Her words hit me like a clash of lightning, and I feel the burns painting new scars on my body. It's difficult to even incorporate what she just said. "What do you mean, he's gone?" I ask, my voice crashing mid-sentence.

Maxi catches my nervousness and uses it to her advantage. "Oh, save it. You wanted him out of your life from the second you met." She seems to be enjoying this. Every single second of it. She enjoys seeing me this way; desperate and in pain. I can see it in her eyes, the anger and strife toward me. I'm not sure what I ever did to deserve her bitchy personality, but whatever is was, she has now taken it to a whole new level. "Looks like your wish came true."

I grapple against the desire to unleash my deepest anger on her, though I try to remain as calm as I can. "Can you please just tell me where he is? It's important that I see him," I tell her calmly.

She replies with a wicked smile and laugh. "Don't you get it? He doesn't want to see you."

"Damnit, Maxi, just tell me!"

That signature, villainous grin finally dissipates, and Maxi's face finally reads vanquishment before she lets out a breath. Despite this, she takes a few seconds to answer my question. "Why do you want to find him so much? I mean, from what I've heard about you, you hate his entire existence."

I shake my head in disagreement. "I don't hate him. We had a falling out, that's it. Yes, okay, I didn't particularly like him when we first met but... things have changed now. And now I really need to fix things."

"Oh, yeah? What exactly changed?" I open my mouth as if I'm about to answer but I shut myself down. Trying to counteract the awkward moment of silence between us is like trying to tame a wild stallion; it can't be tamed. It's only wild. And in a matter of moments, Maxi picks up on this, and her eyes reflect realization. "So that's it. You're hot for Silas."

"That's not true," I reply through grinding teeth.

"Sure it is."  she moves in closer to me. "If you admit it, I might consider telling you where he is."

"Please. You wouldn't tell me either way."

Maxi crosses her arms and leans her hip to the side, then comes a shrug. "Maybe, maybe not." She doesn't look as angry as she did a few moments ago. In fact, there's now a coldness written on her face that's too frozen to disintegrate. There's just something about Maxi that just reads strange to me, like the fact that she hates my guts and all my other internal organs that I can't even name off of the top of my head. Her red-painted lips perk up and she licks her upper lip, those peculiar eyes drifting off to the side. "Look, if I knew where he was, I would-," she cuts off and then smiles. "No. No, not even then would I tell you. But what I will tell you is that he didn't tell any of us where he was going."

A slight furrow edges itself into my brow. "Really? He didn't even give some clue as to where he was going?"

"Nope. Not a thing."

I cling on to her answer and study every portion of it, not finding a bit of worry or surprise. "Well you don't seem so worried about him," I point out.

"Silas is a big boy, Rowen. He can take care of himself," Maxi exclaims a little more loudly. "On that note, I am a bit shocked that he didn't tell you. I was under the impression that you two were close."

Suddenly, our conversation is interrupted by the sound of Maxi's name. Both of us look to the direction the sound came from, and the source of the sound is heading straight for us.

Felix approaches us with a laptop under his arm, a bit out of breath. "Max, what the hell is the hold up? We all agreed that we were gonna meet at Foster's right after school."

"Well I would've been there already, but I got a bit... distracted."

Both pairs of eyes turn to me, and Felix's widen in surprise. "Oh, hey, Rowen. Didn't think I'd see you again. Where've you been?"

"Um, just... around, I guess."

"Huh," he says, and Maxi rolls her eyes. "Sorry, I just expected you to be with Silas, but every time we all get together, you're M.I.A."

"Felix, we should get going," Maxi quickly says, grabbing Felix by the sleeve.

"Hold on. What do you mean, I should be with Silas? Didn't he leave?" I ask.

After getting his sleeve out of Maxi's grip, Felix turns back to me with confused facials. "Leave? When did he leave?"

"According to Maxi, he left town days ago." Felix looks down at Maxi, who is silently mumbling at him to follow her, speaking through her teeth. He, on the other hand, looks completely lost. "Wait, you didn't know?"

Felix adjusts the laptop in the grasp of his arm, "I literally just spoke to him. He's at Foster's probably ordering a double-shot of a chocolate lotte as we speak." Maxi mouths the word 'shit' next to him as her gaze casually wanders off in another direction. Turning back to her, Felix asks, "Max, why did you tell her that Silas went rogue?"

"In case you've forgotten, she is the one who almost got us arrested," she says, her voice raising to a higher level of irritation, "Haven't you been wondering why Silas hasn't been himself lately? Well she," she points to me with a lazy arm, "is the reason."

My mouths widens. "So, what? You made up a story about Silas leaving town just to get under my skin?"

"I wouldn't have had to if you would just leave him alone!"

The two of us stand dangerously close now. Maxi's eyes are violently fixed on mine, like a wolf stalking its prey. It's now a match of who can scare the other away, played with no words. Felix, on the other hand, continues to stand awkwardly in between us. Once I decide to stand down and let it go, I turn to him, "Felix, can you show me where Silas is?"

"Sure. He's at Foster's Diner not far from here. I can give you a ride if you want," he offers.

"Felix, what the hell are you doing?" Maxi sneers.

"Like it or not, Max, Rowen is apart of this too. If Silas trusts her, then I trust her." Just like that, she narrows her nearly lethal glare to the ground and slightly bites her bottom lip. She feels betrayed, I know she does. I know that look all too well, and I can't help but pity her for it. It's practically churning in the veins of her wrists, the resentment towards me. If only I knew why. A moment later, she closes her lips and practically stomps away. "Maxi, where are you going?!" Felix hollars.

"I'm taking my own damn car!" She yells back, still strutting off into the depths of the parking lot.

I'm left standing next to Felix, who feels the same amount of awkwardness between us as I do right now, "Well that was entertaining," he comments.

With my hands shoved in the back of my jean pockets, I reply, "You have no idea."

~~~~~

It seems this mysterious diner, that I've never even heard of, actually exists, and according to Felix, that's where Silas is right at this very moment.

I've been formulating my thoughts into actual sentences. Well, more like apologies. I'm trying to picture what his reaction would be and whether or not he'll forgive me. There's a strong chance that I'm overthinking this; that he probably won't even think it was that big of a deal. However, for a split second, I actually thought that he left town. I thought that I would never get the chance to apologize after our fight. Now that I'm about to hear what he has to say, I don't know what to think.

"Sorry about Maxi. I don't know why she said that," Felix says from my left. He was kind enough to give me a ride to the diner with him so I can see Silas, and now he's apologizing for Maxi. At least I know someone who doesn't want to shoot me at every chance they get.

"What's her problem with me anyway?" I ask.

Felix shrugs. "Honestly, I have no clue. I mean, you seem like a decent human-being."

"At least someone thinks so." I turn away and bring my eyes to the window, gazing at the road speeding by just below.

"Why do you do that?" He questions.

"Do what?"

"Think so lowly of yourself. Believe it or not, you're a pretty likeable person."

I almost burst out laughing, but I only sacrifice a small laugh. "I don't think Olivia or Darian or... half the school would agree with that statement."

"Well, Olivia and Darian are dicks, no questions asked. They don't like anyone. As for the rest of those delinquents, they believe the first thing they hear. I'm pretty sure that if they got to know you, you'd have a lot more friends."

I nod my head, though I'm still lacking understanding. "And what's your opinion of me?"

"Did I not just say you were likeable?"

"Yes, but what makes me so likeable?"

We take a sharp turn on the road and my hand automatically goes to my seatbelt. I don't even realize that I'm clutching the thing with a death-grip until Felix brings it up. "It's okay, you're in good hands," he assures me. "Scored my licence on the first test."

I release my grip. "So um... you were gonna answer my question?"

"Oh right. Well, for starters, you're not the type of chick that wears pounds of makeup. And you also don't dress like a freaking hoochie mama, thank God."

"Yeah, thank God," I joke. "But other than my exterior and sense of style, is there another reason why you seem to... trust me?"

He snorts, his eyes scanning the road from behind the frames of his glasses. "Fishing for compliments, I see."

"Just answer the question," I order amusingly, rolling my eyes.

Felix compresses his lips together for a short moment before the corners lift up, forming a small smirk. "Silas is a good friend of mine. So, whenever we all get into trouble, he always tells us to trust him and he'll get us out of it. He follows through every time." He pauses and takes another turn. We come to a small building with a sign reading FOSTER'S DINER, and Felix parks the car and takes the keys of the ignition. "Silas trusts you, Rowen. When you came with us that night, I haven't seen him so... open to someone in a long time. And that's good enough for me."

I find myself grinning after Felix finishes speaking, and I can't help but feel enlightened. Silas claimed that he changed me. Could I have changed him as well?

Shaking away the thought, I open the car door and get a clear view of the diner. It's actually a pretty modest-looking place. The words FOSTER'S DINER are raised on the roof, all of the letters outlined in small bulbs, none lit up yet. It has a shiny look, especially on the outside walls, each inch coated with either teal or silver. This place actually looks pretty 60s, if you ask me.

Felix leads me to the side of the diner where a few round, green tables stand. Most are weathered, along with the black chairs that are huddled around them. "This place kinda gives off a ghetto vibe, don't you think?" I ask out loud.

"It's a bit run down, but it has its perks," Felix answers.

I'm about add to my statement when I catch Ashley rounding a corner and walking towards Felix. "Where the hell were you?" Ashley asks Felix. He's about to answer his friend when both pairs of eyes fall on me. Ashley's eyebrows raise, along with the sharp corners of his mouth. "Check it out, Rowen Hewitt in the flesh!" He announces.

I give a little smile, but it doesn't last more than two seconds before it begins to fade.

Both Ashley and Felix make there way around the corner as I follow behind from a distance. When I too make it around the corner, Ashley hollers, "Yo, Silas! Felix picked up your straggler from the streets!" Felix playfully shoves him and the two of them laugh.

Almost immediately, I catch the sight of Maxi's blonde hair. She sits at one of the green tables, looking at Felix and Ashley like they're idiots. Another figure sits in front of her, this one male. As soon as I'm not a few feet from the table, his face rises and our gazes converge.

A / N :

Why did Maxi lie?
Where did Silas go if he didn't leave town?
Who is your favorite character so far?
Feel free to comment your answers down below!

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