"I keep liking you more and more,"

Why did I say that? His face turned all red when I said that...Could it be that...Glen is right? Max really does like me? Gosh, my heart is beating so fast, it feels like a well-fed steam engine. My face is burning, am I just sick or am I... Am I in love? 

Whenever we are alone, I feel so relieved. I can just relax around him, our small talk is never boring, and he has a charming voice and a calm demeanour. We spend so much time together, but it's never enough. I can never get enough of him, I want him to call me, I want to go to his place more often, I want him to tell me his secrets, I drop everything when he calls me, we talk for hours... I've never done these things with friends. I've never had my heart beating this fast for a friend. We are definitely not friends. His friends tell me he loves me... Could it be that... I love him too?

"Daffine," Femke turns her radio down and looks at me through her front mirror as she drives. 
"Yeah?"
"Is there anything going on between you and my ex?"
"Max? No,"
"You go to his place,"

"Yeah, we played games with Glen and Angela. I think you know them,"
"I know Glen. I also know Angela. She has a crush on Max,"
"She does?" 
"Isn't it so obvious?" Femke looked at me, "They have good chemistry. They are childhood friends. Hopefully they get married, like in the movies, you know,"

"Yeah..."
I didn't know that. Femke kept looking at me, "Max is not a good partner,"
"Pardon?"
"He is a charming man," She looked ahead, "He always gets his way. Love is a power play to him, where he believes that if he falls in love, he will lose. His heart is colder than a stone, his eyes look soulless. When he held me, I felt like a casket. He dropped me like a rock when his grandmother died two summers ago. That's when I lost him. He would sleep with you tomorrow, if you asked him to but you'd never see him again after that,"

"But he still sees you," I said.
"I am his ex-girlfriend, not a one-night stand he can forget about. And I know we will never get intimate again. Even when he still has the marks of what he has left behind inside me. I will never get rid of him," She looked at me, "So don't fall for his face, he will ruin you. I'm warning you as your girl,"

"Thank you, Femke. I appreciate it,"
I opened the door and walked outside towards home. There were so many feelings running through me. I think I love Max. But I am also afraid if I am just another one of his mindless passions. Would he leave me ruined like Femke, hiding behind a relationship I wish I never had, for faking smiles for a man I do not love? I feel so terrible for Casper. I feel equally terrible at my miserable state. This fever, this anxiety, I am going to fall asleep. 

I slept till late at night. When I woke up, I was sweaty, a bit out of my mind, and sore-throated. I squinted my eyes at my phone. His calls woke me up. I told him I'd call him, but I never did...However, I don't want to think about him. Not right now. 

Not for a while. 

I am scared of you.

-To be continued