Chasing Daylight

Chapter Nine

We were happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time

-Taylor Swift

Maria

That weekend I woke up to a notification on my phone. 

Campkesemmaine tagged you in a photo.

I clicked on the notification to find a photo of me at camp during my senior year of high school. This is one of our favorite counselors, Sunshine, from her last year as a camper. She recently transferred to a new school, but we hope that she will consider coming to help out with camp again. If you have a way to contact her, let her know we want her back at camp.

I felt sick. I was already getting direct messages from counselors and past campers. I hadn't used my account in months, so seeing it flooded with notifications and tags made me squirm. Luckily it was a private account, so no one from my new life could see the tags. I immediately deleted the account, I would just make a new one without my real name. I made a call to the salon below our building. I needed a change, I couldn't stand looking in the mirror and seeing myself look exactly the same.

Later that day I found myself sitting in the salon chair telling the stylist to cut my hair to my shoulders.

"That's a lot are you sure?" She asked touching the long hair gently.

"Yes, I just need a change," I replied and she smiled. We spent the next few hours chatting about the bachelor and other various celebrity gossip. Sometimes it was the normal things that felt the weirdest. She had no idea what was going on in my life and it was so nice.

When I got home, I was surprised to find that Max still wasn't home, so I sat down on the couch with my laptop in an attempt to get some work done. When Max walked through the door, he mumbled something under his breath before I looked up.

"Oh your hair, you did something with your hair," Max said leaning against the closed door and staring at me.

"Just a haircut," I replied before looking back down.

"You know one of the things I've learned about women is that if they chop their hair off they're going through some kind of crisis," Max smirked.

"I'm not going through a crisis," I answered rolling my eyes. "My hair was just too much work to take care of anymore."

"Sure, whatever you say," Max chuckled.

"Where were you?" I asked looking back down to my laptop. "I thought I was going to have to run out of here the second you came home."

"Don't worry, I have my sex exclusively in bathrooms now," Max replied and I cringed. 

"While I appreciate it, that was information I never needed to know."

Max let out a laugh and then walked to the kitchen. I turned back to my laptop because I did need to get some work done.

--

Max

As soon as I saw Maria's hair, I knew that I had to text Mason. He was the one who was convinced that if a girl cut her hair she was having a mental breakdown.

Your girl cut her hair... She's officially in your words "going through it"

M: Not my girl and don't use my words against me

Are you telling me you were lying?

M: She doesn't seem like the type to have a mental breakdown

Come over and find out for yourself.

M: I'm working... goodbye

I rolled my eyes, he was already whipped for this girl and he hardly knew a thing about her. I went back to the living room to find Maria had disappeared. She wasn't in the house and I was annoyed because I wanted to make fun of her hair again and make her squirm about my escapades.

I would never be able to date her, but I had to admit it was kind of fun being her friend. Well, I didn't know if she saw it that way, but making fun of people was how I showed I cared.

--

Mason

That night despite how tired I was from work, I found myself at the apartment eating Chinese food with Max. We heard the door open and close followed by a sigh and the thud of a backpack on the ground.

"Hey, Maria," Max called and we heard her footsteps coming closer. My heart was already beating faster at the idea of seeing her again.

"Hey guys," she replied going to the fridge. She looked sweaty and somehow beautiful. Her hair, oh my god her hair. I could see her shoulders and her face even better now. I wanted to touch those curls.

"You went to the gym again?" Max asked rolling his eyes.

"Well I went to the coffee shop with Sophie and she's making me go on a blind date tomorrow, so then I had to go to the gym because..."

"A blind date?" I interrupted and Max chuckled. I should have known guys would be knocking down her door.

"Well I don't want to go," she said shoving kale into her blender. "She was helping me with my Instagram account and then she started asking if I needed help getting on a dating app and I told her no. I told her I didn't want to date anyone, but she told me she knew this great guy and... I just really don't want to go and now I need to run for another two hours."

"You run the whole time you're at the gym? What are you crazy?" Max asked. "Also you're not on any dating apps? I take that back I'm not surprised by that, but no Instagram? Are you a grandma?"

"I run marathons," she replied scooping yogurt into the blender. "I just don't like being on social media. Too many people can find you."

"What about your friends from Maine?" I asked and watched as a wall went up behind her eyes. She turned on the blender without a second thought and I knew I had said something she didn't like.

"So who's the guy?" Max asked once the blender was off. I absolutely hated everything about this conversation.

"I don't know, his name is like Luke or something," she said rolling her eyes and digging around the drawers. "He's like a business major or something."

"He sounds like a douche," Max replied.

"Aren't you a business major?" Maria laughed.

"Yeah and I'm a douche," Max answered.

"You're not wrong," Maria smiled pulling out a straw and sticking it in her cup. "Well anyway Sophie is coming over tomorrow night to help me get ready, so... I don't know I'm just giving you fair warning."

"That's fair," Max chuckled.

"I'm going to take a shower," she said taking her smoothie and disappearing down the hall.

"Your girlfriend has a date tomorrow," Max chuckled and I rolled my eyes. I was a little upset about it, but Max didn't need to know that.

"She's not my girlfriend," I said.

"Just admit you're mad that you're not the one going on a date with her," Max pushed.

"I'm not admitting shit," I said rolling my eyes. "Just stop being a douche about this."

"Fine, I know you're upset," Max said a glint in his eyes.

How do we think this blind date is going to go? Thank you for reading another chapter! Please leave a comment or like! Have a great day!