Popular Love

11 - Conflict

Too soon, Alex was shouting that we were turning, and the sail and boom whipped to the otherside of the boat. He reached into the water, grabbing the mooring, and tied our boat up. We silently worked together to unrig the boat, and he held my hand to steady me as I hopped into the dinghy. 

As he paddled back to shore, I avoided eye contact with him as diligently as if it were my job. 

"It wouldn't kill you to look at me." I clearly hadn't been as subtle as I thought I was. 

"Would it?" 

"Why are you being so difficult?" 

"What do you mean, difficult? You have known me for like two fucking days. That's it. You don't know me, so stop pretending that you do. Maybe what you consider difficult is just my personality. Oh, and speaking of my personality. You say you like me because I'm a good person? You don't know what kind of person I am, we literally just met. You don't like me either. I don't know why you are acting like you do, if it is some sick dare from your friends or you think it's fun to play with girl's hearts, but please stop."

He stopped rowing, putting the oars back inside the small boat, leaving us floating about 40 feet from shore. "Okay, I may have just met you. But listen: I already know so much about you that no one else knows about. I know you don't want to talk about that, but it's true. And those girls you call your friends are terrible people. Or at least Jess and that other girl, Lola, are." 

"Fucking row, alright? I need to get home." I responded, completely ignoring everything he had just said. 

His jaw tensed, but he violently picked up the oars and rowed us back to shore, the only sound the splashing of the oars in the water. 

I hopped out of the boat when we hit ground, and helped Alex pull it up onto the sand. The effort I put into not brushing up against him was obvious, and the tension it created was even more so. I cleared my throat. "Hey, um, I'm sorry for swearing at you in the rowboat." 

"It's fine." His voice was quiet, resigned, but still tense. 

"Right, well, I'd better get home." He gave a tight, close-lipped smile, and turned his back to me while adjusting the position of the oars in the boat. "And, Alex?" He turned to me, and I could read the annoyance on his face. "Just, don't worry about any of, you know, that. It's not your problem." 

He scoffed, shaking his head as he returned his gaze to the rowboat, making it clear where his attention and priorities lay. I swallowed, and, when it was clear he was done with the conversation, trudged back to my car. 

I banged my head against the steering wheel, then jammed the heels of my hands into my eyes. 

Needless to say, by the time I got home, all I wanted to do was cry on my bed. Again. 

But, because for me, the L in luck had been replaced by an F, I was not going to be granted that privilege. 

I opened the door to find my mom sitting in the chair next to the door, typing on her phone. The second the door opened, she jumped up to talk to me. 

"Hey, Maddy! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" She pulled me into an awkward hug, one where our legs were far apart but we were leaning in so just our shoulders touched. It felt exactly the way it did on the first day of school, when you see someone you hadn't talked to all summer, someone you barely know. 

"Hey Mom. What's up?" Even I could hear how half-hearted and tired my voice sounded. But I guess my mom couldn't. 

"Well, it's just you know we have the reunion every year? With our college friends?" Oh god, she did the question thing just like Jess and Lola. "Just wanted to remind you were leaving right after your last day of school."