Chapter 9: Maya Meets Holiday Party

To: Josh Matthews
You're coming tonight, right?

New Message
From: Josh Matthews
Yep. I'll be there. When are you getting there?

To: Josh Matthews
I'm pre-gaming right now. I'll start getting ready in probably half an hour

New Message
From: Josh Matthews
Pre-gaming? I didn't know it was that kind of event?

To: Josh Matthews
I don't know that it is either. But the day I'm having, it's going to be :)

Maya tossed her phone on the couch and made her way back into the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of Vodka out of her freezer pouring herself another shot. Without thinking she tossed her head back, swallowing the shot with ease. She immediately repeated her actions, pouring herself yet another full shot of Peppermint Vodka. She heard her phone ding from the couch and walked over to pick it up.

New Message
From: Josh Matthews
Everything okay…?

To: Josh Matthews
Peachy.

New Message
From: Josh Matthews
What're you drinking?

Maya went and poured herself another shot and quickly took a picture of it before swallowing the cold liquid. She sent the picture to Josh without a word attached.

New Message
From: Josh Matthews
Jesus. That's about the size of two shots, Maya. How many of those have you had?

Maya rolled her eyes, he was exaggerating.

To: Josh Matthews
Like three. I'm good.

New Message
From: Josh Matthews
You're not driving are you?

To: Josh Matthews
Settle down, Matthews.

Maya didn't feel the need to explain herself to Josh at the moment. She had planned on Anna picking her up and taking her to the party tonight. Maya was a little reckless, but she wasn't stupid. As she finished getting ready, her phone buzzed again.

New Message
From: Josh Matthews
Let me know if you need me to pick you up.

Maya rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure why Josh's concern was getting to her tonight, but it was. She didn't need him taking care of her.

I have a boyfriend. She reminded herself. That's what he's here for. Except that Austin wasn't there, she hadn't seen him in a few days, and he had no idea that Maya even had an event tonight. Maya sighed, shook her head and poured herself one more shot.

New Message
From: Anna
I'm here! :)

Maya looked at the bottle in her hand and wasn't quite ready to put it away for the next several hours. She opened her cabinet door and pulled out a flask covered in splattered paint. Maya quickly poured her Peppermint Vodka into the flask, spilling some on her hands in the process. Dammit. She cursed at herself, closing the lid and washing the side of the flask, along with her hands, off in the sink. Perfect. She thought with a smile and slid the flask into her back pocket with ease. She smiled to herself and bit her tongue slightly. Perfect. She repeated, her tongue feeling numb already. She paused for a moment before reaching back into her cabinet grabbing a second flask filling it to the top as well. Maya smiled to herself, proud of how prepared she was for the night. She dropped the second flask in her purse and headed out the door.

"Anna!" Maya cheered hopping into Anna's car.

"Hey Maya, how's it going?" Anna said with a smile.

"Awesome. How've you been?" Maya was quick to flip the conversation away from her and to whomever she was with. Most of her thoughts lately circled around frustrations she was having with Austin, and the last thing she wanted to do was give people a reason to dislike her boyfriend.

"It smells like peppermint…" Anna finally said, her nose scrunched up trying to identify where the smell was coming from.

"Oh… that's me." Maya smiled sheepishly. She leaned forward and pulled the flask out of her back pocket. "Peppermint Vodka?" She asked with a toothy grin.

"Oh my God, Maya," Anna laughed.

"I might have had a few drinks before you picked me up."

"Maya!" Anna laughed again. "You know the whole faculty is going to be there tonight, right?"

"I do know that." Maya nodded and unscrewed the lid to her flask, taking another drink quickly.

Anna shook her head at her friend.

"Hey, Anna?" Maya asked looking out the window after about half an hour.

"Yeah?"

"Do you… know where we're going?"

"Um… kind of?"

Anna and Maya both started laughing

"Okay, I'm gonna text Josh and see if he made it," Maya said with a smile.

To: Josh Matthews
Hey gramps, you make it out there yet?

New Message
From: Josh Matthews
First of all, I am not a grandpa. Second, you better not be driving. And third, yes. I just got here. Where are you?

To: Josh Matthews
You are a grandpa. I'm riding with Anna. And we're lost, I think she's taking me somewhere to dump my dead body.

Almost immediately after sending that last text, Maya's phone started ringing: Josh Matthews.

"Hellooooo?" Maya said with a smile and an evident slur in her voice.

"Maya…"

"What's up, Boing?" Maya let the old nickname slip out of her mouth.

"Maya," Josh almost sounded like he was scolding her. "Where are you?"

"I told you, I'm with Anna, she's going to kill me and drop my body somewhere,"

Anna started laughing from the driver's seat. "It's true," She nodded.

Maya smiled and shrugged. "It was really nice knowing ya, buddy."

"Maya."

Anna was rounding the corner and the girls saw the big house decorated with Christmas lights, and a few cars in the driveway.

"What are you wearing?" Maya asked, seeing Josh outside by his car.

"What?!" Josh asked confused.

"We're pulling in, Matthews, settle down." Maya said and hung up her phone, quickly tossing her flasks into the glove compartment of Anna's car.

Anna rolled down her window as Dr. Kyle, the professor who's house they were at, greeted the girls and helped direct them where to park.

Maya's eyes lit up as she saw a three-story treehouse lit with white lights in the backyard. I'm getting on that. She told herself.

"Josh is here already, Sarah is inside, a few faculty have already made it too. It's so great to see you girls!" Dr. Kyle said with a smile as Maya and Anna exited the car.

Maya smiled sweetly, trying to cover the buzz she was currently in the midst of.

Josh quietly walked up behind Maya. "Maya," he whispered.

Maya nearly jumped, not noticing Josh creep up on her. "Matthews,"

"You smell like straight up Vodka."

Maya's eyes grew and she looked back at Josh quickly. "I do not,"

Josh nodded. "You do."

"Well, it's Peppermint Vodka, so at least it smells festive." Maya smiled with sass coating every word. "You want a drink?" She asked raising her eyebrow.

Josh paused for a second, What the hell? He thought. He nodded slightly.

A sly smile crept on Maya's lips. "Hey, Anna, could I borrow your keys real quick?" She hollered at her friend before she made it inside.

Anna turned toward Maya and tossed the keys her direction. Josh reached his long arm out and intercepted the throw before Maya missed and they hit her in the face.

"See ya!" he teased Anna.

"You can have it," Anna laughed.

Josh and Maya walked over to the passenger side of Anna's car. Maya sat in the front seat, grabbing her flask out of the glove compartment. She quickly took another swig of the Christmas flavored drink then held the flask in Josh's direction.

"This is real cute," Josh teased as he eyed Maya's flask.

"Shut up and drink it." Maya rolled her eyes.

Josh took a drink and handed the flask back to Maya, who then took another drink.

"You're gonna have a rough morning tomorrow," Josh shook his head at the petite blonde.

"Eh." Maya waved his comment off and took another swig.

"Come on, let's get in there." Josh suggested, holding his hand out to help Maya out of the car.

Maya gently grasped Josh's hand, standing up quickly, almost immediately losing her balance, her head spinning.

Josh tightened his grip on Maya's cold hand, steadying her before she fell back down. "Jesus, Maya…"

Maya could hear the concern in his voice, but she ignored it, and pressed a smile on her face. "I'm fine."

Josh didn't push the issue, instead, he walked right next to Maya into the house, his hand gently placed on her back, subtly supporting her.

When they got inside, Maya instantly fell into place with the other girls from class, Josh held court with his own group of girls. Maya did her very best to ignore the laughs Josh was eliciting from the girls he was sitting with. He really is that charming. Maya thought to herself. She picked at the food on the plate in front of her, not really hungry, but more than that, not wanting her buzz to completely disappear. After about half an hour, she excused herself from the group, still holding on to Anna's keys, she made her way back outside. Maya sat down in the passenger seat once again, her legs hanging out the open door. She quickly grabbed her flask, twisted the cap open and took a few big drinks. She frowned when she realized she had almost finished her first flask. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes momentarily. When she opened them back up, she once again, almost jumped out of her skin, noticing Josh standing at the end of the open car door.

"What are you doing…?" He asked softly. "And give me those," He said holding out his hand for Anna's keys.

Maya forced a smile onto her face. "Having a good time, Matthews. What are you doing?" She pressed, dangling the keys between the two of them.

Josh's eyebrows were pulled together in concern once again.

Maya threw her head back and groaned. "I'm fiiiiiine," she assured him. "It's the last week of class, can't I just celebrate a little?"

Josh nodded. "You can. Is that what you're doing, just celebrating?" He asked. He hadn't seen Maya like this before, and he was concerned. He grabbed the keys out of her hands with ease.

Maya huffed at his quick move. She looked over at the large treehouse, still glowing with Christmas lights. "I'm going to play on that…" She whispered. She took one final drink from her flask, finishing it off, and stood up.

Josh's eyes followed every move Maya was making.

Maya turned over her shoulder, looking at Josh as she made her way to the treehouse. "You coming?"

Josh looked around and took a deep breath. He shut the door to Anna's car and followed Maya.

Maya jumped onto the first tier platform with ease.

Please be careful. Josh thought. He knew Maya had been drinking quite a bit, and that was the last thing they needed; her getting hurt, while drunk, at their professor's house.

"Rock wall!" Maya said with excitement, finding her route to the next level of the treehouse.

"Maya, be careful…" Josh warned.

Maya looked back at Josh who was taking the all too boring route up the treehouse.

"Stairs are for squares, Matthews!" She smiled and kept climbing.

The two made it to the top level of the tree house, sitting higher than the roof of the single-story house the rest of their class was sitting in.

Maya sat down, crossing her legs. She exhaled deeply, closing her eyes.

Josh didn't say anything. He continued to watch every move she made. Even like this, a little drunk and reckless, Maya was beautiful, he couldn't deny it.

Maya opened her eyes and glanced up at the sky, stars shining like the sky's own set of Christmas lights. "This. This is what I want to remember."

Josh nodded, he had to admit, this was a memory he wouldn't forget. Maya was just the right amount of wild to make things memorable. No one else was out on the treehouse, no one else was enjoying the stars and Christmas lights. This is what he wanted to remember too.

Maya's lips pulled together on one side. "I need another drink…"

"Maya, no you don't…" Josh said shaking his head.

Maya looked taken aback. She and Josh were friends, but he didn't know her well enough to tell her when she'd had enough to drink; he didn't know what was going on in her life.

But he tried.

Maya whipped the second flask out from her back pocket.

Josh's eyes grew. "Is everything okay…?" he asked cautiously. "You just seem…"

Maya raised an eyebrow, waiting to see where Josh was going with this and took a drink.

Josh sighed, he didn't know what she seemed. Was she sad, was she angry, was she actually just cutting loose for one night?

Maya jumped up from her seated position, practically bouncing on her toes. "I'm fine, Josh." She assured him. "I'm just trying to have a good time," She said holding on to the rail of the tree house siding, leaning over the edge.

"Maya…" Josh said in a warning tone, wrapping his hands around Maya's small waist, pulling her back over inside the treehouse.

"Maya?!" A voice from the ground called up with a slight laugh.

It was Maya's advisor and mentor, Dr. H. She closed her eyes and exhaled. "Hi, Dr. Hall," She waved.

"What are you doing up there?" He laughed.

"Oh, you know… couldn't resist a treehouse," She said with her classic Maya grin.

Josh stood up, also waving at their professor. "Hi, Dr. H."

"Josh," Dr. Hall continued to laugh. "You two have the right idea," he said with a nod.

Maya smiled brightly then turned her smile toward Josh, "See?"

"I'll see you guys inside," Dr. H. said with a wave.

Maya and Josh waved back to their professor as he went inside.

"I don't want to go back in," Maya whined, sliding back down to the floor.

"Oh, yes you do. You love those people." Josh reminded her.

A small smile tried to creep onto Maya's face, "I do…" She trailed off. A few moments passed and a large gust of wind blew through the treehouse causing Maya's hair to blow around wildly. She shivered at the feeling of the cold winter night touching her neck and ran her hands up and down her arms.

"Yeah, where's your coat, Maya?" Josh asked noticing the slight shiver in Maya's frame now.

"I got really hot," She said with a shrug.

Josh slid his thick coat off his shoulders, placing it over Maya, "Yeah, alcohol tends to do that to you."

Maya looked up at him, "Thank you," She whispered as she wrapped herself in his coat. She took a deep breath, breathing in his scent that was engulfing her.

After a few more moments sitting outside watching the stars, Josh could see Maya was still shaking slightly. "Let's go inside. You're freezing."

Maya didn't notice she was still shivering until Josh pointed it out. She looked up at him, and he nodded toward the house. "Fine," Maya finally caved. "Two things," She told Josh with a pointed look. "One, we're going down this slide."

Josh laughed and nodded, "Okay, and two?"

"Anna's car before we go back in." Maya said holding up the flask in her hand, quickly taking another drink.

Josh rolled his eyes, "Alright, let's go." He said.

Maya smiled widely. She wrapped Josh's coat around her tightly and positioned herself at the top of the tall slide. With that same wide smile still stretched across her face, Maya pushed herself down the slide, laughing the whole way down, the wind blowing her hair back as she descended.

Josh couldn't help at smile at Maya as she truly enjoyed sliding down the three-story slide.

"Come on, Matthews!" She teased from the ground. "Don't make me come back up there!"

Josh shook his head, and having to duck more than Maya, he scrunched down, sitting at the top of the slide. It took him less time to make his way to the ground, his legs seemingly twice the length of Maya's.

"So fun!" Maya said still smiling, a laugh breaking through. "Come on," She said with a nod toward Anna's car.

Josh followed Maya silently as she returned to her spot in the passenger seat.

Maya quickly grabbed her flask, taking a large drink. She held the open flask toward Josh, offering him close to the last drink.

Josh shook his head, "I'm good, Hart,"

Maya shrugged and tilted the flask upside down, finishing the remaining Vodka herself. She exhaled heavily. "Much better," She smiled.

"Come on," Josh again nodded toward the house.

Maya pouted a little, she was enjoying her time outside, alone, with Josh.

Josh again extended his hand to help Maya out of the car.

"Where have you two been?!" Sarah asked as Josh and Maya re-entered the house.

"Treehouse," Maya said without missing a beat.

Sarah eyed Maya up and down, noticing she had Josh's coat on, and that Josh was standing protectively close to the blonde. Sarah nodded, "Okay…"

Maya smiled and walked over to the group of students sitting on and around the couches in the living room.

"Scott. You're not hitting on Taylor, are you?" Maya said eyeing the playboy of the class who was sitting dangerously close to the most innocent girl in the program.

"What?!" Taylor exclaimed.

"You better not be." Maya held her gaze with the dark skinned, tall, brown-eyed boy. He was dangerous, and Taylor was too much like Riley for Maya to let him creep in on her.

The rest of the class laughed at Maya calling Scott out. He was absolutely hitting on Taylor.

Maya sat down next to Taylor, pulling her attention away from Scott, and the two girls quickly began talking about Christmas plans once the semester finally finished.

"Hey Maya, how do you feel about BJ's?" Sarah asked.

Maya turned her head, slightly confused, "I mean… I'm not the biggest fan of them, but I'll do it." She said with a shrug.

Josh's cheeks immediately flushed, Maya didn't realize what she just said.

Sarah and the other girls burst out laughing, "Maya," Sarah said trying to catch her breath. "We're talking about going to BJ's after to get some drinks."

Maya's eyes grew and she rolled her lips in, pressing them together. Her eyes caught Josh's; he was shaking his head slightly, trying to hold back his own laughter.

"Maya," Kameron laughed.

Maya played it off well, "I was real confused why you guys were asking me about that… But no, I'm down for BJ's after we leave here." She said with a smile and raised her eyebrow slightly, holding her gaze with Josh.

Jesus. He thought and swallowed hard. What is she doing?

The class stayed another half hour at Dr. Kyle's house before everyone started gathering their things to head home.

"You coming to BJ's?" Maya asked Josh.

He nodded. "For a little bit. Need a ride?"

Maya bit her lip, "Do you mind? I don't think Anna wants to go…"

"Come on," Josh nodded toward his car.

Maya sat down in Josh's passenger seat and a yawn immediately hit her.

Josh laughed slightly, "Finally hitting you?" He asked.

Maya immediately yawned again. "Jesus," she scolded herself.

"We don't have to go if you don't want to…"

Maya whimpered a little, she wanted to go. She didn't want the night to be over.

"We can just go back to your place" Josh looked at the pout on her face.

"Hmm..." Maya hummed. He said we. She thought to herself.

Josh kept his eyes on Maya, glancing back at the road momentarily as she made her decision. "Your place?" He finally pressed.

Maya nodded. "But I'm not ready for the night to be over..."

Josh thought for a second, "You didn't finish all of your Vodka did you?"

A smile crept onto Maya's face as she shook her head.

Josh nodded and changed lanes, heading to Maya's apartment instead of the restaurant.

When they arrived her apartment, Josh noticed Maya didn't even have a coat with her. "Maya, you didn't even bring a coat at all tonight?" He asked confused.

"Listeeeeeen," Maya rolled her eyes as she climbed out of the car, shutting the door behind her. "I've been drinking since about 4 this afternoon. I've been burning up!"

"It's 30 degrees out here,"

"It is not." Maya stared at him with a pointed look.

Josh grabbed Maya's hand, "Your hands are freezing,"

Maya didn't pull her hand away from Josh's touch. "A coat would not have made my hands any warmer. I don't think you're allowed to use the three years older crap anymore, Matthews. Really." She teased squeezing his hand slightly.

Josh shook his head, "Come on," he said placing his hand on her back again, walking the two of them across the street to her front door, his coat still hanging loosely down Maya's body.

"Hmm..." Maya said rummaging through her freezer. "Vodka... Tequila... Whiskey?" She asked Josh who was getting a fire started in the fireplace.

"Whiskey." Josh said assuredly.

"Gross. All yours." Maya said grabbing the Whiskey bottle and the Vodka out of the freezer. "Here ya go," She smiled holding the bottle in Josh's direction.

"Just straight out of the bottle?" He asked looking up at Maya.

Maya shrugged, "It's alcohol, it sanitizes itself."

Josh couldn't argue with her logic, he took the bottle from Maya's hand, twisted the cap off and took a swig.

Maya walked to the couch grabbing a few pillows and blankets bringing them over by the fire. She curled up, wrapping herself in a blanket facing Josh.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Josh asked taking another drink, looking around the apartment.

Maya shrugged. "I actually don't know," Her face had fallen even more with the mention of her absentee boyfriend. She looked down. "I haven't seen him in a couple of days,"

Josh tried to control his facial expression when he heard what Maya had just said. "What do you mean?" He asked.

Maya shook her head again, "I don't know… I haven't really heard from him." She took a deep breath. "It's fine," She said forcing a smile across her face and she took a drink from her bottle.

It's not fine. Josh thought. How could anyone treat her like that? He questioned. He hadn't formed much of an opinion on Austin; Maya seldom talked about him. But this rubbed Josh the wrong way. Maya didn't deserve that kind of treatment. He could see Maya's eyes shining with tears threatening to fall. "Ah, fuck him," Josh said trying to lighten the suddenly tense air between the two of them.

"That's about all we do," Maya said under her breath with an eyeroll. She took another drink when her eyes caught Josh's face. "Sorry," she laughed.

Josh had an eyebrow raised, his eyes holding onto Maya's. He wasn't letting go. He couldn't let go.

The electricity between Josh and Maya was palpable. Neither of them could deny it, and neither were trying. This is bad. Maya thought to herself. She could feel her heart racing, her whole body felt like it was on fire.

Josh couldn't hold back anymore, he wasn't sure if it was the alcohol, or the fire, or what made him do it, but without thinking, Josh leaned in and cupped Maya's face gently, bringing her face closer to his, their lips fractions of inches away from each other.

Maya exhaled and finally broke their eye contact looking down, leaning her forehead forward, it resting against Josh's, her eyes closed. This almost physically hurt. Even through her drunken, clouded mind, she knew this wasn't the right time. "Josh," she breathed.

Josh nodded knowingly. "Sorry,"

"God, please don't apologize." Maya said finally looking back up at him, his hand still cupped around her jaw, his thumb gently resting on her cheek. They held each other's gaze again, both feeling pulled toward the other, yet something in them fighting it at the same time. This was what they did; this is the game they always played, but it was wearing on them both. Maya wasn't sure how much longer they could keep this up.


End of Chapter 9!

That was so fun! I hope you guys enjoyed it. I think it's pretty clear Maya is going through some stuff, and I love that Josh notices and is there for her. I think they both know he very much cares for Maya, and they're both in a tough position right now. I know what you're probably thinking, WHY MAYA, WHY?! Me too. I wasn't expecting her to do that either, honestly. But there's so much going on with her right now, it wasn't the right time. Hang with me, guys, life is complicated, but that doesn't make it any less beautiful!
Let me know what you thought, I can't wait to keep moving forward.

Readers and reviewers: YOU GUYS SET A NEW MMW RECORD LAST CHAPTER! I cannot tell you what you did to my heart! It means SO much to me that you are all reading and seeming to enjoy where this story is going. Because you crushed not one, but TWO crazy stats last week, I posted two teasers on my Twitter! If you're not following, head on over, you'll get all the Maya Meets World update info and teases! I also simply LOVE connecting with you guys! My username is MandaLou52 ;)

Until next time, my loves,
Be kind. Do good.
xoxo Manders

Chapter 10: Maya Meets 24 (it's Maya's 24th birthday!)