The Maze

Travis

After seeing Luna at the club, I tried to talk to her about that night. She didn't show up to the diner and she avoided me at when I tried to buy her time in a private room. I tried for a couple days and then gave up. I wanted to apologize for prying into her business, but I also understand that she was embarrassed. When she wanted to talk, she knew where to find me.

The day she finally came into the diner, I thought maybe that was the day I could apologize. When she walked in, she looked shocked to see me. She quickly composed herself but I had already seen the look on her face. I asked one of the other servers to take the register for me so Luna didn't have to talk to me. I wanted to talk to her so bad it hurt but it wasn't my place to push. I regretted my decision the moment she sat in a booth with another man.

That night, I went home and laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. Not talking to her was killing me. Other than Zeke, Luna was the person I felt closest too. We were both brooding teenagers that drifted together by our mutual frustration at the hand life dealt us. I had grown accustom to seeing her often, even if it was only for a cup of coffee. At least she talked to me.

Suddenly, my mind shift to the night at the club. The image of her body was permanently locked in my mind. The gold dress, the way her hips swung, when her eyes met mine. As the thoughts bombarded my mind, I could feel the swelling in my pants. I thought about the black lingerie she wore when she walked into the private room I was in. I knew it wasn't for me because she pulled her robe tightly closed after she saw me. But it didn't change the fact that it made me want her.

So. Fucking. Bad.

The thickness in my pants pressed hard against the buttons of my jeans. I reached down and open them, letting it stand out against my boxers. I reached in the waist band and grabbed my shaft, groaning. I moved my hand up and down, focusing on the images in my head.

My imagination began to take hold the longer I imagined her. I began thinking about the way she would feel on my lap. Her soft skin up against me. Her fiery red hair dangling in my face and she straddled me. My hand moved faster and my breathes came in gasps. I imagined that it was her hand stroking me, her mouth wrapped around my cock. I thought about those big beautiful blue eyes rolling back into her head as she moaned my name. Fuck.

The images in my head were so vivid, it didn't take long before my body tensed and I released into my boxers. I laid in bed for a moment, catching my breath. Once the pleasure that came with my orgasm faded, I got out of bed and hopped in the shower to clean myself off. I turned the water cold and let it cascade down my back, washing away my dirty thoughts.

A part of me was embarrassed that I had just pleasured myself to the images that Luna was so ashamed of. Does that make me a bad person? I used the job she hates to bring myself satisfaction. Another part of me began to think that maybe these feelings I had for her were more than platonic. That part terrified me. I can't fall in love with someone before the Maze. That's setting myself up for failure. I sometimes entertain the idea that I could be the one in the center of her Maze, but deep down, I know I won't be.

A team of people are assigned individuals at birth. Their decisions in life are analyzed and calculated. This data is what's used to find partners. They look at hobbies, passions, personalities, finances. They try to pair people of opposite financial statuses to create a universal middle class. Rich individuals usually end up with poorer individuals to balance each other out. Orphans tend to get paired with people who have large families to give them what they never had. People with similar interested get paired up in hopes that they'll use those interests to create big things. The medication we now have to keep cancer patients in remission was created by two people who were paired together because of their common interest in medication and science.

Luna and I could never be matches. Neither of us are financially stable and we're both orphans. The Maze makers would never pair us together. We have nothing to offer each other. I wonder what my team of people see when they look at me. A murderer? The guy who got his whole family killed in a car accident? The monster who held his little sister as she took her last breath?

The tears on my face felt hot in comparison to the ice water that continued to hit my skin. My fists were clenched at my side and I could feel my jaw tighten. I stood in the water for a couple more minutes, gathering my emotions. When I got out, I towel dried my hair, put on a new pair of boxers at crawled into bed. The clock on my nightstand read 11:05. I flipped off my lap and closed my eyes.

A bright light shone through my window and into my closed eyes. I assumed it was just a passing car until it moved from my face and then back again. I raised my arm to block it and squinted in the direction it was coming from. The light shone through the gap where my two curtains met. I got out of bed and pushed one of them to the side. The light quickly disappeared as I looked down at the street below me. Whoever was shining the light had to be standing in eye view to be able to alert me on the 4th floor.

A banging on the door made me jump and tore my attention from the street. I cautiously moved toward my door, grabbing the bat from my closet on the way. I gripped the handle tight in one hand and yanked the door open with the other. There was no one there when I looked. I popped my head out and looked up and down the breezeway. I thought I saw someone rounding the corner. I stepped out to follow and felt something under my foot. I bent down and picked up what looked like a crumpled piece of paper. The words on it looked that they were hastily scribbled on.

We know you saw our video. If you're looking for freedom, come find us. Beyond the city limits.