I DO NOT OWN BIG TIME RUSH. Or Life
"So…" Maggie began, after another awkward moment spent in silence. Then, before she finished the sentence, she got up, went over to a medium-sized box, opened it up, took something out, and turned back to Carlos. "Wanna play Life?" She said, holding out the board game box to him. "I bought it 'cause my family really needs to get one." Carlos was in stitches as he took the box from her and began setting up the game. He only laughed because he knew Maggie was joking. He could tell that she loved her family, no matter how distant they were, from the stories she told him. He loved hearing the stories about her family, but he still hadn't heard her life story. As she helped Carlos set up the game, she wondered why she was keeping that story bottled up inside.
That's when Maggie realized that not only had no one ever told her their life story, she had never told anyone her's either.
But it didn't take long for Maggie to go from a hesitant start, to practically pouring her heart out.
"The day I was born, the weather forecast called for snow the whole day. My family was vacationing in Pennsylvania at the time. Even though my brother and sister were only two then, they were more excited for the snow than they were about me. It didn't start snowing until after I was born, though. My mom says that's because we all were celebrating, and the snowflakes were the sky's confetti." Carlos gave Maggie a genuine smile hearing that.
She smiled back and continued on with her story. "Ever since the day I was born I loved snow, but the only time I get to see it is at Christmastime. That's one of the reasons I love the holidays so much. Snow is always the best present. Well, that and being with my family. And getting to chop down our own Christmas tree. Plus we trade the sunshine as palm trees—" Maggie stopped herself. "I'm rambling, aren't I?" She asked Carlos.
He looked at her, telling her with his eyes that it didn't matter. He loved her story, even if she did go off on a tangent, because it was hers. She should be able to tell it however she wanted. Maggie smiled brightly, realizing that Carlos was letting her do what she couldn't help doing, but her life sometimes prevented her from doing. She wasn't just speaking her mind. Her life story was usually one she kept locked inside her heart.
Maggie couldn't help but wonder who gave Carlos the key as she got back to telling her story. "Basically what I'm saying is the weather is like summer all the time here, and spending Christmas in Pennsylvania with the snow is a nice change. We vacation there all the time and it's where my family has always celebrated Christmas. I wouldn't miss it for anything." She told Carlos dreamily, wallowing in the memories of Christmases before.
While absent-mindedly playing with the cuff of her blouse, Maggie reminded herself of something, and went on to a different point in the story all together. "I was home schooled up until high school, but even now I don't go to the same school as my siblings do. They've been in the same school all their lives, but now I'm stuck in private school, which explains the uniform. And I went in for extra help today, which explains why I'm wearing it on a Saturday."
"Stuck?" Carlos repeated, noticing her facial expression was a mix of annoyance and sadness. "Yeah, apparently I'm really smart or something, but I hate school. It's so lonely and boring. Maggie was tired of talking about her life like that, and Carlos was feeling more and more sorry for her every time she did. That quickly changed when she exclaimed: "I had a baby!" For a second, Carlos was caught off guard. Then he remembered what game he was playing and replied with a happy: "Congratulations!" Making himself and Maggie laugh.
"I shouldn't say school's all bad." Maggie admitted, after getting her excitement over her imaginary child under control. "I love learning. You know how they say 'you learn something new every day'? I agree with that. My dad taught me how to play sports so I would get my exercise every day. My mom thought it would be like torture for me, but I ended up loving it. It was always fun beating my brother my brother at any sport he was willing to compete against me in. This worried my mom though, so when I was nine, she introduced me to piano, to keep me well-rounded."
"And what happened?" Carlos asked, admitting to himself that he would have guessed that Maggie played piano way before he guessed she played hockey.
Maggie chuckled to herself. "I fell in love all over again. I bet you know what that feels like. Music is the absolute last place you'd ever picture yourself and then, suddenly, it just bursts out of you, and you can't remember why you ever held it back in the first place. Suddenly you know you're gonna be something, and you want to inspire people. It's like—"
"I'm not trying to be rude," Carlos interrupted, "but I'm bored." Maggie felt her throat getting dry, and her eyes getting wet. It was only when she looked up that she noticed Carlos looked as taken aback as she was. Even though she couldn't say so, she didn't understand. Carlos was shocked by his own words, and quickly added: "I'm kidding, girlfriend." Too quickly. Way too quickly.
"Did I just say 'I'm kidding, girlfriend'?" He asked, his sadness melting away when his embarrassment took over. Maggie didn't answer him, because she was too busy laughing so hard she almost cried.
She wiped her eyes and sat up again, since she'd fallen over because of her giggle fit, and spoke: "The only interesting thing I've done lately is tell my mom to get a job." "What?" Carlos asked, under laughs, pretty sure he'd misheard her. Maggie laughed at herself when she realized how she'd phrased that. "What I mean is she wanted to run her own business, and I suggested what she should do. She runs a modeling agency and magazine now." She said, putting her hands on her hips proudly." What does your dad do?" Carlos asked, wondering what job could lead to owning a five-story mansion. "He's an entrepreneur. He sells his inventions and household appliances." Maggie replied as she took her last turn and reached the mansion. It was not a satisfying victory, and she heaved a sigh thinking about how she was already in a mansion, and still not satisfied. She wanted to make something of herself. Live her dreams.
"Wanna play again?" Carlos asked, giving her a smile since she'd won. Maggie shook her head. "That's okay." Carlos seemed saddened by this. "So, that's it?" He asked, disappointed. "We're done with the game and you're done with your story?" Maggie thought about it as she put Life back in the box, and then a grin formed on her face. "Well, the story's not over yet." She told him, picking up the smallest box of them all. The one that had blocked the doorway to the elevator when they first met that afternoon.
"Guess what's in this box?" She asked Carlos eagerly, hurrying back over to him. "I know it's not a corn dog, because we would've torn into it way before now if it was." Maggie laughed. She couldn't believe she and Carlos had only known each other for a few hours and they already had inside jokes.
"Aside from the clothes, I bout a little something for myself. I told my family that what I want from each of them for Christmas is a charm, to put on this bracelet." "Why charms?" Carlos asked, just curious. Maggie shrugged. "I don't know. I think they're symbolic." She told him, opening the box from the top. "I want to find out how my parents and siblings see me, you know? If I'm a good person."
For Carlos, that wasn't even a question. Of course Maggie was a good person. He'd spent hours talking with her, and he knew that for a fact. As she pushed the box toward him so he could see the bracelet, Carlos thought about how he saw her. She was sweet, funny, screaming—screaming?
Carlos shook himself from his thought, and saw that the lights had gone off. And he felt Maggie's hands clinging to his as if the darkness would drag her away if she didn't hold on for dear life.
But then, she let go. "Sorry." She said. "In case it wasn't completely obvious, I'm afraid of the dark."
"It's okay." Carlos answered. Since his tone implied that he hadn't been bothered, Maggie thought he was talking about her little panic attack. She was surprised but relieved by that. Only Carlos had more to say. In an effort to comfort her and calm her down, Carlos pulled Maggie into a hug. "It's gonna be alright." He said. "I'll protect you."
Maggie had no doubt that he would. She knew that the dark couldn't hurt her, and she really had no reason to be afraid. What Carlos meant was that he would never let anything bad happen to her. No one outside her family had ever told her that, which is why it took Maggie awhile to hug Carlos back.
Once she did, she felt happy again. She knew she was safe.
"Mom, sit down. And put down the phone already." Katie was tired of watching her mother pace the floor, while holding the phone in a death grip. Mrs. Knight couldn't help it. She was so worried she couldn't think straight. And the apartment was an absolute mess. She couldn't stop walking in circles, and found herself listing all the things that could've happened to Carlos, each scenario phrased as a "what if" question. Frustrated, Katie looked at her brother, waiting for him to say something to calm their mother down. Before he got the chance, Gustavo—who was only there because 'it was his idea to have Carlos deliver the CD'—spoke.
"Relax. He'll be fine." "Relax?" Mrs. Knight repeated, practically shoving the word back down his throat. "Relax? What do you mean 'RELAX'?" Everyone else in the room jumped. Mrs. Knight was scarier than Gustavo at his worst. He tried not to seem fazed, though, and said: "Maybe he got stuck in an elevator." While Mrs. Knight ignored the statement completely and went back to freaking out, Katie asked: "They have an elevator in their house?" "As a matter of fact, they do." Mrs. Knight finally stopped pacing, and Gustavo, Katie and the boys turned around, to see Mr. Bitters coming through the open door. "And apparently Carlos has been trapped in it for eleven hours." "No kidding!" Mrs. Knight yelled sarcastically, almost switching back into full freak-out mode. While Mr. Bitters was annoyed by this, since she practically blew out his eardrums, he didn't say so. Instead, he said: "But the fire department just got there, so… quit worrying." He said, directing his gaze at Mrs. Knight before he walked out with "Goodnight." as his final word.
"Have a Palm Woods night." Katie mocked, summoning Kendall's ridiculous laugh. No one else could help but laugh either. Not even Falina, who appeared in the doorway then. She had a cell phone held to her ear and whispered: "Goodnight, everybody. Love you, bye." Before she closed the phone, she checked the time. "I should've said 'Good Morning'." She practically mumbled. But James overheard, since he was coming to the door to ask her something.
"It's 1:00 AM." She said, but was drowned out when James asked: "Were were you all day… yesterday?" "Why?" She asked him. "Did you miss me?" James blinked, not sure how to answer the question. He'd looked for her up until he came up with his plan to be extra nice to her—and he was sticking to that plan—but he didn't know if his "search" and plan counted as missing her.
"Sure." He answered finally, giving her a good laugh. Falina raised her eyebrows, but didn't know how to respond to that. So, she said: "I came to say Good Morning to you guys, so… Good Morning." "Good Morning." Everyone else chorused back, happily, surprised she stopped by just to say that. "Tell Carlos I said Good morning, okay?" Falina said, as she turned around and walked back down the hallway, her heels clicking the whole way. As she went, James could only wonder one thing: "What's she doing up at one in the morning?"
Richard Mercury ran a pale hand through his red hair. "Well, today was an adventure, huh?" He asked his sister Sarah, who was leaning on the wall opposite the elevator on Maggie's floor, having no idea that the spot would soon tell a story of its own. "We spent most of it searching for out sister when she didn't show up to work, only to find out she was here the whole time, trapped in an elevator with a member of your favorite boy band."
Sarah rolled her eyes angrily. "I'm so jealous, the good stuff always happens to Maggie." Richard shook his head. "You're at least happy we found her, right? If it wasn't for her backpack being hung by the door, we might have never known she was here unless we checked the security cameras."
"Yeah." Sarah answered. "Finding Maggie was the highlight of my day. Even though searching for her cut into my tan time. Oh, well." Sarah shrugged. "At least I got to see some cute firemen."
Maggie's eyes flickered open slowly, and her first instinct was to reach for the alarm clock. She wasn't in her room because she was still trapped in the darkened elevator unknowingly using Carlos's chest as her pillow. Unknowingly up until then, anyway.
"Oh, God!" At her outburst, Carlos woke up with a start. "What?" He asked her, sounding on-edge. Unlike her, he knew exactly where he was and wasn't freaking out just because of the "pile" they had found themselves in. He was also freaking out because light poured into the elevator, they were back on the ground floor, and, freakiest of all, they had seven pairs of eyes staring back at them.
Even though the only place in the Mercury mansion Carlos knew like the back of his hand was the elevator, he had no trouble finding a bathroom. Maggie even ran up the flight of stairs in her heels to use her parents' bathroom. In the meantime, Richard was trying to drag Sarah away from the wall again. "C'mon," He urged. "Mom and Dad are making breakfast for dinner." That was all it took to get her to stop staring after the firemen as they left the house, and go to the kitchen.
By that time, Carlos had gone looking for Maggie, since she had never come down from the second floor. Wondering how she could manage to get lost in her own house, he found himself on her floor. "Did you think I got lost?" He turned around at the sound of her voice, to see her poking her head out of her bedroom door. She walked out of her room to where he was standing in the hallway, in front of the elevator.
"I'm not good at goodbyes." Maggie admitted hesitantly. "We don't have to say goodbye." Carlos replied, but he was only being hopeful. He had a feeling that whatever she was about to tell him was not good news. The look on her face made that obvious.
"But… we do." She said, her eyes locked on his. "My parents don't just plan my diet. They pick my friends."
Carlos blinked, trying his best to comprehend that. He'd always been told that friends were the family he chose. Why didn't Maggie get that choice? She deserved it.
Almost as if she read his mind, Maggie said: "I'm sorry Carlos. I wish it didn't have to end this way. I wish it didn't have to end ay all." Her eyes told him she would throw all her lucky pennies into the well at Palm Woods Park if it meant the two of them could stay friends. She would wish on every star in the sky, and all the dandelions she could find. She would even pluck out all her eyelashes. In that moment, Carlos didn't know what to do. All he knew was that he would do the same.
He would do almost anything to have her in his life. There had to be a reason they'd met, and he wasn't ready to forget about her. He couldn't just let it go.
Neither could Maggie. Which is why she opened up the bracelet box that she was still holding. She cupped the bracelet in her hand and unhooked the clasp. Carlos watched her, full of curiosity and amazement. She locked her gaze on him again as she put the bracelet around his wrist.
"Maggie, you don't h—" She interrupted his wonderstruck stammering with one serious look. "I wanted this to mean something, and now it does." "What am I supposed to give you?" He asked her, the sadness he felt showing in his voice. Maggie put some thought into that question, looking around for inspiration.
But, of, course, the answer wasn't written on the walls. Maggie turned back to see Carlos holding his shirt out to her, and wondered how he got it off so face, since he his striped sweatshirt was back on. She couldn't say what she was thinking, though. Maggie just stared straight in front of her.
"Oh, uh, sorry." She said slowly, blinking herself out of her trance. "I got distracted." Carlos blushed, embarrassed, while Maggie took the shirt from him. She slung it over her shoulder before walking closer to him. They were so close that his sneakers and her bare feet touched. It was then he noticed that Maggie had changed out her school uniform into pink silk pajamas.
"Good Morning." Maggie mumbled her goodbye, as she zipped up Carlos's sweatshirt for him. She only mumbled because she didn't want to say goodbye. Sighing, she gave him a quick hug. But Carlos didn't answer her.
He couldn't answer her, because he was too busy having flashbacks. He saw Maggie's eyes sparkle as he told her his stories. He saw them glaze over with tears as he cracked an excuse for a joke that was only made for his own distraction. Because he had to stop her from talking.
Because Carlos wasn't bored by anything she said. He was mesmerized. And the reason he stumbled over his words and accidentally blurted the word 'girlfriend'? That was just another wish.
Maggie took one last sad look at Carlos and turned to go back to her room. Suddenly, Carlos grabbed her hand and she spun back into his arms.
Carlos cupped her face and kissed her passionately. He eyes widened in surprise, but soon her surprise turned to passion as well, and Maggie wrapped her arms around his neck. Aside from being completely unexpected, the kiss was as close to perfect as either of them could've hoped for, but it was heartbreaking all the same. Because there would always be more to say. And there was no time left to say it. Not even in the one minute they spent kissing goodbye.
Thanks for reading, please review! Happy Holidays!
