Journey (3)

Chapter 1

Author Note: hi! i'm temporarily back from my break to give you all a chapter or two to start off with! this isn't the end of my break, but i thought i would give you something and not end everything on a cliffhanger! i really hope you enjoy all of this, and this chapter too! thanks for reading! 

I stare at the pile of boxes in the corner of the locker room. I don't know what to say. 

"That's everything," Maggie says, coming up behind me. "The whole lot." 

"Why did he do this?" I ask, still taking in what is right in front of me. Piles of boxes, filled with everything I own. Who knew my life could be packed up so simply, and just thrown into a corner? 

"I don't know," Maggie says, sighing. "But you have to figure out a way to move it. We need this space." 

I move closer to the piles of boxes, still hardly able to believe that they're actually there, in front of me. I thought when Connor told me that he would drop everything off with Maggie, that he would do something else. Definitely not this. 

"How am I going to fit this in my car?" I ask, speaking out loud to no one in particular. "I didn't think he'd actually do this." 

"Tessa," Maggie says, walking over to where I am. "You can't hide it anymore. At some point, you have to actually let me know what's going on here." 

"You mean you don't know?" I ask, seeming sarcastic. "Isn't it obvious? I mean, are you not also seeing the  piles of boxes in the corner of the room?" 

"No, you know what I mean," Maggie says, gently. "I know you've been avoiding the subject. You don't want to tell me what actually happened." 

"We broke up," I say, finally, exhaling. I don't know if I'll ever get used to saying that. "Well, he broke up." 

Maggie nods. "I know," she says, eventually. "I guessed that's what happened. When Connor told me, he didn't give too many details, but..." 

"Wait," I say, interrupting her. "Just then, what did you say? He told you?" 

"He had to walk past me to get all of this into here," Maggie explains, gesturing at the boxes. "I made him explain." 

"What did he tell you?" I ask, suddenly wanting to know all of the details. "Like, what exactly did he say to you? Did he tell you why he broke up with me? Did he?" 

"Tessa," Maggie says, sighing. "Come on." She gives me a sympathetic look. "He didn't say much," she tells me. "Just that the two of you ended things." 

"Right," I say, nodding. "Except it wasn't really like that. It was more like he ended things." 

"What happened between the two of you?" Maggie asks, delicately. "You had your ups and downs, but it seemed to be going well for a while, didn't it? What went wrong?" 

"I don't know," I say. "Really, I don't. There were a lot of mixed messages, a lot of accusations, and then I guess we both went too far with it."

"I can't believe it," Maggie says. "I'm sorry, Tessa. You must be feeling awful." 

I shrug. "It's fine," I tell her, putting on a smile. "It was a few weeks ago."

"Really, that long?" Maggie asks. "And you didn't say anything?" 

"I didn't want to say anything, because then that would make it real, and I so, so badly didn't want it to be real," I sigh, almost talking to myself now. 

"Tessa...you could have said something, you should have. I wouldn't have told anyone, honestly." Maggie's voice is kind now, which somehow makes it seem even worse. I have never been a fan of pity.