"Hey, Madge wait!" I say coming up behind her.
"What?" Her voice is loud and sharp instead of her usual quiet, calm tone.
"Look, I'm sorry." she turns around to look at me and it's only now I can see just how pissed off she really is.
"No you're not." Her face is turning red in anger and her fists are clenched.
"Yes, I am." I try and make my voice sound sincere because I genuinely am sorry that I've upset her, although I don't understand why she's so mad about it.
"Whatever." She says, dismissing what I have just said. What is her problem? She starts walking away again so I quickly grab her arm and pull her back. She spins around to face me. We're standing closer than I intended but I still don't let go of her hand.
"Madge." I begin. I use my free hand to gently tilt her head upwards from under her chin so she's looking me in the eye. "I really am sorry. I didn't mean anything by it." Our eyes stay locked onto each others. "The last thing I wanted to do was to offend you."
We stand there for a moment, bodies close together, gazing into each others eyes. It looks like the anger has left Madge and she seems to be her usual calm self again.
"Okay" Is all she whispers back in response.
I didn't realise how dark it had gotten. The moon is out and the sky is clear. We're standing in a clearing in the forest a couple of hundred yards from the fence, but we're still concealed from the District when Madge's' face lights up in the moonlight. She looks so beautiful right now. The moonlight shines of her pale skin, it's almost as if she's glowing. I pull Madge in closer, one hand around her waist and the other still on her hand so that our bodies are actually touching now.
"Are we okay now?" I ask her quietly, my hand now tucking a stray bit of hair behind her ear.
"Yes." She gives me a small smile.
"Good." My hand finds its way to the back of Madge's neck and I can see that her gaze has dropped from my eyes to my lips and when she bites her bottom lip I slowly move my head towards hers. She doesn't hesitate to do the same.
Madge wraps her arms around my neck and we stand there, our lips pressed together, holding onto each other tightly. She lowers one of her hands so it's resting on my chest, the other remains around my neck.
There's a howl of what I assume to be a wild dog not to far in the distance and we stop.
"What was that?" There's a look of pure panic on Madge's face.
"A wild dog. Let's get out of here." I take Madge's hand and we make our way to the fence, being as quiet as possible as to not let the creature know our whereabouts. Although it can probably smell us.
I pause to check that the fence is not on and when I'm sure it isn't, I step aside to let Madge through first and then I follow. "Let me walk you back."
"You don't have to." I can't really tell, but I think she's blushing.
"I want to though." This makes her smile and I take her hand in mine.
Her hands feel so small and delicate in mine. The gap in the fence isn't too far away from Madge's house but it's a fair walk from mine which is why I hardly use it. When we get to her door she turns to face me.
"Thank you for tonight Gale." Her gaze meets mine.
"It was my pleasure" I pull her in close to me again and place my hands on her hips. "I would love to do this again some time."
"Me too." I can tell she's blushing now because a light has just come on. "I better go, thanks again Gale." I bend down and kiss her gently on the lips before she disappears inside.
I set of to walk home, it will be a 10 minute journey if I'm quick. I wonder what time it is.
When I get home I see that its 10:00. Not that bad. Me and Madge must have been in the woods at least 6 hours… It only seemed like 3.
"Gale where have you been?" My Mothers voice comes from behind me. "You were supposed to read Posy a bed time story, remember?" She doesn't sound angry or even disappointed, she sounds tired.
"Just in the woods Mum, had to get away for a while." She walks back over to the sink where she's doing the laundry for our neighbour. "Here let me finish that off, you go to bed." I say as I take over the washing. "Get some sleep Mum." She dries her hands on her apron.
"You're a good boy Gale." She says before disappearing to the room she shares with Posy.
I quickly finish doing the laundry and hang it out to dry over the backs of the chairs, chuck the dirty water out the door and head to my room. It's a small room that only really fits my bed and a chest of draws, but it beats sharing with Rory and Vick.
I take my shirt and trousers off and throw them in a heap on the floor. It's too hot to wear anything to bed so I decide to just sleep in boxers tonight. Although I can already tell sleeping will be difficult tonight as my mind is still full of thoughts of Madge and our kiss. I cant get her out of my head.