How Lost Souls Love

She's like Me

DAX POV

“Hey man, can I ask you something?” I say as I pluck an apple from the basket on the counter and sit down on the bar stool in front of it. 

“‘Sup?” He says opening one of the cupboards with the bowls and pulling one down. 

“Maisie…”

“Yo.” He says cutting me off at pausing while pouring cereal to look at me. 

“It’s not that.” I say waiving him off annoyed. He looks like he’s not completely convinced but slowly starts to pour his mini wheats again. “She’s different. Different from the last time. I know you said she’s had a rough go of it. But.. what happened?” 

He pinches his face together. Because he’s my best friend I can tell He’s not happy about the question or about me calling her different. Damnit. Maybe I shouldn’t have worded it like that. 

“Dude I’m sorry I shouldn’t..” I started but he cuts me off. 

“No it’s fine. It’s just that… well I don’t know. I know something happened while she was back in New York with her mom. And it really broke something inside of her. I’ve asked a hundred times. But my dad just says it’s not his story to tell. And I know better than to ask her. I wish I knew. Man I wish I knew.” He says almost pleading. I know how much he loves his sister. Even growing up oceans apart, their bond was unbreakable. 

“On the way back here she seemed like she was freaking out.?” 

“I think it was what you said.. not that it’s your fault..” he says trailing off. “I do know she doesn’t trust new people. And she doesn’t like being touched. I think what you said about being hugged all over or something might have triggered it.”

“Triggered what?” 

Noah sighed and turned to the fridge to get the milk as I chewed my apple. “She’s like you man. She has it too.” He says sadly. 

For a split second I feel irritated. He knows I hate it when people pity me. But then I realize it’s not for me. It’s for Maisie. I thought about what happened to me. How much it f****d me up. Some people called me a hero. But I didn’t see it. All I saw were my broken pieces shattered around the floor. 

She’s like me. 

The thought of maisie being just like me made me both sad and angry. I looked towards the bathroom door. She’s like me.. which means she’s probably crying in the shower so no one notices. She probably sits up at night wondering if she should just stay awake the whole time. 

“I’m sorry man.” I say looking back towards Noah who seems to be lost in his own thoughts as well. He shakes his head and finishes pouring milk in his cereal. I feel like asking him if he wants cereal with his milk, but decide not to be an ass just yet. 

“I just hope one day she trusts me enough to tell me everything.” Noah says as he puts the milk away. He turns back, grabs his bowl and moves to the Den to watch television. I walk over and plop next to him on the couch, his milk sloshing over the side of the bowl. 

“Damnit Dax!” He yells holding the bowl up to look at the mess in his lap. I chuckle at him and he gives me an annoyed glance. 

“That’s what you get for always using half a gallon of milk for three f*****g Cheerios.” I laugh. 

“First of all they’re mini wheats you uncultured swine. And second you could sit down on the couch like a normal person.” He says getting up to go back to the kitchen. 

Noah’s phone pings next to me on the couch and I look down to see A text. 

Lil’sis’    I forgot to grab clothes before I came in. Could you grab my clothes from yesterday off the floor and bring them to me! I don’t want to walk out in a towel in front of your friend. 

I laugh a bit and grab the phone to hold out to Noah. “Yo.” I say to get his attention. He’s still giving me an annoyed face but reaches out to look at his phone. He reads it and throws the towel down on the counter before walking off to the Maisies room. 

I’ve slept in her room a time or two when I’ve stayed over. Usually I crash on the couch but when it broke last summer I opted to crash there than on Noah’s floor. Her room was quiet and smelled like palm trees and summer. 

Noah walked out with a bundle of clothes and walked to knock on the bathroom door. It clicked open and a hand reached out to take them before closing again. 

“Dude, seeing my sister's bra is gross.” He says shivering. 

“I can hear you!” Maisie yells through the door. 

“Good!” Noah yells back. 

I laugh at them. A few minutes later maisie emerges from the bathroom and goes to her room. I pretend not to notice but Noah makes sure to look back and check on her. He must decide she’s fine because he turns back to the tv and relaxes a bit. 

A loud thud and a screech from Maisies room has both of us up and running towards her room in seconds. Noah jumps the back of the couch and reaches the door first. He flings himself through the door frame and stops fast, almost tripping over his sister. 

“What the hell?” He says as he takes in what he sees. He starts to laugh. “Still clumsy as s**t I see.” He gets out before doubling over. 

“Shut up!” She yells trying to reach over and swat him while laying on the floor. 

I bend down and flip the dresser drawer off of her stomach so she can sit up. I’m trying really hard not to laugh at her. Which becomes easy when I look at her eyes. Noah may not notice but I do. I was right, and she’d been crying. She really is just like me. 

She meets my eyes for a second and it’s like she understands. She knows I can see her. And f**k me, it’s like she’s sees into me too. Her blue eyes reflect the brokenness inside both of us. And for a split second it’s like maybe, just maybe, our broken pieces could fit together. 

“What did you even do?” Noah asks cutting through the moment in my head. I snap back to reality and hold a hand out to Maisie to help her up. She looks away from it and instead rolls over and picks herself up. I kick myself internally. Noah literally just told you she didn’t like being touched and you try to do it. Nice going. 

“ I was trying to open the drawer and get a new pair of shorts out but the handle broke off as I pulled and the drawer rolled out on top of me.” She says glaring at Noah as he continues to laugh. 

I bend down and look at the dresser. “The track is broken too. The little wheel popped off which is why it fell on you.  I can probably fix it if you can find it.” I say shrugging. 

“At least Dax is helpful. You're just annoying.” She says grabbing her pillow from the bed and launching it at her brother’s face. He catches it easily and throws it back at her. She ducks and it misses her by an inch. She laughs and runs across her mattress and launches herself into his back. 

“Hey get off!” He yells trying to swat her away. 

She grabs his hand and bites his finger. “Ow! Get off you piranha!” She laughs a bit and then scrunches up her nose in disgust. 

“Ewww. Why are you slimy?” She says dropping from his back and turning him to look at his shirt. “You smell weird…” she says sniffing him at a distance. 

“This genius made me spill milk on myself.” He says passing her disgusted glance to me. “Ima go shower. Dax see if you can fix that.” He says moving past me and to the bathroom. 

I glance at Maisie to see if she’s ok with it and I’m surprised to see her looking at me too. 

“Erm.. uh. I don’t know where the wheel went.” She says looking away and moving the clothes that had fallen to the floor. 

I look around our feet and spot it by the end of the bed. “Here it is. Give me a second. Let me get a screwdriver from the kitchen.  When I come back she’s sitting on her bed with her pillow wrapped in her arms. She threw on a gray hoodie and threw her wet hair up in a bun. She looked good. 

Crap. 

I flick my eyes away from her and to the drawer on the floor. This shouldn’t take too long. I sigh and drop down to the floor. Im trying to fit the wheel back into place when we hear Noah let out a sharp gasp so loud Maisie and I both tense.

“Argh!!! MAISIE!!!” We hear Noah scream from the bathroom. 

I look from the bathroom door to Maisie sitting on her bed. I thought she would be as tense as i was after hearing a scream like that but instead she is wearing a big grin. She lets out a small tinkerbell laugh and shrugs at me. Im confused at first but seeing her smile releases the tension in my shoulders. I look at her with a half smile as if to say 'What did I miss?"

Then it comes back to me and I remember what Noah said about Maisies cold showers and laugh with her.  This is the Maisie I always heard about. This was the maisie I wanted to get to know. 

“Whoops.” She says, still laughing. I just roll my eyes and let out a chuckle with her and turn back to the dresser. Poor Noah.