night changes ; brady noon

chapter 25

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Maya spotted Angelo and Micah's cars at their hang out spot when she pulled up, lining her car up with theirs. Connor quickly hopped out, going over to say hi to their friends. Before locking the car, the brunette girl took the hoodie she had brought with out of the back seat, draping it over her shoulder to shield her exposed shoulders from the light gusts of wind. Brady looked at the hoodie on her shoulders, a light blush gracing his cheeks.

"Is that my hoodie?" The boy questioned as his arm came to wrap around the girls waist, stopping her from moving towards their group of friends. Maya grabbed the sleeve of the hoodie, assessing it before looking back at the boy. "I suppose it is, why? Do you want it back?" The boy shook his head vigorously, "No absolutely not. It looks better on you." He smiled before his arm left the girls waist. She frowned at the loss of contact, the warmth of his arm still imprinted in her skin.

Gosh am I really that touch deprived?!

The brunette girl approached the group, following behind Brady. As soon as Sophie and Victoria saw the girl they instantly detached themselves from their boyfriends and went to greet the girl with tight embraces. "Maya it's so good to see you! How are you?" The brunette reciprocated their warm embraces, feeling ever so happy to be with her friends again. They radiated such positivity and comfort, it was always great being around them.

"It's so good to see you both. I'm great, how are you girls doing?" Maya questioned as they all pulled away from the embrace. "Oh we're great, but you know we need to ask, how are things with you and Brady?" Maya knew the question was coming, and she knew Sophie and Victoria weren't trying to be nosy, they were just worried about Maya, and didn't want her to get hurt.

"We're fine, just friends, like always." The brunette tried to conjure the most convincing smile possible, but failed miserably, to which Sophie frowned. "Babe, for the last time, you two can possibly just be friends. I see the way you act around Brady, how you blush whenever he's near you and how you can speak to his naturally. And I also see the way he looks at you, whether you want to believe it or not, he looks at you like you've hung the stars in the sky."

Maya thought that the blonde girls words were a complete and utter exaggeration; why would Brady, of all people, grow attracted to her? She didn't consider herself pretty like Jenna or lots of the other girls at school, neither was she popular or a social butterfly. "Sophie, I adore you, but you're being ridiculous. Okay sure, maybe every once in a while he's a little but flirty, but nothing more. We're friends. Just friends." The last two words left the girls mouth in a sigh. Maya could no longer ignore the fact that she was, indeed, attracted to Brady Noon. There was no point in denying it, since she wasn't as conspicuous as she thought she was.

Victoria excused herself from the conversation between the two girls, making her way over to the boys. When Micah saw her approaching, a smile spread across his face as he pulled the redhead girl to his side. "Brady can I ask you something?" The brown haired boy was surprised by the girls sudden question, but never the less he nodded, "Do you like Maya?" The group fell silent, only the faint voices of Sophie and Maya being heard in the distance.

"I- well- I'm mean yeah, she's really nice, of course I like her, we all do." It took a few seconds for Brady to answer, mentally conjuring the perfect answer, but it still made Victoria roll her eyes, "Brady, you know what I mean. Do you like her as more than a friend?" The light red hue that adorned the boys cheeks was already an indiction to the answer, but none the less he attempted to come up with a someone plausible answer to the older girls question

"I don't know Vic, I think I do, but at the same time I'm scared. It's complicated." Brady sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, his friends all looking at him with sad smile. "Brady, if its any consolation, she really likes you too, so my advice would be to ask her to be your date to spring formal, and that you guys can figure out whatever complications are in the way." Connor, Angelo and Micah nodded in agreement to the redhead girls idea.

He let the girls advice sink in, of course he'd love to take Maya to spring formal, but he was also worried about everything that would come with it, especially the mean comments that had been spreading around school, including some not so nice ones. Jenna had been the one to start the comments, which came to no surprise, any everyone kept spreading them. Rumours at Lacey always spread like wildfire, but Brady was able to protect the brunette girl from most of it. The amount of time that he had heard people call Maya a 'fame-chasing bitch' and a 'pathetic lowlife' made bile rise to his throat, making him want to throw up at the lack of kindness of his fellow peers.

A hand on his shoulder made Brady snap out of his thoughts, "We lost you for a second, you okay?" Connor looked worriedly at his twin brother, while Brady just nodded. "Yeah I'm fine, just got stuck in my head," The he turned to address Victoria, "I don't know Vic, I really want to ask her out, but I don't want her to get hurt. You know what everyone has been saying about her." The redhead girl nodded sadly at the boys statement. As much as she hated to admit it, Victoria had been told about the comments students had been making about Maya since she started hanging out with Brady.

Before Maya approached the group with Sophie in tow, Brady turned to Victoria, "I do really like her though, so I'll think about asking to be my date." Angelo clapped the boys back with a smile, "You're absolutely smitten for her, it's adorable." Maya came to the brown haired boys side as Angelo finished speaking, and he turned to look at her with a warm smile as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling the girl close to him.

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authors note
gosh i love brady so much he's adorable
also, victoria is the best wingwoman!
this book is a reflection of my dream love life so i'm making it as real as possible 🫣
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