Ryder the Love Expert | Protector 2.1

Chapter 41

Chapter 41

       The next day, I was already packing up my stuff by the time Mae got home from school. "What....what are you doing?" Mae asked when she saw me put my clothes back in the duffel bag.

       "Packing," I said. "I already told you that I'm leaving tonight."

       "You actually are?" Mae asked. "I thought you would have wanted to stay."

       "Yeah, so did I," I said. "But things obviously aren't working out between us, so it would be best if I just left today."

       "Is that....is that a breaking up line?" Mae asked.

       "I don't know, Mae," I said. "I don't know about anything that's going on between us anymore. You ignore me for two weeks then you might have feelings for someone else. I don't even look at other girls anymore back in Miami. I thought we could make it work. Everyone did."

       "When are you leaving?" Mae asked.

       "The sooner the better," I said, zipping up the duffel bag.

       "The sooner the better?" Mae asked. "Now you're sounding like you don't want to be around me."

       "Maybe I don't," I said. "Because by the way you lied to me about hanging out with the dance team just so you could hang out with only Jerome, you don't want to be around me. You're even thinking about staying here."

       "Can we go somewhere together before you leave?" Mae asked. "Please?"

       "I don't know," I said. "I just want to head back home and forget any of this ever happened."

       "You want to forget we ever happened?" Mae asked, looking a bit hurt.

       "I never want to forget that we happened," I said. "I want to forget about what happened since I've been here. And I don't feel like being around my girlfriend or whatever you are to me when she might like someone else."

       "Please, Ryder?" Mae asked. 

       I sighed. "Fine. Where do you want to go?"

       "I'll give you directions," she said. "But we have to take you car there. Can we go now?"

       "Sure," I said. I grabbed my phone and put it in my back pocket before following her out of the house.

        We got into her car and she gave me directions to wherever she wanted to go. It took a few minutes to get there and when we were there, I was a bit confused. "Is this a dance studio?" I asked.

       Mae nodded and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Yeah, it's my old studio."

       "Also the place where you grew up with that Jerome guy," I said.

       "Don't focus on that," she said. "Come on." 

       We got out of the car and after I locked it, I followed Mae into the studio. She first led me to the office of the studio head and explained that we were going to be using the space for a bit. Even though Mae wasn't part of the studio anymore, the studio head was more than happy to let her use it.

       "Why are we here?" I asked once we were in the main studio.

       "To dance," she said.

       "What?" I asked.

       "Do you still remember the very first duet we did?" she asked. I nodded. "We're doing that. Go to your position."