Status: Done.
Fantasy World
Nine
Maci stumbled into her dorm room two hours after she'd left. She had spent more time with Steven than she had planned, but she couldn't bring herself to regret it, even if it did mean she'd be up until two am studying because of it.
"Where were you?" Corey asked curiously as she looked up from the book she was reading for one of her papers.
Maci kicked her shoes under her bed before falling down onto it. Corey frowned. The girl looked miserable. "What's on your mind?" she questioned as she set her book aside. Lord knew Maci had been there to talk her through numerous break ups. Finally being able to return the favors was the least she could do.
Mack looked out their window at the sky. "I don't know what to do about Steven," she mumbled.
"What do you mean? You aren't pregnant are you?" Corey asked.
Maci felt like puking at the idea. A baby was not what she wanted or needed at the time. "No. I just... It hasn't been long enough since Kyle to move on fully... We were together for nine years..."
"Four of which you guys could barely be considered a couple," Corey pointed out.
Maci frowned. To everyone else they had seemed perfect. Kyle looked like the perfect boyfriend while Maci looked like the sweet girlfriend that every guy wanted the chance to bring home to his family. Corey knew the truth, though. She'd seen inside their relationship.
"We were still-"
"Are you in love with him?" Corey asked bluntly. She gave Maci an expectant look.
Maci scoffed and rolled onto her back. "Of course I'm not in love with Steven. He's Steven. He's that guy that your parents don't want you to date. He's the nerd that stays up until two am watching a show about four geniuses and a dumb blonde. He's that guy you see in the grocery store and automatically think, 'Oh, what a poor sucker. He looks like he could use a girlfriend to keep him in line'," Maci rambled on. "He's Steven... Of course I'm not in love with him..." She frowned and looked down at her chipping nail polish, blue and white.
Corey smirked to herself and clapped her hands. She purposely pushed aside her comment about him being the nerd. "Well, now that we have our answer to this whole problem. How are you going to tell Stephanie you want to marry her brother?" she asked.
Maci looked at her oddly. "What? How is that the answer? You asked if I was in love with Steven," she stated.
Corey smirked. "I never said who. You only guessed that I meant Steven. And you know what they say about those-"
Maci pouted and looked back at her nails. "It's all bullshit," she muttered.
Corey let out a loud laugh. "Sweetie, why are you so against having a thing with Steven?" she inquired.
Maci chipped a chunk of her nail polish off. "He's Steven..." she mumbled as if it was an answer that made complete sense.
"And...?"
She let out a heavy sigh. "I just feel like it hasn't been long enough since Kyle for me to start flirting with him. I feel like a whore. I don't want to feel attracted to him or get butterflies from him. But whenever I'm with him it's like my brain and body can't agree and are on completely different sides of the argument!"
Corey shifted on her bed. "How does he make you feel?" she asked slowly.
Maci rolled onto her stomach again, curling up in his big sweat shirt that hadn't gone unnoticed by Corey. "He makes me laugh and smile. He can make me forget the worst of things in only minutes. The stress of school just melts away when he talks to me. It's like his voice is a Swiffer duster and the stress is specks of dust. He just clears them away," she babbled. She inhaled the scent still lingering in the cloth of his sweatshirt. "He makes me feel good about myself. I don't question what I'm wearing or how my hair is done like I did around Kyle. I still have that comfort of growing up with him, but we're just closer friends. When we were hanging out just now, I forgot all about seeing Kyle at the café with his new girlfriend-"
"What?" Corey blurted out.
Maci ignored her and continued. "And the bruise that makes me look like a cage fighter. And he just... Makes me happy..."
Corey staeed at her roommate. "If he makes you happy, why don't you just let go? Just go with the flow. If things work out, that's awesome! If they don't, then oh well. You got to be happy for awhile," she suggested.
Maci frowned. "But Stephanie-"
"Hun, if you tell Stephanie half of what you just told me, she'd fly over here and push you and Steven together in an instant. Why don't you let go for once?"
Maci stared out the window again. She never just let go. She never just went with the flow. She'd always put names to things and had everything figured out. That was what worried her so much about Steven. He was a loose canon. She could be positive he would be in one spot, only to find him miles away. He didn't have a predictable pattern for her to figure out and remember. He had a handful of crazy ideas and a smile that made her knees weak.
And something about that little thought made her feel a bubble of excitement in her stomach. She kind of wanted to experience that carefree way of living where everyone else didn't matter except for the ones she loved.
Maybe she could even get a skating lesson out of it.
Corey smirked to herself. She could read the look in her roommates eyes. She'd witnessed it whenever the brunette tried to solve something in her head and was finally coming to an answer. She could already hear the words that would soon leave Maci's lips.
"Maybe I will give it a shot."
"Where were you?" Corey asked curiously as she looked up from the book she was reading for one of her papers.
Maci kicked her shoes under her bed before falling down onto it. Corey frowned. The girl looked miserable. "What's on your mind?" she questioned as she set her book aside. Lord knew Maci had been there to talk her through numerous break ups. Finally being able to return the favors was the least she could do.
Mack looked out their window at the sky. "I don't know what to do about Steven," she mumbled.
"What do you mean? You aren't pregnant are you?" Corey asked.
Maci felt like puking at the idea. A baby was not what she wanted or needed at the time. "No. I just... It hasn't been long enough since Kyle to move on fully... We were together for nine years..."
"Four of which you guys could barely be considered a couple," Corey pointed out.
Maci frowned. To everyone else they had seemed perfect. Kyle looked like the perfect boyfriend while Maci looked like the sweet girlfriend that every guy wanted the chance to bring home to his family. Corey knew the truth, though. She'd seen inside their relationship.
"We were still-"
"Are you in love with him?" Corey asked bluntly. She gave Maci an expectant look.
Maci scoffed and rolled onto her back. "Of course I'm not in love with Steven. He's Steven. He's that guy that your parents don't want you to date. He's the nerd that stays up until two am watching a show about four geniuses and a dumb blonde. He's that guy you see in the grocery store and automatically think, 'Oh, what a poor sucker. He looks like he could use a girlfriend to keep him in line'," Maci rambled on. "He's Steven... Of course I'm not in love with him..." She frowned and looked down at her chipping nail polish, blue and white.
Corey smirked to herself and clapped her hands. She purposely pushed aside her comment about him being the nerd. "Well, now that we have our answer to this whole problem. How are you going to tell Stephanie you want to marry her brother?" she asked.
Maci looked at her oddly. "What? How is that the answer? You asked if I was in love with Steven," she stated.
Corey smirked. "I never said who. You only guessed that I meant Steven. And you know what they say about those-"
Maci pouted and looked back at her nails. "It's all bullshit," she muttered.
Corey let out a loud laugh. "Sweetie, why are you so against having a thing with Steven?" she inquired.
Maci chipped a chunk of her nail polish off. "He's Steven..." she mumbled as if it was an answer that made complete sense.
"And...?"
She let out a heavy sigh. "I just feel like it hasn't been long enough since Kyle for me to start flirting with him. I feel like a whore. I don't want to feel attracted to him or get butterflies from him. But whenever I'm with him it's like my brain and body can't agree and are on completely different sides of the argument!"
Corey shifted on her bed. "How does he make you feel?" she asked slowly.
Maci rolled onto her stomach again, curling up in his big sweat shirt that hadn't gone unnoticed by Corey. "He makes me laugh and smile. He can make me forget the worst of things in only minutes. The stress of school just melts away when he talks to me. It's like his voice is a Swiffer duster and the stress is specks of dust. He just clears them away," she babbled. She inhaled the scent still lingering in the cloth of his sweatshirt. "He makes me feel good about myself. I don't question what I'm wearing or how my hair is done like I did around Kyle. I still have that comfort of growing up with him, but we're just closer friends. When we were hanging out just now, I forgot all about seeing Kyle at the café with his new girlfriend-"
"What?" Corey blurted out.
Maci ignored her and continued. "And the bruise that makes me look like a cage fighter. And he just... Makes me happy..."
Corey staeed at her roommate. "If he makes you happy, why don't you just let go? Just go with the flow. If things work out, that's awesome! If they don't, then oh well. You got to be happy for awhile," she suggested.
Maci frowned. "But Stephanie-"
"Hun, if you tell Stephanie half of what you just told me, she'd fly over here and push you and Steven together in an instant. Why don't you let go for once?"
Maci stared out the window again. She never just let go. She never just went with the flow. She'd always put names to things and had everything figured out. That was what worried her so much about Steven. He was a loose canon. She could be positive he would be in one spot, only to find him miles away. He didn't have a predictable pattern for her to figure out and remember. He had a handful of crazy ideas and a smile that made her knees weak.
And something about that little thought made her feel a bubble of excitement in her stomach. She kind of wanted to experience that carefree way of living where everyone else didn't matter except for the ones she loved.
Maybe she could even get a skating lesson out of it.
Corey smirked to herself. She could read the look in her roommates eyes. She'd witnessed it whenever the brunette tried to solve something in her head and was finally coming to an answer. She could already hear the words that would soon leave Maci's lips.
"Maybe I will give it a shot."