"I missed you." Mason says over the phone and I smile.
"Well, if you'd returned my calls... " I laugh.
I want to tell him that I was worried, that I was afraid something had happened but I keep those words to myself. I don't want to make him as anxious as I am.
"I'm sorry; I forgot to charge it in the morning and Jesse had us going up and down the whole day."
"I don't know what's wrong with these people. Peyton drove us to Cali just to buy an outfit."
Peyton turns around to glare at me from the passenger seat. I stick my tongue out at her and Zoe and Bianca laugh.
"Peyton? Does Jesse know she's coming?"
"Well I believe so; she's always at his parties."
"Hmm..." I look at the phone, puzzled, although he can't see me. "I'm not so sure he wants her at this one."
I look out the window as we turn into Jesse's street. There are already cars parked in the street.
"Huh? Why?"
"His girlfriend's coming."
"Oh. Well, too late. We're already here. I'll see you inside."
"Okay."
I end the call as Zoe parks the blue Chevrolet behind a red jeep at the end of the street. We all get out of the car and step into the warm evening weather.
There are a couple of people in the front yard, mostly just sitting and a few of them drinking.
"How do I look?" Peyton turns to us, a smile on her face.
"Like you did thirty minutes ago," Zoe laughs, "hot."
Pey smirks before turning around and walking towards the house.
She does look hot. She picked this long sleeved bodycon pink dress that shows just the right amount of cleavage and clings to her curves. Adding the black stilettos, it'd be a miracle if Jesse didn't fall to his knees.
I just feel really bad for his girlfriend although it would be better if she found out what kind of a guy he is.
Zoe also put in effort in her outfit. Matching Peyton's black stilettos but with a midthigh black dress.
Bianca and I are just wearing jeans and tops.
The door is ajar and we make our way into the living room. The music isn't too loud but it's loud enough for everyone to already be dancing and climbing on furniture.
Oh, wait, that's the alcohol.
"Let's go get some drinks." Zoe suggests.
I'll get a drink and go find Mason.
We follow her to the kitchen, walking past a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar faces.
"I thought there wouldn't be so many people here since Jesse said he doesn't want to invite a lot of people." I say to Bianca.
"Correction," Pey turns to us, "he said he doesn't want to invite a lot of girls. Look around."
As she turns away, Bianca and I look around the room.
She's not wrong. There are usually a lot of girls here but tonight, it's mostly guys. If only the idiot didn't sleep with every girl he came across.
"Look, there's Max." Bianca points and I look up.
I smile when I see him. He's leaning against the wall, chatting to some girl. He looks completely disinterested but still manages to smile and nod.
I search for Zoe and Pey and when I can't see them, I assume they're already in the kitchen.
Bianca takes my hand and we walk over to the two.
"Hey!" Bianca and I greet simultaneously.
He looks up at us and smiles.
"Excuse me." He says to the girl before turning to us.
He nods at us before walking away. Bianca and I follow behind.
"How're you guys?" He asks once we find a corner away from the crowd.
"Good," Bianca replies," how are you?"
Max nods before taking a swig of the beer in his hand. He puts the bottle on the small round table behind him.
"Is it just the two of you here?" He asks with an amused smile.
"No," I laugh, "Pey and Zoe are here as well."
"Pey?" He wrinkles his forehead. "Jesse specifically told us not to invite her."
"Who was in charge of sending out and canceling invites?" I shrug.
"Ah!" He nods with a knowing smile. "Well, Jesse's gonna kill him."
"Anyway, wha-" Bianca is cut short when someone bumps into her from behind. She loses her balance and lurches forward but Max is quick to grab her arms and catch her.
"I'm sorry, dude." The guy behind us slurs, holding his hands up.
I shake my head and turn to my friends.
"Are you okay?" Max inquires and Bianca nods, clearly irritated.
She looks up at him and their eyes meet. He smiles at her and she quickly looks down again, her irritation replaced by... Shyness?
"Yeah, I'm alright." She quickly brushes his hands off. He looks taken aback but she smiles at him and he relaxes.
"I'll uh, I'll go find..." She looks at me. "I'll go find Peyton and Zoe."
I open my mouth to tell her I'll come with but she quickly rushes off. I softly laugh and shake my head.
"Did I do something wrong?" Max asks.
"No," I smile widely, "you did nothing wrong."
I have to get these two together.
"What are you thinking about?" Max arches his eyebrows.
"Huh?"
"Your eyes are narrowed and you're looking away at the wall. You're cooking up something. What is it?"
"Me?" I laugh and place a hand on my chest. "I'm not. What could I possibly be planning?"
I bat my eyelashes to emphasise my innocence and he laughs.
"As long as it doesn't get me into trouble." He laughs.
"Trouble? No, never." I put my hand on his shoulder and smile.
***
Mason's POV
I look around the dining room for the second time, hoping to catch a glimpse of Maya. I don't see her and temporarily return my attention to Brady and his friends.
Brady and I are sitting on the couch Chris and I moved in here earlier on. The rest of the people we're with are scattered on the carpet and bean bag chairs around us.
"I'm telling you, guys," Brady gulps down his beer, "it really happened."
His friends laugh and I'm left wondering exactly what he says he's done. His friends begin to argue that there's no way he could've even met some celebrity girl. I take out my phone from my pocket and look for Maya's number.
I send her a text:
Where are you?
She doesn't reply so I bring my attention back to Brady. A few minutes pass by and I consider going to find her.
"Hey, Mason! Your girl's here." I look up at one of the guys and he points to his right.
I look up and we smile at each other. Suddenly, I feel much happier than I have the entire day. She walks over to us and says hi to everyone.
"Sup, Maya!" Brady replies with a lopsided smile as everyone nods.
She looks around to find a place to sit and I smile. I take her hand and gently pull her onto my lap. She smiles shyly and looks down at our joined hands.
"Hey." I look at her.
"Hey." She turns to me.
"Hey, Maya." Brady calls and we shift our focus to him. "You believe that I actually went fishing and ice skating with Madeline Petsch, right?"
Maya arches her brows and smiles.
"Sure..." She laughs.
"See, she believes me!" He yells excitedly. "Madeline and I are tight."
"Yeah, in your dreams." A guy snorts and everyone laughs.
Maya shakes her head and looks at me again. She glances over at a group sitting to our left, smoking.
"So, where's this girlfriend of Jesse's?"
"I don't know." I shrug. "I don't think she's here yet."
I notice that she glances over at the smokers again and a frown appears on her face.
"Let's get out of here." I suggest. "Go out for some air."
She gives me a smile and nods. She gets off my lap and stands up. Everyone looks up at us.
I can see the questioning looks that cross their faces but they shrug and continue listening to Brady's stories.
I take her hand again and lead her out to the backyard. There's no one out here. Maya and I walk over to the spot behind the wall extending from the kitchen one. We walk around the curved wall and sit down.
"I hate smoking." She finally comments.
"Yeah, I noticed." I laugh.
She smiles and nods before looking down. Her hair falls over her face and shields it from view. Silence settles between us as I look at her. When I look away, I remember that I wanted to tell her something.
"Oh! I spoke to Max."
"About?" She looks up at me.
"About the two of you."
"Ah, that's why." She nods, as if she finally understands something. "I actually had a decent conversation with him today."
"I'm glad." I want to tell her about the fights at the bar and the girl I helped but those just sound like they'll dampen the mood.
"Speaking of Max," she begins with a mischievous smile, "he and-"
She stops midsentence and seems to carefully consider her next words.
"Okay, maybe I shouldn't. I mean, I wouldn't want her to tell anyone if it were me." She wrinkles her face in thought.
Who's "her"?
"But you're my boyfriend and you're his best friend. I'm helping her out." She shifts her eyes and looks straight into my own. "I'm helping her out, right?"
"I mean, I don't know what we're talking about but sure." I laugh.
"Bianca." She smiles.
"Bianca? You said Max...." I arch my eyebrows as realisation slowly hits me. "What about those two?"
"Shh..." She looks around although we're the only ones out here. "She likes him."
"What?" My eyes slightly widen and I smile. "Since when?"
"Junior year." She sits back against the wall. "I'm thinking of doing something to get them together. Max is too slow to realise how Bianca feels and she's too shy to tell him."
"I uh..."
That cannot be a good idea. Max isn't in the right state of mind to move on to another girl. Especially not Bianca.
"What's wrong?" She turns to me.
"Maybe let's give them time. They'll figure things out on their own." I give her a sheepish grin.
"They've had years." She dismissively waves her hand and laughs.
"Yes but let's not try to make things go fast for them. Let's help them but not try to jump to things."
I hope that makes sense.
"Hmm." She hums, looking away as if to think. A few minutes pass by and she still doesn't say anything. I continue looking at her. She looks beautiful. Even in this simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans, she's still the most beautiful girl.
She looks up at the sky and a smile immediately appears on her face.
"Hey, you have a pretty good view of the stars out here." She starts shifting and lays on her back.
I look at her and smile before emulating her.
"You know," she begins, "I was talking to Zoe about the universe and it had me thinking."
"Thinking about what?" I turn to look at her but she continues looking up.
"What purpose I'm serving."
"Huh?"
"I mean, how am I helping people?" She smiles.
"The Maya I knew was always helping people." I also smile. "Volunteering to spend time with and take care of sick kids and old people seemed like a big thing to me."
"I haven't done anything..." She pauses, looking for the right words. "Anything helpful, that I can see contributes to making life better for the people around me in a while."
"You're studying to be an environmental scientist, I think that's something helpful."
"Yeah," she smiles but shakes her head, "but it's not enough. I can't wait until I graduate to do something."
"What about your volunteering?"
"I stopped volunteering altogether in eleventh grade." She sighs.
Of course.
There's another minute or so of silence.
"Nevermind all of that," she finally turns to face me and smiles, "let's talk about something else."
Her hand finds mine and she intertwines our fingers before leaning her head on my shoulder.
"I really need to get Zoe to teach me about stars." She comments, her other hand in the air, tracing the pattern of the stars. "They're beautiful, aren't they?"
"Yeah." I smile, my eyes still glued to her.