Method Acting || Joe Keery

N I N E

Maya puts the tins into the oven. When she turns around I notice some flour on her nose, and I reach my hand out and clean it off.

"Thank you," Maya says with a smile.

After a few seconds she speaks again.

"Where did you two disappear to?" Maya asks me.

I bite my lip and gesture to my living room.

"Why don't we go sit down while we wait for the brownies to bake?" I ask her.

Maya walks over to the couch and sits down. As soon as I sit down next to her, she knocks my knees with hers.

"So where did you go?" She asks me.

"To a playground and the beach," I say finally.

"He took you to a playground?" Maya says laughing.

I laugh too, shaking my head.

"I don't know why. I totally got higher than him on the swings though," I say proudly.

"And the beach? Did you go swimming?" Maya asks.

"No we just went for a walk and talked and stuff," I say.

Maya looks at me with her eyebrows raised.

"What?" I ask her.

"Kind of sounds like a date," Maya says.

I run my hand through my hair, shaking my head. A date?

"No we were just hanging out as friends! He has a girlfriend remember?" I tell her, but she's unconvinced.

"Did you hold hands?" She asks.

"No of course not, we're keeping our distance physically at the moment anyways, remember?" I say to her.

"So there was nothing romantic whatsoever about your little walk along the beach?" Maya interrogates.

My eyes drift over to the shell that Joe gave me sitting on the coffee table. Maya notices and picks it up.

"What... is this?" Maya asks, suspicious.

I press my lips together, trying to think of a way to explain it without it sounding romantic. Maya cocks her head to the side.

"He found it when we were walking and wanted me to keep it..." I explain quietly.

"He gave you a present! Not just a present, but a keepsake!" Maya shouts, her eyes wide and her mouth wide open in disbelief.

"Charlee, come on," Maya presses.

I sigh, taking the shell from Mayas hands and rub my thumb over it.

"Okay," I say finally.

"We had a moment," I tell her.

Maya sticks her tongue into her cheek and shakes her head, smirking.

"I knew it! Did you kiss?" She asks me.

I open my mouth to speak, but all that comes out is a small squeak and I close my mouth again.

"You did!" Maya shouts, a big smile across her face.

"We didn't!" I correct her.

"But, I think we came close," I say, resting my head back against the couch and closing my eyes.

Maya pokes me in the ribs, trying to get me to open my eyes.

"What happened?" She asks me.

I explain to her what happened when the door got stuck, him leaning over me, my loss of breath, him looking at me and my quick escape. Even the look on his face as I left the car and drove away.

"I couldn't tell if he was shocked that we nearly kissed, or that we didn't," I tell Maya.

"Oh my god!" Maya screams.

I shake my head.

"Calm down, nothing actually happened. He hasn't even texted me since then, and it happened a few days ago," I tell her.

"What are you going to do?" Maya asks me.

"I don't know, maybe keep living in denial and waiting out these feelings," I say to her.

Maya nods slowly, but she doesn't look convinced. The timer for the brownies goes off with a ring, making Maya and I jump. I follow her into the kitchen and we take them out and put them on cooling racks.

"I hate waiting for them to cool down," Maya pouts.

"Me too. I have ice cream? We could eat them hot with that," I suggest.

Maya nods enthusiastically, and I get the ice cream out and start preparing our bowls.

"You have a scene together tomorrow," Maya says, spooning brownie and ice cream into her mouth.

"Maybe you should talk to him about it," Maya says.

"I don't know..." I say, thinking it over.

"It's just... Ugh. Frustrating watching you two sometimes," Maya tells me.

I cock my head to the side.

"What do you mean? This all only just started," I say to her.

Maya licks ice cream off of her lips as she thinks before shaking her head.

"I don't know... Just feels longer," She says finally.

"Maybe I should talk to him... Just to make sure we're all cool, before our scene," I say, thinking it over.

This seems to satisfy Maya as she places our dishes in the dishwasher for me with a smile. She links her arm with mine and pulls me to the lounge room

As we sit in the couch, I pick up my tv remote.

"Movie?" I ask.

"Yeah, what do you want to watch?" Maya asks me.

"I was thinking The Breakfast club, since it's our characters favourite movie and it's been so long since I've seen it," I tell her.

Maya rests her head on my shoulder and snuggles into me.

"Okay, put it on," She says happily.

I put the movie on and wrap my arms around Maya.

"I'm glad you're my fake girlfriend," I say.

She laughs, the sound vibrating against my chest.

"Me too," She says finally.