Write On Me

Chapter 36

Maite hadn't been able to have a moment to herself since she returned from her little walk during breakfast. All the girls, minus Lauren, had approached her to see how she was doing. 

She told them she was fine but they all could see through that lie. 

She was not fine.

If Maite had known how painful a heartbreak would be then maybe she wouldn't have pursued Lauren. But she knew that was a small maybe. 

Lauren had made her the happiest person alive and she wouldn't trade those memories for anything. She rethought that, maybe for some peace of mind.

All she could think about was the green-eyed Cuban women who stole her heart and then proceed to rip it out, stomp on it, run it over a few times, and then give it back to her.

Plus, every little thing reminded her of Lauren and she was sick of it.

There was no escaping the pain.

"Maite!" She heard a voice shout. 

She knew whose voice that was and her eyes began to get watery right away.

It was her mom.

Nothing would ever be as familiar and safe as her moms embrace.

Maite had just arrived in Dallas and had not even made it completely off the bus before she was bombarded by family and friends.

The first person to embrace her once she climbed the steps was her mother, who was immediately followed by her dad, who was followed by her grandma, then her aunts, and lastly her friends.

Once the hugs were all done and over with, they decided to go out to eat lunch. 

Being around them made her feel warm inside, like suddenly that hole that Lauren had left in her had just shrunk the littlest bit.

Maite gave a quick goodbye to the girls, minus Lauren again, and hopped into her mom's car, sat back, and watched the view of Texas out of the window.

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Dinah felt her phone buzz in her pocket the next morning at the hotel.

Maite: Ready to meet your future boo?

The Polynesian rolled her brown eyes and let out a short laugh.

DJ: What r u talking about???

Maite: I told you I was going to set you up remember... We're going out, be ready in 30;)

Instantly, the conversation she had with Maite about a week ago came back. The girl had stayed true to her word and was setting her up with an old friend.

Dinah was a little excited and nervous at the same time. Meeting new people was easy for her. She had a large family and they were all very close with one another which helped bring each other out of their shells.

Dinah: What's his IG?? 

Her phone buzzed again showing a new text from Maite with the guy's Instagram username.

She stalked his account and was pleased with what she saw.

A tall, dark, church going, football loving, man.

Not a boy, a man who had abs.

She licked her lips without noticing.

Suddenly, she couldn't wait to go.

Half an hour later, Maite was introducing Dinah to one of her friends from high school, Dante.

"He's even cuter in person," the Polynesian whispered to her friend as they watched Dante order tea for the girls and water for himself.

She was digging him, hard.

He came back and handed them their drinks just as Maite, conveniently, got a phone call.

Dinah gave her a suspicious look as the Argentinean just gave her a wink in return.

"Looks like I have to go," Maite said with a false frown, "Have fun you two!"

"Maite-"

"See you later, DJ!" She responded as she walked out the door.

She knew Maite had had this planned all along. She knew she really hadn't gotten a phone call.

Sneaky little girl.

She was a thankful for her though, Dante seemed like he was the perfect guy for her.

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The rest of the day was pretty anticlimactic. 

Dinah had a great time on her little date. She made sure to get Dante's number so she could keep in touch. 

She liked him.

He was funny and had been a gentleman.

Maite's day was pretty nice too. She managed to not cry her eyes out since she had been out with her family during the morning and her friends in the afternoon. 

Everyone was back in the arena, preparing for the nights show.

Maite had spotted Lauren, sitting on a couch, as the Cuban played with on phone.

She knew Lauren knew she was there, she made sure to make her footsteps extra loud to draw her attention, but the green-eyed girl did not look up.

Ouch.

Suddenly she felt as if she couldn't keep the tears at bay.

She bit her cheek to stop herself from crying.

Maite didn't say anything, her eyes landed on her outfit for the show set out for her on a chair.

She took it and left the room to change.

Lauren finally looked up after the Argentinean was gone. She wasn't sure how she had managed to not look at Maite while she was in the room, but she had. It took a  lot of self control. 

All she wanted to do was bring Maite into her arms and apologize over and over again.

But she couldn't.

She wouldn't let herself do it.

It was better this way she thought.

At least that's what she told herself.

She couldn't be with Maite. It just wasn't right, even though it felt right.

She convinced herself that it was wrong. She couldn't be with a girl.

That's why she had her management set up a little stunt that would draw the attention away from the photo with her on top of a girl, who, by the way, the media still had no idea was. They weren't stupid though, there were tons of theories about who it could be-the main two being Camila and Maite.

Lauren put away her phone when she heard a knocking at the door.

"Come in," she said, already knowing who it was. 

He had sent her a text message a couple of minutes ago saying he was in the building.

The door opened and she forced a smile onto her face.

"Hey," she said, giving him a small hug, "I'm so glad you could make it, Ty."