Love Arranged (#1)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three: Maggie

I asked Jess to drive me back to my place, not wanting to speak another word to Evan let alone look at him or even be in the same space as him.

I don't care if he had waited for me in the parking lot after classes, but knowing him, he probably knew I was planning to keep my distance so he didn't even bother because, for some reason, he always seems to know everything about me.

Down to what I might be thinking all the way to what I might be feeling, he always feels the need to know everything about me even though he's as far off as he could be.

Are you sure about that, though? Is he really that far off?

I shake my head to get rid of my cynical inner voice, looking out the window of Jess's car to see that we've already arrived at my place "Thanks for the ride, Jess." I say, smiling at her.

She smiles back "It's okay, anything for a friend, just be sure to relax for the day, as I've said before, he'll come around. You don't have to constantly stress over him, he's not worth it."

I couldn't help but chuckle "The sudden transition from supporting him all the way to bashing the shit out of him, though."

"That's what friends do, don't get me wrong, I care about him and I don't think he's completely hopeless, but it's not my obligation to defend him all the time. Especially when he deserves to be called out," she explained, which made me feel envious for the first time, considering people like this actually exist who aren't biased when it comes to their friends and choose sides.

"You couldn't have said it any better." I said, sighing "I'm just so darn sick of this, you know? It's like we're always at war with each other, we're never on the same page."

Jess bit her lower lip in thought "I know, Maggs. I guess it's just a natural human instinct for us to put people in these roles that aren't even them, that once they step out of that character, we're only bound to misunderstand and to be misunderstood."

"I think the most approachable solution to do now is to just clear the air and show him who you are and let him show who he is. So that in the end, there are no misinterpretations, just acceptance." she advised, "For we tend to ridicule the things that we don't understand."

She gently took my hand in hers, squeezing it "But you don't have to keep trying though if you feel like you and Evan are just too different, spare yourself the trouble and move on. You can't keep trying to make excuses for a person who keeps making the same mistakes over and over."

I let her words sink in and ponder over it, nodding "I'll think about it."

With that, she gives me one last smile before I get out of her car and we bid each other farewell, watching her car drive off from the streets of my neighborhood until she was out of plain sight, but somehow I still find myself staring at nothing with one thought in mind.

Is he really worth it?

I let my mind wander over that simple question as if my life depended on it because one part of my brain keeps disagreeing, but the other half... it isn't necessarily agreeing as well.

Like it knows that the more logical part of my mind is right, but she's reluctant, and she doesn't know why she is. As if she so desperately wants to pick the right route, to be smarter than this, because she knows she is, and she knows how to end this. But how come she can't?

How come I can't?

"Honey? Is that you?"

I step inside the house and am immediately welcomed by my mother and her beaming gaze and warm smile, but as soon as she sees me something in her expression dims. She knows.