"I knew you would be hungry, so I asked that something be prepared for you," Ollie said. Unlike Annie and Matt, he was not in any way ready to get on Maddie's bad side today.
"Really now?" Maddie asked surprised.
"Mhmm," Ollie smiled. He snapped his fingers and within seconds, a picnic blanket appeared on the grass beside them along with a basket and some food placed on top of the basket.
"Blondie, for once, you are not so annoying," Maddie's eyes shined. She was so hungry, she did not waste time, she got off the grass and sat on the picnic blanket. She started to eat.
"You didn't even waste a second," Matt shook his head.
"Of course I didn't. I don't expect you to understand. You aren't the one that hasn't eaten all day," Maddie replied her mouth full.
"You mean all morning, because I doubt you've been awake for more than an hour now," Annie replied.
"I don't care what you say. Blondie, you know what, if you continue being this sensible, I might actually consider staying here with you," Maddie joked.
Ollie instantly became worried. He was stiff, he did not know if she was truly joking or not.
"What's the matter? You don't want me to stay here?" she frowned.
"No... no... no... that's not it at all," Ollie was flustered, he was starting to turn red from how nervous it was.
"Then what is it?" Maddie narrowed her eyes at him.
"It's nothing. It's just that I don't think that's a good idea. Annie and Matt would miss you so much," Ollie said.
"No we won't. You can take her, it would give us some peace and quiet, right Matt?" Annie asked.
"I agree," Matt replied.
"Oh, ha, ha, very funny, You two would be so bored without me, I keep things interesting and you know it," Maddie scoffed.
"Not interesting, stressful is a better word for it," Matt said.
"Oh shut, up," Maddie frowned. "I don't even want to stay here anyway. I was merely joking.".
"Are you sure?" Ollie asked.
"Of course I'm sure, blondie. I know how busy you can be. If I was to stay here, I would be alone for the entire day or days, and I would have to avoid the people that don't like me, and it would just be boring, so unfortunately for you two traitors, you are stuck with me," Maddie said.
"Mhmm, right, you know that if you did stay, we would miss you right," Annie laughed.
"How could you not miss me? I'm too charming and far too important," Maddie said proudly.
Ollie laughed, he could rest easy now that Maddie had said that she was only joking. Maddie just intimidated him so much, and although he was starting to get used to her, it did not make her any less scary.
"Besides, this castle does not belong to the blondie alone. Very soon his lovely parents will return.".
"And what does that have to do with anything?" Matt asked, he could hear the sarcasm in her tone when she said 'lovely'.
"You seem to be forgetting that the only reason we had such a good time here is because we don't have any one telling us what to do, or any parental supervision," Maddie said.
"My parents wouldn't make any of you feel uncomfortable," Ollie said.
"Mhmm, right, I don't think so. Your parents would totally watch everything we do, or tell someone to watch everything we do, especially your mother," Maddie shook her head.
"My parents aren't like that, they are very trusting and inviting. They knew that I invited you guys here and they allowed me," Ollie smiled.
"Everyone will defend their parents, well everyone except me because I know how stupid their decisions were and can be," Maddie said.
"You are definitely not hungry enough if you are still talking," Annie said.
"Oh, I can multitask very well," Maddie replied as she began to cough.
"Mhmm, that's what happens when you multitask," Matt shook his head.
Maddie struggled to drink some water as she continued to cough.
"Are you alright, Maddie?" Ollie asked.
"I'm alright," her voice came out choked and her eyes were red.
"That's why you don't talk when you're eating," Annie shook her head.
"Oh be quiet, anyway, tell me what you guys were talking about while I wasn't here because I am not buying the fact that you were simply sitting on the grass and watching the clouds as they moved by, because that's so childish," Maddie said.
"You certainly did not choke enough," Annie said.
"Shut up, what were you talking about?" Maddie insisted.
"Nothing much, just how lovely the day was, and how I am going to miss you guys so much," Ollie smiled.
"The same broken record over and over again," Maddie shook her head.
"If that's all you have been talking about, then that's so boring and I don't want to hear sad stories," Maddie said.
"I agree with that, so tell us, how did you find us?" Matt asked.
"At first I thought that something bad had happened, but since I am very intelligent, it made sense that was not the case, there is no danger at all, besides, you guys are not novices when it comes to using magic, so I was sure you were playing with me," Maddie said.
Annie and Matt scoffed, Maddie made so many bold statements in such a short amount of time and they did not even know why they were surprised.
Ollie on the other hand laughed. He did not know why he was surprised by the fact that she sounded so confident. This was Maddie they were talking about, she was always so confident no matter what she said or did.
"Anyway, so I looked for you and was ready to search the entire castle when I checked the kitchen, saw that maid called Adi and I asked her if she knew where you were, she said no and at the end she finally told me to check here, which I was already going to do, so here I am," Maddie said
"Well, at least you managed to find us, so you don't need to bother us, we won't leave you here," Annie laughed.
"As if you could ever," Maddie replied as they all laughed.
...
Three hours passed and all of them could acknowledge that this goodbye was bittersweet and it was so very sad.
Ollie watched as the carriage came by and their belongings were placed into the carriage. Ollie could not believe that this was happening, he had expected it, but nothing could have prepared him for this.
"I guess this is goodbye," he said.
"Awww, Ollie, I feel so bad, I thought that this would be less hard than it is, but I was so wrong," Annie frowned and she hugged him tightly.
"I feel the same," Ollie sighed. Matt turned and felt so sad. Although Maddie did not say it, she felt the same way.
"I am going to miss you so much, but you know that we will always have time for you and you are always welcome to come over and visit us at any time," she said.
"I know, thank you Annie," he smiled as she let go of him.
"Dude, I'm going to miss having a roommate who understands me and pushes me to be better," Matt said, Ollie smiled and gave him a hug.
"I feel the same, dude, I feel the same," Ollie replied.
Annie wiped away a tear threatening to fall from her eyes.
Ollie let go of Matt and they all turned to Maddie.
"Hey, don't expect me to hug you blondie, neither am I going to make a big fuss out of nothing. We knew this was bound to happen, enjoy your life blondie and we will enjoy ours," Maddie said.
Her words might have seemed heartless, but Ollie knew that Maddie did not know how else to express what she felt.
He simply smiled and said, "I am going to miss you.".
"Mhmm, well let's get going, I want to rest," Maddie said.
"It's going to be a long way back to the palace almost more than an hour," Matt said.
"Well, you guys can enjoy sitting in the carriage for that long. I on the other hand am going to use other means," Maddie smiled happily.
"What other means?" Annie asked confused.
"Conveying, of course," Maddie winked and with that she disappeared a bright light following after her
"Why didn't I expect that she would do that?" Annie laughed and shook her head.
Matt and Ollie laughed, they had to admit that Maddie had style whether you liked it or not.
"That's Maddie for you," Ollie said with wonder.
"I'm going to miss you so much, I hope you don't miss us to the point of being sad," Annie said.
"I will try my best not to, Annie," Ollie smiled, he opened the carriage door for Annie and helped her in. After that he shook Matt and closed the door.
He stepped back and watched the carriage move, he waved and saw Matt and Annie wave back. They were starting to become his family, and he couldn't live happily without his family.