ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕪-𝕊𝕚𝕩

𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒂 𝑺𝒕. 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏

I email all my teachers and let them know that I'll be out for the rest of the week. I called my Mom and let her know I was coming home for a few days.

I let this disgrace of a man haunt my life for the past year and I won't stand for it anymore. I needed to clear my conscious.

When I get off the plane, I already see my Mother's driver waiting for me. He helps me load my suitcase. "Can you take me to Jeremiah Michealones' house please?"

I knock on the door and Mrs. Michealones opens it. Her face beams when she sees me. "Maya, what a pleasant surprise! I thought you were in California for your studies?"

"I just needed to wrap up a few things first," I explain when she lets me inside. "Is Jeremiah home?"

She eyes me suggestively before telling me he's in the backyard. I make my way back there where I see him standing close to the fence. But, not alone.

He was standing dangerously close to a girl who didn't look a day over 17. Her face was filled with nervousness and her body language was uneasy.

"What's your name?" I ask, motioning to the girl. She looks relieved that somebody finally came to her rescue. Jeremiah looks livid.

"E-Emma..." she stutters. "And how old are you, Emma?"

"15." Jesus. "Well, I need to talk to Jeremiah here, so why don't you go and head home."

Her face breaks into a smile as she hops the fence. Wow. How long was she here for?

"Did you finally come to accept my offer?" he suggests, eyeing my body. It makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"One, ew, and two, no. I'm here to tell you off. I admit it, you broke my heart. You shattered me and then on top of that made me forget who I was by painting me with some label of insecurity you clearly have bottled up inside," I start.

He rolls his eyes, clearly already annoyed with my speech. "You are a fuckwad and a disgusting human being who needs serious help. I don't know what 15-year-old me was thinking falling for you, but 19-year-old me sees right through you and the mess you are. You might like to hide behind your family's image, but you are nothing more than a derogatory, selfish, disgusting human being with no morals."

I can tell he's taken aback by my words and quite angry by the way he clenches his jaw. "You held me in your hand as a puppet for the past 11 months with one little comment, but I won't let you control me anymore."

He rolls his eyes again. "What comment are you even talking about?"

That shakes me a little bit and I slightly stutter. "Y-You called me fucking unlovable."

I feel my voice slightly wobbly on that part, but I manage to say it. Jeremiah looks at me like I'm crazy. "I don't even remember saying that and the fact that you remember what I said for this long is kinda weird."

No fucking way.

He doesn't even remember what he said. I wasted all this time and energy. All this fighting. All of my feelings being bottled up inside and he doesn't even remember what he said.

Nothing could've stopped me at that moment from lodging my fist into his face. His head swings back and he goes to catch his nose.

I turn and walk away. "You bitch! I think you broke my goddamn nose."

I ignore his cries and curses and make my way to the foyer where Mrs. Michealones was talking with the housekeeper.

"I'll see you later, Mrs. Michealones," I smile and she beams back. We hug goodbye and my Mother's driver drives me home.

But for a strange reason, the closer I get home, the more I get the overwhelming urge to cry.

By the time I reached home, I was full-on shaking and hyperventilating. I couldn't even see straight with all the tears.

"Maya, is that yo-?" My Mom stops short when she sees me crying. She rushes over to me.

She crouches down and hugs me. Her fingers thread through my hair as I sob in her arms.

"He cheated on me, Mom," I finally admit after five minutes of crying.

"You were dating someone in college? Why didn't you tell me?" she asks.

"No, Jeremiah. We broke up because he cheated on me." She gasps. "What? Maya, why didn't you tell me? I would've never invited his parents over."

"I thought....you would've been disappointed in me. Since the one relationship I managed to get, I screwed up," I whisper.

Mother tsks. "Maya Anneliese St. Martin, I know I'm hard on you, but unless you were the one who cheated, a relationship will never make me disappointed in you."

I cry more as she strokes my arm. "But I think I fell in love. His name is Kol and he's perfect. He's sweet, nice, funny, and caring. He can cook and play guitar. He accepts all of my faults and never judges me for anything. He told me he loved me. He was perfect and I ruined it."

"I'm going to tell you a story, Maya. I think you'll learn from it," she whispers.

"When I was 23, I met this man named Luca. He was this strong, attractive, playboy with loose morals and a terrible reputation. I was a shy girl with big dreams of being a model. The moment we meant it was like this unspoken tension between the two of us. I was a beginner model and he was an investor. No matter how much I wanted to not think about him, I couldn't forget about him and he couldn't forget about me."

"We started a situationship and he introduced me to a world of love that I never knew. I fell in love quite quickly and everyone told me not to. Luca was not the fall-in-love type. I decided that I would move on, but then I got pregnant with Liam. I told Luca and he panicked. He ghosted me for a few days and I was a mess. I was going to move back to Oklahoma. I couldn't be a model pregnant and the love of my life abandoned me. The day I was packing, he showed up at my door and broke down. He told me that he was in love, but scared to get hurt. He promised to be there for me and our baby. Most people would keep him as just the father, but I knew in my heart we belonged together."

I could hear her silent cries as she went on. "We got married a couple of months later and lived happily ever after...well for the most part. After you were born, he died in a car crash. But I know he loved you will all his heart."

My cries halted and I embraced my Mom as she did me. "You are the carbon copy of him, Maya. From your attitude to your fear of love. And you look just like him. I know I was hard on you, but that was because it was hard. And that is not an excuse. I don't blame you at all, but raising you alone while every time I looked at you, I saw Luca, slowly killed me inside. I'm sorry for the berating, the yelling, and the slapping."

"I knew I failed my first two kids and I didn't want to fail you. Especially, when you were mini Luc. I love you so much, Maya. And I can feel that Kol is in love with you. If you know in your heart, you're supposed to be together, then you should go and get him."

I take in her words. I never knew how my parents fell in love. She never shared those things. I've never seen pictures. Hearing their story gave me some kind of hope for me and Kol.

"What if I'm unlovable, Mommy?" I whisper. I didn't want her to hear me, but she did.

She released me and looked me straight in the eye. "Maya, look at me. You are loved by many. You are far from unlovable, my girl. You are strong, courageous, and confident. I love you. Your father loved you. Your brother loved you to come and save you from me. That girl Angela loves you and Kol loves you. Unlovable is something that you will never ever be."

I cry again, but they're happy tears. I settle down into my Mother's arms as she holds me close.

"You do just realize we've been sitting on the ground in the foyer for 10 minutes," I tease.

She lets out a controlled breath followed by a short laugh. "You're worth it, Maya."

You're worth it, Maya.

I smile at her words. I never thought I would hear that from my Mom.

I'm worth it.

End of  Chapter Thirty-Six

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Synopsis: Bri is the daughter of the town's mayor and sheriff. Everything she does is watched or observed. She likes the so-called "perfect life". The high school heartthrob and quarterback is her boyfriend. She and her friends are the most popular girls in school, with Bri as their leader. She can get anything she wants at the drop of a hat. So why does she feel unhappy? Why does it feel like something in her life is missing? It's her senior year of high school. New guy, Logan Stone comes rolling into her town and she can't take her eyes off him. Something about him makes her body feel like it's on cloud nine. But, the whole town knows that he comes from nothing but bad things. Her parents don't like him. But, what happens when she can't do anything but feel drawn to him?

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