A Kiss for Maya

Mission In Motion

"I forgot to tell you," I say to Lilly, placing the book I'm reading on my lap. We're five minutes away from school. "Max asked me to help him out with his English."

"Max...Max..." she taps her fingertips on the steering wheel, trying to recall who Max is. "Oh yeah! Your English partner, right?"

"Yeah, Mason gave me a call yesterday and asked me."

She takes a fast turn, almost knocking over a trash bin. She immediately recovers the steering wheel and continues driving.

"What?!" She exclaims, turning to give me a sharp glare before focusing on the road again.

"Why are you trying to kill us?" I'm trying to calm down my racing heart, one hand holding on to the seat and the other to the door.

"Why would you tell me something that big now?" Her eyes are widened and she looks like she could jump out of the car right now.

I roll my eyes and settle back in the seat, reminding myself to be alert. Lilly may be a good driver but she's also crazy.

"It's nothing big, I told you, he just wanted to ask if I could help Max with  English."

"I love how you say that so casually," Lilly laughs, "If the hottest guy in school had called me I'd be on cloud nine by now."

"Well, Mason's a jerk. I don't care whether he calls me or not. And Lilly, he called me to ask about Max!" I shout out the last part.

"A. I'm sure he's not a jerk, he probably just didn't...he didn't... he didn't see you. B. Why couldn't Max call you himself? I mean, he has your number so why give it to Mason and not call you himself?" There's now a stupid grin on her face.

I roll my eyes again before replying, "He's a jerk. Unless I was wearing my invisibility cloak, he saw me. About Max, I don't know why he didn't call me. He probably has his reasons."

Lilly snorts and looks at me as if to say 'be serious'. She's crazy; there's no ulterior motive behind Mason's call because what could he possibly want from me? I've nothing to offer the guy. I'm actually used to popular guys, they speak to me once and forget me the next day.

"Well I still don't think that call was just about Max."

"Lilly that doesn't even make sense. What could he possibly want from me?" I bury my face in my hand and shake my head.

"I don't know why you don't think someone like him could like you or want to be your friend. Nutty, you're smart, funny, beautiful and gosh you've got such a big heart. Anyone who's your friend is very lucky." A small smile appears on her face. "Besides, doesn't it usually happen in your books, the cool guy and the nerdy girl?"

The smile that had formed on my face disappears and I roll my eyes.

"Well my life is not a book, Lillian."

"I know, I know." She enters the school parking lot. "Just remember, Lilly knows best."

She sings the last part and we both laugh as I remove my seat belt and exit the car. We wave goodbye and she drives off, turning on her stereo and an Ed Sheeran song immediately starts playing.

***

Mason's POV

Max, Nathan, Justin and I are walking towards English class. Justin and Nathan are walking in front of us and I've pulled Max back to talk to him.

"So you really think your stupid plan's going to work?"

"Well, I hope it does."

"You know it's stupid right?" He actually looks serious.

I roll my eyes and say, "Yeah, you've already mentioned that."

"I'm serious. Maya's different, she won't be easy to get close to. When we were working together it took me a while to just get her to have a conversation with me. She can be very cold, add that to her shyness and we've got a tough nut to crack." Max explains.

"I don't think she'll be that difficult."

He chuckles and shakes his head, "Well, you sure as hell have a surprise in store for you."

We stop by the door and my eyes rest on Maya. Her two friends are sitting on the desks next to her, the one Nathan likes, occupying Max's usual seat. They're laughing at something one of them said and Maya's brown eyes light up and small crinkles form around her eyelids.

She doesn't look like a cold person. She seems sweet actually but then again, I wouldn't look at her now and think she's crazy enough to try and break up a fight between two strangers.

Speaking of the fight, I remember the blue bruise that has formed under my eyelid. Two days ago it wasn't that bad but today it seems more visible.

"I'm telling you man, you won't be able to get through to her." Max puts his hand on my shoulder, he's also looking at Maya.

I shrug off his hand and give him a smirk.

"Have you met me?" I ask with a confident smile. "Oh, and she's now your English tutor."

He wrinkles his forehead in confusion but I don't bother to explain. I walk into the class.

Mission in motion.

When Maya's friends see us, they say goodbye to her and move to their desks at the front of the class.

She looks up and meets my eyes and immediately looks down. A smile appears on my face, she really is shy.

That should make things a bit easier, shouldn't it?

Max takes his seat next to her and I sit behind her. I've noticed that the chair is usually empty so I can just sit here.

Max greets her and she replies with a smile so I decide to try my luck.

"Hey," I lean in closer to her ear and the word comes out as a whisper.

She tenses up and doesn't say anything. I lean back in my chair and she slowly turns around to look at me. Her eyes are widened and there's a hint of panic in them.

I'm expecting her to respond, to say something but instead she turns around and looks at the front. Her shoulders rise and fall as she takes a deep breath then releases it and completely disregards my politeness.

Maybe this really won't be as easy as I thought.

I take out my books and the lesson begins with Mrs. Miracle reading us a page from a novel. It's about unrequited love and I push away all my thoughts to the back of my head and try to pay attention.

"This is boring." Max whispers to Maya fifteen minutes into the lesson.

"No, it's not." She giggles.

"I should've just skipped class." He shakes his head.

Maya gives him a disapproving look and he chuckles and shakes his head again.

"I'm kidding," he smiles at her," nerd."

Maya rolls her eyes and laughs at the last part. I decide to work my charm once more, since she looks more at ease.

"Well, I love English. Aren't words the-"

"Do you have anything to add, Mr. Wilder?" Mrs. Miracle's question cuts me off.

You've got to be kidding me!

I sit back on my chair and shake my head, putting on a smirk to try and throw off the spectators. Mrs. Miracle shakes her head at me as I try to play it cool and continues the lesson.

Okay, is the universe trying to delay my plan?

Allow me to just take this moment to thank you all☺. The fact that people actually read AKFM and like it means a lot to me. I hope I deliver with every chapter and that you enjoy reading the book as much as I enjoy writing it❤.