Songs from my Bewilderment

Chapter Thirteen

Olivia gets out of her car and sees an unfamiliar car parked in the driveway. The Sunset District is filled with so many houses of the same kind, but Maddy's was different. She and her roommates had hung up cafe lights over their driveway for the many house parties they hosted there. Olivia walks up to the stairs of the house and rings the doorbell while waiting patiently. Ryder answers the door.

"Liv?" Ryder says, looking very confused.

"How could you do this to Chloe?!" Olivia yells. Just as Ryder backs up, Maddy comes up behind him.

"Oh, crap," Maddy says, as she sees Olivia in front of the door. "What are you even doing here?"

"You two are despicable!" Olivia shouts at them. Ryder is shaking his head and Maddy is feeling more guilty than ever.

"Chloe and I aren't even really going out," Ryder says, his voice is low, he knows that wasn't the right excuse.

"Liv, can you just let me explain?" Maddy says. In her mind, she didn't ever want anyone to know about her "friends with benefits" situation with Ryder. But, of course, Olivia would find out. Of course, Ryder's girlfriend's roommate would find out. Of course, her best friend would find out.

"I'm so mad at you right now! Chloe is back at our house crying, I'm about to go over to Max's to tell him you shouldn't go to Alex's wedding with him anymore!" Olivia says in a loud voice.

"You're telling Max? He doesn't have to know about this!" Maddy says, feeling like she's about to cry.

"Of course I'm going to tell Max! You're such a horrible friend to all of us!" Olivia says.

Meanwhile, Ryder is just standing there not knowing what to do until he gets a phone call. Shit, he thinks to himself. It's Chloe. He decides to leave the house and hop into his roommate's car and leaves.

"You can't..." Maddy says to Olivia, her voice has changed and now she's suddenly feeling all the emotions she secretly has for Max.

"Why? Do you like him or something?!" Olivia questions Maddy.

"Well... we... " Maddy says. She can't hold their secret any longer.

"What?"

"We hooked up a year ago," Maddy says, tears are officially coming down her eyes.

"You what!?" Olivia says shockingly. She's hurt that Max never told her this. And if they did have a thing for each other, why did it have to be so secretive? Olivia is starting to feel jealous and doesn't know what this feeling is. It's foreign. It's different.

Instead of waiting for Maddy to explain herself, she leaves the house immediately and jumps in her car. She just starts driving. She doesn't know where she's going at this point but now she's mad not only at Ryder, not only at Maddy but now she's disappointed in Max. She can't believe he'd lied to her, or let alone kept their hook up a secret.

Ultimately, Olivia finds herself driving over the Bay Bridge, she thinks about her relationship with Max. Their friendship. How it's always meant a lot to her. She knew she had to at least tell Max about what Maddy did to Chloe. Max would understand. But she goes back and forth with the anger she has inside of her. She looks back at her relationship with Max. How it could maybe mean something deeper than what it actually is.