typical | rilaya au

t w e n t y t w o

"Here let me help you with that." Maya offered, taking the two test tubes out of my shaking hands.

I watched the blonde carefully pour the contents of the test tube into a larger flask. She observed the reaction carefully, her tongue poked out slightly as she brought it up to her eye level.

"What's been bothering you all day?" Maya whispered under her voice in a worried tone.

I shook my head, trying to keep her from worrying. "Nothing." I responded with a wide grin. Still not convinced by my answer, she raised an eyebrow at me. I placed my hand on top of hers underneath the desks and held it tightly. "I'll be fine, I promise Peaches." I whispered to her.

"I've just been really overworked this week. I'm running 30 km a week, studying for hours without any results, looking after Auggie and I'm just... tired." I explained, not wanting her pity.

Maya eyed the teacher down as she left the class for a moment and turned to me immediately. She turned her head and kissed me gently on the cheek. "How about.. we go on a date tonight to help you de-stress?" She suggested mischievously.

I blushed and looked away. "I would love to but, I need to study tonight. Bio test tomorrow." I answered a little devastated at the change in plans.

"You know, maybe you wouldn't have to study so much if you were actually being productive during your sessions." She shrugged and went back to work.

I punched her teasingly on the shoulder, knowing that she was the reason I could never get anything done while I studied. "You're so annoying" I laughed "I'm uninviting you to dinner at my house this weekend."

Maya gasped sarcastically. "Your parents would never let that happen, they love me" she claimed proudly.

Our banter was interrupted when Mrs. McKenzie re-entered the classroom. "Miss Hart, Miss Matthews, unless your deeply immersed in a conversation about chemistry, I don't want to hear anymore talking." She warned.

What a buzzkill.

"Sorry." Maya and I apologized in unison to the teacher and went back to finishing the lab.

When the teacher directed her attention back to her laptop, Maya leaned over and placed a hand in front of her mouth. "The only chemistry I'm interested in is the one between you and I" she whispered behind her hand.

~

The halls were empty when I shut my locker door to make my way towards the cafeteria.

"Riles!" Called out Maya who was hiding behind my locker door.

I jumped up and held onto the lockers for support. "Maya you can't scare me like that." I sighed. "You know how jumpy I am!"

"Sorry." She replied in between laughs though I knew that she wasn't really sorry. "You're just so cute when you're scared."

Maya stood up on her tippy toes to be an equal height as me and then leaned in slowly-

"Matthews!"

I jumped back, causing Maya to sigh in frustration. "What now?" She groaned, it was obvious that she was tired of our moments being interrupted.

I turned around to see my coach standing in front of his office door.  "Can we have a word?" He requested politely

I nodded, "Yes of course!" I turned to Maya "I'll see you in a bit." I whispered into her ear and followed him into his office.