tell her that I had this unsettling feeling inside me from the time I realized that she didn't come. I felt something was wrong with her. I felt like she was in trouble.

I told her the first lie that came to my mind, "I wanted some ideas for tomorrow. I don't know how to ask Laura to be my girlfriend? I mean we have been going out for a month now. Don't you think we should make it official?" I asked her.

The lazy smile appeared on her face and she said, "Why not? That's what you both want"

"You're her friend so what do you think I should do?" I asked her.

"I think she's going to say yes in a heartbeat because she likes you as much you like her. Do whatever your heart tells you to do". She replied with the reassuring smile.

Her answer sends my mind into a turmoil. My heartbeat accelerated.

"You know she really likes dramatic and romantic things," I said.

"I know. You can go down on your knees and say a sweet romantic speech." She said making me frown.

"And what would I say in the speech?" I asked her staring at her face.

"You will look into her eyes and place your hand on her jaw". She said closing a gap between us and placing her soft hand on my jaw.

She stared into my eyes making me feel something weird in my heart. The emotions in her eyes were making nervous. My heartbeat accelerated at the closeness of our bodies.

"I have been nursing this crush on you since kindergarten. I didn't realize when that small crush turned into love. I know we started our relationship as friends. But I don't remember when you become the most important person in my life. I can not spend a day without you anymore, without knowing that you are mine. Now here I am asking you to be mine forever" She said, it felt like a recited script.

Her voice, her touch, and her gaze looked so delicate, so real that for a moment I forget who she was to me.

My eyes fell on her plump lips that uttered those beautiful words.

I gulped glancing at the beauty them. Her lips looked like they were made for kissing.

I was leaning closer not knowing what was happening to my heart.

Her breath hitched when I placed a kiss on her cheek. I didn't move and let my lips linger there for few seconds. Then I pulled away.

She blinked and took the several steps back. I instantly missed the touch of her hand on my cheek.

"I'm sure after this speech she will say yes in a heartbeat. Uh... It's pretty late, Brandon. I'm going back inside" She turned back and started to walk.

"If I forget......"

"You will not forget this ever, Brandon" She replied without looking at me and went into her house.

Her words played in my mind all the way to my house. I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep but I kept hearing her voice. It felt like she was singing a song in my ears. Subconsciously, I memorized her words that night in my mind and heart.

_______________________________________

Hello lovelies !!!

First to clear some things up

-Brandon is currently 18

-Madeline is currently 17

-Laura is currently 17

They all are in their last year of high school.....

Now I hope you enjoy reading this chapter and give me your sweet feedback on the chapter.

Keep voting, sharing and commenting.

If there's some very silly or annoying mistake then please inform so I'll remove it.

Published date: 16-Jan-2017

Thanks for reading 🙂.

S.sonysa_Ivan ❤