Right in front of me (max and harvey)

Chapter 16

Bexley's POV
I thought I'd be able to say that I like Max but I'd be avoiding the truth. I like Harvey. Maybe in some way it's because I know Max doesn't feel anything for me anyways and I know just how it is to try for someone who is not willing to try for you and I am aware of how painful it is so I've been trying not to think about it.

"Nobody..." I pause "I don't like anybody" I tell my mom

"Oh of course you do, you just don't want to tell me. I'm your mom, I'd like to know more about your life. You never tell me anything" she says

"I'm sorry but you're never around" I say shrugging

"I have a job, where do you think the money comes from?"

"Oh yeah. Sorry for complaining about you not giving me enough time, but don't expect me to treat you as my best friend either" I say going up the stairs

"But you still have to talk to me"

"No I don't, as a matter fact, I don't really talk to anyone anymore" I say entering my room and shutting the door

Sometimes I simply feel like everything is falling apart, like whatever I knew is slowly changing. The reason why me and some of my friends have been drifting apart is because we simply don't trust each other as much anymore and we've been getting new friends, but now I'm scared not even my "new friends" will still want to be my friends. That's right, I've been spending time alone. Not hanging out with anyone, nobody's been texting me anymore, I don't text anyone. I'm alone.

I put my phone next to me. I don't feel like doing anything lately, everything seems difficult. I start thinking about why this happened and what I can do to solve it. And there's nothing.

*the next day*
I get to school looking probably worse than ever, I didn't even do my makeup today, I just let it be. I'm letting my appearance reflect how I feel. I'm no attention seeker but some nice words would be more than great right now.

I go to class and nothing really happens. Then I run into Max and see him holding flowers and a teddy bear.

"Hi Bex" he says smiling

For a second I imagine what it'd be like if he asked me out

"I wasn't really expecting to see you here. Listen, I know you've been avoiding me because you think I don't like you but truth is, I do, and I wanted to ask you if you want to be my girlfriend" he says blushing and getting down on one knee. Cheesy, I know, but since nobody's ever asked me out, that's the best thing I can come up with.

"Yeah, of course I'd like to" I say smiling and he kisses me

How nice would that be? I smile to myself. Sometimes you gotta imagine whatever would make you happy to distract yourself from things that make you unhappy, even if it's for a bit.

"Bex, are you okay?" He says touching my shoulder

"Oh... yeah" I sigh "so today's the big day, huh? You're asking Hana out" I say looking him in the eye then looking away

"Yeah" he smiles "Bex, look... I-" he starts saying but I cut him off

"Leave it, it's okay" I say looking at the floor

"But i wanted to tell you that I-" he says and I cut him off again

"I know what you're gonna say Max, I know you like me but I like Hana but hey, my brother likes you, maybe you'd be cute together"

"Well yeah, that's basically what I was gonna say but about Harvey..." he says scratching the back of his neck "you know, he really likes you and I absolutely think you two should date, if you want to of course"

"Eh. Maybe" I say laughing and shrugging

"So... friends again?" He says opening his arms

"Yeah" I say and hug him

Then we see Hana coming down the hallway with Ava covering her eyes

"Why are you covering my eyes, Ava? I hate surprises" Hana says groaning

I see how Max's eyes shine as he sees her. It hurts

"You'll like this one" Ava says

"I have to do something right now, so um, talk to you later" I say, leave and hide behind a wall. I'm not sure why I want to see what's about to happen but I'm curious.

Max puts himself behind Hana so that she wouldn't see him and then Ava stops covering Hana's eyes and sees the flowers, balloons and the teddy bear

"Woah. Is this for me? Who left it here?" she says confused, looking at the things Max had brought for her

"I did. They're for you" he says holding her hand

"Aw Max" she says jumping of joy into Max's arms and then kisses him on the cheek

"Do you wanna be my girlfriend?" he asks her grabbing her by the waist

She nods and a tear comes out of her eye. She's so happy she's even starting to cry. I feel happy for her but when we talked about this happening I thought I'd be involved in the surprise, but things happen.

"Oh, don't cry" he says hugging her tighter "I'm so lucky to have you"

The clue to not hurting is pretending. You start pretending and end up believing it. It does hurt a lot to see that but maybe if I pretend it doesn't hurt, it won't hurt anymore. I just walk away and make my way home.

I lay on my bed and do nothing. Maybe this actually happened for a reason... or maybe not.

Then, my phone beeps. I grab it and turn it on. It's a text from an unknown number

"Hey, it's Harvey"