"This is not what I was expecting." I state as I shut the car door. My eyes remain glued to the building in front of us and a confused smile plays on my lips.
From what I've heard and concluded, Priya's parents are rich. Her mom is well known and I guess I expected her to own a bigger, more, I don't know, morden gym.
Instead, this is a small, old looking gym. It does not look like it belongs to Rewa Singh. Most of the white paint has cracked and some of it is peeling off. There's some grafitti on a small part of the wall, under one of the tinted windows. An attempt at an alien.
This looks like what I'd make if I was feeling like Rosa Ortecho.
"What?" Mason chuckles.
"It's small." I point at it with my thumb before turning to him. "Isn't Mrs. Singh some big shot trainer and ex boxing champion?"
"Yes," he laughs and throws his arm over my shoulder, "she is. This isn't her only gym, she has two others. This is just the old gym where she discovered her passion for boxing and so she bought it."
"Ah, okay." I nod and we begin walking towards the open, wooden blue door.
"Wait," I stop in my tracks and Mason simultaneously does the same, "didn't you say the two of you used to hang out here a lot?"
He nods and I continue.
"You guys used to drive all the way from your place just to come here?"
"Yeah." He purses his lips and seems to think. "It's like if there was one library that had your favourite novel series in the city. Wouldn't you drive there every weekend if you could?"
I smile and look up at him. He nods, returning my smile with a grin. We resume walking and finally enter the gym.
It's pretty decent inside, better than it looks outside. The white paint on the walls actually looks fresh. All of the equipment is intact; not a scratch or tear.
There are some people in here. A few of them glance up at us before continuing with their exercises. My eyes roam around the room and land on the guy in the corner, doing push ups while playing hip hop.
"Mason!" I jerk my head towards the direction the voice is coming from.
Her long brown hair, tied up into a ponytail, swings as she swiftly walks over to us. She's wearing white short shorts and a blue tank top with white sneakers. There's nothing much to her look but somehow she looks so pretty.
"Priya." Mason removes his arm from around my shoulders and turns to Priya.
"What took you so long?" She playfully hits his arm before hugging him.
"What?" Mason rolls his eyes. "We didn't even take that long."
As if from a sudden realisation, her eyes slowly move from Mason until they rest on me. They slightly widen, and she raises her eyebrows.
"Maya?" Her eyes oscillate between Mason and I.
"H... Hey." I give her an awkward wave.
"What..." She looks up at Mason and shakes her head. "Are you two back together?"
Mason nods, a small smile forming on his face. Priya gasps before beaming and looking at the two of us.
"That's great! Why didn't you tell me sooner, you dummy?"
"Well, I was going to." Mason sheepishly grins.
"Sure you were." She folds her arms and shakes her head.
"Anyway," Mason begins, "where's Derwin?"
"In the storeroom." Priya sighs before she turns around to leave. "Let's go."
"I'll go hear what this guy wants and I'll be right back." Mason states with a smile.
"Okay," I nod, "I'll just look around."
As he walks away, following Priya, I turn around and continue scanning the room.
Okay, nothing interests me.
Minutes later, a door behind me slams and I shriek as the rest of the room goes silent. I notice that everyone looks behind me and either rolls their eyes or remains nonchalant. I slowly turn around and my widened eyes land on an exasperated guy making his way towards me.
His head hangs low and he sounds like he's muttering curses under his breath.
Is he the guy bothering Priya?
He nears me and I realise that he hasn't noticed me so I step out of the way. With Lady Luck clearly looking away from me, I step on my shoelace and almost fall.
Seriously!?
The guy stops in front of me and I can feel everyone's eyes on me. I take a deep breath before mustering the courage to look up.
We stare at each other, well, I stare at him in alarm. I have to strain my neck to look up since he's very close and very tall. He's at least a few inches taller than Mason. He's also very well built and his black tank top top clings to his body.
He seems calm; he seems like he's studying me.
"Hi." He says but I only manage a nod. He pauses. "Is that why you're wearing that?"
"Huh?" I look down at the t-shirt he's pointing at.
"Since you're shy," he gives me a sweet smile, "I see your t-shirt does the talking."
I arch a brow and smile, my mind registering the "Hi" on my t-shirt.
"Yeah, that was lame." He cringes and I laugh.
"I haven't seen you around here before. You new?"
"Uhm, not really. I mean, yeah, I haven't been here before but I'm not particularly new because that would mean I plan on coming here often and I don't I'm just..." I stop midway and smile sheepishly. "I'm just going to stop talking."
"No, it's okay." His smile grows and he shoves his hands into the pockets of his black tracksuits and nods. "I'm Derwin."
"Maya." I reply.
"It's nice to meet you, Maya."
"Likewise, Derwin."
"If I may ask, why don't you want to come here often?" He looks around and shrugs. "It's a pretty cool place."
"Yeah." I nod, agreeing with the last part.
"And your beautiful smile would make it even better." He looks down at me and smiles.
I look away, shaking my head and hoping to hide the smile tugging at my lips.
***
Mason's POV
"You shouldn't let him get under your skin like this."
Priya ignores my words, continuing to pace around the room. Her hands rest on her hips as she continues to crease her facial features into a scowl.
"Priya." I sigh when she doesn't reply. "Priya."
"What?" She stops and stares at me.
"Calm down."
"Alright." She releases a defeated sigh before sitting on one of the bench press. "This place means a lot to my mom and I promised I'd take care of it. It's also our little fortress and I don't want Derwin or his friends messing around here and causing trouble."
We've known Derwin for a while. He used to come here often about a year ago but then he stopped coming. When he came back, he'd clearly changed. Priya and I asked around and found out he was involved in some shady dealings. He's a year younger than us and has to take care of his grandparents.
"Hey, look on the bright side, if he's here, at least we know he's not out there getting in trouble with the law."
"Yes but it also means he could attract bad people to this place."
"He hasn't done that before. I don't think he would."
"I just... I don't want to be insensitive but..." She looks down.
"Hey," I hold out my hand and she takes it, "don't worry too much about it. I'll speak to Derwin."
"Well, thank you. At least I know he always listens to you." I help her up.
"It helps that he knows I don't judge him and that I've done the things he's doing. Also, it doesn't help that you're so stubborn and moody."
"I'll show you what stubborn and moody look like." She punches my arm before walking out of the room. I chuckle, rubbing the spot she hit.
"I'm thinking of going to get some food with Maya, you can come with." I offer as I catch up with her.
"Nah," she shakes her head, "I've got some things I need to do. Besides, I don't want to third wheel. I'm glad to see you two together."
"Yeah." I smile.
"At least I won't have to deal with your moping anymore." She laughs.
I open my mouth to comment but my eyes land on a scene that immediately changes my mood. A few feet away from us, I spot Maya, smiling at Derwin. He says something and this time she laughs. I slightly frown and narrow my eyes.
"Still on his side?" Priya snorts and I roll my eyes.
I walk over to the two. Maya turns her head to the side as she notices me and her smile grows. Derwin, whose back is to me, turns his head to look at me as well.
"Hey." I wrap my arm around Maya's waist and plant a kiss on her forehead.
She smiles, slowly fluttering her eyelashes, and leans her head against my forearm. Derwin looks at the two of us and frowns. I smirk and he quickly regains his smile.
"This your boy?" He directs the question at Maya.
"Yeah, I'm her boyfriend." I reply.
"I can talk for myself." She playfully hits my chest before looking up at Derwin again. "Yeah, what he said."
"Aw!" Derwin puts his hand over his chest and pouts. "There goes a dagger through my heart. You're not single."
Maya gives him a nonchalant shrug, a smile still on her face.
Is she smiling at him or because of me?
"Well, Maya, if you get tired of this one," he nods at me, "I'll be here.".
"Get out of here, Derwin." I narrow my eyes at him and he chuckles.
"Bye, Maya." He winks at her before walking away.
"Bye." Maya laughs.
"You seem to like Derwin." We turn around to find Priya. She's looking at Maya.
"Uh, yeah. He's a nice guy." She replies.
"Nice?" I snort.
"Jealous?" Maya teases. She looks up at me and grins.
"I'm not jealous. Why would I be? That idiot's got nothing on me."
"I don't know, Mason," Priya shrugs and my attention returns to her, "Derwin's pretty cute."
"Do you think he's cute?" I look at Maya.
"Him? Cute?" She grins and there's a pause. "Yeah, he's cute."
I remove my arm from around her waist and she pouts.
"I'm leaving." I say before heading for the door.
"Hey!" She laughs laughs. "Bye, Priya."
I make my way out the door, Maya following behind.
"Don't be jealous." She catches up and hooks her arm in mine.
"I'm not." I shake my head.
She stops and stands in front me.
"Okay."
"You're not going to get tired of me, are you?" I pout and she smiles.
"No." She shakes her head excitedly. "But don't worry if I do."
"What's that supposed to mean?" My face falls.
"Hey, you heard him." She lifts her chin high. "I've got options."
She turns around to walk away but I quickly grab her wrist and pull her back to me. She yelps but quickly smiles. I let go of her wrist and intertwine our fingers before cupping her face with my other hand. I dip my head and softly crash my lips on hers.
Her lips are soft and warm as they softly brush against mine. I slowly pull away but she let's go of my hand and puts hers around my neck. She stands on her toes and kisses me again. I smile against the kiss, my arms snaking around her waist.
"I love you." She looks up, into my eyes.
"I love you too." I smile.
Her heels return to the ground and she takes my hand in hers. We begin walking, in silence, to my car. When we reach it, I unlock it and open the door for her.
"Thank you." She smiles and gets in.
I quickly jog over to the driver's side. Once I'm inside, I start the car.
"Now, can we go get some food?" She grins and buckles her seat belt in.
"Okay, where do you wanna go?" My eyes focus on the road as we drive off.
"Uhm..." I glance at her and she bites her lower lip as she thinks of a reply.
"How's Chinese?" I suggest.
"No, I want, like..." Her words trail off.
"Pizza?"
"Yes but no." She nods before shaking her head.
"What in the-" I roll my eyes and smile.
"Don't do that. I'm still considering." She laughs.
"Okay, what are the options?"
"Uh..."
"Okay, I'll decide."
"No, wait."
"I've been waiting." I chuckle. "We could just go back home and I'll cook."
"Okay, that's fine." She turns to look at me and smiles.
If my kissing scenes suck, it's because every time a kissing scene comes on TV and my dad is in the room, I have to start acting like the ceiling is an exquisite piece of art, ergo, I have limited knowledge😂.