Lana's POV
I stepped out onto the balcony, completely overwhelmed by everything that had happened.
Running against Maya... even in my wildest dreams, I never imagined we'd end up on opposite sides. She was my best friend. It always felt like we were meant to find each other.
I don't know if you've ever had a friend like that, but Maya was the sister I never had. My mom had been battling illness since I was born, so I never expected to have siblings unless I was adopted into another family. Maya filled that empty space in my heart.
How could she change so much?
Maybe it wasn't overnight, but it felt like it happened in the blink of an eye.
Thinking about all the good memories we shared brought tears to my eyes.
I heard footsteps approaching and quickly wiped my face.
When I saw who it was, I scoffed.
"What do you want?"
Lee sat down beside me.
"That's rude," he said, trying to make himself comfortable.
Silence followed.
Five whole minutes of awkward silence.
I was about to say something when he spoke first. Strangely, he looked even more uncomfortable than I was.
"You know you don't have to decide everything today," Lee said quietly.
"Easy for you to say," I shot back.
"Not really."
He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Look... I'm sorry, okay? If I had known my confession would cause this much trouble, I wouldn't have said anything. I swear."
He paused before continuing.
"I just felt like I finally had a chance. Ever since you broke up with your ex, I thought... I thought maybe I had a chance."
"I don't even know what I'm feeling anymore," he admitted with a nervous laugh. "But I'm really sorry."
Watching him struggle to explain himself somehow made me smile.
It's rare to see a guy apologize so sincerely.
Maybe that's why my heart softened.
Max would never apologize. He wouldn't even care enough to ask what he did wrong.
The more time I spent with Lee, the more I realized he wasn't a bad person.
If it weren't for Maya's strange obsession with him...
Who knows?
Maybe I would have actually considered dating him.
The thought alone made me grin like an idiot.
"It's getting cold out here," Lee said. "You should go inside."
I blinked.
"Wait... you're cold? I'm sorry! I didn't realize. You can go in first. I'll be right behind you."
The words rushed out before I could stop them.
Great.
I hated getting comfortable around people because I always ended up talking too much.
Now poor Lee was stuck listening to my rambling.
"Lana."
He snapped his fingers in front of my face.
I looked up.
He chuckled.
"Relax. You don't talk too much."
His smile was warm enough to chase away the cold.
"I'll see you inside."
He stood up and shook his head with a laugh.
"And if you don't come in within five minutes, I'm coming back to get you."
I could only nod because I didn't trust my voice.
Did I really say all of that out loud?
What must he think of me now?
But seriously...
Is that what I'm worried about right now?
I lightly slapped my forehead.
Pulling out my phone, I opened my social media page and stared at the empty screen for almost a minute.
I typed:
Hi...
Then deleted it.
I tried again.
"Trying something new... and yes, Peter forced me into this. Don't judge me🙄🙄
My fingers hovered over the screen.
After a moment of hesitation, I took a deep breath and pressed Post.