ILLUSION, 004.
REAL LIFE
LATER THAT DAY, MARYAH WALKED in the direction of her math class, the class right before lunch. cara-jay had somehow gotten sick after her date with matt (he insists that it has nothing to do with him since he hasn't gotten sick in years), so she was by herself. suddenly, she felt someone start walking beside her.
"hi!" maryah whipped her head up and was met with the smiling face of kai anand.
"kai! hey, what's up?" maryah grinned at him. kai shrugged.
"nothing much. i just thought you might like some company walking to math." his cheeks turned red as he shut his eyes, as if internally calling himself an idiot.
"i'd love your company, thank you." maryah said. she found it cute how the boy would get awkward trying to flirt with her.
"so, about that one direction karaoke?" kai asked her. "do we want this to be a casual thing where we could invite other friends, or do we want to be, you know, just us two."
"like a date?"
"what! no! not a date. it won't be a date. just a simple outing between two...friends who just happen to be a boy and a girl and who like the same music."
"i don't mind if it's just us." maryah told him. kai smiled at her.
"okay, great! um, i can pick you up? or we could meet there? or..."
"you can pick me up if you want." maryah said, trying not to laugh at his nervousness. "i'll send you my address when we get closer to the day."
"and one last question: um, would you mind giving me your number?" he asked just as they approached the math classroom. maryah nodded.
"oh, of course!" she pulled her phone out of her pocket and turned it on to pull up her contact. in the process, kai caught a glimpse of what she was listening to."
"you listen to sza, too?" he asked. maryah looked at him.
"who doesn't listen to sza?" she asked, giving him the phone.
"what about sza?" brady appeared on the other side of maryah. kai looked up after putting his number in.
"oh, hi." he gave the phone back to maryah. "you're brady, right?" he asked. brady furrowed his eyebrows.
"how do you know i'm not connor?" brady asked him. kai squinted at him, as if inspecting his face.
"are you connor?"
"nah, i'm just messing with you." brady clapped him on the back. kai blinked.
"okay..."
"so, are we ready for math?" brady tried to break the silence. maryah glared at him.
"yeah, we were just about to walk in." she said. she started to go inside the classroom. "i'll text you later, kai."
"you guys are texting?" brady raised an eyebrow at the boy once maryah was inside. kai shook his head.
"um, no, not really. we just started talking, like yesterday. she just gave me her number five minutes ago." he explained, nervously.
"oh, interesting." he said. he looked the boy up and down. "don't break her heart, kai."
"i wasn't planning to..." kai replied, with the slightest edge to his tone. "excuse me." he said before pushing past brady and walking into the math classroom.
MESSAGES
unknown
hii its maryah
kai :)
oh hey!
ryah <3
not you using your phone while sitting in the FRONT
sooo bold
kai :)
you already know
ryah <3
why're you on ur phone anyway
kai :)
bored
this is easy to me
ryah <3
oh yea
i forgot you were smart
kai :)
aren't you the only one with an a in this class
ryah <3
other than you? yeah.
kai :)
ok secret nerd
ryah <3
i'll never admit to being good at math.
kai :)
no shame in the math game
ryah <3
actually there is heavy shame in the math game
kai :)
alright ryah
NEW TEXT!
brady noon
now what are u smiling at ur phone for
OPEN , CLEAR
brady noon
now what are u smiling at ur phone for
ryah samuels
why do u care
brady noon
i dont
im just curious
ryah samuels
i'm texting kai actually
brady noon
oh
what do u seen in that nerd anyway
other than the fact that he's a one directioner
ryah samuels
one direction just happens to be a common interest
he's also smart and nice and funny
brady noon
im smart and nice and funny
ryah samuels
ok?
brady noon
what does he have that i don't?
ryah samuels
he's not my brother's best friend.
NOT SENT!
ryah samuels
he's not a player or an asshole
brady noon
oh please
i haven't dated anyone in two months
and i am NOT an asshole
ryah samuels
okay...
brady noon
whatever ry
you'll come to your senses soon enough
SEEN.
REAL LIFE
MARYAH SHUT OFF HER PHONE so quickly, she almost dropped it on her desk. what did he mean by that? there was no way the brady noon was flirting with her. she had just found someone new and here he was crawling his way back without actually trying to.
maryah glanced over at brady, who was two rows away. since cara-jay's seat right next to her was empty, maryah had a clear view of brady. his expression was once again unreadable, but he was staring at the back of kai's head, twirling his pencil around his fingers. at some point, he turned away from kai and looked at maryah, raising his eyebrows when he caught her already looking at him. maryah quickly looked down at her desk, cursing herself.
once the class was over, maryah rushed out of the classroom, sending a quick text to kai that she had to run to the cafeteria to beat the lunch line. that wasn't entirely false: she did have to buy lunch today. but she really wanted to get out of that classroom, away from brady noon.
"where are you rushing off to?" jessica asked, stopping her. "we walk to lunch together, remember?"
"sorry, jess." maryah muttered. "i was trying to escape brady."
"wait, what?"
"c'mon, i'll explain on the way." maryah took jessica by the arm and led her to the cafeteria, where they hid in the long lunch line. maryah took this time to explain the events prior to math class.
"so...brady was basically saying that he was better than kai." jessica confirmed. maryah nodded.
"yes. and he looked, like, low-key jealous."
"and you think he was flirting with you?"
"jess, i know he was flirting with me." maryah insisted. "i've known brady for years. i see how he talks to girls. his main way to get a girl to like him is to flirt with her. and he doesn't talk to girls unless he's attracted to them. remember, just two days ago he asked me if i was single."
"it seems like he wants you even more now that you're talking to kai." jessica pointed out.
"the thing is," maryah started. "i genuinely like kai. he just matches my energy so well and he's educated and he's funny and..."
"okay, i get it." jessica looked at her, amused. "you're probably excited for your one direction karaoke date, then?"
"it's not a date." maryah rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile. she sighed, contently.
"your smile seems to say otherwise." jessica replied. "but whatever you say..."
it's not a date. maryah thought. her mind flashed back to what kai said just before their math class.
just a simple outing between two...friends.
maha speaks :)
me when kai💗💕💓💞
me when brady 👎👎👎👎