Blurred Lines [BxB] COMPLETED

0.09

0.09 - Sunday 5:24 p.m.

Maverick Bale

I would've sat on the bench for the rest of the day if Lauren hadn't called me. She invited me to come over, and I didn't have enough energy to make up an excuse.

"Are you hungry?" Lauren asks from the bed, where she's sprawled on her back. I swivel around in her desk chair, trying not to think about the whole fiasco with Rhys. Just thinking his name makes me wince.

"No I'm good," I say. Lauren props up on her elbows, tilting her head. I can sense a probing question coming, and I don't think I can handle more of them.

"You seem sad. And quiet," Lauren says observantly. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine," I say. Lauren frowns like she doesn't believe me. A sigh escapes my lips. "Rhys and I just got in a fight."

Lauren's eyebrows raise. "Really? About what?" she asks, surprised. This is the part I wasn't looking forward to.

"It was nothing," I say, my fingers playing with a loose thread on the hem of my shirt.

"It doesn't seem like nothing," she points out. I focus on the thread. "You can tell me. I won't tell anyone."

I look up with what I hope is a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. It's really nothing." Lauren looks disappointed, but there's literally nothing she can say that would get me to tell her.

I think she knows this, because immediately she changes the subject. "So...there's a party this Friday. After your game."

"Where?"

"Tristan's house," Lauren says.

"Shit that's gonna be wild," I say, picturing Tristan planning for the party. Lauren nods her head.

"Yeah," she says, "but I was wondering..."

"Wondering what?" I ask, but I already know what. Lauren blushes and bites her lip, and I'm reminded why I thought she was so hot at the beginning of the year.

"Who are you planning on seducing?" she asks, partly as a joke, but also as a real question. I prolong the seconds until my answer, pretending to ponder over this life-altering question.

"Well," I say slowly, "she has this long black hair. And she's super short."

"Hey!" Lauren interjects.

"And she has this amazing smile," I continue. "And she's really sexy–"

"Oh my god, stop!" Lauren shouts, throwing a pillow at me.

"What? I'm not talking about you," I say, pulling my features into a serious expression of mild confusion. Lauren laughs because she knows me too well.

"Okay, okay," Lauren says. "You know, I didn't really know what to expect after Saturday night."

This brings me back to reality, and the air around us sobers up. "That was a weird night."

"Yeah, it was," Lauren agrees, twisting a strand of hair between her fingers. "You just up and left." I look down at the thread again, which has become a convenient distraction.

I think back to that night, the loud music and the grass between my fingertips. Lauren was sitting right beside me, and I asked if she liked me, and then right on cue, Beverly the Bitch screamed at the top of her lungs.

Lauren had leaned in and whispered only if you want me to.

And then Rhys and Beverly were walking upstairs and I had to leave, so I did, barely spitting out a rushed apology before abandoning a flustered Lauren in the backyard.

"I didn't think you were going to want to talk to me again," I admit. Lauren shrugs.

"I was pretty pissed at the time. But when I was talking with Rhys about it, and he left to find you, I knew it had nothing to do with me."

"Yeah," I say, then when I actually register what she said, "wait–Rhys left because of me?"

Lauren looks puzzled, and she's about to say something when thankfully her phone rings. She picks it up and brings the phone to her ear.

"Hello?...Yeah mom, okay...okay, fine, bye."

"I need to leave?" I ask.

"Yep," Lauren says. "Sorry." She gets up, straightening her clothes. I stand up too and follow Lauren downstairs.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Lauren says at the door. I step forward and give her a hug, which she relaxes into.

"For sure," I say. And then I'm out the door, breathing in the crisp night air.

***

I plug my phone into the charger beside my bed and place it on the nightstand. No texts from Rhys. I'm not that surprised, but it doesn't make it hurt any less.

I can still see him sitting in front of me with those eyes, filled with disgust and hurt.

What, are you bisexual now?

He said it like it was the dirtiest word, as if he couldn't stand to think that I might be bisexual. I rub at my eyes, flipping around on my bed so that my face is squished between the edge of my two pillows.

Mav, stop this. Stop. Just stop.

His voice is so clear, so sharp in my memories. It was like I was hurting him.

This isn't you Mav.

"Yes, it is," I whisper out loud. I want to scream, to tear the pillows on my bed in half, to hurl something against the wall. Rhys was supposed to be the one who supported me, was there for me. Instead, he's the opposite.

I don't know how I'm going to survive the week. We sit together at lunch, talk with each other during breaks, and hang out after school every day. Someone might catch on that there's something not right, and I don't know if I can trust Rhys to keep our conversation a secret.

I close my eyes.

Rhys's face appears behind my eyelids, and he's stepping closer, tilting his head, closing his eyes. I lean in like I always do, but the image fades to black before I reach him and I drift to sleep like a leaf pulled under the lulling current of the ocean, sinking heavily down to the never-ending darkness.