Maya (Book #3)

Chapter 43

I texted my friends, asking permission for my brothers' presence at the movie. They accepted a little too eagerly, most likely wanting to learn more about the infamous Anders boys. JJ had the gall to say that she was excited they were coming.

I had to admit that a part of myself was excited to have them all interact. I hated to burst the illusion that the boys were fascinating and elusive, but my friends deserved to know the truth. I smiled to myself in the car as I pictured rumors starting to fly of the annoying boys who acted scary being childish and silly in real life.

I giggled so much that the boys noticed. From the front seat, Dominic smirked back at me.

"Are you finally happy that you get to have your big brothers around?" he asked in a patronizing way, looking proud of himself.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I'm excited that my friends will realize you guys are so lame!" I stuck out my tongue at him in the rearview mirror and he laughed.

"We'll see," he said, exchanging a knowing look with Damon. 

When we got to the theater, my friends barely spared a cursory glance in my direction.

 "Hi!" they chorused, running up to my brothers. "How's it going?" Damon and Dominic smiled coolly and began talking, smiling over my friend's heads to me. Cassie and Lucy waved at me before turning back to them and asking if they liked horror movies and what their favorites were.

I grabbed JJ's hand and pulled her away from Caleb and Brooks.

"How are you?" I asked, giving her a look. She blushed, embarrassed that she was obsessing over my brothers probably. She linked her arm through mine as we headed up to the ticket counter and gave me her full attention.

"Sorry, Maya. We didn't mean to abandon you! It's just that none of us have older brothers and it's kind of interesting! It's like a science experiment." She said with a smirk, trying to make an analogy that would appease me. I relented with a chuckle.

"Having brothers is like knowing you're always safe, but also they're annoying and you hate them," I said, trying to keep my volume low. I felt a large arm placed over my shoulder and I shrunk down, biting my lip as Damon smiled his scary smile at me.

"Is that so, little sis?" he asked, fluttering his dark eyelashes to look innocent.

 "Just kidding!" I chuckled as my stomach clenched nervously. JJ tried to stifle a laugh behind her jacket sleeve. I glared at her as Damon walked us to the counter and asked for the tickets that we needed. I tried to shift away but Damon held me in place with a smile, making me blush.

The girl behind the counter was in a similar situation. As Damon's light eyes raked her body and long black hair, her pale face turned a beautiful shade of pink. She brushed her hair over her ear as he repeated his question, and then stumbled over her answer. She handed him the tickets and he handed her a black credit card, announcing to the group that we'd be paying for everyone. Cassie and Lucy cheered, turning away from Dominic and Brooks momentarily.

"Are you scared for the movie?" Brooks asked as we walked inside, wiggling his eyebrows at me. We headed to the concession counter and ordered popcorns and sodas. I tried to hold something to help, but the boys took charge and carried our food and drinks for us.

"Why would she be scared?" JJ asked, cracking up. "It's not even rated R!" I laughed too and tried to appear confident while glaring at my brothers. Why were they trying to embarrass me?

"You should've seen her at the last movie!" Dominic said, grinning wider than I'd seen him smile before. "She was shaking in her seat!" Their mouths dropped and they giggled as I tried to deny it and grew flustered. After a moment of this, I simply stopped speaking and glared.

"It's true," Damon said, laughing at the murderous expression on my face.

"Well, she's just a little kid!" Brooks said, ruffling my hair. I shook in anger and crossed my arms over my chest, giving myself away.

"Aww, that's okay, Maya!" Cassie said genuinely. "We'll keep you safe!"

I blushed darker than ever and let her put an arm around me, while Lucy squeezed up against us.

"We've got you!" Lucy chirped, making me feel even worse. She was the smallest girl I'd met, with puffy cheeks and soft features. Her rosy complexion made her look like an angel, and she was going to protect me?

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," I muttered, storming off as we reached the doorway to our movie. We still had time before it started so I took my time walking and leaned against the wall outside the bathroom, taking a breath. When I was younger, I pictured having siblings and I always wanted an older one. I envisioned someone who protected me and loved me and taught me things that other people my age didn't know. Nobody told me brothers would be so obnoxious.

I controlled my breathing until I felt more normal, and realized it was not the end of the world. My friends might laugh, but they were my friends regardless. When I worked up the courage to head back to the theater, I saw Dominic turning the corner.

He looked somewhat abashed, which alleviated some of my anger.

"Hey, My," he said with a sheepish smile when I walked up to him. I gave him a reprimanding look and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Did we take it too far?" he asked. It might have been sweet, if not for the smirk on his face.

 "Yes!" I said, letting out my embarrassment in a tense breath. "Why did you guys say all that?"

"Because you're really awkward when you're embarrassed, and you suck at lying?" he offered with a shrug. "I mean, you should've seen your face! Even the little girl was trying to protect you!" he laughed, picturing Lucy pitying me. My face twitched with a frown, and I grew angrier.

"I don't want them to know that I'm scared. They'll think I'm weak!" I whined, truly worried. He seemed to tell by the fear in my eyes that I was telling the truth.

"Maya, it's okay if they think you're weak. You enjoy having people protect you, and that's a beautiful thing. Let them know you're vulnerable. You don't have to do everything by yourself." He said, tilting his head to the side and smiling at me. He had leaned down so he was at my level, and I realized he was right. I adored when people wanted to take care of me and still loved me. I just didn't want them to see me as a burden. The fear and anger dissipated, and I smiled at him before jumping up to give him a quick hug. 

"You still don't have to embarrass me though!" I said as I grabbed his hand, tugging him back to the theater. He laughed the rumbling laugh that came from his chest and decided to be honest, too.

"We never got to embarrass Bella. And we all love having a sister," he said giving me a pitiful expression, playing on my sympathy. I rolled my eyes but decided to let it go.

"I'll forgive you if act nice when we leave!" I said, dragging him toward the doorway. We hushed as we got into the dark room, and he led us to our seats. I got the spot between Cassie and JJ. Caleb sat on the other side of JJ and Lucy sat on the other side of Cassie. Brooks, Damon, and Dominic were seated in the row just behind us. Damon kicked my chair once to make me angry but behaved himself the rest of the movie.

I tried to act confident but when I was scared and pulled my legs up onto the seat with me, Cassie wrapped her arm around me and didn't even laugh. When a scene was particularly gory and I became horrified, JJ and Caleb would laugh at the fakeness, breaking the tension. All in all, it was actually a great time. I could see why people enjoyed horror movies.

The villain on screen grabbed a knife and stabbed it into the innocent teen, and with a scream, I remembered why I hated them again.

Damon opened the door for me as we got into the car after the movie.

"You did it, baby," he said with a wink. I smiled and tried to twist it into an indignant look.

"Bully," I teased. He reached out suddenly and grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze. I looked up at him with eyes wide, in awe and faint astonishment.

"You were very brave," he said quickly, without meeting my eyes. He then headed to the front seat. As Brooks got in beside me, I tried to hide my happiness. I tucked my head on his shoulder and he smiled, letting me.