MEGHANI ran away to the library without even thinking. I just needed to be somewhere away from Adrian. I couldn't believe what happened back there in that empty classroom.I couldn't believe what I'd let happen.I promised myself I'd never think of Adrian like that after I moved back from Boston, but here I was, kissing him back. And the worst thing of it all is that he had been treating me like shit, and yet I still let him kiss me. All the memories came flooding back when our lips touched. I felt tingles from my head to toe and my body reacted to him against my better judgment. Sane thing happened to me when he touched me a year ago. It was as if I felt helpless in his arms. My body craved him.What the hell was wrong with me?Get it together, Maggie. It's's not too late to fix all this, I told myself.If he kissed me, it meant he didn't completely hate me, right? That meant I could still reason with him. Maybe we can come to an understanding together. We could try not to be cruel
ADRIANBetrayal cut through me as sharp as a knife; I actually wished Maggie had used a knife. Physical injuries could heal up before your eyes. They might leave behind scars, but they wouldn't linger open without healing forever. Inside my head, I felt as if I was already cut open, left to bleed out by the one girl I'd ever really loved. Now she was hanging with my best friend behind my back? Turning him against me too? Wasn't it enough our parents were on her side already? Why did she have to cut me off from everyone?"Back up," Luke snapped, fire in his eyes as he held a hand up to me, "Like Maggie said, man, you've got the wrong idea. We weren't anywhere near ready to start taking off clothes. A guy can be alone with a girl without trying to screw her." "A guy can, sure, but can you?" I bit back, knowing Luke would hate me taking a cheap shot at his player reputation, "Last time I asked you about casual sex, you said 'Why not? Everybody does it.' Do you think little Maggie ther
MEGHANI couldn't say a word as Adrian went off on me, then spilled every detail of what we had done. I stayed silent, avoiding Luke's eyes.Luke acted like he didn't want to judge me, but who knew what he was really thinking. Why did Adrian have to say those things to Luke? It was between him and me!It took me a few minutes to gather myself after Luke left. The fog in my head started to lift when I felt Adrian's hands on my shoulders as he shook me lightly."Maggie, are you listening? I'm asking if we could talk," he said.I looked him in the eyes. He didn't look as angry anymore. I grabbed his hand and then dragged him to my room. Part of me wanted to be angrier with him, but the other part was glad that he was finally ready to talk about everything. This was long overdue."Is it true? Were you really in love with me?" I asked after I closed the door.He stepped back, startled. "It doesn't matter anymore. How I felt about you back then is ancient history now.""So you aren't in lov
ADRIANEveryone was always right except me! What did I do to my parents to make them always, always, always take the other side against me? In some bizarro world, I could blame Natasha's behavior on her trying to live up to the Evil Stepmother stereotype. She might just be hardwired from pop culture to think it was her "job" to be mean to me. I'd buy it except Natasha had never been remotely Evil Stepmother material from the first date she'd gone on with my dad. There was something kind about her I could sense from the very first meeting; she reminded me of Meghan which had always made me think Meghan must have taken her sweetness after her mom.My dad might claim he had issues with me because I looked so much like my dead mother, but what the Hell? He was taking his heartbreak out on me after he'd already moved on? Remarried and started a new life with a new wife? Neither of my parents had any obvious reason to be biased against me. I didn't do drugs, wasn't a terrible student, d
MEGHAN"Meg...Meg!"I didn't even realize Chase was shaking me as I stood there frozen. Adrian was long gone, but I couldn't move from my spot as I tried to process what had just happened.I mean, how could I not realize Adrian had feelings for me? How could I be so dense thinking he only wanted to play around that summer?"Meghan, are you okay?"I came back to reality this time and looked at Chase. He was staring at me with a worried expression on his face. I had forgotten he was here. He was the one who created even more disaster between Adrian and me. When will I be able to catch a break around here?No, I shouldn't blame Chase. Things have been bad since the beginning."Chase, you shouldn't be here. This is Adrian's room. He will be pissed!" I exclaimed."Yeah, I figured as much. The dude seems to get pissed a lot. What is his problem anyway? Is he in love with you or something?" he said nonchalantly.I let out a small gasp but then quickly recovered. "No, no, of course not. He is
ADRIAN "Things didn't go so hot with Maggie, huh?" Luke asked as I let myself into his room. A part of me knew I should knock first, but Luke's family seemed to actually like me so they told me to let myself in the front door anytime; I chose to use the 'welcome anytime' rule to apply to Luke's room, too. The meaner part of me wanted to catch Luke out someday. He'd seen me embarrassed or at my worst, why couldn't I catch him doing something stupid just once? He was a 'cool guy' though and apparently 'cool guys' didn't do stupid things even when they were alone.Her fratboy boyfriend showed up. You'll probably love him. He seems like he's more your type of guy than I am," I said with a bitter edge to my words.Luke rolled his eyes at me, "You realize I'm never going to be into you, right? You're wasting all your emo energy on me since I've put you firmly in Friend Zone Territory." "Shut up, dick," I sniped, knowing I was being a bitch and not being able to stop myself at the same t
MEGHANI leaned into his hand, then jolted back when I realized what I was doing. Again, I was acting like a lovesick puppy just because he was touching me. No, I couldn't let him sway me this much. I smacked his hand off my face."I can do better? And how would you know? Since when are you an expert on my relationships? I have tolerated everything you've said and done so far, but you are going too far. You can't treat Chase like this. You don't even know him!" I said. It was time I defended Chase. Adrian wasn't even giving him a fair chance."What would you like me to do, Maggie? Take him on a fishing trip and spend quality time?" Adrian scoffed.Always jumping to the extreme, this one."No. I am not asking you to be his buddy. But you could at least try to get to know him. For my sake. You still care about me, don't you?" I looked at him expectantly. No matter how hard he tries to push me away, I won't back down.Adrian sighed. "Yeah, look, I do care about you. I am willing to toler
MEGHAN"Your stepbrother really has it out for me, huh?" Chase said on our way to the beach.I didn't say anything and kept thinking about Adrian. He wasn't as hostile as the first time he met Chase but was it really a good idea to take him to Luke's party? What if it makes things worse for us? I could imagine how jealous Adrian would be if he saw me be close to Chase."Meg? Are you okay?" Chase nudged me when I didn't answer."Sorry, I was thinking about something. What were you saying?" I said and smiled at him. I should be focusing on Chase instead of thinking about Adrian all the time, I thought to myself."I said, your stepbrother really hates me for some reason. Did I do something wrong that I don't know about? Or is he like that with every guy in your life? I just don't understand." Chase raised his eyebrows.I shook my head. "He doesn't hate you, Chase. Adrian and I had a fight before I left, so things hadn't been good ever since then, but he will get over it eventually. We ar
ADRIAN I jumped to my left to dodge the flying piece of strawberry shortcake with cream cheese frosting. Fortunately, it missed my ear by an inch, landing on an empty chair. Phew... That was close. Whose idea was it to put a one year old in charge of a whole cake? Meghan Parker, that's who. "Am I allowed to take it away from her yet? I shot her an intense glare for the fourth time. Maggie giggled. "No, just a few more pictures." "Pictures of what?" "Our daughter!" "That's not our daughter. That's a cake slugging demon child. Look at her. She doesn't even have a face anymore. It just looks like a giant blob of frosting," I point at Olivia, who had smashed her whole face on the cake a few times while giggling like a maniac. I guess that's why they call it a 'smash cake.' I'm glad she is enjoying her party, though. "ADRIAN!" Maggie scolded me. "I'm kidding! Gosh. I love Olivia. She is my favorite daughter," I winced. "Your only daughter," Natasha remarked, then walked over to
MEGHAN It's Christmas day today, and Adrian was home again to spend it with us. After we found out I was pregnant two months ago, Adrian went back to training. I asked him not to tell our parents anything, and he agreed, begrudgingly so. I promised him I'd take care of myself and the baby in his absence. I had to keep wearing baggy clothes because I was starting to show way more. It was getting harder to hide my pregnancy from my mom and Steve. "Stop being so nervous," Adrian scolded me when I acted restless. Our parents threw a Christmas party with our friends and family, and he already threatened to reveal everything to them. "I can't help it. You said you are going to announce it to everyone. How are you going to do it? Because I don't want to do it," I said. "You will see. It's a surprise I created." Adrian grinned mischievously. I don't trust him. "Leave everything to me," he said again. "Why do you have to do this now and ruin Christmas?" I winced. "It's a great time to
ADRIANI waited outside the bathroom patiently as Maggie took her test. This was nerve-wracking, but I tried to remain calm.Everything is going to be fine.I was about to get a good job and will buy a nice house in Alaska. So, if Maggie is pregnant, we could raise our kid there.Our parents weren’t home yet, so it was just Maggie and me, thankfully.“How much longer?” I yelled.“Two more minutes.”Shit, only one minute has passed? Why did it feel like an eternity?I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard Maggie scream.“NO!”“Maggie? What’s wrong?” I asked. Maybe the test came out negative, and Maggie is disappointed?The door burst open, and Maggie came out with a frantic expression on her face. “This…this can’t be right.” She shoved the stick toward me, waving it. “This is all your fault!”I took it off her hand and smiled. Two lines…that could mean one thing.“Maggie! You are pregnant. Congratulations to us!”“What? Don’t congratulate us! This is a disaster,” she said, tears dr
MEGHAN "Adrian! Oh my god, I missed you so much!" Tiffany screamed and tried to jump into Adrian's arms, but he grabbed her shoulders, slightly pushing her away from him. "Hey, Tiff. I missed you guys too," he said casually, then winked at me as if to tell me not to get jealous. She was just a friend like Luke as far as he was concerned. "Oh, hey, Meghan. Nice dress. Seems a little tight on you, isn't it?" she said slightly. Is she trying to make a fat joke? I was annoyed already, and I'd only been here for five minutes. "Hey, guys! You made it!" Luke yelled from across the room and then made his way to us. He wrapped one arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. "Looking hot, Maggie." "Hey, keep your hands to yourself, Lucas," Adrian barked. Tiffany giggled. "Why should he? She is his girlfriend." "Not anymore," Adrian said. Whoa, are we announcing our break up already? "What do you mean, not anymore? Did Luke break up with Maggie already?" Tiffany looked at me curiously.
ADRIANI stared at Maggie, who looked utterly dumbfounded by my announcement. She looked almost terrified. Was the idea of moving with me that terrible? I knew she would hesitate since her mom lives here, but I thought we would get away from them. They didn't want us to be together anyway."Maggie, are you okay?" I asked after she didn't say anything for a while."I…I don't understand what you mean," she said meekly."You don't understand? What part confuses you?" I raised my eyebrow."What do you mean move in with you? Move in where?" she asked.I guess it was taking her a while to fathom what was going on."After all the training and seeing my performance, they offered me a permanent position in the fire department. So, I was thinking I should take the job and move to Alaska permanently," I explained.Maggie still looked confused. Was she not understanding what I was trying to tell her? "Move to Alaska? Permanently? Then what will happen to me?"I chuckled. This girl was really maki
MEGHAN On Saturday, I woke up feeling hungrier than ever. It was the weekend Adrian was supposed to come home, but he hadn't even called me. Loneliness wrapped around me.Our parents were working this weekend, but Adrian was only coming home for my sake, so he didn't care. But the question was why he hadn't shown up yet.I stretched under the covers, blinking when my nose caught the smell of bacon. Music blasted from the kitchen, and I slowly sat up with a smile spreading over my lips. He was home. Hurriedly, I found my pajamas and stalked out of the bedroom. The music was getting louder, and Adrian was whistling along. It made my heart pound faster and faster until he came into view.There, recently showered and only wearing a pair of boxer briefs, Adrian shook his round ass while making breakfast. "OH YEAH, YEAH!" Adrian was listening to an old Bruno Mars song. He broke a few eggs, danced, and moved along with the music, but all I could focus on was his broad back roped with m
ADRIANI punched the bag again and groaned in frustration."Take it easy, Adrian. You will hurt your knuckles," my trainer Kevin hissed at me. "What the hell is wrong with you anyway? You've been distracted and grumpy lately.""I have not been grumpy. I don't know what the hell you are talking about," I grumbled."Yeah, whatever. Just keep your head in the game, okay? You have three more months here, and then you get to go home, so no need to act out," Kevin said."I am not acting out. What the hell? Haven't I been showing how good I am at this? Haven't I been proving myself?""Yes, Adrian. You've been doing well. I'm not complaining about your effort out here. I'm just saying these past few days, you've been moody and distracted and I need you to keep your focus back on your job. So you don't mess it up.""I just don't know how to tell my girlfriend about my plans here," I decided to confide in Kevin. Since I moved here, we've become good friends, so I figured I could trust him."You
MEGHANThree months later, it looked like Adrian would finally have some free time to come and visit me. It was about time.He had been hard to reach the entire day, though, so I was grumpy while we talked on the phone. "So you will be coming home?" I asked but tried not to sound too excited about the news. Adrian hadn't earned that for ignoring my messages all day."Yes, I'm coming home to you this weekend!" I could hear the beam he wore in his voice. "Aren't you excited?"I hummed, still pretending to be hard to catch. "I don't know...""You don't know? Maggie! It feels like three long years since I last saw your face! Facetiming doesn't count! I want to touch and see you in person. Take you out on a date. Surely you must miss me?"My chest constricted. I felt terrible lying to Adrian, but I couldn't help the mood swings I had been having lately. I went from sad to happy so fast these days that I was starting to believe I needed medication. It wasn't the only change I had gone t
MEGHANOne month later,I promised myself I wouldn't cry and try to understand where he was coming from, but it still hurt to see him go."I will visit every chance I get, Maggie," he had said, kissing my forehead."But you said you'd be in intense training and won't be able to visit," I sobbed.He said nothing because what I said was true. So why was he making empty promises? It would only make things harder on me.And then he was gone, and I was all alone again.This past month felt like it went in slow motion. Adrian called me every night, and we tried to do video chats, but it wasn't the same.I missed his touch, I craved it.Mom told Adrian and me not to say anything to Steve because it might make things worse, so we kept our relationship a secret from him. Finally, Adrian promised her that we'd break up before he left for Alaska, and mom didn't question him any more. Maybe when he comes back, we'll find a different way to be together."Maggie! Luke is here!" my mom called from t