˗ˏˋOur Differences Sequelˊˎ˗

-48-

Maddie

When it was time to go back to school, I started to really contemplate my entire life and every decision I've made in it.

I loved being at home in Tennessee so much, and the thought of going back to California where things are so incredibly shitty sent chills down my spine. It's basically torture to be in the same town as Devin much less the same school. And if that wasn't bad enough, now I have to live in the same fucking house as him and breathe the same air.

I've never dreaded anything more in my entire life — which is saying a lot.

Charlie and I got to the airport early for once. We both wanted to get Cinnabon, so we sat at a table near our gate stuffing our faces for a while. It was therapeutic, especially considering all of the unbearable shit I'm about to endure when I get back to Stanford.

"You don't even have to speak to him." Charlie mentioned for maybe the millionth time to try and ease my complaints. "Leo and I will be buffers. And plus, I doubt he'd go out of his way to talk to you. He'll probably be trying to avoid you just as much as you're trying to avoid him."

"I know, but ... it's not a big house. We're bound to run into each other."

Charlie shrugged. "Well, yeah, that's pretty inevitable. But it probably won't be as bad as you think it'll be."

I knew he was wrong, but I decided against arguing with him. This is obviously something that I'll have to figure out on my own, despite how fucking unfair it is. I shouldn't have to experience even more of him after he literally dumped me to my face with practically zero remorse.

I regret telling Charlie that I'd be okay with him living with us. I don't know why I agreed to it in the first place -- maybe I thought I'd be over him by now enough to coexist in the same living space. I must've been drunk out of my mind that day.

I intended to finish a season of How I Met Your Mother during the flight, but Charlie and I ended up playing chess on the tv screens the entire time. I won every round except for one, and Charlie almost announced it to the entire airplane as soon as it happened. I had to physically pull him back down into his seat to prevent him from doing so.

I started to feel nauseous as soon as we landed in San Francisco, even though we were still about an hour away from Stanford with traffic. We loaded our suitcases into Charlie's small car and then drove to the townhouse, where Leo was ready to unload the U-Haul truck that he rented for all of our shit.

Getting all of my stuff back to California from Tennessee was a huge pain in the ass, but it all ended up working out in the end. Dad had to step in and make some calls a few days ago to ensure that I'd have my stuff on the day I moved in since I waited until the last minute to get this sorted out. It's whatever, though.

I hauled box after box up the stairs leading to the townhouse that we were moving into. I didn't expect any of us to have this much shit, but I forget that Devin's been living in an apartment for the last 3 years and Charlie and Leo for the last 2.

My parents, specifically my Dad, weren't too pleased with the idea of me moving in with 3 guys, but he must've gotten over it because he agreed to pay half of our rent every month. We were very grateful for that.

Leo hauled the massive TV that used to be in Devin's apartment into the living room. We were also grateful to have that.

Moving some of his stuff in was weird, considering that he wasn't even here right now. I found myself struggling to detach myself from certain memories as I brought a box of his clothes upstairs and into his room. He still had several of my clothing items mixed in with his stuff, which gave me an unexplainably weird feeling.