Maddy's day, she thought, could not get any worse. Tom had been giving her and Rhydian harsh glances all day, causing the upset of the morning's meeting never to completely leave her mind. She had been down all day and unable to concentrate on her work. 'What if he leaves again because of this? What if this is the tip of the iceberg?' was all that ran through Maddy's head. Her mind was filled with uncertainty and she needed to let go and de-stress with a run. It was fourth period; P.E. Maddy prayed for cross country to be today's activity, but instead it was netball for the girls and football for the boys.
Maddy had exited the changing rooms, after having pulled on her very loose fitting polo-shirt and shorts, and headed to the sports grounds outside. She was chosen to be on Katrina's team and the match began. Maddy threw herself into the match to try to occupy herself with something other than Tom and Rhydian, but it was impossible when they were playing their game on the pitch right next to them.
Maddy was in the goal-keeper position and had, as yet, been unchallenged by the opposing team, until Kay got the ball. Kay was the best netball player in the school, and when she was in goal attack, like today, her team never loss. Maddy knew that she needed to focus as Kay was pivoting round to face her and take a shot, but she couldn't; Tom was attempting to shoot the ball into Rhydian's goal, and though she knew there was no danger of Rhydian being physically hurt by Tom, she still had to watch out of a strange, irrational, fear for his welfare. The distraction caused Maddy to jump aimlessly in front of the net when Kay shot, causing the ball to be deflected, however Maddy had forgotten to land and so fell on her front onto the hard stone floor.
Maddy yelped in pain, her fresh scars had grazed against the ground and began to bleed. At the sound of Maddy's distress, Shannon and Miss Graham (their teacher) ran over, along with the rest of the class and Tom and Rhydian who had left their own Game to aid Maddy.
'MADS!' Cried Rhydian as he approached her body.
'Maddy? Maddy, are you ok?' questioned Miss Graham.
Unthinkingly, Maddy rolled over onto her back to take the pressure off her chest. Her bloodied, white, polo-shirt had become unbuttoned and so exposed part of Ceri's damage, causing the spectators to gasp in shock at the wounds.
'Maddy, what happened to your chest?' Miss Graham sounded even more concerned now as blood continued to soak Maddy's top.
'Dog,' was all Maddy could think of to explain the mysterious scratches, it was all she could manage to say too as she tried to hold back her tears. She looked into Rhydian's eyes as he knelt beside her trying to sooth her by stroking her hair. The look was significant; it was as if Maddy was saying I'm sorry for people seeing the cuts, but also make something up as she was inferior to Rhydian at making up lies.
Tom had been stood over Maddy; he still felt a need to protect her although he wasn't happy with her recent decisions. He had caught the look between Maddy and Rhydian and misinterpreted it.
'This was you, wasn't it?' He directed at Rhydian with a look of revolt on his face. 'Did you do that to Maddy?'
Rhydian faced Tom and stood up to meet his eyes.
'No… Tom… I-'
'IT WAS YOU WASN'T IT?!' Tom had lost his patience now. 'WAS IT YOU RHYDIAN? YES OR NO?'
'NO!' Everybody's attention was back on Maddy now as she sat up to display her sanity and authority in order to silence Tom. 'NO! NO IT WASN'T, TOM! Like I said, it was a stray dog in the woods! Alright!?'
'Maddy, you expect me to believe that-'
'Enough Tom! Can't you see that Maddy is stressed enough right now?' Tom restrained himself as this was pointed out to him, for the sake of his friend. Rhydian continued to glare at him. 'Maddy, did you hurt your legs or back? Are you ok to walk?'
'I'll be fine Miss,' Maddy confirmed just so she could get away from the crowd as soon as possible. Miss Graham took Maddy under one of her arms, and instructed Shannon to do the same, allowing them to help Maddy up.
'Come on then, let's go clean you up.' The three of them began to make their way inside as Miss Graham remembered the others. 'Erm, Kara, you be ref and continue play for another five minutes, then lead the warm down and bring everyone back inside. Tom, Rhydian, back to your own match.'
Rhydian and Tom both held each other's eyes for a moment as they removed themselves from the netball court. Neither of them was happy. Tom still wanted understanding, Rhydian wanted Maddy.