The Days That Count

31. The Day Of Rumors

HEAVENLY'S POV

I invited Maxx to have a cup of coffee in the morning before our afternoon lectures the day after. I debated on when to invite him and decided that it's the best for me to have this uncomfortable conversation on the very start if the day, since faculty duties will have me occupied later and I'll be able to get my mind off of it at least for a while until evening. If I asked him to meet up in the evening after everything then I'd just lay in bed right after it and think about it endlessly.

I buy two cups of coffee to go at Starbucks and head down the street to meet him. I see him standing by a lamppost in the park of our campus. Once he sees me, his expression turns kind of painful.

"Here, " I give him his coffee.

He starts digging through his pockets and I catch his hand to stop him, "No. This one is on me. "

He stops searching and sighs, taking a sip. We take a short, quiet walk to the first bench and sit on it. I take a sip of my own coffee which seems to be a bit too hot. Fingers of my left hand play with the fingers of my right hand, as if I'm composing a melody to kill the awkward silence while I think of some words.

"I know what you came here to say, " Maxx suddenly says.

My eyes grow wide and I look at him fully focused. He continues.

"I know about you and that guy, " he tells me.

I choke on my breath and cough a bit, "Wh.. how?"

My stammering doesn't seem to help me make up solid sentences. He gives me a hard look.

"Bad word spreads fast. Some of my friends happened to be at Georgia's on the same night and they saw you. I heard about it yesterday, " he tells me as if he is talking about what he ate for breakfast. Maxx's sudden calm aura while he talks about such a chaotic topic kind of frightens me.

"Maxx, " I choke on my breath and stare down at the cup in my hands, not able to look at him, "I'm sorry. "

He huffs and drinks some of his coffee, "What exactly are you sorry for? For neglecting me during winter break? For liking Jordan? Hanging around Jordan all the time? Kissing the guy from the club? Embarrassing me in front of my friends? "

The lump in my throat doesn't seem to go away, "I know. I know! I am such a bad person. Everything that happened is because I'm just too weak. "

"That I can agree with, " he says.

"Maxx, " I whisper through the pain in my voice, trying to sound more composed and formal, "I came here today to tell you about what happened. I will not make up excuses for myself but I'd like it if you just listened to me. "

He keeps quiet, allowing me to continue. I sigh, shaking my head and rubbing my forehead out of frustration, "It's unfair of me to hide this from you any longer. I have feelings for Jordan. That's why you and I just couldn't work things out lately. "

The grip on his cup becomes stronger, almost too tight. He looks away from me when I look at him. My voice shivers, "I tried to get over him because I really liked you and thought you are such a nice boyfriend to have. We made great memories together. It's just that we didn't get along lately. You started making fights with me and not talking to me more often, just like these past few days, and besides the Jordan thing, I kind of felt lonely. Elianna and Thalia took me to the club and that guy just happened to be there. I didn't have the intention to do that. He approached me, started having drinks with me and being all friendly. I seriously thought we were just gonna have a nice chat about our lives and part ways but he kissed me out of the blue. "