Roommates & Soulmates

Ch128: Maia's Computer

Maia knew why she had been so cruel to Jace, though she wasn't so keen to admit it to herself let alone anyone else. It probably said more about her than it did about him, and she didn't like that feeling. At the time she hadn't been quite as aware of the motivations behind her actions, but now with some time and thought, Maia was pretty sure she'd figured it out. Jace reminded her of Daniel, the brother she would never be able to match. Maia had long ago accepted that her parents would never look at her the way they looked at him, but that didn't mean she should be projecting those feelings on Jace just because they were both stereotypically good looking guys who seemed to whine about having everything. Maia was also ashamed of how good it had felt to hurt Jace. It was Daniel and her parents that she wanted to yell at, not him. If only she wasn't so scared to just tell them how she really felt, maybe she wouldn't have blown up at Jace like that.

Then again, there had also been some truth in what she'd said. All Jace had to do was wait for his soulmate to come back to him, while she had to watch Jordan happy with someone else. Of course, another main difference is fault. Clary's circumstances had been beyond Jace's control, while Maia had no one else to blame but herself. How many times had she thought back to all those missed opportunities? How many times had he been right there, telling her how he felt? How many times had she let him walk away without even trying to figure out what she truly wanted? If even once she'd given him a moments hope, maybe he wouldn't have moved on when he did? But no, every time he'd be kind, every time he'd showed her he still cared, she'd turned him away. And even after that, she'd let the idea of them float around in the back of her mind as something that would always be there if she changed her mind! What the hell was wrong with her? At the time, she'd convinced herself it was because they hadn't worked out, or because she liked being single. She'd denied reality until it had come crashing up to hit her in the face. The reality was that Maia was lonely and she'd missed her chance, missed so many chances. When she'd learned of his parents interference, Maia should have run into Jordan's arms.

Maia banged her head on the table. Her thoughts were in no way helping her with her homework, but that wasn't the only thing hindering her progress. Her stupid computer was acting up again. The best way she could describe it was like a twitch. The mouse would start shaking on the screen, then suddenly vanish for a while before reappearing. Maybe it was time to take it to an actual tech guy, even if it would probably cost her an arm and a leg, because it wasn't like she could go ask Jordan for help. She knew he'd be able to fix it, but the idea of going to ask him made her stomach all twisted. Maybe she could get away with not fixing it for a while longer. After all, the glitch didn't seem to be interfering with anything major.

She was saved from her thoughts by a knock at the door. Getting up from the table, she went to get the door. To her great surprise there stood Alec.

"My sister around?" Alec asked.

"She's at class," Maia replied automatically. "Why?"

"The plan was to convince her to order food," Alec explained. "But if she isn't here..." Moved past Maia and into the apartment, Alec went straight for the kitchen.

"You're going to raid our fridge?" Maia finished his sentence as she watched him do just that. Alec didn't answer so Maia followed him, and then watched as he snooped his way through her every cupboard.

"Is Magnus starving you or something?" Maia laughed.

"My mom is," Alec grumbled. Then he closed the final cupboard with a groan. "And your guys food sucks."

"What are you talking about?" Maia huffed. "I just went grocery shopping two days ago."

"I'm hungry," Alec whined. He was looking all together rather pathetic, and Maia decided to take pity on him.