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Granted, I wasn’t always the best at reading women. I’d had enough practice through the years, but females were a confusing species. There was no other way to say it.
I packed my things and locked the office door on my way out. After the drama with the boy, I decided I was too exhausted to go be social. But I promised myself I wouldn’t text or call Maye again until the following day. I didn’t want to come on too strong, but it was taking every ounce of self-control to not hit her number on my phone’s screen.
Thankfully, there was no sign of her ex when I left the building and headed across the lot to my dusty car. There had been some sort of staff enrichment thing at the building the first half of the day, so when I arrived that morning, the lot was much more crowded than it usually was in the summer months.
About halfway to my car, I heard a vehicle enter the lot at the closest driveway to where I walked. When the unremarkable sedan began to accelerate, instinct told me I was in trouble. As the car closed in closer, the whole scene shifted into slow motion. Including my own reactions.
One moment, I saw the driver glaring right at me. The next moment, the hard thud of the pavement meeting my skull shook me to my core.
Darkness closed in as I lay motionless on the ground. The squeal of tires skipping across the street played a strange, unsettling lullaby as I faded into unconsciousness.
CHAPTER TWELVE
MAYE
By Sunday evening, I was alternately heartbroken and livid. The period between the two swapping had ballooned to hours by that point, and I was solidly stuck with my ire. The problem was finding the right target for my fury. Was I angrier with myself or Andrew? It was definitely a toss-up at that point.
I swore I wouldn’t get into any sort of relationship with the man with blinders on. And I used that term in its loosest form. We weren’t in a relationship. Outside of him being my teacher and I his foolish, starry-eyed student, at least. I felt like a naïve, ignorant, gullible little girl for buying into his routine.
So yeah, that settled it—I was really pissed at myself.
The excuses I made up in my head for him had run their course. The goodwill points he’d earned with the bedside visit had been whittled to nil. I was lying on my bed with tear-swollen eyes when Shepperd rushed into our room.
She had been noticeably absent the past few days, and I was so glad to see her. Even though our relationship was nothing like it used to be, she was still my best friend. I needed someone to talk to about Andrew ghosting me, but she rushed through the door and straight into our shared walk-in closet, stripping her gym clothes as she went.
“Girl, where have you been?” I asked while sitting up against my headboard. “And where’s the fire now?”
She ducked her head out of the closet and said, “Oh, hey. Didn’t even see you there when I walked in. Sorry.”
“Are you going out? Why the Tasmanian Devil impersonation?”
As she tightened the belt on her robe, she reemerged from the walk-in and stopped short beside my bed when she got a good look at my face.
“You crying? What’s going on?” My twin finally halted her whirlwind momentum and plunked down onto my mattress, right beside my hip. “Who do I have to kill?”
“Where have you been most of the week, Shep? Classes are done, and you can only work out so much.” My questions weren’t intended to sound like an interrogation, but when my sister tensed like she was about to jolt back to her feet and forget any tenderness she was considering, I clutched her wrist. “I’ve been missing you, that’s all.”
“Maye, what’s going on? I can totally tell you’ve been crying, so don’t try to bullshit me. Please tell me.” She paused a few seconds, rolled her eyes heavenward, and exhaled. “Please tell me this isn’t over that dumbass, Joel.”
I made a poor excuse for a laugh to set her mind at ease. “No, he’s so far back in my history book, he would have to reference the index to catch up with my life now.”
“Good. Shit, I’m glad that was your answer. Then who has you this upset? The ’rents?”
Because I had interrupted her on her way to the shower, she sat on my bedside in just her robe. As it slid apart while she gesticulated, something we all did when we talked, I was catching glimpses of her bare frame. I could see every rib in her chest, and it was unsettling. I knew the moment I said anything about it, though, she’d bolt from the room. Selfishly, I really needed an ear, so I averted my eyes and admitted what was going on.
“It’s Andrew,” I said quietly.
“Andrew?” she asked, her face twisted with confusion. “Professor Chaplin?” Immediately her expression changed to a sly grin. “So it’s Andrew now, is it?”
“I don’t understand what’s going on with him. He came here to visit the day I got this cast put on.” After lifting my arm as a visual reference to said cast, my gaze naturally went to the dying bouquet of flowers on my dresser. With my uninjured hand, I rubbed the ache that stabbed in the center of my chest.
“Right. So what? Did Mom and Dad scare him off?” Shepperd was first to think the worst of our parents. Just because she didn’t get along with them these days, she thought none of us could have an amicable relationship with them either.
“No. Nothing like that. That night when he left, everything was fine. I even spoke with him the day after that. He texted me throughout the following two days and mentioned going out with some colleagues for happy hour on Friday.”
“Help a sister out here, Maye. None of what you’re telling me is worth crying over. I get that you may feel insecure about him going out with his peers, but really, you can’t act that immature, or you’ll drive him away,” she advised. “Older guys don’t want to be bogged down with schoolgirl drama.”
In the past, jealousy would’ve been my go-to reaction with other boyfriends. Often, I’d get possessive and accusatory right out of the gate without hearing their side of the story. I’d battled insecurity most of my life and had always blamed it on being the invisible half of a pair. But I hadn’t felt that way with Andrew at all. Everything he said and did with regard to our burgeoning attraction made me feel confident and beautiful. Seen.
