Loving Maya

Drinks and Unwanted Images

"What am I doing here?" I groan, staring out the window.

"You're here to have fun." Peyton chirps from the driver's seat.

I roll my eyes and shake my head. Bianca gives me a sympathetic smile.

Peyton is her roommate and the four of us are very close. These two, who are more social than Bianca and I, have helped us navigate college life.

"This place is packed." Zoe remarks as Peyton parks next to another car.

"It looks empty to me." I reply, looking at the house we're in front of.

"It's not this house, silly." Peyton laughs. "It's that one over there."

She points to one of the houses at the end of the street. We begin to follow the line of parked cars.

"I regret wearing these shoes." I look down at the turquoise wedges.

"Why? They're so goregous." Peyton says.

"Yeah and I know you'll be sitting down most of the night so, hey." Zoe shrugs.

I haven't been to a party in years and the only ones I went to were at Lucy's. I don't even think another party was thrown there after the police had to close it down for months.

We get to the house and I immediately regret my decision. The lawn is filled with loitering students. They're all either holding a drink or making out.

"Is it too late to go back home?" I ask.

"Maya, you won't regret this." Zoe grabs my hand.

"I already am." I mumble.

We walk into the house and it's not as packed as I expected it to be.

A quick look at the glass doors leading to the backyard and I notice that most of the people are outside.

"Maxie!" Peyton exclaims and I shoot my head in her direction.

"Hey, girls." Max appears, a large smile on his face and a red cup in his hand.

His eyes flick to me for a second and I smile.

"Please get us a drink."  Zoe says.

"Sure." Max nods and turns to look at me. "Hey."

"Hey." I smile.

He turns around and enters a room, presumably the kitchen.

"So they're still acting like middleschool kids with a cute crush?" Peyton asks Zoe.

"We need to push these two."

"We need a plan." Peyton replies.

"Hey, I'm right here." I say and they laugh.

Zoe starts dancing to the beat of the unfamiliar song and Bianca joins her.

"Let's go get the drinks." Peyton says, already pulling me towards the kitchen.

We find Max pouring some liquid into the plastic cups. He hands two of them to Peyton, who thanks him before grabbing the third cup before swiftly rushing out of the room.

I'm going to get her.

"Here." Max hands me a cup and I frown. "It's soda."

I smile and nod. My eyes move to the four other people present in the room as I bring the cup to my lips.

"You look beautiful."

I swallow before looking up at him. "Thank you."

I smile shyly and push locks of my hair behind my ear.