Overcast | ✓

The Purpose of Purpose

Everything after the meetup happens very quickly. I am in the passenger side of my car as Faye drives to her house, her eyes flicking over at me repeatedly. She says nothing, though, and I'm a bit thankful for this. I really can't maintain a conversation at this point. Once we arrive, Faye leads me up her driveway and through the front door.

"I've never been inside your house before," I say.

"Yeah," she replies. The interior is just as boring as the exterior and I take note of exactly how white everything is. The furniture, the walls, the decor. It's like someone took a can of spray paint and coated the entire house in the same clean, colorless material. We walk upstairs and enter her bedroom, which is the exact opposite of everything else in her home. Nothing quite matches. The walls are this bright purple and covered in paintings. Her sheets are furrowed, her rugs are layered over one another, her desk is very messy. The ceiling is painted blue with clouds spotted over it. It all fits her so well. Honestly, if Faye's brain spilled out into a bedroom, this is exactly what it would look like.

She leads me into her bedroom and digs around in the cabinet before retrieving bandages and antiseptic spray. "Do you want to borrow a shirt?"

I glance down at my ruined sweater and nod. "Yeah, thank you." She hands me this funny, hot pink t-shirt with the words "world's best baiter" on it and I change quickly before sitting on her counter top.

"I don't even know how something like this happens," Faye says as she wets a wash rag under the faucet. "You just have horrible luck, I think."

"Oh, believe me, I know. Tonight has been one of the worst nights ever."

"It wasn't all bad," she shrugs. "Just the whole fire bit."

"And my best friend thinks that I'm exhausting and that my brother is psychotic."

"Right. That too. Okay, this is going to sting," Faye raises the wash cloth and I pinch my eyes closed before she presses it against my arm. "I'm sorry that things got so shitty."

"I was having a good time before, though. So thanks."

Faye looks up at me for a second before returning to washing my arm. "For what?"

"For being a good plus one," I say. "And, you know, a doctor as well." It occurs to me then that I have always been the one to clean other people's wounds. And, now, I'm being taken care of by an annoyingly optimistic, turquoise haired girl.

Once my arm is wrapped in bandages, we travel downstairs and Faye puts a frozen pizza in the oven. "Do you want to watch a film," she asks.

"I don't know," I say, falling onto her couch. "Let's just talk."

Faye smiles and sits cross legged on the floor by my feet. "About what?" I shrug and she pauses for a moment. "What happened with Maeve?"

I shrug again before glancing to the side. "She was drunk and said stuff about Elio. And then, she told me I drag everyone down and all this other stuff... I don't know. None of it was wrong, I guess."

"You don't 'drag everyone down'."

"Well, I lost two friends today," I reply. "So, I'm obviously not that likeable."

"Two?"

"Ruby is avoiding me. I... don't know why."

Faye frowns and glances up at me. "Then, maybe it isn't anything you did. She might just be acting strange."

"I'm sure I did something wrong. I always do." I shake my head because I realize then that I'm doing exactly what Maeve was upset about. I'm being all depressing and annoying and forcing Faye to feel the same way. "Also, I think Sam H. and Ruby are secretly dating."