Annie got herself ready. She brushed her teeth, took a shower and packed her bags. She was ready to leave.
Everything took her ten minutes. She glanced at Maddie who was still in bed with no signs of waking up soon. She shook her head and frowned. She was not going to repeat her words again.
It would be all on Maddie if she remained asleep the entire day and found herself still in the castle. Now that she thought about it, a few days without Maddie would be very peaceful.
Besides, she was sure Ollie would appreciated the extended company, even though it was going to be Maddie.
Annie organized all her belongings in the centre of the room. She was ready to leave, although she was sad that had to happen.
Annie was about to tell Maddie she was leaving to have breakfast, but she stopped herself at the last minute. She did not want to wake her up. It would be seriously hilarious if they left without her. She wanted it to happen so Maddie would finally learn.
Annie walked out of the room innocently. She did no wrong, she tried her best to wake Maddie up, but she ignored her and asked for fifteen more minutes, which ten minutes had already been spent.
Annie walked down the stairs and made her way to the dining room.
"Good morning guys," she smiled. As expected, Ollie and Matt were already in the dining room, however, they had not started eating yet.
"Good morning, Annie," Matt smiled. He stood up and pulled out her chair for her.
"Thank you," Annie said as he pushed her seat in.
"You're welcome," he smiled.
"Good morning Annie, how are you this fine morning?" Ollie smiled.
"I am very lovely this fine morning, and how are you Ollie?" she smiled.
"I could not be better," he replied.
"That's nice to hear," Annie took a sip of water.
"Where is Maddie?" Matt looked around. He had expected her to be right behind Annie.
"Well, Maddie, being the super nice person she is, refused to wake up when I told her to, so I got ready and decided to leave her. She will wake up when she wants to," Annie shrugged.
"That's weird, she usually doesn't sleep in like that," Matt said.
"Yeah, true, I think it's my fault for indulging her when she was washing her hair last night," Annie said.
Matt and Ollie shot each other a knowing glance. Ollie laughed in disbelief and shook his head.
"What was that?" Annie asked, she was quick to notice their little exchange.
"Nothing," they both laughed at the same time.
That increased her suspicion, but knowing the two of them, she doubted it was anything bad.
"Anyway, yeah, so I left her," Annie said.
"I think she was really tired. She couldn't sleep at around four a.m. so she came outside to the courtyard and I happened to be there doing my early morning training," Ollie said.
"She really did meet you when she woke up. So she wasn't lying?" Annie asked.
"No, she wasn't lying. Why would she be lying about that?" Ollie asked.
"I just thought she was because she hates you so much, I doubt that she would spend an entire hour with you outside in the early morning doing what exactly?" Annie laughed.
"No, she wasn't lying. I found her in the courtyard while I was doing some early morning training," Ollie replied.
"You went training without me?" Matt asked.
"Yes, I didn't want to wake you up since I knew you would need rest considering you guys are leaving today," Ollie laughed.
"Alright, fine, that is reasonable," he replied.
"I am curious, what did you two talk about? Knowing Maddie, she must have gave you a hard time once she saw you were there," Annie laughed.
"Yes, you know her well. She was so upset when she saw me. I simply told her that I was not stalking her, I was simply getting some early morning training in," Ollie said.
"Okay, so what did you two talk about? I am also curious," Matt said.
"I do not know if I should tell you. Isn't it a breach of trust? Maddie doesn't naturally like me, so if she finds out that I told you guys something that was private, won't she go back to hating me?" Ollie asked worried.
He was more concered about what Maddie would feel if he told them.
Matt and Annie looked at each other. It was ridiculous how much Maddie had traumatized this man simply by her antics. One one hand it was so sad, on the other it was so funny.
"No, I doubt that," they both replied in a chorus.
"Really now? Because, the Maddie I know won't like it if I go around telling everyone what she told me," Ollie said.
"True, but it's not like you're telling us anything she isn't already going to tell us," Matt and Annie said at the same time.
Ollie narrowed his eyes. Their sudden chorus was very strange. To him it seemed they were more interested in what Maddie said than what would happen to him if he got in trouble with her.
"Are you sure about that? I don't want to have any problems with Maddie," he said.
"And you won't dude. Trust us, she is going to tell us what happened eventually. Knowing Maddie, her version might even be the Maddified version, so you might as well tell us now, before she gets here," Matt said.
"Shouldn't we wait for her to get here first?" Ollie asked when he saw Annie eating.
"Nope, like I said, she was very tired and lazy. I doubt she's joining us for breakfast. Besides, I agree with Matt, he's right. Tell us before Maddie tells us what happened, her way," Annie said eating a doughnut.
"Alright, you are right about that.".
"Of course we are," Matt laughed drinking some hot chocolate.
"So, when she came into the courtayard, I saw her in the distance. Worried that something was wrong, I went to her, and she was in a bad mood," Ollie began.
"That is to be expected. Go on," Annie said.
"When I asked her what was wrong, she replied that she just needed some fresh air, and by that time, I was very worried because Maddie needing fresh air meant something serious was going on.".
"Mhmm, go on," Matt said.
"When I insisted she tell me what was wrong, she got upset, so I told her I wouldn't leave until she felt better. She sat on the grass and stared into the sky and I did the same.".
"We stayed like that, in silence for a long time, I don't know how long, but it was long. It was not until she said that life can be very annoying sometimes. Now at this point, I am very worried because it means that something serious is definitely going on," Ollie said.
"You were right to think that. When Maddie starts talking like that, it means she has a lot on her mind," Annie frowned.
"So, what did you say?" Matt asked.
"I replied with I know, and she doubted the validty of my statement. I explained to her how I understand what she meant by her words, and although she did not seem to agree with me in the beginning, she did in the end," Ollie said.
"I know Maddie can be a bit mean sometimes, that's just how she is. Don't take it took heart," Annie said.
"I know, and I don't. I told her what I do when I feel overwhelemed," Ollie said.
"Let me guess, she thought it was some sort of spell?" Matt laughed.
"Yes, how did you know?" Ollie was shocked.
"Typical Maddie, the solution to everything can be a spell," Matt shook his head.
"Yes, Maddie's unquenchable thirst for more power is too much for her to handle herself," Annie laughed.
"So, what do you do when you are overwhelemed?" Matt asked.
"It's simple, I close my eyes, count to five and then I smile," he replied.
"That is truly very simple," Annie smiled. "What did Maddie think about it?".
"Well, she was sceptical at first, but she tried it.".
"And did it work for her?" Matt asked.
"I hope it did. She said it didn't but she was much calmer than before," Ollie smiled.
"That's really sweet of you. Thank you for always being there for Maddie even though she pushes you away. I know she must have felt so overwhelemed but didn't want to wake me up," Annie said.
"There's no need to thank me. Maddie's my friend too, no matter what she says. We've all been through a lot together, not quite as much as you three have, but it's something, isn't it?" Ollie said as they all laughed.
"Hey, at the end of the day, we all get the same thing—Long lasting friendships with people we know we can trust," Matt smiled.