Chapter 7
Exiting the apartment building, Maya and Liam called an Uber driver to take them to their destination. While sitting in traffic, Liam decided to crack a bunch of jokes to take away from the nervousness and the awkward situation that Riley and Smackle had created earlier. Maya was relieved that things were somewhat back to normal. She laughed at almost every joke he told, and even told a few jokes and funny stories of her own.
Reaching their destination, Maya widened her eyes at the building that they stopped in front of. It was about 3 stories high, but you could tell it was very classy, formal, and very expensive. Maya, never having really experience what having more money was like until her mom married Shawn, was not really sure how Liam could afford the food at this restaurant.
The host who was standing behind his stand inside the restaurant, his nose pointed in the air, gave the two teens the once-over, before he scoffed and gave a malicious smirk, one end of his lip tugged slightly.
"I'm sorry," he said, and Maya was surprised that she didn't hear a French or British accent. "But this isn't McDonald's. You must have the wrong restaurant. Run along now."
Maya raised an eyebrow at his snootiness, whereas Liam remained neutral. "This is The Comet Tulip, is it not?"
"Yes, it is. Now what do you two hooligans want?"
"Hooligans?" Maya mouthed behind her date, shaking her head at the words the old geezer was using.
"My aunt is Carol Patterson. She's supposed to be having a formal gathering in the party room upstairs," Liam explained. "I received an invitation to go to her party." He handed the host the invitation as proof. "Now, can you please stop acting like a stuck-up asshole and let us through, because I'm pretty sure you only make about twelve dollars an hour, so you shouldn't have your nose so high up in the air."
Maya's eyes widened at the burn as she watched the host's face carefully. He was turning red in anger and embarrassment as he grumbled something under his breath and allowed the two to pass. Liam grabbed Maya's hand as he led her upstairs.
"Damn, Liam. You're lucky he didn't call security on us, otherwise our asses would've been on the street." Maya laughed, as he brought her up the stairs.
Liam shrugged, giving Maya a toothy grin. "Hey, he was being an ass. I didn't want to start any trouble, but he was asking for it."
"Also, the only reason you're taking me out on a date is so you have a plus one at some party? What, are you trying to impress someone or something?" Maya asked.
"No. Parties like these always require some sort of accompaniment for some reason, and I've wanted to go out with you for a while anyway, so it was a win-win." Liam scratched the back of his head.
"And your aunt threw it in some restaurant where the employees are jackasses who think they can act like the elite but can't even feed themselves?"
"Pretty much," it was at this point that Maya laughed. "What?"
"I guess I've just never been to enough fancy-schmancy restaurants to know how the people are." Maya giggled, before she realized something. "Wait, throwing a party here is like friggin expensive, isn't it? What the heck does your aunt do?"
"Oh, she's on the board for one of the major hospital chains here in New York," Liam scratched the side of his face uncertainly.
Maya raised an eyebrow, "She's on the board, huh? And what title does she hold?"
"She's a…chairman?" Liam laughed nervously, "Or chairwoman, I should say."
Maya's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "Wait, what the hell? Chairwoman?! That's like…the top of the top! She's rich as hell! What do your parents do?"
"My mom is a doctor in one of those hospitals. And my dad is an executive chairman in the same…" Liam trailed off as his icy blue eyes met Maya's sky blue ones. Her jaw was dropped, and she looked like she just found a chest filled with gold or something.
"Y-you're rich! Holy shit, I'm actually on a date with a rich kid. Then again, I'm friends with Farkle and he's rich too but still, you're rich!" Maya was so shocked by this bit of news.
Liam cringed, "You're not going to view me differently because of that, are you?"
Maya tilted her head, "Based on how much money your family has?" She stopped walking, the party room only a few feet ahead. "What in the world would make you think that I would that?"
Liam shrugged, "Every girl I've gone out with—"
"…has only dated you for your money." Maya concluded, Liam nodding his head in embarrassment. "Well, you don't have to worry about that with me, Liam," she said sincerely. "I'd never go out with a guy for the amount of money that he has. Ever."
"Thanks, Maya. I never pegged you as the type to do that anyway," Liam said, a gorgeous smile resting on his face.
Maya sighed internally. How is it that she's pining after a guy who's already taken (by her best friend nonetheless), and yet there is this completely gorgeous and sexy guy right in front of her who would probably give her the whole world if she asked for it? She must've been pretty crazy.
She put her arm through his as he brought them towards the doors of the ballroom. There could've been at least 50 people there, and Maya has never felt more out of place. People sipped expensive champagne as classical music played in the background. They socialized in their expensive suits and dresses, eating their small portions of food.
There was a table filled with teenagers who were either on their phones or talking to their friends that sat next to them. They didn't seem as stuck up, but from the look of their clothes, Maya assumed that they were still spoiled.
Maya knew Liam could see her tensed expression, so he grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight. She saw an older woman walk up to them, her hair as dark as Liam's and she had a large smile on her face. When she stopped in front of them, Maya could practically smell her expensive Chanel perfume on her.
"Liam! So glad you could make it," she hugged him, and Maya could see his face reading "help me." She bit her lip just to keep herself from laughing. When Liam was released from the hug, the older woman looked at her, and the blonde could practically see her grin falter. "Who's this?"
"Aunt Carol, this is my date Maya Hart. Maya, this is my aunt Carol." Liam introduced them.
"It's nice to meet you," Maya plastered her fake smile.
Carol nodded, "Likewise." She then pulled Liam to the side, hoping that Maya didn't hear what she was going to say next. "I thought we discussed that you were going to bring Leslie Jenkins? We're supposed to be making a deal with her father's company, you know that…"
"And I thought that we discussed that I wasn't going to do that, and that Timothy was? You know that I'm not interested in anything related to the company." Liam rolled his eyes at his aunt.
Meanwhile, Maya walked around the room, watching the elite socialize and such when she bumped into someone. Her blue eyes land on green and it takes her two seconds for it to click.
"L-Lucas?!"
Said cowboy stares back at Maya with wide-eyes as well. "Maya? What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question. I'm here with Liam. We're on our date. His…um, aunt is the chairwoman for a large hospital chain here in New York and she threw a huge party, and Liam had to bring a plus one." Maya looked at her shoes.
"And so for a first date he decided to bring you here?" Lucas almost looked annoyed at that, and Maya raised an eyebrow at his peculiar tone of voice.
"Yeah…but I don't mind. If I were the one choosing the date, it most likely would've been a cliché: dinner and a movie, or maybe go to the arcade and eat a pizza. Plus it's not like I knew we were going to be here. It was supposed to be a surprise." Maya explained, watching Lucas with curiosity.
"Yeah, some surprise," Lucas muttered under his breath.
Okay…?
"Uh, what are you doing here?" Maya directed the conversation towards him, "How do you know Carol Patterson?"
"I don't," Lucas answered rather quickly. "I'm my…father's plus one."
"Your father's plus one?" Maya knew the situation between Lucas and his father, and it wasn't something to be all hunky-dory about either. Their relationship wasn't quite like a loving one, and Lucas rarely ever talked about his father. "But I thought he lives in Texas?"
"He does," Lucas admitted. "But apparently his company in Texas had something to do with Carol Patterson's hospital chain here, and since my parents are separated, he didn't want to take my mom so I was forced to come here." Lucas shrugged, "So here I am."
Maya nodded in understanding, glancing back at Liam who was still conversing with his aunt. He didn't seem too happy, and the same could be said for his aunt. Maya turned back to Lucas who was watching her the entire time. "It's funny, though."
"What is?"
"Riley and Smackle are actually over at my house right now, and they were supposed to invite you boys to come over so that when I got back from my date, we would all talk about it and stuff. But she never mentioned anything about you having plans…"
Lucas rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "That's because I didn't tell her."
Maya's eyes widened in shock and her mouth hung open a little bit, "What the heck, Huckleberry?"
"If I had told Riley that I was going to be with my father tonight, she would've demanded that she come with or something, as if to protect me from my father, make us make-up, or something like that," Lucas sighed, running a finger through his dirty blonde hair. "I don't need her to worry about my relationship with my father. As long as he stays in Texas and I stay in New York, he is the farthest thing from my mind."
"But Sundance that still doesn't excuse the fact that you didn't tell her where you were. For all she knows, you could be cheating on her with Missy Bradford or something-" he cringed, "-or simply running laps at the park and she would still get upset and freak out." Maya said.
"You're right," Lucas said, "I'll just text her now so that she doesn't have to worry if she can't reach me."
"Maya," she heard Liam's voice as she turned around, "I'm going to run out for just a second. Something went wrong with the catering, and they want me to go out and do something. Do you want to come with?"
"Um…" Maya looked at the raven haired boy and then back at her best friend, "I think I'll just hang out with Lucas until you come back."
"Okay. I'm sorry to walk out on you like this, but duty calls." He gave her a quick peck on the forehead as a thanks and ran out the room, two other men following after him. Maya didn't notice it, but that happened, a scowl came across the cowboy's face in annoyance.
"Wow, not even two hours into the date and he already walked out on me," Maya laughed at her little joke when she noticed a redhead walking up behind Lucas. "Um, don't look now but there's a redhead coming behind you and she looks like she wants to eat you or something."
Lucas turned around, his almost angry look turned into a look of confusion when the redhead came finally got to him. Maya examined the ginger closely. She was actually gorgeous, with red curly locks falling behind her back. Her eyes were a grayish-blue and she had small but plump pink lips. She wore a silk purple strapless dress that fell just below her knees and gold pumps as well.
"Hi there," her voice was rich like chocolate, "I couldn't help but notice you from across the room-"
Maya snickered from behind Lucas, and the ginger raised her eyebrow at the blonde in irritation. "Excuse me?"
"I'm sorry, but that is such a cliché line, I can't even. Are you even trying?" Maya laughed, causing some eyes to look at her in confusion.
"Is that a problem?"
"No, but you could at least try to not make it sound like such a cliché, ya know. Try to be original." Maya advised. She could feel her blood rising and her heart pounding out of her chest, but she chose to ignore it.
The redhead wasn't having it, "Who the hell are you, anyway?"
"Maya Hart," Maya was starting to hate this girl's attitude. "And you are, what, a terrible flirt and bitchy?"
"Okay, who invited you to this party, and why?" The terrible flirt asked.
"If you must know, I'm someone's date to the party, Liam Patterson? I believe you've heard of him, right? His aunt is the one who threw this party. And before you ask, no I am not going out with him because I want to be that type of girl who only dates people with money just because I don't have any. He asked me out, I said yes, and here we are."
"And yet, he's not with you," the bitch scoffed, a malicious smirk on her face. "Are you that terrible that he actually ditched you or something?"
"Actually, no. For your info, something went wrong with the catering and he went to see what the problem was. Now, who the heck are you and why are you such a stuck-up brat?"
"My name is Verity Peirce," Verity rolled her eyes at Maya. "My father is an executive chairman, as well as my mother." She turned her attention back to Lucas, her eye practically in the shape of hearts, "So anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah, I was wondering if I could get to know you better, away from this blonde commoner."
"This 'blonde commoner' is his best friend," Maya folded her arms angrily, "And no he will not like to get to know you better because he has a fucking girlfriend, who happens to be my best friend by the way, so you better get your snotty ass out of our faces and get back to your lame corner of rich friends who have nothing better to do but bitch about each other." And with that, Maya grabbed Lucas' hand and pulled him away from Verity, who was seething in anger.
She dragged Lucas out into the hallway and into a dark corner where no one could see them. When she made sure that no one had followed them out, she sighed and slid down the wall in exasperation, her eyes closed. Lucas slid down next to her, a big goofy grin on his face as he stared at her. Maya opened one eye that looked straight at him and she closed it. She couldn't help but reciprocate his smile.
"What?"
"You totally lashed out on her," Lucas commented.
"Well, I wasn't going to stand there and let her flirt with you." Maya shrugged, her eyes fully opened as she stared at Lucas. God, even in an area with barely any light his green eyes still shone like stars. The golden specks in his eyes seemed even brighter too.
"I think you're jealous," Lucas smirked, and Maya scoffed.
"Jealous? Huckleberry, did you forget that we just got in a fight over jealousy less than a week ago?" Maya rolled her eyes at his ignorance, "I didn't think you had such a poor memory."
"I don't have such a poor memory, for your information." Lucas scoffed, rolling his eyes as well. "And I was only joking, obviously."
"Yeah, okay," Maya laughed.
They sat there for a few moments in comfortable silence. Maya wondered when was the last time they did that without fighting or chatting about anything. Things have changed when Lucas started dating Riley, because whenever she was with one of them, the other would be right there. The intense moment in the classroom and the argument that they had a few days before were the only moments that Maya had Lucas to herself.
Maya just ran those last few words in her head and internally sighed, lowering her head. She can't have Lucas to herself. He has someone else that he loves. He didn't fight for her when she gave him up, because he had already loved Riley. Maybe he did like her too, but the fact that it was supposed to be him and Riley together as a couple must have made him come to a realization.
This had the blonde thinking: Why did Riley so desperately want Maya to go out with someone all of a sudden? She was fine being solo for almost a year. Sure, she dated here and there, but they were never serious enough and they usually lasted like a week or so before a mutual understanding was realized. But all of a sudden, Riley wants Maya to go out with someone instead of being her free single self?
Then Maya thought back to when Riley told her that Lucas hadn't said I love you a few weeks ago. Knowing Riley, there was definitely something she wasn't telling her when she said that. Maybe after the whole condom incident thing, she thought Lucas was only using her for sex? No, that's not it. Commitment issues?
Maybe Lucas was falling out of love?
Maya thought about that for a moment. They have been dating for a year, that's true. But they never really acted like a couple. They barely hold hands like they did at the start of their relationship, and they still act like they're back in seventh grade, with Riley gushing while Lucas just smiles at her (at least this interaction isn't as bad as before). Maya wonders if he really is starting to fall out of love with her best friend?
Wait…why is she so happy about that?
She looks at the other blonde next to her, who seems to either be taking a nap or resting his eyes. Her blue eyes goes from his face down to his hands, and she takes a sharp inhale of breath when she realizes that their fingers are still intertwined, and Lucas doesn't even seem to care. Maybe she shouldn't either.
After all, he doesn't belong to her.
AN: That Verity Pierce part is so cringy, but I kinda don't want to get rid of it because it gave me my Lucaya moment.
