Opposites Attract (On Hold)

Chapter 7

Mae stood there for a while, still not talking just staring out at the water. Mia didn't want to really force her into saying what she needed to say, letting her take her time to explain. Mae always had a hard time saying what was on her mind. Even though she was a very outgoing person and friendly towards others, she never really knew how to express her inner thoughts. She mostly kept them in not letting them out. Or at least not in front of people. Everyone may know her as a person you can compare with the sun, but she's more of an introvert than everyone thinks. Mia was the first person to figure that out about her. The more time they spent together, the more Mia was able to see through the cracks in the wall. What was behind it became clearer and clearer with each day.

When Mae showed up at Mia's doorstep, she never really told her why she was kicked out. Afraid of how she would react. She kept it a secret for years, not letting it show. But now was the time she was going to tell her. She couldn't keep this secret anymore. She needed to tell her. Mae took a deep breath in before looking at Mia.

"I need to tell you something. It's something I've been keeping from you for years. It's about the day I came to your house that night."

"What happened that night?" Mia asked. "You just showed up all wet from the rain. I don't know how long you were out there for."

"That day I came to your house, I got into an argument with my parents. They wanted me to marry the son of their business partner and I refused to do it. Then I told them that I liked girls. They were furious and told me not to come back until I started liking boys and marry the boy they decided for me."

2 years ago
Mae came downstairs to the living room as her parents told her to come down as they needed to talk to her about something important. She finds them both sitting on the couch next to each other, then turn towards her. Mark(Mae's father) points to the couch across from them and Mae sits down. Then Alice, her mother, smiles at her.

"So," Alice started out. "We have some news for you Mae."

"What kind of news?" she asked. "Is it bad. Is the company failing?"

"No, no," Mark said. "The company is fine."

"Then, why have you called me?"

"We wanted to talk to you about something else. We talked with our company partner and they have a young son who is about your age. So we have decided to arrange your marriage with him."

When Alice said that, Mae's whole world crashed. Never would she have thought that her parents would just arrange something like this without talking with her. She couldn't believe what she just told her. Usually when it involves her, they would talk about it together. But now they did something without her, deciding something this big without her.

"You did what?" she said, her voice deepens.

"We arranged your marriage."

"But, I'm only 17 years old. I haven't even graduated high school yet or gone to college."

"If you marry him, you won't have to worry about those things. You will be a good wife and mother of his children. Also it will..."

"No." Mae cuts her off, not letting that sentence be finished. Mark stood up from the couch.

"What do you mean no?"

"I'm not marrying some boy I don't know and become some maid for him."

"Honey, it will be good for you."

"Good for who? Me or you? It seems to me that it's only good for you. I have dreams, things I want to do. I'm not going to marry someone and be trapped. There are places I want to go, explore things I haven't seen before."

"Once you see him, you'll realize that he's a good boy."

"I said no. Why can't you understand that? I'm not marrying him. I don't care if he's a good person or not. I'm not doing it."

"Honey.."

"How come you two get to have a love marriage and all that, but I can't? How the hell is that fair at all? Do you not care about your daughter anymore? You're basically selling me off to some boy. How do you know he's a good person? Because he's rich or have you actually seen him be nice? How do you know he's not a rapist?"

"Give us a reason as to why you can't marry him," Mark said angrily.

"I like someone else already."

"Who is it then? Where's the boy? You know what, I don't care who it is. You are not going to be seeing them at..."

"IT'S NOT A BOY!!!!!!"

After Mae's shout, the room went quiet. Alice and Mark stood there in shock at what their daughter said.

"What did you just say?" Alice whispered.

"I said it's not a boy that I like. It's a girl."

"No, this is unacceptable. You are a woman and woman are supposed to like men."

"No they're not. We can like whoever the fuck we want."

"Don't talk to your mother like that," Mark said coldly.

"I'll talk however the fuck I want. I refuse to marry that boy whether you like it or not."

"We are your parents and what we decide is what's best for you. We've done everything for you and this is how you repay us?"

"I can repay you another way, but marrying someone you want me to marry is a no no. And how is any of this fair? You and dad have a love marriage, you weren't forced to marry each other. So why can't I have that? Why am I being forced to marry someone I don't know or even like?"

"You are not marrying a girl. What will people think? This will ruin our reputation. We would lose everything because of you and this stupid so call crush you have on a girl. We will not let you destory what we have built."

Mae had a sad look on her face, tears streaming down like a waterfall. Suddenly her sadness turns to anger.

"Reputation? So, you care more about reputation than your own daughter? So what if people talk? This doesn't affect their lives. They are not a part of this family to be affected in any way, shape, or form. So why should I give a damn about what they say? This is my life, not theirs."

After a moment of silence, Mark says, "If that's how you're gonna be, then leave. Leave this house and don't come back." Alice looks away from Mae saying, "I don't want you near us anymore. Until you start liking boys and are willing to marry that boy, don't come to us."

"Oh, don't you worry. I'm not coming back here anyways. You guys started to change when Mike moved out. You started to become distant, rarely spending time with me. Kicking me out won't stop me from loving who I love. I don't fucking need your consent on whether or not you like them."

Mae stood up from the couch and headed upstairs to her room. She closes the door and starts packing her things into her bag. She got everything and headed back down the stairs, not even giving a glance to her parents and opened the door, leaving the house.