Watching Paige argue with Maia was like watching cats and dogs fight.
When Paige was around, Maia turned even more mischievous and malevolence. It made you wonder whether or not she really was the devil’s spawn. Somehow, I managed to find this situation funny, especially when either one refused to back down.
“One Direction is the best band in the world. You’re just deaf,” Maia stated, crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly.
Paige looked at her with equal persistence. “If I were deaf, I wouldn’t be listening to your annoying voice right now. In fact, I wish I were deaf right about now.”
“You know who has annoying voices? Maroon 5.”
“Oh, girl, you do not know music. Maroon 5 is obviously better than those pretty boys.”
“Their handsome boys, but you wouldn’t know because you have bad choices in everything!”
“You’re annoying, your opinions are annoying, and your music is annoying. Turn that sh – indig down because we’re trying to focus on our project,” Paige bluntly yelled over the blasting of “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction.
“You’re in my house so you should respect me,” Maia replied, stabbing her chest with her index finger.
“One, this is your parents house. Two, respect is a two way street so tell me why I should respect you when you don’t respect me? You have no ounce of respect in that tiny little body of yours.” When Maia threw a throw pillow at Paige’s face, Paige’s anger only grew more. “Oh diablos no! Did you just throw that at me?”
“Duh,” Maia emphasized, sounding as if she were talking to an airhead.
“You know what? One more time you throw a pillow at my face, step all over my white Chucks, and say that my eyes are too big for my face, I will personally come to your room at night when you’re asleep and set all your One Direction posters on fire or I will pull those curls of yours until your horns – “
“Paige!” I shrieked, looking up from my project paper.
Paige looked guilty, pointing a finger at Maia childishly. “But she made me do it!”
“Nuh uh,” Maia added, also pointing her finger at Paige. “She’s the one being extra mean.”
“It’s your fault I’m being mean!”
“No! It’s yours.”
“Your fault!”
“Nuh uh.”
“Yes.”
“Nuh uh.”
“Yes!”
“Nuh uh!”
“Ye – “
“Okay, enough!” I interjected, setting my pen and paper down on the coffee table. “Stop being rude, Maia, and stop being childish, Paige.”
“But – “ Paige started with wide, bewildered eyes.
“Enough,” I warned with finality.
Paige exhaled with frustration, throwing her hands in the air emphatically. She threw her own pen across the coffee table while her papers flew in a pile in front of her.
“This is the worst Friday in the history of Fridays. First, I have to deal with an annoying spoiled brat who has an ego the size of Texas,” Paige vented. Ignoring Maia’s question about the meaning of the word “ego” and her complaint, Paige went on. “Next, those two imbeciles didn’t show up to work on our project. They’re loco if they think we’re going to work our butts off so they could get a grade.”
“My brother isn’t an imbecile!” Maia snapped, tilting her chin up.
“Do you even know what an imbecile is?”
“Yes,” Maia frowned slightly, crossing her arms over her chest. “It sounds like a reptile. My brother isn’t a reptile.”
Paige’s laughter was cut short by the hard pinch I gave to her arm. She yelped in pain and rubbed the spot on her arm that I pinched. “Evan was right. You are abusive.”
“Whatever,” I huffed, rolling my eyes. “I just want to get this project done and over with.”
The reason I wanted to finish the project so eagerly was clear and obvious. I didn’t want to deal with Noah. It was easier the way it was. Although I did work in his home, he managed to ignore me as much as possible. It was almost as if I didn’t exist or I was invisible in his eyes.
Usually, those ignored would be flustered and angry at the fact that they were a nobody to somebody. However, I was thankful. It was easier to be around a quiet Noah than it was to be around a talking Noah who was cynical towards anything social.
“You do know they’re playing pool at The Pit, right?” Maia asked, inspecting the purple manicure I gave her earlier. “Noah told me he’s going to be home late. Sucks for you two.”
Paige looked at her in disbelief, her eyebrows drawn together in irritation. “And you only told us this now after we’ve waited for them for over an hour?”
“You didn’t ask,” Maia responded with a shrug of her tiny shoulders. Twitching at the corner of her lips was an amused smiled. “They always go to The Pit on Friday nights.”
“I guess that means one thing. We go crash their little rendezvous and haul their asses back here because I’m not about to do all the dirty work for that egoistical son of a bi – female dog.”
“Ooh!” Maia pointed her finger accusingly at Paige. “She said a bad word!”
“Whatever.” Paige rolled her eyes. She got up from the floor, grabbing her purse from the couch. She then looked at me with her eyebrows knitted together again. “Well, are you coming?”
▼▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼
The Pit was Beaufort’s local restaurant and recreation center. Specializing in home styled burgers, fresh lemonade, to-die-for meatloaf, and warm baked cookies, The Pit was also a legendary hang out spot for teenagers after school and during the weekends.
Beaufort was a small town – big enough that a few of the population were strangers, but small enough that there wasn’t much to do. When the mall got boring, teens would head over to The Pit to play darts, Pool, Foosball, Air Hockey, or simply to socialize with each other over cookies.
“Maia!” I cried when she hopped out of the car right when it pulled into the parking space. I rushed outside, ignoring the freezing air that bit at my skin, and grabbed her tiny hand. I pulled her pink beanie over her head. “Don’t walk away from me. You can’t get lost.”
Maia rolled her big brown eyes, her exhale visible in the cold air. “Don’t be such a wuss. I’m old enough.”
Gripping the end of my scarf in irritation while she stomped off, I quickly followed behind her. I swear, the Callaway’s’ knew the exact buttons to push when it came to pissing me off. Noah and Maia were more alike than any siblings I was aware of. They both had the same freaking attitude and they both annoyed me simultaneously – it was as if they planned this all along.
“When I see that egoistical Campbell, I will shred his designer t-shirts into pieces,” Paige announced, walking fiercely beside me with fists at her sides.
“So you could see his amazing abs?” Maia teased with a giggle.
When Paige shot her a look, I simply smirked. “Well, she does have a point.”
Paige groaned, shaking her head. “No, so I could have the satisfaction of watching him cry over a forty-dollar plain t-shirt.”
“And seeing his glorious abs,” I sang and laughed when Paige opened the glass doors of The Pit with anger.
“I’m beginning to believe that the more time you spend with that chunk of evil,” Paige said. She pointed at Maia who retorted with a poke of her tongue.”The more evil you get.”
I sighed in relief as the warm air of The Pit hugged my body. Simultaneously, Paige and I inhaled deeply like we always did. The smell of fresh baked cookies caused my mouth to water and a small smile to grace my face.
The Pit had a comforting ambiance. There was wood everywhere – wooden columns, steps, tables, booths, etc. The place was dimly lit by low hanging light fixtures. Leather clad booths and wooden tables were set in the middle, the game area was placed to the left, and a bar was situated at the far right of the huge place.
“I want cookies,” I frowned, glancing at Paige.
“Me too, but remember why we came!” Her face was focused as she studied the game area with knitted eyebrows. “Stay focused.”
“I want chocolate milk,” Maia whined, tugging at the end of my sweater. She looked up at me with pleading eyes and small pout on her lips.
“They don’t have chocolate milk,” I told her, cringing when her face scrunched up in anger.
Here we go again.
“What kind of place sells cookies but no chocolate milk?” Maia cried, stomping her foot.
“Right?” Paige added. “They really need to get chocolate milk on the menu.”
“Maybe we should start a protest.”
“Over chocolate milk? Don’t you think that’s too extreme?”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“I heard they’re going to add it to the menu pretty soon though.”
“Yay!”
With widened eyes, I looked at the two conversing about chocolate milk. Were they actually agreeing on something? This was the first time they were a having a civil conversation with no argument or attitude. I felt like my eyes and ears were deceiving me.
“There they are,” Paige seethed with her nostrils flared in anger. She began to stomp her way to the two boys hovered over a pool table. Maia and I followed after.
“Hey,” Callum said gleefully when his eyes landed on Paige. His smirk widened when Paige pulled the pool stick out of his hands. “Feisty. I love it.”
“Shut up, Campbell. You make me want to whack you with this stick,” Paige growled at him.
“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” Callum winked, stepping closer to Paige.
Paige stood her ground. By the way Callum’s eyes widened a fraction, he was surprised by her obstinacy.
“We were supposed to work on our fucking project, you – “
My attention from the two partners was broken when I heard pool balls hitting each other. Noah was hovered over the pool table with his hands skillfully placed around the maroon pool stick. I tried to ignore the way the muscles in his arms bulged under his gray baseball shirt as he hit the white ball around the pool table.
Okay, surely I shouldn’t be checking out Noah Callaway out of all people. However, it was somewhat hard to keep my eyes to myself especially because I was a female and Noah was one of the few males who would look good with a paper bag over his head.
“Oh no, no, no,” I interrupted before he could hit another ball into the socket. Noah didn’t glance up at me. Instead, he chose to ignore me. I huffed. “You’re a jerk, Noah Callaway.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” He responded impassively.
I rolled my eyes at him. I tried desperately to maintain my patience, but it was thinning out the more Noah was playing his stupid pool game and making me feel like I’m nothing but dirt on the bottom of his shoe. All in all, I’ve had enough with his attitude. Grabbing a five dollar bill out of my pocket, I handed it to Maia so she could play with the children’s game machines pushed against the wall.
“Can you listen to me for a sec?” I asked with the little ounce of patience I had left.
“Can you leave me alone for forever?” Noah asked sarcastically while he put a striped ball into a socket.
He moved around the pool table to where the white ball was. Before he could situate himself into position, I placed myself in between him and the pool table to have his full attention.
This was a really bad idea.
My back was pressed against the edge of the pool table. Noah’s chest was two inches away from my face. We were so close that I could smell his cologne and I could feel the heat radiate from his body. My cheeks flushed in embarrassment as I looked up at Noah who simply stared at me with his cold blue eyes.
“Move,” he grunted after a few seconds and stepped back.
I almost squeaked and scuttled away in fear, but I remembered I needed to focus. I tilted my chin up and cleared my throat. “No.”
Noah’s eyebrows hitched upwards in surprise. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at me. “You need to leave. Maia’s bedtime is soon,” He simply said, nodding his head towards his little sister.
“Nope. I’m not leaving. Not until you pull your weight for this project because I refuse to do everything for somebody like you.”
“Somebody like me?” Noah repeated emphatically. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Oh c’mon, Noah, you’re an a-hole,” I bluntly threw in his face.
“I thought we worked this out already. I do my paper, you do yours, we exchange it. We don’t have to work with each other.”
“Why are you so afraid to work with me?” I snapped, gripping my scarf in my hands.
Noah looked down at my hands. “I’m not afraid. You’re just annoying.”
I looked up at him with my eyebrows hitched upwards. “I’m annoying? Oh no. You must be high on drugs if you think I’m the annoying one. You’re annoying, Noah Callaway. You’re rude, insensitive, tactless, vulgar, mea – “
“Noah, dude,” Callum interrupted, cupping Noah’s shoulder with his hand. Callum was wheezing with laughter. Behind him, Paige rolled her eyes. “Paige said the funniest thing to me a second ago.”
“What?” Noah grumbled.
“Get this. She wants to make a bet. The bet is if she and Emma got majority of the people in here to dance, we have to go with them and help with our project. If they fail, they do the whole project by themselves and they have to buy us two dozen cookies.”
I frowned slightly at Paige’s sudden decision without my concern, but I was bothered more by the doubt that Callum had in the both of us. “How is that funny?” I asked.
The corners of Noah’s lips twitched amusement as he glanced at me. Callum, however, burst into laughter. “I doubt that you two can achieve that especially in a full house like tonight. C’mon, you guys are social pariahs at school. No offense, Emma, but you’re an introvert. Don’t get me wrong. It’s kind of hot that your one of the hottest girls at school but you’re mysterious and shy at the same time. I just don’t think you have the guts to go up on stage like Paige said and sing.”
I was momentarily shocked by how blunt Callum Campbell was being. My eyebrows hitched upwards as my lips turned downwards in a deeper frown. Somehow, their doubt in me was fuel to the fire. They needed to know a few things about me: I hated people who doubted my abilities.
And although I’m not usually arrogant and I hated to brag, I sang pretty good.
I walked slowly in front of Callum who was still chuckling. Stabbing my finger into his chest and pointing at Noah, I smirked. “Prepare for a whole night of project work, boys.”
“The only thing we’re preparing for is a full belly,” Callum retorted.
I hooked my arm around Paige’s own as we left the two boys and Maia behind us. “Paige,” I hissed, slightly pinching her arm. “What the hell?”
“Sorry, Ems, I had to do something quick. We’re wasting time arguing with them. I wasn’t about to give those kind of boys good grades when they didn’t do anything to deserve it. I knew the only way to get them to do so was a bet. Boys like a challenge.”
“Fine,” I sighed with a small smile. “You owe me for this.”
“The song?” Paige suggested with excitement, gripping my arm.
“The song!” I responded, squealing along with her and laughing afterwards.
We made our way to the music controller – a burly man with a scruffy beard – and discussed our song choice with him. He pointed towards the stage with a meaty finger and said, “Well, the stage is all yours.”
When I was about six years old, my parents made me take piano lessons and singing lessons when they realized I picked up the talent gene from my father’s side of the family. That’s where I met Paige. She was my classmate, my singing partner, and my best friend since then.
As we made our way up the stage, I felt the familiar nervousness that always came when I was about to perform. My hands were clammy, my fingers shook, my heart beat rapidly, but a smile was placed on my lips at the excitement of it all as I stood in front of a microphone stand and the small spotlight blinded my vision.
Paige and I haven’t performed together in two years. I glanced at her as she smooth her hands down the microphone stand. She nodded at me one before turning to everyone in The Pit who stopped what they were doing to look at us.
Tonight, majority of the crowd was students I recognized from East Carteret High. The other half were families enjoying dinner and old couples who came for Friday Night Senior Specialties. Noah and Callum looked at us with clear amusement as Maia stared with bewilderment.
“Hi everyone,” Paige said into the microphone. “I’m Paige and this is my best friend in the whole entire world, Emma. Tonight, we’d like to sing a song for you guys.”
“Please feel free to dance,” I added, feeling my nervousness being driven away. There was something about being on stage and the thought of singing that comforted me. “This is for all the sweethearts and couples out there who don’t really have the chance to share a dance with each other.”
“Yes and this is also for Callum Campbell and Noah Callaway who made a bet with us, saying we can’t get the majority of you guys to dance,” Paige said lightly, giggling when the crowd laughed.
“So grab a partner and I hope you guys enjoy the show. We’ll be singing a softer version of ‘Tattooed Heart’ by Ariana Grande,” I finished our introduction.
When the applause of the crowd died down, the familiar melody of the song flowed through the speakers around The Pit. I smiled when two teenage couples and an old couple stood up and made their way to the dance floor.
“You don’t need a lot of money
Honey, you don’t have to play no games
Na-ah, All I need is all your loving
To get the blood rushing through my veins,” I sang smoothly, swinging my hips to the slow beat of the music and smiling when more couples and children too filled half of the dance floor.
“I want to say we’re going steady
Like it’s 1954
Na-ah, It doesn’t have to be forever
Just as long as I’m the name on your tattooed heart
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Ha, ha, ha heart,” Paige sang perfectly. By now, most of the dance floor was filled with couples.
“You don’t need to worry about making me crazy
‘Cause I’m way past that
And so just call me if you want me
‘Cause you got me and I’ll show you how much I want to be on your tattooed heart
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Just as long as I’m the name on your tattooed heart,” I sang, hitting the pitches correctly.
“Wrap me in your jacket, my baby
And lay me in your bed
And kiss me underneath the moonlight,” Paige vocalized.
“Darling let me trace the lines on your tattooed heart
Oh, oh, oh, oh (tattooed heart, tattooed heart)
Oh, oh, oh, oh, (tattooed heart, tattooed heart),” Paige and I harmonized, our voices blending together perfectly that I couldn’t help but smile in triumph.
“Just as long as I’m the name on your tattooed heart,” we finished in synchronization.
Paige and I hugged, laughing when the crowd erupted in applause and cheers. We bowed, said our appreciation towards the crowd before hopping off the stage.
“Oh my gosh, you got better,” Paige squealed, gripping my arm tightly.
“You too! You were on fire,” I complimented and laughed when Paige curtsied beside me. “That was so much fun! I missed doing that!”
We continued complimenting each other as we walked towards the game area. Once we were there, we spotted Noah and Callum who looked at us with their mouths slightly agape and surprise swimming in their eyes. Paige and I walked towards them with victorious smirks, arms crossed over our chests.
“Ha! We beat you motherfuckers!” Paige yelled in their faces, ruffling Callum’s brown hair.
Being Noah, he simply hid his shock while he crossed his arms. The familiar look of annoyance crossed his features as I stared at him in success. I didn’t say anything, unlike Paige who kept rubbing it in Callum’s face.
“Unbelievable,” Callum muttered. “You guys sounded almost like her.”
Maia’s little mouth finally snapped shut as she shrugged her tiny shoulders. “They were okay,” she said, clearing her throat. “I admit they were better than I expected, but they were only okay though.”
“I can’t believe we lost,” Callum mumbled, his mouth still agape.
“Well, let’s get going, boys. We have a project to work on,” Paige said, grabbing her purse from the pool table. Putting her index finger under Callum’s chin, she shut his mouth closed. “You might catch flies.”