Three years is too long
As Josh sat down at the student lounge he sighed. It was his last year at NYU and you would have thought that he'd have school figured out by now, but just a week in he'd been proven wrong. He'd always made sure that he made regular visits to his older brother's apartment and so it really made no sense that his problems arose so quickly. He should have been used to seeing her all the time, but there was something about her being in the same school as him that unnerved him so much.
It really wasn't all that bad, he reasoned, as there could have been a lot worse that could have caught his eye. Because he couldn't deny it, she'd caught his eye. Maya had definitely caught his eye and she continued to do so every time she was in the same room as him.
Quite some time had passed since their conversation back at the ski lodge where he'd finally admitted that he liked her and that he would play the long game with her. And played it he had, he'd been playing it diligently for too long now in his opinion. Now he wanted his price. He was aware that thinking of her as a price made him seem possessive, but he didn't care about that at all. All he cared about was how jealous the looks that Maya got from other people, which she sometimes returned made him. Even when he had no right to get jealous in the first place.
Why did Maya have to return their looks anyway, she said that she would play the long game right? didn't that meant that she would be there for him when they both felt ready? Could it be that she'd forgotten all about their promise? He'd thought that with how important that moment with her had been for him that she would have at least felt something strong enough for her to remember it. Or maybe she just figured he wasn't ready for a relationship with her yet. If that was the case then he would just have to show her that he was. However, his biggest fear kept him from making any sort of move towards her, what if she was finally over him?
"Can I help you?" Josh didn't know how long he'd spaced out in thought, but apparently, it was long enough for the girl that he'd been staring at to notice and to make her way over to him. God did she ever look beautiful, Josh would have given anything to just be able to ask her out confidently right there, but he just couldn't do it.
"Nah, sorry Maya I was just lost in my thoughts." He managed to get out while smiling sheepishly.
"Thinking about anything in particular?" 'you, I was thinking about you' Josh wanted to bang his head against the table in front of him. How was it that he had every speech possible ready in his head yet he was unable to voice even one of them.
"Just this test next week." Maya nodded sympathetically, Josh was thankful that Maya had no idea of his real schedule or she would have known that he had nothing going on. In fact, it would have been the perfect week to go out on a date with Maya, if only he'd been able to muster the courage to ask her out.
"Well, I've heard it helps to study instead of just staring blankly out in space. Not that I would know of course." Josh had to laugh at that, Maya had definitely gotten more serious about her schoolwork, but it wasn't that rare to find her forgetting an assignment now and then. With that she turned around and walked out of the room, most likely heading for her and Riley's shared dorm. Josh sighed, a mixture of relief and regret washed over him. He had to wonder though, how many perfect opportunities did he have to waste away before he'd manage to do something about them?
"Of course I want something to happen Riley, but he never does anything." Maya complained to her best friend. "I don't know what else I can do other than ask him out myself."
"You can't do that, you know how prideful Josh is." Riley scolded her. It really wasn't fair, Lucas was the kind of guy that was never afraid to make a move. Heck he even asked the most overprotective parent ever if he could take Riley out on a date. How was it fair that the guy that she liked never made any move when Riley was dating a guy like that. Three years had gone by and Maya's feelings were stronger than ever, however he seemed like he was still waiting for something. Or maybe he'd just stopped liking her. After all, feelings change all the time and a LOT of time had gone by.
"I know, but I don't see myself getting anywhere if I don't do it myself. I don't get how hard it can be, I basically promised him that I'd wait for him."
"Then how come you're returning all these looks from other guys if you're still hung up on my uncle?"
"Well, it's nice to know that someone likes what they see. Josh never shows me how he feels about me, he could be over me for all I know."
"Or he's just a chicken Maya, but if he is a chicken then he is the most prideful one that I know and that is not a good thing."
"Then how about this. I give him the biggest opportunity ever to ask me out, and if he doesn't do anything about it then I ask him? His pride be damned."
"I guess, that might work." Riley reasoned, it really was ridiculous that they'd both had feelings for each other for about. "So I'm guessing you have a plan for creating this big opportunity of yours?"
"Of course I do, what do you think I spend all my free time doing?" Maya boasted proudly.
"Of course you had to waste it on something like that, why couldn't you just spend that time on something like homework?" Riley sighed, she knew that with Maya's scholarship in art she was pretty much golden, but she'd at least hoped that her friend would spend a little time on her homework.
"Yeah… I had to prioritize so I guess that fell out. But this plan though, is sure to work." Maya said with a gleeful smile.
I had to do something with the girl meets ski lodge eventually so here it is. It won't be a short story, but I can'tguarantee that I'm going to be uploading all that often so please bear with me. Let's see how many people actually like this story.
