Love Is Nothing But A Hoax

I was exhausted. Nothing in the world could keep me from my bed that night. I hadn’t done anything even remotely physically straining in days and yet I felt as if I’d just run a marathon.

I’d given up on Hanna Mae and Garrett’s movie-fest downstairs after I’d bawled my eyes out at the titanic and I left the room practically unnoticed. No matter what Hanna said, she didn’t care whether I was in the room or not when Garrett was there.

This whole thing felt so wrong. I felt so torn and dirty and upset over it even though I clearly didn’t know the half of what was going on. Because to the obvious eye, it’d seem like Hanna Mae was done with John, that she had this undeniable spark with Garrett, one that shouldn’t dare be overlooked. That’s what I’d thought at first which made me almost disgusted with my friend. I would think “How could she do that to John? If she knew it was over and that she liked Garrett instead, why on earth would she string him along like that and continue to break him?”

But I realized soon enough that that wasn’t the case at all.

Maybe it was because I’d known Hanna Mae nearly my whole life but I could almost read her like a book. This may be a new town with new people and new conflicts but she’d always be the same Hanna Mae.

The Hanna Mae that hated to hurt anyone, that held on to good things as long as she possibly could, and that made major mistakes time and time again.

The truth was, she still loved John. She was just hopelessly confused. She wouldn’t let him go because she knew that if she did, it’d be for good. And she also loved Garrett but it was in a different way, I could tell. How it was different exactly, I couldn’t tell but I knew it was.

So she would spend her time with Garrett because the boy knew how to make her laugh when she was confused beyond belief. She’d spend her nights talking on the phone with John for hours on end just because she felt guilty for what she was doing. But she’d refuse him an ‘I love you’ in return because she didn’t want to hurt him just in case she was lying.

There was so much drama going on around me that I often forgot the fact that I was being consistently ignored. But I didn’t even care. I was often too busy worrying about how the chances of this ordeal ending on a good note was second to none.

And with all this on my mind, I was exhausted. Nothing in the world could keep me from my bed. Nothing except the constant ringing of that damn phone, that is.

I didn’t want to get it, I really didn’t, but I was the only one in the room at the time that it rang. It wasn’t even my phone, it was Hanna’s, but I figured it’d just be Mrs.Olvera so I picked it up without thinking.

“Hello?” I greeted, leaning back onto my bed, instantly wishing I hadn’t picked up the phone; I wanted to pass out then and there.

“Hey…Mae?” they asked cautiously. I instantly knew who it was--John was the only person that called Hanna, Mae.

I shook my head for no one’s benefit but my own, “Nah, it’s Anna.” I answered tiredly. “Hanna’s downstairs, but you’re really gonna have to call back later because there’s no way I’m going down there right--”

“No. Actually…” he cut in quickly, and then hesitated. I waited, “are you free right now?”

I sighed and let my eyes slide closed, “I was actually just about to go to slee--”

“Please, Anna.” he cut me off again. But his voice sounded sad and pleading. I could only guess what this was about.

“Alright, yeah. Talk away.” I gave in.

“Can we meet somewhere instead?” he asked. Now he was pushing it.

I groaned quietly, “Fine. Where?”