The Project - a lucaya series - book 1

9

   Maya's POV:
   I feel like crap. My hair is a complete mess, and my face feels hard and sticky from where I was crying all night. Worst thing is: its Monday again. I feel like it was just Monday.
   The best thing to do for now is act like nothing happened. I get out of bed and do my usual morning routine.
   After I get Riley, we head to school.

   Riley's POV:
   Maya's been acting really weird lately. I'm gonna find out whats up.
   "Hey Maya?"
   "Yeah, Riles?"
   "Whats up with you?"
   "Whacha mean?"
   "You've been acting weird lately."
   "No I haven't."
   "Ah, forget about it." I say, knowing dang well that she's not going to say anything anyway.
   "Alright."
   "But what happened to you on our double date? You never showed up."
   "Oh, well me and Lucas? Yeah, were done."
   "Already??" I ask. It's been one weekend and they're already over??
   "Yeah, already."
   "But you could've come anyways." I tell her, attempting to lighten up a bit.
   "Yeah I know, I just wasn't in the mood."
   "What happened?" I ask carefully.
   "Well...Lucas...he cheated on me."
   "What? With who??" I ask frantically.
   "Missy," she scowls.
   "Missy Blandford?"
   "Yep. But don't worry Riles. It's okay. I'm fine. I'm used to it. I'm used to people just getting tired of me, and moving on."  she tells me.
   "Maya, you need to talk to him about this. Does he even know that you aren't dating anymore?"
   "Nope...but I'll talk to him. See ya Riley."
   "Okay, bye," I say, and Maya walks to her locker.

   Maya's POV:
   As the bell rings for first period, I walk up to my locker. That must mean Riley's late for class too.
   The hallway empties when a familiar voice calls from behind. "Maya, hey!"
   I open my locker then turn towards the voice, finding Lucas approaching.
   "How come you didn't show Friday?"  he asks.
   "I was busy," I turn back towards my locker and exchange my bag for my books.
   "Oh, well, I texted you. Did you get my messages?"
   "Yeah," I shut my locker and turn to face him again. "I got 'em."
   He studies me closely. "Are you okay? Did something happen?"
   "Well, yeah, maybe if you count watching your new boyfriend making out with Missy Blandford in his bedroom when you're supposed to be hanging out with him five minutes later."
   "Wait, what?" he asks, startled.
   "Go ahead and play dumb, Lucas, but it's not gonna help." I push past him and begin walking down the hallway. Suddenly I feel his hand grasped around my wrist, and I stop.
   "Maya...that's not...it's not what you think it was." he stutters.
   "Really? Because what I think it was is me going to your house, thinking I was going to hang out with my boyfriend, and finding him making out with another girl! And even worse, it wasnt just any girl. It was Missy! You hate her! I hate her." I whisper-yell.
   "Do you want to know what really happened? She threatened me Maya! She threatened you! She came into my house and said if I didnt kiss her, she would ruin your life, or whatever. So I kissed her. To protect you."
   The idea of the scenario is really weird and seems pointless, but that's Missy Blandford for ya. Going out of her way to ruin everything she can for pointless reasons.
   Still, I don't feel bad for blaming Lucas. From my point of view I had every right to be mad and go off. Even though this is very extreme measures, maybe what I need to do is...trust.
   I still like him. I think. And I can believe him. Trust him. Thats what our project was about. Trust. He wasn't lying. I could see it in his eyes.
   "Okay, I believe you." I say.
   "Really? Just like that?" he asks.
   "Lucas...I really like you. I trust you."
   "I really like you too, Maya." he smiles.
   I stand on my tip-toes and wrap my arms around his neck to give him a big hug. The comfort of his hug is refreshing, and the uneasy feeling I had is gone now. I can trust him, Maya. I can trust him.