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Chapter Twenty-One: Maggie

Why does it feel like I've revived myself back from the dead but at the same time, not feeling completely alive just yet?

Because not gonna lie, despite letting out all the repressed anger I've bottled up inside of me for Levi and how he broke up with me without hearing my side of the story first, it does feel great to be vindicated now, but I still feel as though I'm being childish to make all of this about me.

Then again, it is more about me considering I was the one who got dumped, left by my friends, and got engaged to a guy I don't even like, but still.

In the end, I feel like I shouldn't have allowed myself to be so ignorant of other people's feelings even though it was never my intention to be that way, and even if it was brief just to get all the suppressed, negative emotions out of my system.

Maybe it's because no one really allowed me to feel the things I've always wanted to feel nor have I felt allowed to speak up about it in fear that people would invalidate my feelings.

Though Evan and his friends think otherwise.

"Come on, Maggs." Jess cooed, stroking my hair as she pouted at my sulking form "Enough with the mourning, what did we say about allowing yourself to feel what you want?"

"Exactly, don't put yourself down way too much. It's not healthy." Ashley advised.

"Yeah, Maggs. Cheer up."

For some reason, their advice just flew past my head because the only thing that I got out of that was "Levi used to call me Maggs," I said, my voice shaking as I feel my eyes tear up.

They all collectively groaned at my abrupt outburst "And for one moment we thought we had her," Colin said, sounding ill-fated.

Zach nodded, lightly punching Evan on the shoulder "Evan, come on, man. Make your girl feel better."

"I'm not his girl," I corrected, sniffling through my tears, frowning.

Evan chuckled, swinging his arm around my shoulder as he bends down until I can almost feel his breath fanning against the side of my face whilst he whispers into my ear:

"Technically, you are, though." he implied with a mischievous tone to his voice, causing a shiver to shoot up my spine as I felt his grin grow wide "You are engaged to me after all, which means you are mine as much as I am yours..."

Despite being aware that he meant that as a joke (I think) I couldn't help but blush as I pushed him off me "Ugh, fuck off!" I exclaimed, shoving him away as I crossed my arms over my chest "You're so annoying."

He smirked at my reaction, snickering "At least you're back to being your usual grumpy self again."

I huffed as I sped up my footsteps, hearing Evan and his friends' laughter trailing behind me. We had just finished lunch and still have fifteen minutes left, and we decided to stroll around for a bit to get the fullness of the meals we just ate out of our systems.

Evan caught up with me, ruffling my hair as I let out a whine "Oh, loosen up, Carter. Always the little uptight, you are."

"You'll know what loosening up will feel like if you don't stop putting your damn hands on me!" I warned which he found amusing, for he could only let out a snort in response.

"Oh, Carter. Feels the need to roar like a lion, but just ends up sounding like a kitten," he said, playfully poking me on the side of my torso, making me yelp.

I sneered as I punched him on the shoulder "You're so annoying, I swear to God!"

He lets out a wholehearted laugh, clutching his stomach as I relished in the sound of his obnoxious laughter echoing through the halls.

But it didn't even take a second before he stopped, making me look at him, puzzled "Hey, you okay?" I asked him.

But his eyes were cast straight ahead and I followed his gaze to see a group of guys stopping about five feet away from us, glowering at Evan for some reason.

It didn't take long for the rest of the group to come up behind us, who for some reason were acting quite guarded as well "Hey," I asked Jasper who oddly got closer to me the most "Is everything alright? Who are those guys?"

Jasper didn't avert his eyes from them when he answered me "Certainly not the type of people we should be talking to right now, that's for sure."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion before looking back at them, realizing that they'd gotten closer to us, stopping as soon as they were at arm's length. The guy in the middle intently focused on Evan, shaking his head at him almost as if disgusted by the sight.

"Sean," Evan greeted, putting on a forced smile "Nice to see you again."

"Wish I could say the same thing about you." Sean scorned with a spiteful look in his eyes "Glad to see after everything that's happened, you're out here having fun... typical of you."

The way he said it didn't even sound like how the words were supposed to be interpreted, the opposite even, sounded almost condescending.

"Yeah, because, unlike most people," Evan started, venom dripping off of his tone "I don't dwell on the past and walk around acting like a sour fuck about it,"

Well, I think that establishes the theory that these two obviously don't like each other.

Sean clenched his jaw before his eyes darted towards me, his lips suddenly forming into a troublesome smirk before he brought his attention back to Evan.

"Bold of you to say for someone who still hasn't stopped trying to steal girls who are taken." Sean hissed which instantly made Evan take a step forward, seething.

"Don't start with me on this, Harris." Evan bellowed as Sean just shook his head, chuckling.

"What? Did I lie though?"

"Whatever we have going on, don't try to include her into this."

"Why?" Sean asked, arching an eyebrow "Is she more special than the girls you've left done and dusted in the past?"

He meets my eye again, his facial expression seemingly hard to decipher, stoic and brooding, as if he has no idea how to react to me being here than to use me as a way to provoke Evan.

"I thought you'd have a little bit of integrity by now because seriously, her out of all people?" he laughed dryly "To think you'd stop acting like a child and grow the fuck up for once."

Evan pushed at his chest and Evan's friends were quick to come to his defense by pulling him back, at the same time Sean tried to take a step forward as Colin stepped in between them.

"Sean, for Christ's sake, have a little bit of respect." Colin chastised.

Sean could only laugh at Colin's statement as if it was the funniest yet most appalling thing he's ever heard "Me? Respect him?" he pointed to Evan "How could I when he's about to ruin this fucking girl-" he motioned towards me "-out of all her innocence like he always does, and you just want me to stand back and watch that?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Evan shouted as he tried to pounce him not until his friends held him back, making me turn around to look at him dead in the eye.

"Evan, stop!"

He breathed heavily but resisted and complied anyway, making Sean turn his attention towards me, taking a step back as he shook his head, his face masked with disapproval.

"Be careful with him," he warned "And if you still have the chance, run as fast as you fucking can." with that, he gave Evan one last heated look before he turned around and walked off.

Preventing Evan to try and lay his hands on him again as he struggled in Zach and Elijah's hold "I swear, I'm gonna kill him." he growled, breathing heavily.

I was still in a state of shock with everything that's happened that as soon as I turned around to look back at Evan, it was obvious that the bewilderment on my face was way too clear.

He gulped as he shrugged the guys off him "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"I think it's a little bit too late for that now," I murmured.

Evan and the group were all silent, trying to digest what just happened, but I've already managed to move past that and address the actual elephant in the room.

"What was that all about?" I asked, still discombobulated, "What did he mean when he told me to be careful?" Evan didn't dare meet my eye.

I clenched my jaw, staring directly at him "... What did he mean when he said I should run before it's too late?"

Evan was silent and clearly struggling to put things into words, and before I could even venture on with the matters at hand, a loud voice sliced through the air, interrupting us.

"Excuse me!" we turned around to see a teacher motioning towards us "What are you kids doing still roaming around the halls while classes are starting? Get to your classrooms now!"

Jasper and the others looked at each other with a reluctant look in their eyes, not until Evan nodded his head as a way to signal that they should get going.

With that, they scrambled out of the scene while Evan and I were the only ones left in our spots here in the now deserted hallways.

"I know it's all very confusing right now," Evan proclaimed "But please trust me when I say I'll explain everything to you later."

I looked at him blankly, keeping my face devoid of any emotion even though in reality, I was screaming from the inside demanding answers.

"You better," I told him.

"Mr. Williams! Ms. Carter! Classes! Now!"

* * *

You'd think after finally coming back to school in such a long time I'd be more focused than ever.

But quite frankly, that wasn't the case. For the past few hours, all I've ever been able to think about was what happened with Sean and Evan and what Sean had meant before he fled the scene, leaving me wondering, desperate for answers to questions I didn't even understand.

"Is she more special than the girls you've left done and dusted in the past?"

"How could I when he's about to ruin this fucking girl out of all her innocence like he always does, and you just want me to stand back and watch that?"

"Be careful with him, and if you still have the chance, run as fast as you fucking can."

My mind was buzzing with too many theories. Was Sean trying to warn me? Is Evan gonna hurt me the way he hurt Mandy? Or am I just being presumptuous? We're not even together.

I mean, we're not friends, we're not enemies, so what are we?

"Bold of you to say for someone who still hasn't stopped trying to steal girls who are taken."

Am I just someone he's gonna try and play with?

My head was overflowing with questions that were just too hard to process that I couldn't even think straight, that once the bell rang I didn't even notice it went off until one of the students nudged me saying that classes were over.

I hurriedly picked up my bag and rushed out of the room, occasionally bumping into students as I only had one thing in mind throughout the day: Evan.

I stopped at my locker and took in a quick breath, opening it to put my books inside, and as soon as I got them all in, I felt a sudden tap on my shoulder.

I turned around and was instantly met by the sight of Evan hovering too close in front of me "Hey," he whispered, "You ready to go?"

I don't respond, I just nod my head as we make our way out of the building and into the parking lot, with some of the students around us looking at us quizzically.

But I didn't give a damn. I just needed answers.

We got into the car and as soon as Evan drove out of the parking space, out of the school, and into the road, was when it was time to address the real issue at hand.

At first, he was struggling to get the words out of his mouth, looking very much apprehensive as he tightened his grip onto the steering wheel, glancing at me from the corner of his eye.

"I know what happened earlier was unexpected, and it probably put me in a bad light, but before we start, please try to understand my side of the story, okay?" he asked.

I didn't speak, making him sigh as he continued "That was Sean, Sean Harris. He was my friend since junior year and we had gone through a falling-out earlier these past few months."

"He was the friend of mine Mandy had cheated on me with," he revealed.

I couldn't help the widening of my eyes and the shock that coursed through me upon hearing that, which Evan immediately noticed "I know, it's a lot to take in, and I know you're probably wondering why he would be angry at me when they were the ones who betrayed me in the first place?"

"But the thing is, it wouldn't have happened if it weren't for a mistake I made a year back. Aside from the fact that Sean wasn't always pleased with the way I had treated my past relationships, I also did something that caused the dent in our friendship."

"Which is?" I pressed on, too intrigued now to find out what.

He exhaled a deep breath at that "... I stole a girl he was planning to ask out, a girl he really liked, but because of how I always wanted things my way, and how I always felt the need to take what isn't mine, and how I was so jealous that Sean could easily be in a serious relationship with someone and for our friends to actually take him seriously, sparked something inside me that was so ugly."

"Because back then he always felt the need to spite me because I wasn't able to devote myself to a relationship, to a girl specifically, the way he can. He was this charming and well-received guy that people swooned over because he actually had a disposition worth taking seriously."

"While me? The only reason anyone wants to be in a relationship with me is to reach a higher social status around here, to be able to say that they dated Evan Williams, had sex with me, managed to fix me because I'm so high-maintenance... because who would ever wanna be in a serious relationship with me in the first place, right? I ruin the girls I get involved with."

"But then there's this guy who's got it all figured out and is constantly being compared to me whenever I managed to fuck shit up in the past-"

"You should be more like Sean, Evan. Try to commit for once."

"Be smarter and a lot more polite like him, Evan. At least then people would actually want to be in a relationship with you and not just for sex."

"Why can't you just be more like Sean Harris?"

He stopped to try and compose himself, clearly agitated "Like I fucking get it, you know? He's the opposite of me. He's all perfect, intelligent, liked by everyone, popular for a reason and not just because of how his wealth and appearances appealed to the entire school."

"As someone said before, I'm the type of guy you would have a brief one night stand with only to just as quickly leave behind the next morning, while Sean is the type of guy you would want to bring back home to your parents, because who wouldn't wanna meet such a lovely fucking guy, am I right?" The resentment in his tone was as obvious as it was painful to hear.

We stayed silent after a while, with him still attempting to compose himself as I tried to absorb the information given, genuinely conflicted about what I'm supposed to think.

"I get where you're coming from..." I started "But I can understand why he would be angry."

Evan blinked back the disbelief that washed over his eyes, trying to process what I just said "Excuse me? After everything that I just said, that's all you had to take away from that?"

"What? No," I argued "I just mean that I understand why he reacted the way he did when he saw me with you. He probably got worried because he probably knew about me and Levi-"

"And what? That I intentionally stole you away from him?" he scoffed "Please, get a hold of yourself."

Something pierced inside of me when he said that, almost as if he stabbed me where it hurt the most. Like I wasn't even worth being worried about because he obviously wouldn't have taken part in me and Levi's breakup if only Levi hadn't provoked him.

Almost as if defending me was just a made-up reason to try and pick a fight.

And I don't know why, but something flared inside of me with the thought of that "At least I'm not a goddamn asshole who steals the person their best friend is in love with!"

He chuckled lowly at that, shaking his head.

I glared at him "You're such an asshole, can't you just try to understand people's problems and not make it about you for once? First, it was Sean, whose girl you stole all just because your ego couldn't take someone being far better than you, and now Levi, all because you couldn't suppress your self-centered ways and make everyone your enemy!"

"And instead of taking criticism for it, you get defensive as if none of this was your fault!"

"So it's my fault he was a judgmental ass to me since the start?!"

"Yes! You don't sabotage someone's chances with a person regardless of how awful they are! You basically did the same thing Mandy did but the difference is you treated her like shit!"

"When he wanted to ask that girl out, she was clearly smitten by me already, not him." he argued "It's not my fault girls glue themselves onto me. He didn't even stand a chance and yet he had the audacity to act as if I stole his girlfriend. That's not an excuse to steal mine."

"Please!" I exclaimed "You are such a hypocrite! You hate the idea of girls treating you like you're only one-night-stand material, and yet you boast about seducing women because you're so good at it! All because you can't admit Sean's anger was justifiable!"

"That still doesn't change the fact his anger was pointless because girls only liked him as soon as they realized they couldn't have a chance with me. If I tried to be as preppy and uptight as he is, trusts me, I'd have the whole school falling at my feet."

I cackled in clear spite "You are such an arrogant bastard, it's actually unbelievable. Tell me, how does it feel to have your head so far up your ass like that? Because obviously the only thing your mouth is capable of is spewing out shit!"

We stopped at my house as he parked the car with a violent pull, making me glare at him as he returned my vicious stare back to me "I'm not having another fight with you, Carter."

"And you think I want to? Over something so stupid?"

I opened the car door and stepped outside, but not before looking back at him "You know what? I wish your personality is just as appealing as how you look because then we wouldn't have to be stuck together and your parents wouldn't have to worry about you being alone your whole damn life!"

He scowled at that "Oh, believe me, Carter. If I wanted to be as appealing as I look, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now, and you wouldn't be here nagging at me like you always do. It's not that fucking hard, then at least I'd be with a girl who isn't too much of a handful."

I guffawed "Yeah right, call me up once that happens." with that, I slammed the door of the car and stormed off.

To hell with this day and everything about it.

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