Bad vs Bad

Midnight Play (Ch. 3)

2:25 PM. The most amazing time of the day; School is out. Maya ran out of the school first, trying to get away from the whole crowd of people getting ready leave like her. She wanted to be the first because the school had over 3,000 kids. The place will flood with running bodies as if a war just started.

Maya was about to cross the street until the bus pulled up in front of her. "Crap.." She whispered.

Maya tried walking around, but one of the teachers said no one could go in the street until everyone boards the bus. How stupid is that rule?

Maya was about to put in her ear buds, but she heard a familiar voice. "That's her."

Maya turned around. Colton and some other dude. Colton smirked.

"Nope, nope nope. You are not going to stalk me." Maya said quickly, looking around for a place to run.

"I'm not going to stalk you," Colton snickered. His friend elbowed him in the arm. She glared at him. "This is Quinton, my man."

"Had no idea you were gay. You said you had a girlfriend?" Maya teased.

"I like her." Quinton said, his husky voice piercing Maya's ears.

Maya crossed her arms. "What do you guys want?"

"I just want to ask you a question." Colton replied.

"Which is?"

"Why do you hate me? Everyone loves me. And I mean loves me. I've never seen anyone hate me so much." Colton asked.

"I don't hate you. I just strongly dislike you. Plus, who would even like you? You're a cocky jerk." Maya explained, then put in one of her ear buds. "No, I change my mind. You're actually pretty cool. But you're still a careless jerk who doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself."

"I'll give you that one." Colton shrugged. "So my friends and I are all going to the-"

"I'm not going. I have somewhere else to go tonight." Maya interrupted.

"But I haven't even told you where we were going to be at." Colton said, his voice getting stiff.

"Oh, well. I gotta go. See you later..." Maya said, trying to think of a nickname, but Colton interrupted.

"Bye, Lemon." Colton winked. Maya frowned, then gave him the finger as she walked away when she realized she could cross the street.

Later after finishing her homework, she waited it was time––midnight. Maya grabbed her acoustic guitar and got in her car without waking her mother.  The roads were abandoned at this time, and the weather was cool. Fog was building up in the distance and the streets were slightly damp, probably from the 10 o'clock drizzle.

 The park was closed by now. It closed around 9:30 PM, but this was Maya's safe place when she needed it. She always planned it out, snuck out of her house when she knew her mom was going to be drinking her favorite red wine that night, so she would be tired and go to bed early. That would just make it easier for Maya to sneak out.

She got out of the car with her guitar and walked across the field to a large tree. She set down a blanket so her jeans wouldn't get wet from the early sprinkle.  She tuned the guitar and looked down as she played. She started strumming, practicing her rhythm patterns since that was her weakest point. "One and Two and Three and Four and" she counted. At the end of that measure she made a mistake. Maya sighed and did it all over again. "One and Two and Three and-"

"Maya!"

Maya?

She looked up and saw Colton running over to her from the playground swings that his friends were on. Maya put her hand on her head in disappointment. Why now?  Colton sat in front of her.

"So you came here anyway?" Colton asked, tilting his head.

"I didn't even know you would be here..." Maya said, her voice cracked from not speaking in a while.

"I guess God was telling us that we should meet together, huh," He asked. Maya shrugged and plucked the strings quietly, hoping he would go away. "I didn't know you played guitar. That's what you should've said in first period as your talent or hobby."

"But it's not a talent. I could just play. Back in Florida I had an amazing guitar teacher. He was the funniest guy you could know. You could possible fall in love with him, even if he was 4 years older than me. But then we moved. I didn't even get to say goodbye. My mom just gave him a call and said we were moving. I was one of his great students," Maya smiled at that thought. She looked up and saw Colton actually listening. Maybe he wasn't. He was probably just acting like he was listening so he could make her like him more. But she went on anyway. "He was pretty much one of my best friends. He even promised he would get me an electric guitar if I finished this one song we were working on for two months that we wrote together if I played it perfectly."

"He sounds like a dad." Colton chuckled. Maya shrugged and looked back down at her six strings. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Maya shrugged.

"Tell me." Colton begged.

"Nothing, Colton!" Maya yelled, her tears already filled with tears.

"Why are you crying?" Colton asked.

"Just shut up. Stop asking questions." Maya said with a sad smile as tears fell down her cheeks. Colton wiped one side with his thumb. He put his hand down and looked at her guitar.

"Sorry," Colton apologized. He wanted to know why she was crying, but he pushed that thought away. He had to be mature. He grabbed the neck of the guitar. "Can I see it?"

She nodded and he took the guitar out of her hands. He got his hands in position and looked at her as he played. The chords sounded familiar. Then she realized it was A Love Like War. She put her head back up, then wiped the tears from her eyes. She sniffled, letting out a soft, jealous whine. "I had no idea you could play."

"I can play by ear." He smiled. Maya sat up, crossing her legs.

"So.. You can play whatever you want?" Maya asked.

"Yep. Any requests?" He asked.

"Sure, but I'm not paying you." Maya said, then put her arms behind her head. "Pocket Full of Stars by Nine Black Alps."

"I think i've played that song before." Colton said, then began playing the beginning smoothly. He make a few mistakes because playing by ear is about guessing the notes, but getting almost all of them correctly. You can feel the music. It's a talent. A pure talent.

Maya was surprised he knew that song. Interrupting the song, a voice yelled from a close distance.

"Hey, Colton! Get your ass over here! You're leaving us hanging with no entertainment! Your girlfriend is complaining again!" Quinten yelled.

"Calm your man titties!" Colton yelled. He gave Maya the guitar and just ran away back to his group of friends and beloved girlfriend. 

"Not even a goodbye? There, I hate him again." Maya mumbled, stroking the strings that were just recently touched by the school's (secretly warm-hearted) bad boy.

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A/N: I totes hopes you enjoyed this chapter.  Pocket Full of Stars to the side. I found it on Tumblr, then realized it was from one of those Disney Animations. but it's a cute song :) It's amazing how fast these stories can grow.

Also, guess in the comments why Maya was crying! I'd love to know your predictions. (:

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Update: wtf 6th grade jade. ^^^^ if i met you rn i'd beat you up bc you're such a loser