Page 31 of How We Loved

Knowing she won’t even see my text, I get up with a huff and head out of my room. Hoping that early dinner my mom spoke about is happening sooner than later.

Dinner has come and gone, and still, no word from Maya. I swipe on the Instagram app again and am floored when I see a picture of Maya with the caption Mine under the photo. I see it was posted an hour ago, but the more I look at it, I realize it wasn’t taken today. Or even this week.

I back out of his profile and click on Maya’s to see it’s a photo she posted four months ago on her page. The guy literally took the photo off of her profile and posted it with that creepy-as-fuck caption.

I go back to his name and see that he also deleted the photo from last Sunday. This guy knows exactly what he’s doing and is covering his tracks now. Little does he know, I’m onto him.

I screen-capture the photo and send it to her with a text, saying:

How come he’s claiming you like an inanimate object?

My phone rings instantly, showing a photo of her with a cheesy-ass grin.

“Oh, so, now, you call me back,” I say as I answer.

“Two things,” she says into my ear happily, which confuses me. “One, OMG, this is so amazing. We’re officially a couple, and he’s made it very clear, even on his social media! This is so exciting!”

I huff, not feeling the same thrill over the post that she is. “What’s the second thing?”

Her tone changes. “Are you really cyberstalking him?”

“Someone has to. He’s a player, Maya. I don’t think he’s good for you. Look at his profile name alone.”

She laughs. “He’s just being silly, probably because of his bull riding and wanting to keep it separate from his actual name.”

“Yeah, so coaches don’t know how much of a douche he really is.”

“Oh, Ben, he’s fine. And I’m happy. Doesn’t that mean something?”

I sigh as I run my hand down my face, reluctantly saying, “Yes …”

“You’re just mad because you don’t know him. Once you get to know him, you’ll see that he’s a good guy.”

“What if I don’t want to get to know him?”

“Too bad. He’s officially my boyfriend, so you’d better get used to him being around.”

I bite my tongue on saying anything else. What’s the point until I do get to know him? She won’t believe a word I say until I have proof anyway.

“Then, when will I get to know him better?” I say, annoyed already at the fact.

“Eeek! Soon, considering he’s my boyfriend now,” Maya singsongs.

Her joy is obvious, and it makes me feel guilty for wanting to stop this, but protecting her is more important to me.

“I’m going to text him right now. See ya tomorrow.”

She doesn’t wait for my reply as she rushes off the phone to call her new boyfriend.

How did this happen?

CHAPTER TEN

Maya

Ben picks me up the next day, and I’m still giddy from Trevor’s declaration last night. The only thing that would make it better is if we went to school together. I wish I could walk around, holding his hand, making sure everyone knew we were officially a couple.

“You’re more chipper than usual,” Ben says as I hop in his truck.

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