The Long Game (Joshaya)

What Now?

Song of the Chapter: Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift and the Civil Wars (Acoustic Guitar Cover by Casey Chung)

* Josh's POV *

I sit with the mothers waiting for their children to finish their ballet class. Actually, most of the girls were Maya's age, hair in a tight bun and a straight look on their face as they listened to the teacher's advice. Ballet seems intense. After an hour of watching them turn and leap across the room, Maya walks over to me and grabs a towel.

"I'm gonna change first," she says, wiping the sweat of her face.

"Can I come with?" I whisper to her, grabbing her hands.

"No," she laughs. She grabs her duffel bag and kisses me on the cheek. "I won't be gone long."

I smile and sit back down, the other girls and their mothers looking at me. I look around to see if I recognize anyone, and I catch a glimpse of fiery orange hair. When she sees me, she smirks and gives me a little wave. I think of flipping her off, but that wouldn't make a good impression. My phone buzzes and I see Shaun's face on the screen.

"Hey, we're on our way. Maya just finished," I say as I walk outside. On the other end, I hear Shaun crying. My heart starts to beat faster. "Shaun?"

"She's gone, Josh," he whispers. "Can you tell Maya and take her home?"

My eyes start to tear up, thinking of Maya and her mother. How would I tell her? She's going to be devastated, and a couple weeks before her Juilliard audition? This I couldn't hide.

"I'll tell her," I reply as I take deep breaths to prepare for Maya.

"Thank you, Josh," Shaun whispers and hangs up. 

I shove my phone in my pocket and wait for Maya to come outside. When she comes out talking with other girls, they stop at the door when they see me. They whisper in her ear and she rolls her eyes and walks to me.

"Ready?" she asks me. I can't think of what to say, so I just hug her tightly. "Josh, what's wrong?" she asks with a worried voice. The sound of her made me cry, so she hugged me tighter. "Josh, it's ok. You can tell me." I love her for being such a selfless person. I didn't want to be the one to break the news to her, but I know Shaun's even more heartbroken.

"Maya, she's gone," I tell her, repeating Shaun's words.

I feel her pull away from me, and I feel like she's going to run. "When?" she asks, her voice cracking and her eyes filling with tears.

"Shaun just called me five minutes ago." I grab her hands and squeeze them tight. When she squeezes her eyes shut, tears spill out. "Maya..." She shakes herself free from my grasp and starts running towards the hospital. This girl is a runner. They say you can't run away from your problems, and she always seemed to run away from me. I didn't want to be a problem for her. My brain tells me to leave her alone, but my heart tells me to follow her because she needs me.

"Where'd she go?" I hear a voice ask behind me. I turn around and see Kacey standing in front of me with her arms crossed. I wipe away my tears and she laughs. "Why are you crying? Did she break your heart?" she asks, talking to me with a voice used to speak with toddlers.

"No...I did."

"Why?" she asks, walking towards me. She tries to grab my hand, but I swipe it away.

"I don't want to talk about it."

She steps back and looks at me. I look at the ground, just waiting for her to leave.

"I see the way she looks at you," she says. "You two are...like the kind of love you see in the movies, which is why it can't be real."