A Kiss for Maya

Homework Can Wait

"Thanks for today," Max flashes his smile, "It'll really help me."

"Oh, it's not a problem." I smile shyly at the ground, packing away all my books.

"So, do you need a ride?" Mason asks. He's leaning against the door, staring at us in irritation.

After our little debate, he completely changed his attitude. He started acting morose and disrupted us for the entire hour. He's been acting rude and just being mean.

Gosh! I could kill him right now. He's so annoying.

"Me?" I question, my voice a mixture of confusion and shyness.

"Yeah, you." He rolls his eyes and walks towards us.

"Well, uhm... I was just going to take the bus."

"Really?" His infamous smirk makes an appearance and he walks closer to me. "Are you sure about that?"

He looks down at me to meet my eyes and his voice turns into a whisper. I gulp nervously and look away.

"Y...yeah...yeah, I'm sure." My tongue trips and falls on the words as I try to look anywhere but at him.

"No, c'mon," Max speaks, "Maya, we'll give you a ride."

"No, seriously, I'll just take the bus or I'll call Lilly." I take my phone and shake it in the air.

"No, that doesn't make any sense." Mason argues, "We're going to the same place, Banks."

"I have some...I have...I mean..." I rake my brain for an excuse but nothing.

Before I can say or do anything else, Mason grabs my backpack and walks out of the room.

"You're coming with us." He says, not bothering to look back.

I groan in frustration and fist my hands, following behind him.

"I hate your friend!" I half scream to Max.

He chuckles and follows me out, closing the door to Mr. McCoy's class.

***

There are only a few cars left in the students' parking lot. Mason is leaning against the door of his jeep, fiddling with the seashells key ring I hooked to my zipper.

"Ready?" He asks.

I ignore him, rolling my eyes and opening the door to the back seat. The sooner this ride ends, the better.

Max and Mason also get in and Max takes my bag from him and hands it to me. I give him a smile of thanks and put my seat belt on.

During the drive, the two of them talk and I sit in the back, clutching on to my bag and looking out the window. I don't know where Max lives but I hope it's not too far away. I don't want to be stuck in this car with Mason longer than I can stand to.

Surprisingly, his house is not that far from school and in a few minutes we arrive. The car stops in front of a white painted house with a red roof and a large garden at the front.

"I'll see you tomorrow, man." Max says before getting out of the car, "Bye, Maya."

I wave goodbye to him and clutch even tighter to the backpack pressed against my chest. It's just Mason and I now and I think I can hear my heartbeat through the silence of the car.

Should I say something? Start a conversation?

He looks at me using the rear view mirror but doesn't say anything. I hold my breath, hoping he remains quiet the entire ride. I'm very comfortable with silence and I have nothing to say to him.

Relief washes over me when we enter Main Street. This time he doesn't stop at my house, he gets into his driveway and parks the car.

"I'll walk you over to your house." He says without bothering to look at me.

I quickly get out of the car and walk ahead of him. He doesn't need to walk me to my house but something tells me he won't listen to my protests.

Again, we say nothing to each other and questions start flowing through my mind.

What does he want from me? A couple of days ago he didn't even know me but suddenly he's everywhere I am.

"Uhm, thanks for the ride." I offer him a small smile when we reach my doorstep.

He nods and turns around and walks back to his house. I push down the doorknob and open the door.

***

Mason's POV

I open the front door and enter the house. There's no one home and it's completely silent. I like it this way, it gives me time to think and I need to do a lot of that.

I need to come with a better plan than what I have. Something that will completely ensure Maya's safety and her name staying clear.

I walk up the stairs to my bedroom, hoping I can do my homework. I enter my room and throw my backpack on the floor before sitting down on my bed.

My eyes move to my bedside table and meet the envelope I placed under my lamp last night. I carefully lift the lamp up and take the envelope.

For some reason I hope that I'll find different contents in it this time. That I won't find Maya's face with a threat attached to her life.

The pictures come spilling out the envelope when I open it and any unrealistic hope I had is lost.

You know exactly what will happen.

I do know what will happen; it's happened before. Then, I couldn't do anything about it. I tried but failed and now history may just repeat itself.

I can't let that happen, especially to Maya. For fuck's sake she doesn't know anything about all this mess.

Talk about at the wrong place at the wrong time.

What I do know is that I have to do something. I have to show my face. The note said to stop running and avoiding The Man so that's exactly what I'll do.

I look up and bury my face in my hands. I groan in frustration and get off the bed. Opening my closet, I take out my leather jacket and grab my car keys.

I head out the door, making a decision I hope I'll not live to regret.

Homework can wait.

Okay firstly,  I'm sorry for not updating for the past few days. I had a little problem with the cell service. This chapter is shorter than the others but I hope you enjoyed it❤.