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I stuff my mouth with a bagel as the front door rings.
Quickly, I run up to open it because I know it's Maya. After last night, we're finally on good terms. I'm not completely sure what terms we're on, though. We both know we like each other, but she makes me so nervous that I'm terrified of making a move.
I've missed that feeling I get whenever she comes over, only now it's much stronger. I twist the doorknob to reveal my favorite blonde.
"Hey," she smirks and pokes my cheeks which were filled with food.
I feel my face warm up at her soft touch.
"Hi," I mumble through the bagel.
She laughs and sits on the couch. "So, whatcha wanna do?"
Today was the first day of winter break. I invited Maya over so we could hang out because every winter break we have a huge sleepover. Two weeks with her sounds like literal heaven, especially this time.
"I don't know, let's just hang out and watch a movie," I say after finishing my bagel.
"Okay," she smiles.
"Want some hot cocoa?"
Her eyes light up and she nods her head with the cutest smile.
"You're adorable," I laugh and ruffle her hair.
Her cheeks turn red and she follows me into the kitchen. I make two cups of hot cocoa and catch her staring at me.
"What?" I nervously laugh.
"Nothing," she quickly says. "It's just...you're so beautiful. I mean, you've always been, but I didn't really notice until now."
I feel heat creeping up my neck and I turn away with a smile. I grab the mugs and hand one to her as we sit on the couch.
Mom and Dad went grocery shopping, and that usually takes hours because they end up arguing about whether or not potato chips were necessary. Personally, they're the only thing keeping me alive right now.
I put on some old Christmas movie and grab a blanket. After she finishes her hot cocoa, she leans her head against my shoulder, making me feel fuzzy inside. Throughout the movie, I lightly caress her soft hand.
"Hey, Riles? You make me really happy."
I smile and take a sip from my mug. "And you make me happy, peaches."
She scoots closer and we finish the movie, laughing here and there. Something as little as watching a movie with her made me feel at peace.
She lifts her head and gazes at me. "I missed you a lot."
"I missed you, too," I quietly say and look down at her lips.
They looked so soft and kissable and I felt a strong urge to put mine on her's, but I turn away before I completely embarrass myself.
"So, um, there's a fair going on today, you wanna go with me?" I ask.
She grins and nods. "I'd go anywhere with you."
I look down and smile, but she lifts my chin up and inches closer.
"What are you doing?" I whisper.
"Do you want me to stop?"
I shake my head and feel her hot breath hit my lips. Just as she's about to kiss me, we hear loud footsteps and jump away from each other.
My eyes widen and she has a shocked expression. I turn to where the sound was coming from and see Auggie walking into the room. He's wearing his pajamas and rubbing his eyes. After he wipes the sleep out of his eyes, he looks at us.
"Oh, hey Riley and Maya," he smiles. "Why do you guys look like that? Is there a ghost?!"
I blink. "No, no, it's nothing."
"Okay, where's Mom and Dad?"
"At the store," I tell him. "You want some pancakes?"
He eagerly nods and I ruffle his messy hair.
Maya furrows her eyebrows. "Pancakes? It's like, lunchtime now."
"Auggie's day can't start until he's got his pancakes," I tell her. "You already know that, Maya."
"Can I have some?" she begs with puppy eyes.
"If you help."
She frowns and we walk into the kitchen. I grab the pan and she mixes the batter, while Auggie sits at the table fighting to stay awake.
"Auggie, why'd you wake up so late?" Maya curiously asks.
"I was at Ava's last night," he sighs. "She made me clean her room and run laps around the apartment because she wants me to be a strong man."
He flexes his arms and I smirk. "There's nothing there."
"That's why she's making me work so hard!" he groans and drops his head down on the table.
Maya laughs and I grab a spatula to flip the pancake. After a while, we finish making way more pancakes than necessary. I grab the syrup from the cabinet as she puts the plateful on the table.
"I love pancakes," Maya mumbles with her mouth full.
Auggie viciously nods and I roll my eyes. Everyone starts devouring pancakes like crazy. I finish eating and Maya and Auggie fight over the last one. While they argue about who's more worthy, I start eating the pancake without them noticing. Maya turns to me to back her up but stops mid-sentence as she catches me.
"Riley!" she gasps and crosses her arms.
I freeze and stare at her, nervously laughing. Auggie turns to me and they both angrily stare at me.
"Sorry."
"Riley...how could you?" Maya whispers and puts her hand over her mouth. "I thought I could trust you."
I roll my eyes and sigh. I stab the last piece with my fork and put it up to her mouth. She grins and eats it.
"Riley! I'm your brother! Do I mean nothing to you?" Auggie shouts and walks over to me with a terrifying look.
"Maya's more important!" I stand up and back away with wide eyes.
"Aw, I'm more important than your brother?" Maya swoons.
I smile and she puts her hands in mine. "Of course."
Auggie's jaw drops and he crosses his arms. "Get out, Maya! Riley's mine."
Her eyes widen and she backs away. "Calm down, Auggs. She loves you, too."
"I love you both equally, just in different ways," I say, trying to calm him down.
He sighs and shrugs. "Okay, fine. But I'm gonna get payback, Maya. That should've been my pancake!"
She rolls her eyes and ruffles his hair. The three of us walk to the couch and continue watching Christmas movies for the next couple of hours. Mom and Dad come back around 3, so Maya and I can leave for the fair.
We go to my room and I change out of my pajamas into something decent and warm. I walk out of the closet and see Maya lying on my bed.
"Ready," I say, sitting next to her.
She doesn't move and I laugh. "Get up, Maya."
"But I'm so comfortable," she whines. "Can we just lay here?"
"We can after we get back, promise."
She gets up and smirks. "So I can sleepover?"
I blink and hesitantly nod. She takes my hand and we walk downstairs, saying goodbye to my parents as we leave.
After the lengthy and noisy train ride, we finally reach the fairground. We wait in the long line for tickets. Once we get inside, Maya grabs my hand and I feel my cheeks burn like they're on fire.
"What should we do first?!" I excitedly ask. I look around at the games and see a fluffy purple cat, making me even more thrilled.
"Let's...go over there," she points to the booth with the cat, hauling me over.
She goes up to the guy running the game and he tells her how to play. She has to shoot all three of the ping pong balls into the bottles. The further the bottle, the more points she gets.
"You got this, Peaches," I cheer her on and pat her shoulders. "Use your intimidating eyes to move the ball."
She rolls her eyes and sticks her tongue out as she concentrates. The ball flies into a far bottle and I jump with excitement. She laughs and aims the second one, getting it in once again.
"One more, Maya!"
She bites her lip and throws the ball.
"Yes!" she screams as it plunks into the bottle.
"Nice job, you can choose any prize you'd like," the guy tells her.
"The purple cat," she quickly says and grabs it from him.
She faces me and holds it out. "For you."
"What?"
She rolls her eyes and laughs. "I won it for you, Riles."
The corners of my lip curve into a smile. "Aw, that's really sweet, Maya. Thank you."
She kisses my cheek and I feel my cheeks flush. I watch her quietly giggle at my blank expression.
"You're adorable," she smiles and grabs my hand. "Let's go on the Ferris wheel?"
I nod and we get in the short line. We reach the front and sit in a seat. Maya sits extremely close to me and I try not to freak out as our legs touch. The wheel slowly starts moving up and my eyes widen as we get higher in the sky.
Maya starts shaking the cart and I yelp, almost dropping my cat. "Stop, Maya!"
She throws her head back and laughs. "Sorry, you just looked so scared."
"Well, you didn't have to make me even more terrified," I cross my arms and she leans against me.
"Sorry, forgive me?"
I glare at her and sigh. "Fine."
She grins and kisses my cheek. I turn my head towards her as she pulls away, and my heartbeat quickens at how little the distance is between us. Confusion sprawls across her face and she turns forward, leaning her head against my shoulder.
"Sorry, I just..."
"It's okay," I quickly say.
She grabs my hand and the rest of the ride was filled with her softly humming a song. A stupid grin is stuck on my face as I listen to her lovely voice. We get off the Ferris wheel and wander around, hand in hand.
"Cotton candy!" she squeals. "Come on."
She drags me to the cotton candy cart and we order two cones of the pink one. She immediately shoves her face into it to get a bite.
"Maya, you got some on your nose," I stifle a laugh and gently pick it off.
"Thanks," she softly says.
We play a couple more games and I end up losing almost all of them. Maya wins a bunch of games and laughs as I struggle with the simplest ones.
"Riles, I love you, but you suck at these games," she laughs.
My face goes blank at the words "I love you," but I push it aside and roll my eyes.
"Whatever," I mumble.
We walk towards the exit with three large stuffed animals.
"Jesus, why couldn't you choose the smaller ones?" I sigh.
"I'm not gonna get the tiny ones, who do you think I am?"
I roll my eyes and we proceed to the subway. We move away from the obnoxious crowd and sit in the back, a few people glaring at our fluffy friends.
Maya waves the paw of her stuffed unicorn at some guy and he flips us off.
"Wow," she huffs. "Rude."
I shake my head and we hold a little brawl with my cat and her unicorn. Surprisingly, I won.
"Yes! Finally, I actually won something," I shout.
She laughs and lightly shoves me. The train stops and we get off, making our way to my house. Once we get inside, we catch Auggie watching TV, but his eyes are slowly drifting off to sleep. Maya and I attack him with our stuffed animals, and he shouts in fear while putting his arms up in defense.
"AH! MOM! HELP, THERE ARE FURRY ANIMALS ATTAC-"
"Relax, Auggie," Maya laughs. "It's just us."
He slowly moves his hands away. Maya holds out a puppy she won and gives it to Auggie.
"Thanks, Maya," he beams and hugs her.
She messes with hair and I smile at their interaction. After we watch some TV with Auggie, he goes off to bed and we go into my room. She jumps onto the bed and I sit next to her.
"Was this a date?" I softly ask.
Her smile falters and she shrugs. "If that's what you wanted it to be."
"Well, did you consider it a date?"
She hesitantly nods and avoids my eyes. I gently grab her chin and meet her eyes. She slowly leans in and my heart races.
Our lips touch and everything I've ever felt finally feels real. Everything I've felt for her rushes through my mind, and there's no way I can deny that I'm completely in love with Maya.
I lean closer and she smiles into the kiss. She tangles her hands in my hair and hovers over me. She pulls away after a moment and rests her forehead against mine.
"I'm in love with you," she whispers. "And I've never thought I'd feel this way, but deep down, I've always known that you're the only one that I want, Riley. It's always been you, and I don't know why it took so long to realize that."
I take in what she said and my face goes blank. I stare at her and don't respond, unsure of what to say because I'm freaking out right now. I really should've said something, because a confused look spreads on her face and she pulls away.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that," she quickly says, getting up from on top of me. She hurries to the bay window and opens it.
"Wait, don't," I falter, but she already slipped out.
I run to the window and look around, but she's long gone.