Max and I talk until two in the morning when he finally says he should let me go so he can get to sleep. He says he’s up really early each day to give his mom her medicine and make them breakfast. The fact that he cares so much for his mom just warms me straight to the heart and all I can think about as I lay in bed is how great he is.

At this point, I don’t even care what he looks like. Despite what Abigail thinks, looks aren’t everything. Being kind and caring and honest matters so much more than that.

I wake up on Sunday morning still thinking of Max. In fact, I dreamed of him, and in the dream, we were hanging out on the beach, holding hands and talking. Of course, as dreams go, I couldn’t actually see him…he was just a blurry guy who made my heart warm and tingly.

Still, it was a pretty good dream.

Am I actually falling for a guy I’ve never even seen? Or met in person?

Oh my gosh. I’m ridiculous.

Jensen rushes into my room at eight in the morning, all wide eyed and fully awake. He’s got way too much energy, if you ask me.

“Morning, Jess!” he says, jumping on my bed. “I’m hungry!”

“Kid, you are always hungry!” I say, tossing a throw pillow at him. He laughs.

“Mommy says I’m having a growth spurt and it makes me eat a lot.”

“Well, at the rate you’re eating, you might be taller than me by next weekend.”

He laughs at this, and then stands up on wobbly legs and jumps on my bed. “Can we have breakfast, pleeease?”

“Yes,” I say, throwing the covers off me. “Come on, you little monster.”

I get my phone off the charger and eagerly check it, only to be disappointed when there’s no new messages. I do have a ton of Snaps from Abigail, but I’m not in the mood to read them right now. Max had said he wakes up early, so I guess I thought I’d get a good morning text just like he had told me good night last night.

After breakfast, I play Candy Land with Jensen, and then I help him with his Lego creation. The whole time we’re playing, I keep glancing at my phone, hoping for a text.

Finally, at ten-thirty in the morning, I decide to text him.

 

Me: Good morning!

 

Half an hour passes, and then he finally replies.

 

Max: Um, who the hell is this?

 

Cold pierces through my heart, sliding down to my toes. I don’t understand… Maybe he’s joking with me?

 

Me: it’s Jess…

Max: Yeah, I can see that. Looks like you’ve been talking to Max a lot.

 

Okay… that’s weird. I swallow, and wonder if maybe this is a joke or something.

 

Me: Who is this?

Max: This is Max’s girlfriend.

 

The words bring tears to the back of my eyes. I stare at them for a long time, reading the four words over and over again as my brain has a hard time understanding.

Max has a girlfriend?

Anger and regret tug at my heartstrings. Now that I think about it, Max never explicitly told me he was single. He also didn’t mention that he had a girlfriend.

Or did he?

There was this girl.

My heart leaps into my throat. He did say he quit social media because of a girl. I guess I had assumed they broke up, but what if they didn’t. Why am I so stupid? How I could have let myself get so starry-eyed over a guy I don’t even know?

I put the phone down and try to look away, but the screen lights up again.

 

Max: Stay the hell away from my boyfriend. I don’t know who you are, but he doesn’t want anything to do with you.

Max: He’s laughing at you right now. He said he was just messing with you because you’re some dumb skank.

Max: So don’t even think of texting him again.

 

Tears fall down my eyes as I read her hateful messages. The thought of Max laughing about me with his girlfriend makes me feel like the biggest loser in the world. How could he have done this to me? How could he have spent all those hours texting and laughing and sharing fun stories with me, when it was all a joke?

Tears burn my eyes as I brush them away and try to concentrate on building Legos with my brother.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, his little eyebrows pulling together in worry. “Are you okay?”

I swallow back my embarrassment and try to smile. “I’m fine, I just got something in my eye, and it hurts. I’m gonna go to the bathroom and try to rinse it out.”

“Okay,” he says, going back to playing.

I rush to the bathroom and close the door behind me. Then I turn on the water to drown out the sound of my tears.

I should have known from the very start. Guys are jerks and they can’t be trusted. It’s my fault for getting so wrapped up in the words of a total stranger.

I select Max’s name in my inbox and delete all of our messages. Then I delete his name from my contacts list. And even then all traces of him are removed from my phone, the pain in my chest is still there.