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Chapter 2

It's one week before the dance, and Lucas is finally ready to ask Maya. He gets to school early, deciding to talk to her as soon as she arrives, and heads to her locker, which is only a little way down from his.

He made a detour that morning on his way to school to get her a taco from Paco's Tacos, knowing she'll find it hilarious if he gave it to her instead of flowers. But the main part of his ask is the sheet of sketchbook paper currently safe inside his history textbook. He has spent the last two days slaving over his masterpiece (Maya would reproduce it in less than a minute, and make fantastic art out of it too), with which he plans to ask Maya to be his date to the dance.

He's sure she's going to laugh — with a taco instead of flowers and his pitiful attempt at drawing something, how could she not? (If she doesn't, his ask is going to fall flat in its face. Not that it matters now. He's desperate, and completely out of options and time if he doesn't ask her today.)

He opens her locker (they know each other's lock combinations), and digs inside his bag for his history book. Just as he's placing the sheet inside the first book of the pile in her locker, he hears Maya's voice coming around the corridor. He quickly shuts the locker and hurries around the corner, from where he can observe her reaction when she finds his ask. Then all he has to do is pop out, offer her the taco, and repeat what he's written on the paper. Perfect. Simple yet ingenious. He wants to pat himself on the back.

But as Maya turns into the corridor, Lucas sees that she is with Charlie, and they seem to be in deep conversation. What the hell is he doing here this early? And with Maya? Lucas wants to go up to her, but something about the way they're standing makes him hesitate to approach them. So he stays hidden where he is, and watches and listens.

"So, what do you think?" He hears Charlie ask Maya as they continue their conversation.

Maya opens her locker and places a couple of books inside. She smirks at Charlie. "What, no balloons, no flowers, no banner, no Yogi on skates?"

Charlie smiles sheepishly and ducks his head. His face has gone red. "I was a bit over the top back in middle school, wasn't I?" he asks, obviously embarrassed.

"You were just the right amount of over the top for Riley," Maya assures him. "But you could have been a real live actual prince with an actual crown and an actual castle, and she still wouldn't have gone with you to the semi-formal. Lucas was pretty much her entire universe back then."

Lucas grimaces.

"That's true," Charlie says ruefully. "I really liked Riley. But more than that, I really wanted to impress her and everyone else with my dance ask. I didn't even think that Yogi could get hurt. But I've learnt my lesson, Maya." He steps closer, gazing into her eyes, his face nervous and earnest. His hand hovers over hers, as if he wants to reach out and take it, but he rests it against her locker instead. "I care more about the girl this time, and I want her to know that she's amazing, and that I like her very much, and that I really want her to go with me to the school dance."

Maya stares at him for a long moment, an unreadable expression on her face.

Lucas holds his breath. "Say no," he mutters. "Say no." But—

"Yes," Maya says finally. "That works."

"Yesss!" Charlie pumps his fist in the air. "Thanks, Maya!" He pulls Maya into a tight hug before letting go. "I'll see you later okay?"

He takes off down the corridor, leaving Maya staring after him, a smile on her face.

Lucas turns away and slumps against the wall. He feels sick, and his heart feels like it has dropped all the way down to his feet. The disappointment is a dead weight in his stomach. He's too late, he's lost his chance. Maya is going to the school dance with someone else. She's going with Charlie Gardner. Charlie Gardner with his stupid nice words, and his stupid heartfelt ask, which makes Lucas's dance ask now look pathetic. He wants to kick something.

He straightens, fresh panic shooting up his spine. He's going to have to retrieve his silly sheet of paper with his dance ask from Maya's locker. There's no way he can let her see it now. She'll pity him, and try to be nice to him to make him feel better. And he hates it when Maya's nice to him—

Okay, no, scratch that. Of course he doesn't hate it when Maya's nice to him (in fact, he damn near melts whenever she smiles at him sweetly, something she's been doing a lot more often in the past couple of months). But the teasing and bantering and making fun of him is something she does only with him. It's their game — just theirs, no one else's. It makes him feel special, makes him hope that he and Maya have a connection, a bond that she doesn't share with anyone else...

Lucas shakes his head to get rid of such distracting thoughts. Regardless of what he and Maya are, what is certain at this moment is that she's not going to the dance with him. He has to focus on what he has to do. He has to get his dance ask back.

He waits until Maya leaves before hurrying up to her locker just as the first bell rings. But when he opens it, he can't remember what book he slid the paper into, and he swears. He doesn't have much time before the second bells rings too, so he frantically riffles through all the books in the locker. But his dance ask isn't there. He probably put it in one of the books that Maya took with her.

Bloody hell.

...