Girl Meets Charlie (GMW & GLC)

Chapter Sixteen

****Maya's P.O.V.****

"I swear he did! I heard it clear as day!" I told Riley, running a hand through my hair as I paced back and forth.

"There's no way Gabe told you he loved you, I mean you've only known each other for two months!"

"I know!" I exclaimed, thousands of thoughts flooding my brain.

"Maybe you just imagined it," she said, obviously trying to get me to calm down even though she knew what she had just said wasn't true. "I mean, you were tired. Maybe he said something else. Maybe he said 'I love food'. You never know."

"Nice try Riley, but I don't think he would just randomly say 'I love food' to me when he thought I was asleep," I scoffed.

"You never know, I mean, he is weird."

"He isn't weird!" I defended him.

"Sure he isn't."

"He isn't!"

"Woah there. Someone's getting a little defensive," Riley said, a smirk tugging on her lips.

"Why are you smirking at me like you know something?"

"Because maybe I do know something. Maybe I know something that would change your whole perspective on things. Maybe I know something that might just make you finally open up to people."

"And what might that be?" I rolled my eyes, knowing that she was just lying to me.

"I know that Gabe loves you, and I know that you love him back," she smirked in satisfaction, and my eyes widened at her words.

The thought of love has always seemed idiotic to me. I mean, committing yourself to someone and telling them everything just so they can turn their back on you and break your heart? I don't think so. I'm not going to let that happen to me, and I won't let Riley believe that I will let it happen, either.

"I don't love him," I stated simply.

Yes you do.

"Yes you do," Riley said.

"Ha, right. Sure. I love Gabe. I love Gabe so much that it's clouding my senses and making me think that I don't love him. That's SOOO logical."

"I know you're scared," Riley blurted.

"Scared of what?"

"I know you're scared to fall in love. I completely get it, too. I would be scared to fall in love if I was in your position, too. But you need to realize that not everybody you ever meet is going to hurt you. I know it's hard to let people in. But I can tell that you really like Gabe, and I can tell that he really, genuinely likes you for who you are. So, I need you to try. I need you to try to let Gabe in. Do it for me. And if that doesn't motivate you enough, do it for yourself. I know that I can be annoying sometimes, and I feel like if you had someone else to open up to, you might be able to let more people in."

"Look, Riley. As much as I would love to do that, I can't. Trust me, I've tried. I've just built up too many walls over the past 14 years of my life and they're so thick now that not even I can break them down. I'm sorry, Riley, but I can't deal with this right now. It's just too much to handle. I wasn't meant to have this much pressure put on me, and it's really taking a tow on me. I just need some alone time to think, please."

She sighed and nodded her head, proceeding to walk out of the room and letting me think in peace.

What does all of this mean?

I mean, she has a pretty good point with the whole being scared thing, but does that mean I am in love?

Does this mean that I love Gabe?