No One Else (Asa Butterfield)

Eight

Night time.

I checked Miles' location and he was still at home. He hadn't mentioned anything about going out or having a date, so it was time to find out for myself. Maya called me as I was about to leave.

"Hey where are you?"

"I'm about to leave. Why?" I was hoping she wasn't going to ask me if she could come over.

"I was hoping I could come over. Mateo and I got into a nasty fight."

"I'm a little busy right now. I'm on my way to the drugstore." I lied. "I'll let you know when I'm back."

Maya's weekly fight with Mateo was not my priority right now and I was hoping they'd fix it by the time I got back so I didn't have to see her, which was very unlikely. As much as I loved Maya and appreciated her, she tried to include me as much as she could in her relationship even after I told her I wanted nothing to do with Mateo. I didn't want to tell her I was going to Miles' house to investigate because I knew she was going to tell Mateo. When he wasn't wasting his life away, Mateo was at Gabe's dragging himself up and down each aisle of the store and always left with the same two items: some sugary soda and a bag of hot chips. Miles ran into him frequently while shopping there. I didn't want to risk anything and ruin my chances of having access to Miles.

I slowly turned into the street where Miles' house was and saw his car parked in front of his driveway. Usually his mom parked her car right next to his, but hers wasn't there. Miles must have been home alone. I parked in front of a house that was three houses down from his and waited to see if anyone was going to come over.

Ten minutes had passed and nothing happened. I parked my car one house closer to observe through his bedroom windows. A tall shadow walked towards his bedside, disappearing as it sad down on the bed. I couldn't tell if anyone else was in the room with him.

Suddenly, the figure turns toward the window. I start to panic and quickly duck my head as low as I could, hoping he didn't see me. A few minutes later, I drove off.

I was praying Miles didn't see my car through his window. I wanted my investigation to last longer, but I was afraid Miles was going to catch me, and he almost did. I became paranoid and kept checking my phone to make sure he didn't call. I should have worn a wig. I have six of them. I thought to myself.

My twitter notification rang, notifying me that Miles had a new post:

'A huge perk of having an at-home movie date is being able to pause it to go to the bathroom...'

My heart sank. I felt sick all over again. I threw up in my mouth and swallowed it back. I ran towards the bathroom. A wave of chills sped through my body, passing through every vein, every blood vessel. One voice in my head told me I shouldn't be surprised while the other told me he was seeing someone all along.

 I called Maya and told her to come over as soon as she could.

"What an asshole. I told you he was on to something. You refused to listen to me." Maya lectured.

"I just didn't think he wouldn't do something like that. He's supposed to be miserable, he just got out of a relationship! If he still wanted to be in one, why did he leave me?" I cried.

"You're not getting it, Samara. He obviously wants to be in a relationship, he just doesn't want to be in one with you." She went towards my fridge, grabbing a bottle of mezcal and lemonade. She poured the lemonade in a glass and poured mezcal after, mixing it with a straw.

"Okay, Maya. I went to his house earlier to see what was going on, and it just seemed like he was there by himself in his ro--"

"Wait you went to his house? Are you stalking him, Samara?" She was going to take a sip from her drink, and paused.

"Be honest with me Samara. I know when you're lying. You can't hide shit from me."

This was not true. Maya is as gullible as it gets.

"Fine, but I wasn't stalking him. I was investigating. That's a better word for it."

"You drove to his house and watched him through his bedroom window from your car. Isn't that what stalkers do?" She grabbed her drink and chugged it down.

"I wanted answers. So, I went out to find them." I needed that lemon mezcal more than she did.

"Do you know who the girl was? Was she at his house?" She whispered as if someone else was listening.

"No, I just saw him in his room. I didn't see anyone else, but I panicked and left in case he caught me through his window."

"Maybe he's just doing it to make you jealous. Did you ever think of that?"

"I guess not." I went into thought.

"Maybe you're right. I might be overthinking."

I just can't get over the fact that he is taking this breakup so lightly. I'm over here losing my mind and he's living his best life, potentially with other girls. For the rest of the night, Maya and I drank more mezcal lemonade and complained about our dating lives. I even admitted that I was better off without Miles, but I knew that once I woke up in the morning completely sober, I was going to break down all over again.