The Dawn of Autumn

She's Got a Way About Her (II)

Chapter 23 (cont):

She's Got a Way About Her

Emily was in a contemplative mood the entire trip. She didn't listen to the radio. She needed the silence to think about things. She zoned out the entire way. She couldn't stop thinking about her past and how it had collided with her future.

She was so spacey that she nearly missed the exit. She'd been in the car for two hours. It felt like two minutes.

It didn't really hit her until she was pulling into Maya's driveway that she had no idea what she was going to say. She was in uncharted territory.

She had all kinds of strange thoughts running through her mind. All she could picture was the last time she'd ever seen her. It had been two days after they were drugged at the party.

They had been at Emily's house, lying on her bed doing homework. Things had been a little tense since the night of the party. Emily still hadn't dealt with what happened. And Maya was acting like it wasn't a big deal.

Emily was still insanely pissed at the guys who had drugged them. Part of her felt like driving a car through the detention center where they were being held. Maya had talked her down from her anger.

She'd pulled out a playlist and they'd sprawled out on Emily's bed side by side. They'd been on their stomachs facing the door. Maya was sharing her earphones. Emily nodded along to the beat. Maya had great taste in music. She always found the best songs to help relax the mood.

They'd been sharing their math book and going through their homework assignment, giggling at a photo that Maya had doodled in the corner of the book of two snakes on an axis plane. Her brother had been obsessed with the movie Snakes on a Plane, and the lesson they were learning was about the axis plane.

Emily felt Maya's bare feet twisting against her ankles and they turned to face one another, both of them smiling. Her mother was out working in the yard and her father was at work, so she was appreciating the alone time she had with Maya.

She didn't know how she'd been lucky enough to land someone beautiful, smart, funny, and musically talented. She loved everything about her. Her dark brown eyes were accentuated by beautiful thick eyelashes and perfectly shaped brows. Her face was smooth and soft without a blemish in sight. Her thick natural curls shaped her face perfectly. She always had one coil that was astray, like a daredevil that would never conform to society.

Emily took few minutes to admire her. Maya realized it after she noticed that Emily hadn't talked for almost three minutes. She saw Emily staring.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" 

"Yeah. My lips." Emily had grinned.

The kiss had been short and sweet, because they didn't want to get caught. Maya always looked so bashful after they kissed. For some reason, Maya had shied away. It was unlike her.

"Everything okay?" Emily had questioned.

"I don't want to get distracted from our homework." She'd touched the edge of the book and then looked up at Emily, a sultry look on her face. "Because if you distract me anymore...I won't be able to control myself. And if your mom catches us..."

"I'm sorry. I wish I could come out."

"It's okay. I get it." She'd paused and thought about it. "Well, no, I guess I don't. My parents are fine with me being bi." Her dad was actually bi. "It's still hard though...not being able to hold your hand in public."