The story of Her and Him

Madison Trent lost her mother when she was seven years old. The loss nearly devastated her father who, brokenhearted, decided to pack their small family of two and move to M City to start a new life.

Adam Trent was an orphan and when he decided to move his domicile thousands of miles away from his wife's close knit family, he left behind a grieving father-in-law whose advice to him probably saved his sanity.

"Try to forget, Adam. For Madison's sake. Try to live in the present."

And that's exactly what he did.

Adam buried any grief he felt for his great loss and instead focused his energy on raising his daughter alone. He resumed his work as a contractor and it wasn't long before he bought a house in the suburbs and moved there with his daughter.

Madi, who depended on her father's presence as the one and only constant in her life, would sometimes look at her father and marvel at his strength. Adam Trent was an ordinary man made extraordinary by his care and love for her. Strong, stalwart, loving. That was her father, the perfect man in her eyes.

That is, until she met him.

It was the first day of school in her third year and she was already late. Her best friend, Ashley Patton, was pacing up and down the entrance, looking impatiently at her Apple watch. When her father parked the car in front of the school gate, Madi grabbed her bag, kissed her dad goodbye then ran to Ash's side.

"Where were you?" Ash demanded. "I've been waiting for you for five minutes."

"I overslept. Dad forgot to turn the alarm on."

"Anyway, let's go," Ash said, her small body quivering with excitement.

That was Ash, always looking forward to new experiences like an over-zealous snake charmer eager to be friends with a boa constrictor. Whereas she, Madi, was the complete opposite. Madi can't be said to be shy or timid. She was, however, very cautious and wary, and possessed a stubborn streak if the situation calls for it.

Their classroom was on the second floor of a four-story building. To get there, they had to pass a group of boys and girls gossiping on the stairs. A boy called out to Ash as they started their climb but she ignored him, taking Madi's hand as she sprinted upwards.

"Hey, your panties are showing," the boy called after her but Ash didn't stop, still dragging Madi behind. Laughter followed after them, loud and raucous.

"Who was that?" Madi asked, wide-eyed.

"Have no freaking idea," answered Ash with a shrug.

The class was surprisingly quiet and well-behaved when they entered the room. Several pairs of eyes looked at the door when they came in but when they saw who it was everyone seemed to deflate in disappointment. Ash arched perfect brows in curiosity but Madi grabbed her hand and pulled her to the back of the class.

Madi as usual took the chair near the window while Ash took the vacant seat next to her. The door again opened and someone came in. Madi, who was looking outside daydreaming, didn't turn to look so it took her a while to realize that the entire room had gone deathly silent. Even Ash was looking like she had just swallowed a big rock and was choking on it.

Curious, Madi turned her head and felt her heart literally stop in her chest.

The boy was beautiful. There was no other word to describe him. He was beautiful, the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. Tall, black hair, fair skin, and the coolest eyes she had ever seen in a human being. It was his very aloofness that set him apart, like a planet content to orbit the universe on his own, brightening the sky with his celestial light.

The teacher, who followed behind him, introduced him as a transfer student from X City. His name was Jayden Hayes.

Any mind-boggling event is made extraordinary if there were enough people to witness it unfold. Jayden Hayes was one of them.

He was an earth-shaking phenomenon St Bartholomew High School was completely unprepared for. That very first day in class, he became the barometer everyone had to compete against, even among students outside their class. He made every boy appear not only faceless but sexless when they sat next to him. He enters a room and he sucks the air out of it. Luckily for him, his beauty comes hand in hand with a laser-like intelligence and a formidable athleticism highly valued in sports-crazy St Bartholomew.

For Madi, it was the start of an obsession that lasted until graduation and their subsequent marriage.

Of course, he didn't notice her. She was an average student, hated sports and was not part of the in crowd. She was, however, well-liked by the rest of her classmates because she was a fantastic cook whose homemade cookies would make her a fortune if she ever decides to box and sell them.

Unfortunately, Madi also possessed a viperous tongue that comes out in full splendor when her unpredictable temper was roused. This unpredictability, however, caused her a lot of grief when she entered Jayden's orbit.

It started with a simple school trip. It had been a hot Monday morning when the entire class boarded a bus. Their destination: the city's newly renovated zoo which recently acquired a giant panda who, just weeks ago, surprisingly gave birth to twins. The birth made it to national news, propelling mama panda and her twins to instant celebrity-hood. Of course, now that the pandas have become famous, everybody wanted to see what the fuss was all about.

Madi, who hated zoos because they smell and had a certain sadness to it, grumbled about it to Ash. Why the zoo? Did the teacher think they were still six years old or something?!

Madi was predictably bored but Ash was almost boiling with excitement. She was hoping that her current idol, the god-like Jayden Hayes, will join the trip so she could perhaps get him to notice her and maybe make him fall in love with her and be her boyfriend?

It seemed that her prayers were answered because when they were lining up to board the bus, they caught a glimpse of his familiar figure, seated beside their teacher, engaged in small talk. They were honestly surprised to him since becoming the number one student of St Bartholomew, Jayden Hayes was allowed certain privileges not given to other students.

One was an opt out from any school trips or activities he deemed boring or unnecessary. That semester alone, the class went on a trip four times, all of them without Jayden. And now that they're going to, of all places, a freaking zoo Jayden was unexpectedly there to join them.

The whispers started, unstoppable as the tide.

He likes the zoo? What's so special about it? Maybe he likes to look at caged animals? Those pandas are adorable, of course he wants to see them. Doesn't he looked gorgeous in that getup?Yummy!

"What surprises me is, why the hell are we going to the zoo? If Teacher wants us to see a fucking panda, then we could just simply, and more comfortably if I may add, watch National Geographic on our phones."

Everybody was silent then burst into riotous laughter.

Most of them were, by now, very familiar with Madi's unexpected and explosive excessive verbosity. They call it her Jeckel and Hyde personality because she completely goes berserk when anything threatens her comfort. And now she's feeling very uncomfortable because of the heat. This can't be good, everyone was thinking in dismay.

"Quick! Give her something sweet!"

"She always calms down after a bite of chocolate, right?"

"Did anyone bring any candy or chocolate with them?"

"Anyone? Anyone?"

"Madi needs her chocolate now!"

Madi looked at the commotion she caused and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Here, give her this," a beautiful voice suddenly made itself heard above the laughter and ribbing chaos.

The noise stopped and everyone held their breath.

Jayden impatiently looked at his mummified classmates and walked towards Madi with a large bar of Hershey's in his hand.

"Here, take this," he said, extending his hand.

Madi couldn't move. Her brain had completely stopped working as soon as she heard Jayden's voice. Even her bones had melted. She didn't even have the strength to take the bar of chocolate in his hand. She could only stare at him, wide-eyed and dazed.

Jayden's eyes flickered towards Madi's softly blushing face. Her face was so honest and open, he could literally read what she felt just by looking at it. And it was telling him something he already knew like it was a map of her emotions.

Jayden dropped the chocolate bar on her lap when Madi remained silent, frozen in her seat just staring at him. He flashed a knowing and mocking smile then turned around and went back to the teacher's side. The frozen tableau he left behind slowly unwind. It regained its breath back, shook out of its apathy then pounced on a stunned looking Madison like crazy.

"Oh my god! A chocolate bar from idol!"

"Open it and give us all a bite, Madi."

"No, don't open it. I"ll pay you for it if you like."

"I'll double his offer. Just give me the chocolate bar, please."

"No, let me have it."

The cacophony of voices swirled around Madi like a tide. In the middle of this roiling conflict was Jayden Hayes, whose sharp eyes laid bare her secret and silently mocked it. It wasn't a mistake. He knew and not only rejected her feelings he even threw a bowl of soupy contempt on top of it. Madi felt shamed and mortified. She forced a laugh then gave the chocolate bar to the highest bidder, who proceeded to tear the foil out and gobble the bar by stuffing the whole thing into his mouth.

"Ewww! Gross!"

The sound of ribbing resumed but Madi retreated from it and spent the the rest the trip keeping silently to herself. Ash tried to start a conversation but she pretended she was tired and closed her eyes. She was very close to tears and only wanted to leave the bus so she could bawl her eyes out in private.

But the torture seemed unending as the heat that swelter around the zoo press heavily on their perspiring faces.

Jayden and Madi's second disastrous encounter happened outside the cage of a large but bored

gorilla. Drum Peterson, the boy who had called out to Ash during that first day of class on the stairs, was feeling cocky and brave. His particular brand of cockiness took the form of taking his golf cap off, inserting his arm inside the cage, and waving the cap at the silent ape.

Madi happened to come by at that unfortunate moment and saw what he was doing. Enraged, she literally jumped on him and ordered him to pull his arm out or else. Unfortunately for him, her presence distracted Drum so he didn't see when the ape moved and started playing tag with the cap.

Frightened out of his wits, Drum tried to loosen his grip on the cap and pull his arm out at the same time but it was too late. The ape was angry and instead of grabbing the cap it grabbed his hand instead. He screamed. Madi screamed. Afterwards, it became a chaos of baying and screaming as their hysterical voices spooked the other animals and they, too started shouting and screaming like it was the end of the world.

Unfortunately for Madi, the first to arrive on the scene was none other than Jayden. By this time, she was already full blown into her crying and hysterical sobbing mode, convinced that the fallen Drum had not only lost an arm but had died and she couldn't do anything to prevent it because she was too scared to put her hand inside the cage and help him.

"What the hell are you babbling about?" Jayden said, exasperated. "This idiot is not dead. He fainted."

"But his arm...I saw the gorilla yank it out."

"He didn't yank it out. He was trying to shake hands with him. This gorilla was trained to do that to avoid stupid visitors like you from acting exactly like you did. Didn't you read the brochure? It's all in there."

"What brochure?" Madi was honestly perplexed. "I didn't see any brochure."

Jayden looked at her like he couldn't believe how really stupid she was.

"What's that on your hand then? Next time, read the damn thing before you use it as a fan, will you?"

After this pithy comment, Jayden ignored her like she was air. He went and revived Drum, who hurriedly got up and threw Madi a pleading glance.

People had by this time reached their side and started asking questions. Madi didn't say anything, waiting for the two men to explain the situation. But Drum stayed mum so Madi's eyes reluctantly settled on Jayden. He met her gaze with a glint then said to the waiting crowd,

"They were scared of the gorilla. This stupid idiot fainted and she...," he said mockingly, turning to Madi, "she made such a giant ruckus with her loud screaming and baying she scared the other animals into a panic."

"But didn't you read the brochure? It says this gorilla is very gentle and even likes to shake hands with people," Mona, a girl who wore thick glasses, said.

Madi met the onslaught of her classmates' mocking laughter and wished she could disappear into thin air at that very moment.

"What happened in there?" Ash asked when the two of them were finally alone together. "Did that ape scare you?"

Which ape? Madi asked silently. She couldn't believe she's opened herself to Jayden's mockery just because he found out her secret and considered it funny. The whole thing was rather funny from his point of view. An average looking girl lusting after a god...any way you look at it, it was funny. So, why isn't she laughing?

The third disastrous encounter between them happened a week later inside a karaoke bar. Gina, Madi's other friend whose obsession with Justin Beiber was almost legendary, celebrated her birthday by inviting her close friends to a karaoke party. Madi, who loves to sing, accepted with alacrity.

Everything was going fine, all of them were getting sick from drinking too much fruit juice, when everything went downhill as far as Madi was concerned when Jayden suddenly turned up from out of nowhere.

Gina had gone to the restroom and heard a familiar voice. A waiter holding a tray had opened the door to the next room so of course she took a peek and saw Jayden inside singing a popular Ed Sheeran song.

What followed was a classic Gina move. She squealed, drag him out of the room, then pulled him inside their little party before he could even say a word. The twenty or so people inside the karaoke room were stunned when they saw him.

Gina again blithely took control of the situation and blah-blahed her way to a semi-apology by offering Jayden a piece of cake. Jayden accepted it without a word then squeezed a seat between Madi and Ash. The two girls were beyond shocked. Madi was wary and suspicious. Ash was batting her eyelashes while trying to strike up a conversation with the male beauty.

Of course, somebody had to introduce a sense of insanity into the situation by proposing that they play truth or dare. Everybody knew it was a ruse for them to ask Jayden relationship stuff and for him to fess up so everyone twittered with excitement. The boys though were pissed because they were once again shoved rudely to the side once Jayden took the center stage spotlight.

Madi was also feeling queer, her foolish heart beating erratically at his presence. He was sitting so close to her that she could smell the scent of his minty cologne. His head was turned away from her while he conversed with Ashley in a low voice.

For Madi, it was heaven just being close to him but then she realized something. He was sitting next to her but his body was turned half way away like he was excluding her from his action, trapping her into her own space and not letting her enter his. It was as close to a rejection as he could possibly signal to her and it almost devastated Madi.

She couldn't remember how she sat through that entire night. The truth or dare lark added to her misery when the spinning glass stopped while pointing in her direction. Gina of course took complete command of the situation by asking Madi pointblank if she likes the person sitting next to her or not.

Madi felt Jayden swivel around to watch her. She could feel his intense stare and knew she would only see mockery in his eyes if she turned and met his gaze. Everybody was tense with excitement, watching Madi avidly as if she was a lamb about to be slaughtered. Madi opened her mouth and said one word, "Dare."