CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

look away

i paused and asked myself the same thing. did i mean that? would i actually want to take the whole thing for myself? writing hats was so balanced between maeve and i, an almost perfect fifty-fifty. i didn't have the right to claim the hundred. and, sure, neither of us would want to spend the next months working together on something born from a friendship that has been burned, but i wasn't about to let the film burn along with it.

my thoughts churned my stomach. i never wanted any of this to happen. "i don't know," i murmured.

"right," maeve said, "well, tell me when you do." she didn't say it rudely. almost dreamily, sadly. then she pulled out her phone and scrolled mindlessly.

i did the same after swiping out of the documents app. looking at the cast list just made me want to put myself in a cast. at least that would serve as some stability. god, i hated it when the external drama seeps into my brain and gets me all dramatic.

someone tapped my shoulder. it was jake; unusually, he was sitting at the table next to me. he lifted an eyebrow suspiciously. "hey, uh" -- there it was again -- "i heard about your little argument with maeve." i couldn't believe this dude was referring to maeve like she wasn't right next to me for a second time. "and i couldn't help but wonder who, uh, you were, uh, talking about?"

i snarled in disgusted disbelief. "that's none of your business."

maeve chuckled to herself softly. i quickly glanced in her direction instinctively, and saw her smirk back, her eyebrows raised proudly.

"i-- i, uh, just want to express my concern," he said shakily but with false confidence. though his straight, flat hair was overdue for a cut, it couldn't shield the way he failed to reciprocate eye contact.

"thanks," i said flatly. i didn't believe that was his motivation for asking; i was sure his big nose was taking on its role. i waited for the expected further response, but he turned to the fellows at his table, mortified. alright then.

mirroring him, i turned back as well and returned to the comfortable slouch over my phone. i tried to scroll, yet my ears latched onto the new, more natural, conversation he started with the two other boys.

"that wasn't what we meant when we said to find out," whispered someone named charlie desperately.

did they think that we couldn't hear them? i didn't move my head, but i looked up to see if maeve was listening too. just out of curiosity, of course. not because i wanted so badly to make fun of these boys together. i found that she was watching them intently.

"jake could really use a haircut," maeve whispered while nodding.

"that's what i was thinking!" i enthused under my breath. we briefly chuckled to each other, then realized and retreated back to listening and scrolling, no smile in sight.

what jake whispered next was such a mumble that i couldn't tell if he was saying "what if she likes walker?" or "what fits, pee or water?"

my suspicions that the first option was the correct one were confirmed when charlie said, "why do you care? you know you fumbled her way back when your grandma forced you to get pink braces. why try now?"

i heard all three chairs scoot closer together and i couldn't hear jake's response. maybe boys talk in some alien language, an intergalactic mixture of bleeps and blorps only perceivable to the male ear. either way, it was probably best to stay here on earth. only now did it click that jake may like me again, or still, but i wasn't interested enough in him.

"but you're in a relationship already, man," was audible and caught my attention. there was no way in hell i would be interested in a cheater.

"we're kind of casual. plus, uh, i was the result of her cheating anyway," jake replied ruefully.

"you were?" asked the other kid. "you said you and madeline were going strong like yesterday."

my jaw was agape. madeline cheated on michael with jake? this was news to me. not bad news or good news, breaking news. maeve and i made wide eye contact for a moment, an acknowledgement that we had both heard this revelation. i was glad that she was here too to witness this, because if she wasn't, i would be dying to tell her myself.

"the bell's going to ring in about a minute," said mr fennel, rising to his feet. "there's no homework tonight." he pointed to maeve and i's table. "except for you two. i'm assigning a reconciliation due by the end of the week."

i stared blankly at him. he must have so much shit in his body that it went to his head. this grown man obviously had never been a teenage girl. though he did share the irrational and unwavering petulance of one. either way, it wasn't clear if he was joking or not. if he was being serious, it feels slightly against the law and heavily against my new moral code to accept a ridiculous assignment. i wasn't going to force maeve and i back together. especially not through something in school.

maeve didn't say anything as well. she was suddenly in that same sleeping position she was earlier, eyes closed, yet i didn't believe that she was truly asleep. i didn't blame her for slyly ignoring the goofy man until the bell just happened to wake her up again. when it did so, she "woke up" and stretched her arms wide. still, she couldn't act very tired. i knew she was very much awake from this hot scoop we had just overheard.

i purposely packed up in slow motion so that maeve could leave ahead of me and avoid the incredibly awkward situation of trying to get through the same doorway with bags twice our size. it worked, and once we were in the hall amongst the hundreds of other students, i found that i was still able to spot two.

madeline and jake met up a few yards to my left. they diverged from the rest of the crowds and into a small cavity. she still had her shirt inside out and a sour face, and seemed to be explaining why. as i slowly passed by in curiosity, he nodded receptively. but he was able to glance at me for a split second. then he looked back to her.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

the next day was tuesday. this marked one week until valentine's day, my least favorite holiday by far. it has done nothing but spark a few great one liners in the emo short films i write when crying over being single.

i tried to focus on how i had the rest of this week to be in chemistry class with mr grant, the living holy water to cleanse the room of its demonic energy. i vaguely remember fennel booking her flight back to the u.s. for the thirteenth. she did have a valentine after all.

maeve and i joked about being each other's valentines last year, referring to this year. and even if we go back to normal now, she has one of her own. i had a feeling my valentine would be my laptop again.

"good morning, walker!"

"hey, y/n!" he was at our old table again. it felt much more natural to go to the back of the room and find him. "okay, so i sold the rest yesterday and guess how much we got?"

i pet my invisible goatee. "hmmm... like nine million?"

"close! around a hundred fifty."

"damn! that's awesome," i said while clapping lightly. "now we can bribe a random guy on the street to buy us beer for the party scene!"

"i really gotta finish reading the script," walker realized.

"i'm just joking, but hopefully you're good at acting drunk. caleb steps a little far out of his comfort zone," i warned. "anyway, thanks for selling the rest. i think we'll probably need around fifty more dollars for safety, but we'll figure that out later."

"can't wait to film. speaking of-- did we ever get the cast list out?" he listed the names, raising a finger to keep track of each. "connor as peter, violet as emily, you as aurora, me as caleb, that kid with the mole as shirtless boy, and i guess we'll just cast an extra as drunk boy."

"you've got it down, but i'm still hesitant about putting it out."

"come on! maeve won't care if you do that," he said. "and if she does, then blame it on me."

"could i say you hacked into my phone and posted it for me?"

"mhm! oh, can i show you something on mine real quick?" he pointed to his phone and i nodded. "it's something i saw on instagram last night. i think it'll be perfect if we need a little more money."

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thank you for reading chapter 36!

yay 15k reads!!

by the way, i added this the description of the book:

- this has like nothing to do with him other than the fact that he's an actor

- be forewarned that he's just an insert for any fictional love interest

- i started this for fun but it's turned into a whole ass romcom book

you guys probably thought this by now too. but no one has complained, so i'll be continuing as usual!