Roommates & Soulmates

Ch72: Maia's Situation

Maia didn't like the holidays. To her, they were just another reminder of how amazing her stupid older brother was in the eyes of her parents. It had taken Maia many years of internal strength, to quill at least some of her insecurities created by her parents very clear and cruel bais. If she'd had a choice, Maia would have stayed at school for the holidays, but her parents wouldn't hear of it. They were paying for her school, so she had to come when they called. It confused Maia to no end why her parents wanted her home. All they did was look at Daniel, so why did it matter if she was in the room? At home she was invisible, like a ghost. This meant her Christmas had been long, stressful, and exhausting. She returned to school as early as her parents would let her, saying she wanted to get a jump start on her school work. For a moment, she thought her parents were actually glad to see her trying so hard at school, but then they turned it all back around to Daniel. How her parents could make her leaving early about her older brother she had no idea, but they'd managed it.

Maia often wondered why they'd had a second child. If her older brother was so freakin perfect, why try for another. She'd never asked them though; she quite believed she was scared to hear the answer. But she had come up with many theories over the years; ranging from failed birth control, to them wanting another boy.

Maia couldn't wait till graduation. The moment she was no longer financially tied to these people, she was never going to see them ever again. She'd find a job good enough so she could pay her own way. Independence was the light at the end of the long tunnel that was her life so far. This might be why she always thought of the past as something to escape, and the future as being bright and full of potential. This attitude was also probably one of the reasons why she didn't like that her ex was wondering the halls of her school. Why did Jordan have to be here of all places? Her school was her sanctuary, and he was crashing it.

Her first day back at school was like a breath of fresh air. To be free of her parents once again was glorious. It wasn't true independence, but at least she had four Daniel free months to look forward to before summer. Last year she had endured the entire summer back home with her parents, and she was determined not to do that again. If possible, she'd take summer classes or get a summer job so she'd have at least some time away from them. But that was a problem for later.

Maia arrived home to an empty dorm room, but it made her smile. No Daniel, no parents. Just all this space to herself. It was paradise. She was sure Izzy wouldn't be home till she absolutely had to be, and Maia couldn't blame her. From what Maia had heard about Izzy's family home, it was more like a five star hotel than an actual house. Why wouldn't Izzy want to stay as long as possible?

Dumping her bag on the floor, Maia laid down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She couldn't help but wonder if Simon was back home yet. She knew he'd had a fairly low-key Christmas with just his sister and mother, and therefore might be back already. Though Simon actually liked his family, so maybe he would stay a while longer with his than she had. Either way, Maia wouldn't know until she asked. Pulling her phone from her pocket, Maia sent him a simple text. Despite the relief of her solitude, she found she wanted some decent company after all.

As she waited for a reply, Maia continued to stare at the ceiling, trying to form patterns from the paint lines, and badly painted over damage from students over the years. If she drew a line right down the center of one shape, it almost looked like a fork. She wasn't sure why she was doing this; her thoughts were around and around, nowhere good.

Why was Jordan at this school? WHY? She'd purposely picked a different school than Daniel to avoid him, but she'd also picked one far enough away so she wouldn't have to see Jordan again. She so wanted to believe that it was a coincidence, that he'd just happened to be here too. But Maia knew she wasn't that lucky. Her unhelpful mind pulled memories to the front that she had never intended to think of again.