Chase and Maya
It was a typical Saturday morning on Waffle Island, hardly even six o' clock. The air was crisp and clear, with a stray white cat stretching outside and a flock of jittering birds breaking the blue canvas of the sky. The whole town was slowly rising from their slumber, except for Chase and Maya who were already wide awake. Even more typical on that Saturday morning, Maya was making a mess out of the kitchen with Chase at the inn.
"Maya, you continue to impress me with burning ramen noodles. Nobody burns ramen noodles. How about you try to break the rules of science and burn practically flame-resistant things?" Chase bitterly spat. Maya held back tears, and then told herself, No, don't cry. He'll make fun of you even more. You can't let him see you cry, have some pride! Maya shook her head. Her braids flew this way and that, and her short, yellow-orange hair now hung in her face.
"You look like a monster! A blonde-haired monster with bowties," Chase teased, laughing at her. Maya had always shaken her head much too violently- her movements were always exaggerated. She was the spitting image of a dumb blonde, and even she knew it.
"Maybe I look like a monster because I ama monster, Chase. I'll use my big, scary monster powers on you if you don't quit being rude to me."
Chase snickered at Maya's silly, pointless threat.
"Good luck with those powers of yours, Maya."
Maya grinned and reached for the knife drawer. Is she joking? Knives? he thought. She began to run after Chase all around the inn. Maya was already fourteen, as was Chase, but she was still the same little kid on the inside. She chased him up the stairs, into the rooms, down the stairs, leapt over the counter… there probably wasn't one square inch of the floor that she hadn't walked on while following him.
"Hey! No fair, Chase!" Maya yelled as he stuck out his foot to trip her, ending the great chase at last.
Chase frowned as the knife skidded on the floor and out of her hand. It was a plastic knife.
"Maya, you know I've told you about a bajillion times that plastic knives make everything taste bad."
"Chase, you know I've told you about a billion times that bajillion isn't a word."
"Maya, people need to make up words. How else do you think the English language was invented?" he retorted, crossing his arms. Usually he was the one that corrected her spelling and grammar, but the tables had been turned. Today was different.
Maya smiled a wicked grin.
"So… I can go invent a recipe?"
"Th-that's different!" Chase squinted at Maya, but her eyes deflected his penetrating glare.
Dang, she was good.
Chase crossed his arms. "Let's just move onto omelets, okay? Ramen noodles aren't your thing." Maya sighed.
"No food is ever my thing…" she grumbled, but obeyed his command.
"Alright, so first just get the ingredients out of the pantry. We need six eggs, three tablespoons of cheddar cheese, and four pieces of bacon." Maya grabbed the desired ingredients and set them on the counter. Great, at least she pulled out the ingredients okay, he thought to himself hopefully. No eggs had dropped… yet.
Chase had assumed too soon. He hadn't told her to crack the eggs, but Maya was acting like he usual self so she cracked one hardagainst the edge of the counter. Shell pieces flew everywhere with no restraint, while the very slimy egg yolk dripped on the floor.
"Uh, uh-oh…" Chase walked over to her with his chin pointed down and a murderous stare on his face, and thumped her hard on the forehead.
"Hey!"
"I would have done worse, but everyone knows that you can't hit a girl." In a huff, Maya crossed her arms and looked down. Then, she suddenly looked up and smiled a devious smile.
"Hey, Chase, do you remember that mean chant the playground bullies would say to you when we were in elementary school?" Chase's eyes widened.
"Oh, no. Please, not that. Don't be so stupid…" His pleas were ignored, and Maya began to recite:
"Chase oh Chase,
He has a very ugly face,
His breath smells like dead deer,
I want to barf while he is near.
Chase will never know anything in the world,
And try as he might, he'll never get a girl.
He'll get an award- for being so boring.
Everyone who listens to him ends up snoring.
He's such a baby; he's always been a crya,
And the person he favors is named-"
Maya paused, and her face turned a bright ruby-red, but not redder than Chase's.
"Oh, crap! I always forget about that ending! The rhyme would be perfect for you if only the ending-"
"Whatever, let's just finish the omelet. And I never understood the word 'crya.' Is it supposed to be crier with a weird accent? I mean-"
"Chase, you always over think these silly things that really don't matter. Just relax, sweetheart."
Ew… did she just call me sweetheart and tell me to relax? A moment ago she was teasing me! I guess she just stopped… Maybe she's being sarcastic? …But that's my thing. She stole my thing.
"OK, babe," was Chase's clever reply. Maya raised an eyebrow.
Gotcha.
"Did you just call me-"
The fire-alarm cut her off in mid-sentence. The room turned a thousand degrees warmer in a matter of seconds and the putrid smell of burned eggs invaded their unsuspecting nostrils. Maya and Chase both gasped. He pinned her to the wall, their faces a mere two inches from each other.
"Stay out of the fire. I'll go get the extinguisher," he said with a shaky breath, trying to remain calm but failing miserably. Tears welled up in Maya's baby-blue eyes, so she put her head on her knees and began to weep into her pink dress, sinking to the ground. Why couldn't she ever do anything right? Just for one time in her life, she would want to do something the right way. She wanted to know what it felt like. Oh, wouldn't her parents be mad when they came home to find the rubble that their house used to be made up of!
Chase came running down the stairs, holding the extinguisher in his right hand and pressing the latch with his left hand. Maya had completely forgotten that Chase was a lefty until now. His strange, mystical, purple eyes glinted in the fire as he focused on the source of the flames. He was brave. Why couldn't she be more like him? She looked up at him, in fear he would perish in the flames. Being the careful boy Chase was, though, he didn't. The flames slowly disappeared, and white, frothy foam surrounded both of them. Chase was breathing heavily, his chest heaved up and down, over and over. He looked towards Maya, who smiled and clapped. He blushed and laughed, then coughed a little bit.
"Clapping. Really, Maya? You clap at a time like this?"
He surveyed the walls. They were covered in white foam, and underneath the foam it was easy to make out the scorch marks from the fire. The aftermath wasn't the prettiest, but it could always be worse.
"Well, what do you want me to do?" Maya asked him, standing up and brushing off her dress. Both of their faces were bright red from the fire, and both were panting like dogs.
"I- I- I don't know! The least you could do is give me a kiss for saving your life," he murmured, running his fingers through his bangs. His barrettes must have fallen out while he was saving her.
Maya and Chase stood staring at each other, panting. Maya's head was throbbing from the intense flames, and Chase's heart was beating from the adrenaline rush. Eyes of cerulean met eyes of violet.
"Fair enough."
Maya leapt forward and hugged him, pushing him to the floor. Chase yelped and felt his orange hair fly back onto the floor- luckily, though, he didn't bump his head. Maya's arms wrapped around his back, and for reasons that neither of them could figure out, she was sobbing hysterically. Perhaps it was from their earlier tension, or perhaps it was from the fear of her parents coming home to find their business- and home- a wreck.
Chase didn't say a word, but he didn't need to. He gently placed one hand on her back and used his other arm to prop himself up on one elbow. Slowly ducking his head to meet hers, their lips locked in one swift, quick motion. It hadn't lasted for more than three seconds before Maya collapsed onto his chest, but still.
She had finally done something the right way.
Edit- writing is muuuuch less crappy. This was my very first fanfic, so… you know. If you'd like to compare, here's the same thing but the original. I can't believe I actually wrote this… *headdesk* Stupid, stupid, stupid…