the only exception, a maya hart story

t w e n t y - t w o

LUCAS

It was dark. Painfully dark out. I was wandering in a forest of never-ending blackness.

There was a house at the end of the blackness. I seemed to be walking towards it for hours, but I never moved. My feet seemed to be stationary even though they continually moved forward.

Out of nowhere, the house in front of me burst into flames. Fire engulfed the home as the burning house lit up the pitch black sky. Confusion swept over me as I looked at the house. A white figure stood at the front of the doorway. A long, white, wispy dress covered a pale, beautiful girl.

Maya.

I went insane. I started screaming. I tried to run closer to the house, but I never moved from the spot I was in. She just stood there at the front of the house, staring out at the starless sky. Flames enveloped the wood around her and crackled in excitement.

I yelled unceasingly. She just stood there. Never looking at me. Her white dress flowing in front of her as the wind toiled and tossed it around to its will.

The flames began to take up the floorboards she stood upon. Then her dress. And then she went up in smoke along with the rest of the house.

A jolt shook me awake as I realized it was morning. I was awake. I immediately jumped out of bed, wearing only a pair of flannel pajama pants, leaving my bare chest exposed, and I dashed to Maya's room.

Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be there.

At this point, I was practically sprinting into her room. Not bothering to knock or anything, I burst open the door to find Maya lying on her pillow. Fast asleep.

It felt as if a weight had been lifted off my chest as I sighed a huge sigh of relief.

Why am I so relieved? I just had a nightmare? That's all it was.

But as she lay on the pillow with her eyes shut in an innocent way only Maya Hart could pull off, I knew exactly why I was so worried about her.

I love you, Maya.

I dashed over to her bedside and planted a kiss on her forehead just to ensure that she was real. That she wasn't just a fragment of my imagination.

How is she even real?

Every time I looked at her, I wondered how blind I must've been in the past not to have seen her gorgeous eyes staring back at me. She has so many layers to her. I've discovered many. I have many left to find out about. That image of her standing in the burning house haunted me.

I have no way of protecting her.

And then her eyes fluttered open. Her blue on my green.

"Hi Lucas.." she spoke softly as I heard her voice. It sounded almost hoarse. Like she'd been crying almost.

I leaned in slowly and kissed her, instantly getting her response back as she slowly kissed me and put her hands in my hair. The kiss wasn't rushed or desperate. It was welcomed and warm.

She broke apart as I saw something troublesome flash across her eyes, as if she'd realized something. Like she remembered something important.

MAYA

I couldn't kiss him. I was supposed to be mad at him. Besides, I had some interrogating to do if I was going to really find out what happened that night at the bar. Lucas's face looked concerned as he saw my realization flash across my dull, dark eyes.