Chasing Daylight

Chapter Thirteen

We learn to live with pain
Mosaic broken hearts
-Taylor Swift
Maria
After my run, I got a text from Sophie asking to meet her at the coffee shop. I went straight from the gym to the coffee shop and found Sophie sitting in the back. I needed a break from my anxiety and I hoped Sophie could distract me.
"Hey, how's it going?" She asked with a smile.
"Okay," I replied.
"I'm honestly still hungover from Friday night," she laughed.
"Max and Mason took me to a bar last night, so now I'm double hungover," I laughed.
"Did you have fun with them?" She asked.
"Max got us free drinks, or maybe I got us free drinks," I laughed. "We had a lot of fun. Well, I mostly hung out with Mason because Max was on the prowl, but he's so sweet."
"Are you two going to date?" She laughed.
"No, absolutely not," I laughed. "I really don't want to date anyone. I need some time for myself."
"That's fair, but I do think that eventually, you two will date," Sophie smirked. The waitress brought over my green drink and I took it gratefully.
"Yeah well he probably thinks I'm totally crazy, so I kind of doubt it," I said rolling my eyes.
"Why would he think you're crazy?" Sophie asked.
"You have to promise not to judge me," I said taking a sip of my drink.
"I won't," she smiled. I knew she never did.
"Well one of the people from Maine called my number this morning and Mason answered for me because I was so hungover. Anyway, I freaked out when Mason told me who it was and I made him lie and say he didn't know me. I just... I left for a reason and I didn't tell them where I was going for a reason. I don't know how they got my number."
Sophie bit her lip and the guilty look in her eyes told me everything. "I saw the post on the Maine page and I gave them your number," she sighed. "I couldn't imagine if I had thought you were missing. I felt like they deserved to know where you are."
"They don't think I'm missing," I answered. "They know I transferred schools they just don't know where. I cut communication for a reason."
I stood up annoyed. "You didn't have any right to meddle where you don't belong. You don't know anything about why I left. What if one of them was my abusive ex-boyfriend? You just gave him access to me again. You're lucky that isn't the case."
"Maria, I'm sorry," she sighed looking incredibly remorseful.
"I can't talk to you right now," I replied grabbing my drink and walking out.
I was so pissed as I walked home. I couldn't believe she would just give my number out like that. It was absolutely none of her business why I did the things I did. I left that life for a reason and the thought of it already coming back caused waves of nausea to roll over me.
Mason and Max were sitting on the couch watching a game when I walked in. "Hey Maria," Max said and I rolled my eyes.
"Are you mad at us?" Mason asked immediately catching on to my attitude.
"No, Sophie is the one who gave my number out and I'm pissed," I replied. "Who gave her the right to do that? What if something was really wrong?"
"You're not in danger or anything right?" Mason asked.
"No," I said biting my lip. "That doesn't mean I can't be upset."
"Of course it doesn't," Mason agreed.
"Take it from me, you can be angry about anything," Max smirked.
"I want to punch something I'm so mad," I said squeezing my eyes shut. I hated being mad. It was the worst feeling.
"I can make that happen," Max smirked standing up. "Follow me."
"Max..." Mason started but I was already following him to his bedroom. I heard Mason following behind me.
"Here you go," Max said opening the door. I had never been inside because honestly I was scared of what I would find. There were clothes scattered on the floor. The bed was unmade. There were cups and bowls scattered all over the room.
"Can you please wash all these dishes?" I asked already getting distracted. "We're running low."
"I shouldn't have let you in here," Max said rolling his eyes. There was a punching bag in the corner of the room and Max pulled me over.
"This room is disgusting you should clean it," I said noting the condoms on the bedside table.
"Come on just punch the bag," Max said rolling his eyes. I obliged giving the bag a hard punch. Max let out a laugh.
"Damn you have a strong arm," Max smirked. I punched the bag for a few more seconds, but was not satisfied.
"You know what a better way to deal with this is?" I asked.
"What?" Max asked crossing his arms. Mason was sitting on the bed, so I sat down next to him. I pulled up my Taylor Swift playlist and turned on Bad Blood. It was my go to way to get out all of my anger.
"You have to be kidding me," Max grumbled as I turned up the volume.
"This is how you deal with anger," I yelled over the music before yelling the words loudly. When the song was over, Mason was laughing loudly and Max had a sour look on his face.
"Are you feeling better?" He asked.
"Much," I nodded as Mason laughed next to me.
"I hate everything that is happening in this room," Max groaned. "I'll never be able to have sex in here again."
"Well, then I killed two birds with one stone," I smiled and Mason was still laughing.
"Are you like done being mad now?" Max asked.
"Well I'm still not going to talk to her, but I don't want to punch her anymore," I replied. Max groaned.
"I hate how quickly that disappeared and I especially hate that Taylor Swift was just played in my bedroom," Max replied. I took a sip of my smoothie.
"Can you please clean your room? There is no way girls actually come in here."
"You're in here right now," Max smirked.
"Shut up," I said rolling my eyes.
--
Mason
A week later Maria came into the apartment looking worse for wear. She had deep circles under her eyes and her hair was pulled back in a messy bun that looked like it hadn't been touched in days. I was sitting on the couch waiting for Max to come home because we were supposed to be going out to watch the game tonight.
"Hey," I said as she dropped her backpack on the ground.
"Hey," she said rubbing her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" I asked watching her closely. She didn't say anything she just shrugged and sat down on the couch. "You know you can talk to me if you need to."
"I can't sleep," she whispered.
"Why?" I asked looking down at her. I hated the sadness and pure exhaustion in her eyes. It was breaking my heart.
"I have nightmares," she answered.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.
"I used to have other nightmares, but now that Sophie gave my number out, I have nightmares that they're going to show up at my house," she said looking down.
"Maria you keep saying they and them. Who are you talking about?" I asked.
"I don't know, I had a lot of friends in Maine and I know they want to find me," she sighed.
"Maria, what happened," I asked. "I just am really worried about you."
"I promise that no one hurt me," she said with a frown. "I didn't do anything bad either. The reason I can't talk about it is because it makes me really sad and I don't want to think about it. I moved here so I didn't have to talk about it."
"I'm sorry, but I need to hug you," I said wrapping my arms around her. She tucked her head against my chest and it felt so right.
"I usually talk about this stuff with Sophie, I'm sorry," she said.
"It's okay, we're friends. You can talk about stuff with me. I'm not Max. I won't yell at you or anything," I said rubbing her back.
"Were you sad when your dad left?" She asked taking me by surprise. She pulled away and she stared at me intently.
"Yeah, well no. I was more mad than sad. He was a really shitty dad. He hurt my mom," I replied. When she got like this, everything just came spilling out of me.
"I'm sorry," she said her eyes sad. "Did he ever hurt you?"
"No," I answered.
"Why did you stop drinking?" She asked.
"My mom asked me to," I replied. "I used to be like Max. That's the god honest truth. When I got accepted to Wash State, my mom begged me to stop drinking and make something of myself. She thought I was going to become my dad and when she told me that, I stopped cold turkey."
"Well now you're so nice," she smiled. "I think you're the best person I've met here."
"That means a lot," I said feeling my heart swell.
"Tell your mom you're a certified good person now," she smiled.
"I will," I laughed. She sat back on the couch still looking tired, but she at least had a smile on her face. "Will, you at least tell me one thing about your past?"
"Sure," she replied. "You can ask me one question."
"Which parent did you go to camp for?" I asked. It slipped out before I could think about it. I watched her face fall and she didn't speak for a few moments.
"My mom got breast cancer when I was thirteen," she replied closing her eyes. "She died the week after my first camp."
"I'm really sorry," I replied.
"I don't like telling people because then they look at me like that," she said pointing to my face. I bit my lip and gave a big smile.
"Is that better?" I asked and she gave a little laugh.
"My mom didn't like people to be sad," she replied. "While she had cancer, she used to paint murals at the children's hospital. She was always so happy and kind and so when people get sad when I tell them, it just feels like she must be rolling her eyes at us. I wish I had an ounce of her positivity, you know?"
"Maria, you're literally the sweetest person I've ever met. You are so kind and polite. I have a feeling you're a lot more like your mom than you think," I said and she gave me a real genuine smile.
"That's probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me," she replied standing up. "Thank you."
"Sure," I nodded watching her walk away.
--
Maria
I stood under the shower contemplating everything Mason had just said to me. I really found it hard to believe that he could ever be like Max. I couldn't imagine him fucking girls, breaking things, or fighting people. He was so kind and understanding, I just couldn't understand. I hated thinking that his dad was such an awful person, but I loved knowing how much his mom meant to him. It made me wish he could meet my mom. I hadn't planned on telling anyone about my mom. I hadn't planned on telling anyone about the things that happened in Maine, but Mason was so open with me and I felt like I had to be just as open with him. For some reason I wanted him to know. It felt like I could trust him, which also made me very nervous. I hadn't trusted anyone since I moved here, clearly rightfully so in terms of Sophie, but Mason just seemed like maybe he understood. He understood I didn't need sympathy and he said all the things I had needed to hear. When I got out of the shower, I was glad to find the house was quiet and empty. I wrapped my hair in a towel and slid on my oversized sweatshirt and brought my laptop to the living room so I could do some work. When my thoughts got to be too much, it was so easy to get sucked into whatever manuscript I was working on at the time.
Thank you for reading! You all are the best! Please leave a comment and let me know what you think! Have a great day!