July 4, 1933

"Happy Birthday!" Bucky and I yelled as we handed him a wrapped gift that we had been saving up together to get him.

"Guys, I didn't need a gift."

"Be quiet you punk and just take the gift. It was Maddi's idea, she picked it out," Bucky said with a smirk.

"You helped!" I told him. Steve was unwrapping the brown paper and saw a new box of over 50 new colored pencils. He held it in awe. "You don't have many colors and the ones you do are either old and small or broken so I thought you could use some new ones! Do you like them?"

"Maddi, I love them!" he hugged me and then quickly let go. "Thank you," he said with a blush. "You too Bucky, thanks." Bucky patted him on the back.

"Alright, let's go see your fireworks," Bucky declared as it was starting to get dark.

"It's so cool that you're birthday is today. It's like the show is put on just for you!" I smiled at how his birthday was so special because Steve deserved it. We headed up toward the roof of their building because it had an amazing view, according to Bucky. We sat near the edge and waited for the fireworks to start, which I was very excited for since small towns usually didn't have a huge show for the fourth but only a few fireworks set off.

"They're starting!" Bucky exclaimed as one went off. "You're going to love them, Maddi!" I sat next to the right of Steve who was in the middle as a huge smile formed on my face at the repeating display of lights and sounds as the fireworks exploded in the sky. It was more beautiful than I thought it was going to be. I look at Steve to see if he is enjoying it as much as I was since it was his birthday, and I saw him with a slight smile but he was looking at me and not the sky.

"You like them?" He asked with slightly pink cheeks.

"They're beautiful! I love them so much Steve, Happy Birthday!" I wanted to remind him they are supposed to be for him and not me so he should be watching them but he just shook his head. He looked back at the sky and I then took my turn to stare at him for a few seconds before turning my head as well. Despite being smaller than all of the men in our class, he was still rather attractive in my eyes. I quickly pushed away that thought as I didn't want to make it feel awkward whenever I was with him. Bucky was attractive too and I didn't have random thoughts about it so I needed to make sure I kept them to myself as they were my only friends. We sat on the roof long after the fireworks ended and continued to have a wonderful time just in each other's company like we often do.

October 15, 1933

During the start of this school year, some of the girls started to talk to me more than the previous year. I wasn't sure what the shift was, whether it be my better transition into their style of clothing or just the fact that I had been there long enough to feel a bit more normal, but I accepted the new friendships with some hidden happiness. Once talking with some of the girls, I noticed they were much more kind than I thought and figured they were probably just nervous around someone so new. I tried to divide my time evenly with them and Bucky and Steve, which didn't always go over well with either of the groups.

"Why do you still spend time with them?" Alice said as I came to sit with her and the rest of the girls after talking to Steve and Bucky.

"Alice, it's obvious!" Megan cut in. "It's Bucky Barnes, I would do anything to get to spend more time with him." She stared in their direction and suppressed a giggle.

"Bucky is very nice," I started.

"And handsome," Helen added.

"Plus he's an older guy!" Megan said with a smirk.

"Well, he's just a friend. Him and Steve were the first people I became friends with here." I could tell they would completely ignore Steve at any chance if they were to be close with Bucky.

"You have to admit he's wonderful to look at though," Megan told me.

"Yeah, they are both rather attractive," I replied.

"Oh, you don't mean Rogers too?" Alice asked with an look of disgust on her face.

"Yeah, he's so small and he's so pale he always looks like he's dying." Helen took a bite of food as she said this. It made me a little uncomfortable to hear them talk so poorly of Steve. I hate how no girl will even give him a chance because of his physical stature. He may be a little sickly and small, but he has the kindest heart and would do anything for those he loves.

"I'm pretty pale," I pointed out, which was true. I had lighter skin and freckles. "Steve is really nice, and I know he may not look like most men, but he is much better than a lot out there. He's a gentleman, and I still think he is quite handsome actually." They didn't say anything about the subject after that; they just had disbelieving looks on their faces. We spent the rest of the lunch talking about different hairstyles that were nice and new ways to wear makeup without overspending on it. I didn't really have any makeup at all because I didn't have enough money for brand new clothes, let alone makeup. Plus I wouldn't even know how to put it on as nobody ever taught me.

"You know, I have some extra at home, Maddi. Nothing special, just something to make your blue eyes pop. I can even show you how to use it correctly," Alice told me. I thanked her with a smile and she said I could come over after school to try it.

After school that day, Steve came to me and asked if I wanted to walk a bit with him. "I can't, I'm going over to Alice's house," I apologized for turning him down.

"Since when do you like hanging out with her? I mean I know you have since school started, but you never did last year." I was getting tired of both my groups of friends disliking each other.

"They're not as bad as they seem, you know. A little shallow sometimes, yes, but they are really friendly too."

Steve sighed and said, "They only talk to you now because you dress and look like them."

"That's not true, it just took a while for us to finally talk!" I replied but inside couldn't help but think he was right. "You don't have to be so critical of who I talk to ya know."

"I just don't want you to start acting like them too is all."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He sighed and turned to face directly at me. "You like science because you think it's like real life magic; you like playing outside even if you get dirty because you think being inside all day is boring; you are adventurous and outgoing because you aren't afraid of judgement. Also, you are kind and compassionate and don't talk cruelly about people different from you." I stared at him not sure how to respond.

"Thanks for the concern, but I think I can handle things on my own. I'm still your friend first, same with Bucky." I gave him a hug and then headed off to find Alice.