Loving Maya

Home

"You're sure we have everything on the list, right?" I turn to my best friend as I park my car in front of Jesse's garage.

"Yes, otherwise I would not have ticked everything off." Bianca laughs as she gets out of the car.

"I'm just making sure." I open the door and step out of the car.

We've just come from college. Immediately after classes, we went up to our dorm, grabbed our bags and headed here.

Max, Mason and Priya- who was a last minute addition- will be joining us. While I'm not thrilled to be spending time with my mom, I'm so happy that I'll have my friends back home with me.

"Ladies!"

We look up and find Jesse standing in the doorway. He's got a wide grin on his face and a can of beer in his hand.

"Jesse!" Bianca flashes him a smile and makes her way over to him.

"Hi." I reply, following behind her.

He steps out of the way and we walk past him. Inside, we find Christian sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"Chris," Bianca sits next to him, "Are you also going home?"

"Hi." He smiles.

"Hey." Bianca returns the smile.

"I'm going home. I'll be leaving tomorrow. Lucky for me, my mom's just minutes away." He grins.

"Urgh! Don't remind me, we've got hours worth of driving."

"Where's Mason?" I turn to Jesse.

He takes a swig of his beer and I wait as he swallows.

"He's gone to get Priya." A voice responds behind us. I turn around to find my other best friend.

"Max!" He puts his bag down and pulls me in for a hug.

"Hey."

He looks so much better.

"Bee." He nods towards her and smiles.

"Hey." She smiles but quickly looks away. 

I don't understand why she's all shy around him these days. She never acted this way.

"When did Mason leave?" I look down at my naked wrist.

"He left a while ago. He should be here by now."

Max looks towards the door and as if on cue, it swings open and Mason and Priya appear. I immediately smile and so does he when he sees me.

"Hey." He snakes his arm around my waist and kisses me.

"Hey." I reply as he pulls away.

"Hi, Maya." Priya grins excitedly at me.

"Hi." I chuckle.

"Everybody," Mason turns to our friends, "this is Priya."

"It's nice to meet you." Chris replies from the couch.

"I've heard so much about you." Bianca adds with a smile.

"Good things I hope." Priya looks at me and I give her a sheepish smile.

They've mostly been good. Aside from the time when I thought she was dating Mason.

She turns to Max, who has not said a thing. We all do the same and I can't help but notice how tense he suddenly looks.

"H... Hi..." His mouth falls agape. "It's uh... It's nice to... Yeah"

"It's nice to meet you too." She giggles. "Max, right?"