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10 - Others

unedited chapter. my sincerest apologies. but it's four in the morning.

dedicated to noora cause she's awesome <3

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10 - Others

Luke Waters

To say that things were awkward between Maya and me would be a gross understatement. 

We sat on the roof till midnight, sharing the Heineken she had stolen and that Sam had brought from sources unknown, and as a result I was pretty drunk by the time Sam finally decided to stumble back to our suite and crash for the night. My mind was still spinning from what happened – what could have happened – random words in Maya’s voice were floating in my head, and we got up to go I wanted to grab her and spin her around and finish what I’d started, but I kept telling myself you’re drunk, you’re drunk, you’re not thinking straight.

 So I just watched as she got up unsteadily and fumbled with her sari, fixing it on her shoulder and dusting it off. She bent down and slipped off her heels – smart girl.

You’re drunk, I reminded myself.

 But this didn’t seem like something I would regret. It was something I’d gladly do every day, every minute.

 Something changed in that moment when she had turned, when she rested her chin on my shoulder a little bit and looked up at me, her eyes bottomless and milky brown. Something changed when we’d been staring at each other, quiet, not daring to breath. Her hair was wild and splayed about her face, her lips parted and moist, vividly red.

 She was Maya still – but not quite. There was a sort of energy about her that I hadn’t seen before or maybe I just didn’t notice it. Maybe it was because I had bared everything to her – she knew my doubts, my insecurities, and her words, despite their honesty, had pierced right into me. I had never talked to anyone like that before – and with her I wanted to tell her. And I found that I could look into her as well – I was finally able to see the breathless, chaotic energy that was Maya. And I’d never really used the word beautiful to describe anything before – but in that moment she was. She’d always been, but like I said, something changed, and I just realized.

I couldn’t see her when Sam sat down between us, and when she spoke her voice was different and hoarse, her words slurred because of the alcohol. And I found myself feeling a little lost, because the look on her face when I pulled away was…shocked. Like she couldn’t quite believe what we’d been about to do, like she didn’t want it to happen again.

I don’t know where to go from here.

Halfway through to our suite, Sam couldn’t walk straight. Maya and I supported him on our shoulders, helping him the rest of the way and once inside, he collapsed onto his bed, snoring.

 I straightened up, and I made the mistake of looking at Maya.

 She was looking straight back at me, her face blank. She swallowed and then she stepped away from the bed abruptly.

 “I should….uh, I should go to bed.”

 My head was throbbing dully, and I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to say no, you shouldn’t go to bed, you should stay with me and talk to me, and maybe I could even kiss you and tell you how nice you look today because I don’t think I have, but I didn’t, because I hadn’t forgotten that look on her face.