Thursday, September 13
11:40 AM
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

I recognize this girly voice – Adelyn. Even without seeing her face, I can picture her ice-cold stare. I turn to look her into the eye, trying to look unfazed. “What about it?”

Adelyn scoffs, “B**** please, don’t give me that. Who are you to tell my boyfriend that he shouldn’t go out with me?”

“Alright, let it go Lyn. Lunch is almost over anyways, let’s head to our next class.” Jason pulls her away, but not before giving me an annoyed look that seemed to say, way to go.
They leave, and I’m sitting in the locker banks by myself. With a sigh, I lean against the cool metal surface of my locker, in hope that it’ll cool my head. I take a deep breath, let the negative thoughts leave my head, and put on a nonchalant face for the strangers I walk by.
3 PM
I put my bag down on the ground, and walk upstairs to my room. I notice that my dad’s bedroom door is slightly ajar. I peek inside: he’s lying on his bed. Didn’t go to work again, I’m guessing. My own bed beckons me; I don’t try to resist and let the soft memory foam hug me. I bury my face my pillow and take in the faint fragrance of my cherry blossom shampoo.
5:40 PM

My dream about salty and crispy French fries wakes me up, reminding me that I’m hungry. I didn’t want to eat frozen food like usual, so I grab a granola bar, stuff my keys and my phone inside my purse, and head out to McDonald’s.

After eating, I meet someone unexpected on my way back home: Ryland. I’ve known him since middle school, and he also lives in my neighborhood. We chat a lot on the bus, but we don’t hang out much, which is why I’m surprised that he was on his way to my house.

He asks, “Could we sit down somewhere? There’s a bench in the park.”

I nod, and we walk over to the park. Neither of us said anything during the 3-minute walk; this solemn atmosphere is starting to make me feel nervous. Even the lovely, floral smell of the lavender crape myrtle trees does little to calm my nerves.

He runs his fingers through his short, shaggy hair. “I’m a little worried. About you.”

“About me? Why?”

“I heard about your fight with Adelyn. Mae, this is like, already the second time that something like this has happened, and we’re only a month into school.”

“Whoever you heard this from, they probably exaggerated. It was hardly a fight. A little disagreement, that’s all.”

“A little disagreement,” he lifts his head and looks me in the eye. “Well, a little disagreement cost your friendship with Chloe, if you still remember, and now you want the same to happen with Jason and Adelyn?”

I look away. “It’s not like I’m purposely trying to lose my friends, you know.”

“No, actually, I don’t know. Enlighten me. What exactly are you trying to do here?”

“I’ve already told you. I just don’t want to see my friends get hurt because of this little thing called love. It’s not worth it.”

“And I’ve also already told you. Just because things didn’t work out between your parents doesn’t mean that it won’t work out for everybody else.” Ry sounds exacerbated, and I feel the same way – we’ve gone through this conversation more than once. “And you know what, even if you’re right, you still shouldn’t force your beliefs onto others.”
“I could say the same about what you’re doing right now. Hypocritical much?” Before I even have time to think about what I’m saying, the words find their way out of my mouth.

Ry replies, his voice dripping with sarcasm, “Yeah, you’re right, I’m such a hypocrite for worrying about you. But of course Maelstrom has everything under control.” He used to call me Maelstrom – because of my name, Mae Love Strom (ironic isn’t it) – to annoy me, but right now it barely registers in my mind. He leaves without another word, and I do nothing to stop him.
Friday, September 14
6:30 AM

Yesterday, the conversation with him left a sour taste in my mouth, so I texted him later to apologize, and he said it’s fine. Still, I’m glad that he didn’t take the bus today; I wouldn’t even know what to say to him. As I ponder about how to avoid Jason and Adelyn too, Serena texts me, telling me to meet her at her locker when I get to school.
7 AM

Serena greets me with a wave, and wastes no time explaining why she needs to talk to me. “So I heard about what happened between you and Lyn yesterday.” I fight the urge to groan. Why is everyone so worked up about this? God, give me a break. “The thing is, before I texted you, I heard Lyn and her friend talking. You know Ryland, right? Well apparently, she got him to help her, and –”

“Wait, what?” I interrupt, “Are you sure? He wouldn’t…”

Serena shrugs, “I don’t know if Adelyn was just bluffing or not, but I thought I should let you know. Anyways, she said that she convinced him to ask you out, so you’ll stop interfering with other people’s relationships.”

“I didn’t think she’d actually hold a grudge against me… should I go talk to her?”

“Uh, no offense, but whatever you say is probably just going to piss her off even more.”

“Yeah, that’s probably true.” I sigh. I know that Ry wouldn’t do that kind of thing. So why can’t I shake off this uneasy feeling?
3 PM

The whole day passed by with no incident. I went to the library during lunch to steer clear of Jason and Adelyn. I did see them in the hallway twice, but I pretended not to notice and looked the other way. Ryland wasn’t on the bus in the afternoon either. After checking to make sure that dad’s not home, I plop on the couch and blast some music to drown out my worries.
Sunday, September 16
6:50 PM

I look out the window – the sky is almost dark. I’m relieved that no one tried to contact me during the weekend, but a part of me feels lonely. I scroll through my contacts list, but found no one I could talk to. Out of the corners of my eyes, I notice movement outside. A figure. He waves at me, and gestures for me to go out. I wipe my smile off my face, but still can’t help but feel a little tug at the corners of my mouth when I open the door.

“Hey Mae. Could I talk to you for a sec? If you’re not busy.”

“Yea sure.” I slip on a pair of flip-flops and step out to join him. “What’s up?”

“It’s about the other day.” I freeze. He notices my reaction and reassures me, “I’m not mad. I just want to tell you that I actually wasn’t as selfless as I claimed to be.”

“What do you mean?”

Ry lets out a breath. “I didn’t say those things to you because I was so worried about your friendships. Well, I mean, I was, but that wasn’t the main reason. As cheesy as it may sound, I did it because I didn’t want you to lose hope in love,” he pauses for a second, glances at my perplexed face, and continues, “I did it because I want you to go out with me.”

Oh my god. And it’s not “oh my god he’s asking me out!” but “oh my god what the hell did he just say.” I stare at him, and he shifts uncomfortably, looking anywhere but at me. After a moment of silence, he clears his throat and asks, “So what do you say?”

“What do I say? I can’t believe I thought we were friends!” Ry looks completely bewildered, and I take his reaction as a signal to go on. “I really believed that you had my back, but instead you decide to listen to Adelyn? What kind of –”

“Hold up,” he interjects. “What does this have do with Adelyn?”

I roll my eyes, “Drop the act. I know that she told you to ask me out, alright?”

“Huh? I swear, I’ve never even talked to her. How do you know this, exactly?”

“Serena heard Adelyn talking about it.”

“Serena? Serena Ross?” I nod in response, and he hesitates for a bit before telling me, “I think I know what’s going on now. I bet she lied her ass off. She…She kind of has a thing for me, and she asked me out two weeks ago, but I told her that I already was interested in someone else. If my guess is right, she somehow found out that I was planning on asking you out.”

I ask, “How would she find out?”

“Well… I did ask a few friends for advice. Maybe she overheard me or something.”
I think it over in my head. “Do you really think that she would do that?” Even if Serena and I aren’t very close friends, the possibility of her lying still comes as a shock.

“That’s the only possible explanation I can think of. I’ll ask her tomorrow morning.”

“Alright… I’ll come with you.”
Monday, September 17
7 AM

When we arrive at school, Ry and I walk towards where Serena is waiting for us – or more accurately, me, since I didn’t tell her about the extra person.

“Hey guys,” Serena says, after recovering from her initial confusion.

Ry gets straight to the point, “Did you lie to Mae about Adelyn and me?”

To my disbelief, she didn’t deny it. Instead, she says with self-righteousness, “Mae, you don’t even believe in having relationships. You probably would’ve rejected him even if I didn’t say anything. But just in case, I didn’t want you to date him half-heartedly.”

Ry refutes, “That’s not up to you to decide. Let’s go.” He grabs my arm, and leads me away from Serena. As we walk away, he starts speaking to me. “Mae, I mean what I said before. I can’t promise that our relationship will be rainbows and sunshine all the time, but please at least give me a chance. Give us a chance.”

A gazillion thoughts dance around in my head. “I’ll think it about it.”
3:30 PM

I open my laptop, and look up the word maelstrom on Webster.
mael•strom noun \?m?l-str?m, -?sträm\
: a situation in which there are a lot of confused activities, emotions, etc.


I stare at the “l.” Love. Love is a maelstrom. I wonder if this is what mom and dad were thinking when they named me. I wonder if their love was a maelstrom. I wonder if maybe… a maelstrom isn’t such a bad thing after all.

I whip out my phone to call him. “Thanks for giving me a chance.”