This Couldn't Be More Complicated.

Max’s POV

It had been three weeks since ‘the fight’.

I was sitting in Addison’s house; by myself, watching the two across the street talking and feeling too awkward to move. I was looking around her living room when Addison pushed her front door open and screamed at me to get out. The look in her eyes was…pretty fucking scary actually, so I quickly obliged and met up with Zack.

She hadn’t spoken to either of us since.

The rest of the week I begged Zack to tell me what happened but he kept telling me things like “I don’t want to talk about it” or simply, “Fuck off’. Still, we hung out like normal. I introduced him to a few friends I had from my old school, different ones from my band and he instantly clicked with them. He started hanging out with them after school more and he seemed happier, but you could tell he missed hanging out with Addison, who was hanging out with Ronnie more and more over the three weeks. Every time I saw them together my blood boiled, but every time I tried to talk to her she ignored me. Zack didn’t even attempt to talk to her, it almost seemed like he didn’t even want to be back friends with her, despite being so fucking mopey about it. I felt like such a creepy stalker staring at her from across the lunch hall every day, but I couldn’t help it. I thought things had been going well and she was showing small hints of liking me back. But that was gone now.
And Zack was barely saying anything, I felt so clueless to the situation around me.

We were chilling at Zack’s place before I had to leave for band practice when I finally asked him one last time what had happened with Addison. All he said was they had had a fight about Ronnie and she didn’t want to be friends with us anymore. I knew it had something to do with him. He always fucks everything up. Yet still I remain friends with him. For some reason. I left him sitting there on the lounge, staring at the blank TV, waved a goodbye and drove to Ronnie’s house.

When I got there I let myself in, like I had so many times before and made my way down the basement stairs.

“…with Addison again” I overheard Ronnie talking to somebody. I instinctively stopped my footsteps and advanced cautiously, eager to hear what he was saying. The door to his basement opens to a corner, then the large room, so I pushed the door open slightly.
“I’m pretty sure we are hanging out again tomorrow night, so you know what that means”
“Haha nice!” I heard the two high five.
“Yeah, she’s so…different. I don’t even know how to explain it but doing her is phenomenally better than the other random chicks I’ve been having, there’s just something about her, I don’t know what it is.”
“Dude, don’t tell me you love her or any of that shit”
“Fuck no! I just mean it’s so…intense. Like she’s really good at it. And it’s like she super horny like all the time. She’s nuts.” They shared laughter. “I mean, she’s not even that great in general, I don’t know why Max even likes her.”
“She hot?”
“Uh, not like, knockout hot. More like barely passable.”
“Why are you fucking her then? Dude you used to get way better than that. You still do” Ronnie let out a small chuckle.
“Dude, I know. Like that girl Tiffany we met at the bar last night? I’m seeing her tonight” Another high five.
“Why this other chick then?” He paused.
“Because Max likes her?” it sounded like the other guy had spit out liquid, and laughed
“Oh man that is way too classic! How long you gonna keep this up?”
“Until I get bored of her. I doubt it’ll take long” They laughed. My blood was boiling. I carefully walked halfway back up the stairs and made my way down loudly, pushing the door open.

“Oh hey guys!” I said a little too enthusiastically. I saw the other guy Ronnie was talking to. It was his friend from god knows where Nason. Nason hated my guts, and vice versa.

“I’ll catch you later, Ronnie” he said as he pushed passed me and left. I was just about to reply, when Brian and Robert bounded down the stairs.

“Right, let’s get this over with” Ronnie said in a bored tone. I released the grip I had on my own fists and picked up my bass. I’d have to deal with him later.