That final day came far too soon.
There was a great big school assembly with the entire student body in attendance. We were seated alphabetically so we could be called up one by one to get a parting gift from the school.
By surname, Maddie and I are at opposite ends of the alphabet so I didn’t get a chance to sit anywhere near her. I was in fact around people I didn’t really like at all, so it was a pretty cold hour or so, sitting so far away from her.
After that assembly, that was it. Everyone went home.
Everyone started the rest of their lives.
I don’t remember being sad as such, I just felt pretty empty. While I had several really good friends, Maddie was going to be the only one I missed.
The thing is, I had already gone through the emotional goodbye – that came the night before at our valedictory dinner.
That was a strange night. When you spend six years of high school, seeing everyone dressed in uniform, in the exact same way every day you see them, to see everyone dressed in their finest all in the same room together at the same time?
Weird.
I don’t have a lot of specific memories of that night. The memory was all about Maddie and the aura around her, rather than any particular single thing.
A bit like that first day back at school when I thought she was leaving, the evening got underway and Maddie was nowhere to be seen. It had been some weeks since the end of our final exams, so I hadn’t seen her in all of that time.
As such, I was really looking forward to seeing her, so the evening hadn’t started well. I was feeling the dark clouds approaching.
Maddie eventually showed about 20 minutes late – and it was worth the wait. I could count the number of times I had seen her out of school uniform on just my fingers.
But on this night? She looked amazing.
Her blonde hair was up and styled beautifully. She wore a black dress that I remember being just a little above her knees. Gorgeous jewellery and black high heels. Perfect makeup.
The girl I had loved for six years was not here. That night I fell in love with the beautiful woman Maddie had become. I’m smiling so hard right now as I type this, and can see that image in my mind.
It is burned into my memory. My beautiful Maddie. Many years later, I came across a picture of her from that night in a Facebook group set up for our year group.
I hold that picture so very dear.
At the end of the night, our parting words were brief. I was waiting at the front of the school for a ride home, when Maddie walked past on the way to her car.
She smiled, and just said “Goodbye Andrew.”
I smiled back, and said just a single word.
“Goodbye.”
I watched her walk into the darkness.
I wouldn’t see her or talk to her again for nearly three years.