I nod politely at Sasha as we pass each other at the METF. She returns it, careful not to get in my way. Everyone is cautious of me now because of my constant mood swings. Losing Chloe really took a toll on me. It's like I'm PMSing.
...Sort of.
I push open one of the workout room doors. Max turns around mid-punch and meets my eyes. I turn on my heel and walk back out of the room, anger flooding my head, my veins, my whole body.
Rachelle might have been right about giving him a chance, but I won't let either of them know that.
I push open another door into a--thankfully--empty workout room and close the door. Something stops it. I sigh.
"What do you want, Max?" I ask, not turning around. I hear him close the door.
"I want to know why you're ignoring me." he says.
Oh, I wonder why.
"We were best friends. Why has that changed?" He asks.
I walk further into the room, stopping at the table beside a punching bag and picking up a roll of tape. I still don't look at him.
"You know why." I reply simply.
He sighs. "I swear, I didn't mean for it to happen." he says.
"Save it." I say, beginning to wrap my fingers in tape.
He walks closer and puts a hand on my shoulder. I shrug it off and move away from him. I can't even stand to be near him right now.
"If I could go back and change it, I would." he says. "I feel so bad about it. I should have been more careful, I know."
"Great." I mutter. "The 'It's not you, it's me' speech."
"I heard that."
I sigh and turn around, finally looking at him.
"Why do you care?" I spit. "Chloe obviously meant nothing to you." It feels so different having to refer to Chloe in past tense. I push back the tears I feel coming on.
"I'm sorry." he says quietly. "I really am."
"Yeah, whatever." I say, throwing a punch at the punching bag. Max dodges my fist and continues.
"I really wanna be your friend again." he says. "I didn't mean for it to turn out this way."
I punch the bag again. And again. And again...it's like I'm mad at the bag instead of Max. I go for a punch again, but Max puts a hand in front of the punching bag, stopping my arm with his strong grip. I look at him.
"Dude, will you just leave me alone?" I grunt, pulling my wrist out if his grip and continuing to beat the crap outta the punching bag. Max sighs and grabs both of my wrists.
"What do you want from me?" he shouts. "What am I supposed to do?"
I try to get my arms away from him but he holds tight. I groan.
"Just leave me alone!" I yell, pushing against his hands and throwing him off balance. He trips but doesn't fall, regaining his balance quickly.
"I'm can't do that." he says. He pushes against my chest, making me stumble backwards. I try to regain balance, but he kicks my ankle and makes me fall over. I groan and grab his leg, pulling him down with me and roll over on top of him. I press my knee to his chest, pinning him to the ground.
"Why?!" I shout. "Why won't you just leave and forget it ever happened?"
He throws a punch and I block it, rolling backwards. He takes advantage of this distraction and throws a punch at my stomach. I groan and stand up quickly before he can do anything else,
pushing him against the wall.
"It did happen, and you know it." he hisses. "I'm just trying to help you. You need someone to talk to. You need a friend."
"I don't need you to be sorry for me." I say. "I'm fine with the friends I have."
He snorts and flips us over, pinning me to the wall instead. "That ho isn't anywhere near a friend." he says.
He did not just say that about Rachelle.
I cry out in rage and pound my fist into his nose. Hard. He stumbles backward, holding his nose. I kick him in the side and he doubles over, blood spilling from his nose.
"It's not my fault." he says. "I didn't get her killed. She did it to herself. If she hadn't have insisted that she--"
I punch him in the stomach once, twice, three times. He eventually gets a good punch in and gets me in the jaw. There's gonna be a bruise there in the morning. I rub my jaw and we glare at each other.
"This is why we're not friends." I say, shaking my head. I walk out of the room, leaving him on the floor.
