High

Chapter Two-Red solo cups

"Damn," Zoe commented as we walked down the street briskly towards the campus Square, "I think you shouldn't have gone cold turkey, Ellie cause it took you two whole years to open that door."

I could hear the playfulness in Zoe's tone and, unlike previous times, what would have eased my tension and discomfort only increased it.

Zoe took my silence as a reason to continue. "I mean, I kinda get it cause Max was there. Of course, anyone would've hesitated to leave that store. I mean, he's Max, and he's a whole meal." She gushed, and I increased my pace, wanting to leave his entire existence behind.

I needed to. It was part of the contract that I signed.

Maxwell, I wanted to correct her. He never let anyone use the name Max unless it was close to family and friends. Even though I was practically family, I never managed to shake the habit of calling him by his full name.

Maxwell's reasoning was that Max was too personal, like they knew him. The irony in this whole situation was that once he started getting noticed, everyone called him Max instead of Maxwell, just how he'd preferred.

They called him Max like they knew him, when in painful actuality, they didn't. They only knew of him.

And now, after three years, I guess I was just one of those people. I wasn't his friend, and I sure as hell wasn't his family. Well, not anymore.

"Hey!" Zoe called out to me whilst attempting to catch up with me, "Are you late for class or something?"

Instead of replying, I only increased my pace. The more distance I could put between  Maxwell and I, the better.

I was stopped when someone roughly grabbed my shoulder, "Hey! What's been going on with you today?"

I sighed, looking anywhere but her, "It's nothing. I just have class to get to." I lied smoothly. My tone is tittering close to disrespect and annoyance.

Zoe shot me a glare, and her lips set in a thin line, "You know, at first I was going to cut you some slack cause of the whole cold turkey, coffee thing, but you're acting like someone shot up a stick in your behind."

I took in Zoe's expression, her eyebrows were knitted together, her lips set into a deep frown, and her gaze set into stilts.

I sighed, upset that I just treated me friend like sh*t because of Maxwell, "I'm sorry Zoe." I sincerely apologized, "I think that I'm having a bad day."

Zoe nodded her head, her eyes set on the grass as she contemplated her next words.

She hesitated while she asked, "Is -"

Zoe clicked her tongue, and her bright blue eyes looked directly at me, making my heart rate pick up slightly as she completed her question, "Is it about Liam?"

Zoe-the bold and beautiful one-stood before me timidly. Unsure whether her question would open Pandora's box. Bring back unwanted memories that we'd both rather forget.

I blinked at her, and I let out an anxious breath that I had been holding. "No," I said all too quickly, which caused Zoe to raise her eyebrows in concern, "Ellie, you know the last time you answered that fast was when -"

I cut her off before she could bring up that memory, "Zoe, I just woke up on the wrong side of bed. Plus, I have a lot on my mind." I half-lied.

"You sure, Winters?"

I gave her a smile, "I'm sure Willington."

****

"So I was thinking that you wear something a little revealing that says to anyone who'd be interested that I am hot but classy at the same time."