midnight rain | leighton murray

one | everything has changed

2021
Freshman Year | Semester One

If someone asked Maya King what the worst part was about moving into her freshman-year dorm room, she'd reply that it was dealing with her divorced parents. It seemed that anything and Maya did mean anything, sparked an argument between the two adults.

Maya had chosen to decorate her dorm room a cool navy blue.

Her mother didn't like that and somehow it was her father's fault.

Maya had decided that she wanted a bookshelf in her room.

Her father found a way to blame her mother for that.

Maya honestly could have moved into her dorm all on her own, but her parents insisted that they'd set aside their differences and help their daughter move in. Maya knew that neither of her parents had wanted her to attend Essex. In fact, her final two choices had been between Yale and Princeton. But in a shocking turn of events. Maya had chosen Essex.

The reasoning had been simple. When Maya had practiced with the team, she'd instantly felt that she'd belonged and had even managed to befriend one of the other recruits, Whitney Chase. Maya had instantly felt at home at Essex and so she'd chosen the prestigious school because she felt it was the best fit for her.

It was a decision that upset her parents who thought nothing of status. Essex was almost an Ivy, but at the end of the day, it wasn't. And so, moving in was tense because Maya's parents were upset with each other and her.

"I was thinking we could all go to dinner," Maya's mother, a trust fund baby named Montes, suggested. Montes King had never worked a day in her life. She was old money.

"That sounds fun," Maya says as she slides the pillowcases onto her pillows. She looks over at her father, "Dad?"

Hugh Mansfield was a self-made man. He'd created a startup with some friends when he was sixteen and it quickly became a Fortune 500 company. He'd met Montes when they were both vacationing in Dubai. They'd had a whirlwind romance and married only four months later.

Maya always thought her parents were happy together. They had date nights, surprised each other with gifts and most importantly they loved her. But Maya learned that sometimes love wasn't enough. There were other things that pushed them apart, like Maya's grandfather. He never really approved of Hugh, and he always felt like he wasn't good enough, no matter how much her mother told him that he was.

They eventually split up because of those reasons and a young Maya had to split her time between the east coast and the west coast. Her mother had uprooted them from their New York house and moved them to California. Maya spent her summers in New York with her dad.

"I would love to," Hugh says as he looks up from his phone, "But I have to catch my flight to Dallas. You know I have that conference."

"Oh yeah," Maya says nodding her head, "The one for young tech geeks."

Hugh narrows his eyes at her, "They're not tech geeks they're tech nerds."

Maya laughs, "I'm sorry, I'll get my nerd terminology right."

"Hugh," Montes says, "We agreed that we would be there for when Maya moved in."

"I am here," Hugh says, "I even helped put together a bookshelf."

"Yes, but you're rushing out of here before Maya gets settled," her mother says, and Maya sighs. She could not handle another one of her parents' arguments.

"Mom, it's fine. Dad told me about the conference and I'm settled. My clothes are in my closet. My decorations are up. My teammate is down the hall. I'm fine. Besides, there are going to be hella parties tonight-"