Unpopular - Enemies to Lovers

➳ 19

FELIX'S POV

Sleeping in the same bed as Jack was excruciating.

I felt sincerely sorry for anyone who would ever have to sleep beside him in the future.

Jack was not only a kicker, but he was also a blanket hogger. I kept trying to firmly hold onto the blanket but he still found a way to wrap himself entirely in the thin blanket and leave me in the cold.

Laying there without a blanket left me freezing and clinging onto myself for warmth in the dark.

- but it managed to somehow get worse.

A loud snore busted out of Jack's mouth. He sounded like a dying pig.

Kicking, stealing the blanket, and snoring?!

I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up and headed towards the room's wide bay window. I sat on the seat attached to the window.

Behind the thick pink drapes that covered the window I had a great view of the town we were in.

The town outside was quaint and old fashioned. Rows of pastel Victorian houses were under the cool blue light of the night. I gazed at the bright white moon as it punctured through the dark sky.

"Felix?" Maude whispered.

I turned around to see her sitting up in her bed. Her thick hair was in a bun and she wore yellow pyjamas with thin blue stripes on them.

"You're awake?" I whispered back.

She nodded and climbed out of her bed. She sat beside me by the window. It was strange talking to Maude at night, I was unsure what to say.

I wanted to be upset with her, and stand firm in my grudge, but it was hard to be angry when it was so late at night and she looked so pretty.

We spoke quietly.

"Jack snores and kicks in his sleep," I said.

"I can't sleep in new places. It makes me feel uncomfortable."

As I looked at her in the darkness, I felt some kind of truth serum come over me. My groggy brain just wanted to be honest and say all the things I suppressed during the day.

"I'm sorry that I yelled at you in the staircase. That wasn't right. I hate that I did that," I admitted.

"You had a point."

"What?"

"My friends are mean. I've always known that but I let them boss me around anyways because I'm afraid of being alone," Maude sighed, "I was afraid that if I said anything they'd gossip about me and target me. I'm not strong enough to handle that."

Oh.

I had never thought about it like that.

Maude looked down in shame, I could feel the sadness emanating off of her.

"I think I'm the real judgemental person," I admitted.

Maude shrugged.

"I'm not friends with them anymore. I got angry with them about the Michaelson thing."

Hearing her say that made me feel relieved.

"It was hard seeing you be friends with them because Logan has made my life a living hell for years. I guess I thought that because you were friends with him you supported him," I said.

"What did Logan do to make you hate him so much?"

"Did you hear about what happened to me last year?"

Maude nodded.

Everyone had known what happened to me the year before this one.

Last year, I had gotten jumped in the school parking lot by the lacrosse team and people recorded it. I guess my classmates thought it was funny to see me getting a black eye. The video floated around social media for months afterwards.

It had completely ruined my reputation. It was the reason why everyone avoided me and teased me.

"Well," I continued, "Logan was the one who organized that. His friends jumped me for fun. I know I shouldn't still be so sensitive about it, but I can't let it go."

I took out my arm and rolled up my sleeve to show her the spot on my arm where I got stitches.

Her eyes widened in shock as she examined it.

Maude traced her thumb around the stitches. Her fingers were warm and soft and I felt like jelly under her touch.

"I'm sorry that happened to you. This is awful," she said.

"Don't be sorry. There's nothing you can do about."

"I'm not friends with Logan," she said defiantly, "he's an asshole. It's just hard to say no to him."

It hit me how distorted my perception of the situation had been. I never realized that Maude could've been struggling to stand up for herself too.

"I don't want to be another negative force in your life telling you who to be and who to hang out with," I said.

Speaking to her made me realize how controlling everyone in her life was and I didn't want to be one of those people. I didn't want to be another one of her friends who bossed her around and judged her.

Maude looked up at me in surprise.

"I'm not going to judge you or get mad at you, it's not my place. I want to be your friend," I continued.

It was hard to get those words out, but it was the truth.

Maude beamed at me.

"To friendship!" She exclaimed and she hugged me.

Her small frame felt dainty and warm under my touch. I didn't want to hug her too tight because I felt like her body was fragile.

Her smooth hair tickled my nose and I knew I wanted to hug her forever.

We parted and she smiled at me.

"You can sleep in my bed if you'd like," she offered, "so Jack won't snore in your face."

I instinctively raised my eyebrows. I wasn't sure what to say.

"Jack would kill me if he realized I left him in his sleep," I reasoned.

"Okay, goodnight then."

I reluctantly got up and wobbled back to Jack's bed. Maude returned to her bed too.

Had I made the right decision by not sleeping in the same bed as her?

As I laid beside Jack, my heart was pounding at the thought that I could've been laying next to Maude.