The Long Game (Joshaya)

...It Opens Again?

* Josh's POV *

I couldn't stop thinking about her. I tossed and turned, but couldn't fall asleep, and for once, it wasn't because of Peyton's snoring. I replayed our dances in my head, smiling when I saw her smile. I stared at the ceiling, pictured her glow in the dark stars, and counted each one. 33, a number that will never change. Before I know it, it's morning and I didn't sleep for a minute. I didn't have any classes until later in the afternoon, and Cory asked me if I could be a judge for a debate in one of his senior history classes. It defeated staying here and having people ask about Maya.

I get out of bed and smack Peyton on the forehead, but he remains asleep. I shower and when I open the bathroom door, Peyton is still in bed, but looking at his phone.

"Dude," he says, looking up at me. "I didn't know she was 3 years younger than you."

"What?" I walk over to his bed and grab his phone. It was the video he took of us yesterday, but on Kacey's profile. @joshmatthews with a 17 y/o @maya_hh

Shit, she found out. I should've known. I scroll through the comments and see many of them targeted towards Maya instead of me. I hope she didn't see this, so I storm over to Kacey's dorm.

"Kacey, open up. It's Josh," I shout, banging on her door.

"What?" she replies, opening her door.

"Take down the video now."

"What video?"

"Don't play dumb with me."

"Why? It's just a video."

"This can ruin her future."

"Why? She's practically an adult, so it doesn't matter that you guys are 3 years apart."

"She still needs to get into Juilliard."

Kacey laughs and rolls her eyes. "I knew she wasn't in college. It was so obvious."

I slam my hand against the door frame. "Damnit, Kacey. Take it down!" I think of what else to say to convince her. "I'll do anything." She looks up for a couple seconds as if she was thinking of something terrible to do to me.

"Anything?" she asks, smirking at me.

"Yes," I reply. "For Maya."

Kacey rolls her eyes again and pulls out her phone. "Works for me." She deletes the post, showing me her phone as proof. "Now, a deal's a deal," she says, pulling me into her room by my shirt collar.

***

"This was fun," Kacey says to me, running her finger down my bare chest. "Let's do it again sometime." She rolls out of her bed and puts on an oversized shirt that barely covers everything.

"This didn't mean anything," I reply.

"Sure it didn't." She raises an eyebrow at me. "You can leave now."

I get out of her bed and pull my shirt back on. "No one knows about this, understand?"

"Yes, I understand," she says in a mocking tone. She opens the door and gestures me out, people glancing at me as I exit. I see a few people whisper in each other's ears, then quickly walk past me. I run my fingers through my hair and bite my lip. They were probably talking about Maya, so I take out my phone and delete the post of us.

***

* Maya's POV *

I made it to history class with a finished report for the debate. I'm still unsure about whether telling a lie to spare someone's feelings is the right thing to do or not. They always say the truth will come out eventually, and telling lies before it made it more painful. But I could handle pain, I have my whole life.