When I Met You {English}

? Chapter 10

I'm such a jerk. He asked me if I was okay, and I just walked away...

Max and I walked toward each other, and when we met, he spoke first.

"Are you alright? Why aren't you coming outside?"

"I was talking to the teacher, I was just on my way out" I said quickly, hurrying to get us outside before Alex could see us.

"Wait. I want to tell you something," he tried to stop me.

"You can tell me outside, come on!" I grabbed his arm to move him along, and once we were in the yard, he spoke first.

"I don't want things to be like this between us" he looked at me meaningfully, knowing I still had our conversation on my mind.

"It's nothing, everything's fine. I just want this to stay between us, that's all"

"Sorry for showing up at your place like that and... you know. I just feel like you haven't been talking to me much lately" he seemed upset by it.

"That's not it, Max... I explained it to you yesterday. I didn't mention Achilles because nothing major happened. And with..." I paused, finding it hard to continue. "There's really nothing big going on to talk to you about"

He just stared into my green eyes without saying a word. And that's where our conversation ended as the others approached.

In the afternoon, before heading to tutoring, I got out of bed to do some review. I had class at 4, and I'd be seeing Alex.

How could I have just walked away when he showed he was worried about me?...

I grabbed my bag but left my earphones behind. As I stepped out of the apartment, anxiety washed over me.

When he looks at me, I'll say hi first...

A little later, I saw him from a distance, like always. We were getting closer to each other, and I was determined to greet him with a smile. The gap between us was now less than five meters.

I watched him, waiting for him to look up. But he didn't... he didn't even raise his eyes. It hurt, but I deserved it.

I tried to put myself in his shoes and imagine how I'd feel if he'd done the same to me. I didn't act right.

I need to talk to him tomorrow...

January 12th

The next morning, I stopped by Alexia's house so we could walk to school together.

"Good morning. How are you?" she asked.

"Good morning. I'm fine" I answered, though I wasn't in the mood.

"The others asked me what happened, but I didn't tell them"

"Which others? Aside from Evelyn and Eliana?" I asked, suddenly a little nervous.

"Don't worry, they didn't notice anything. They probably just saw that Max, you and I weren't teasing each other like usual"

"And the girls asked me what's going on with the three of us. Things with Max have been a bit weird since he came to my house. He feels like I'm distancing myself from him"

"I'm sorry. I didn't think it would end up like this after I told him about Achilles. And about Alex... it was a mistake giving him my phone"

"It's fine, it's not just that. He said some strange things when he came over"

"What kind of strange things?" she turned to look at me as we walked from the sidewalk toward school.

["Why do you need to know who I like, anyway?"