Chapter Thirty-Three, Pinky Swear, Part 1
"What do you think, Josh?" Maya asked her boyfriend after ending her phone call with her father.
"I don't know, Maya..." Josh muttered as he released a heavy sigh. Throughout his girlfriend and her biological father's phone conversation, he had an uncomfortable feeling in his gut as he listened to Kermit update her on his health status, as well as attempt to convince her to join his new family for Thanksgiving.
"I'm not sure how many Thanksgivings I have left, Maya...so I'd love for you to join us this year..."
"The fact that he's still not telling you what his disease is...I just don't know what to make of that...I mean, I'm not saying he's making it up...I just...I just don't get why he's still not telling you what he's sick with, you know? I just think it's a lil weird..." Josh stated matter-of-factly.
"I don't know..." Maya murmured. "I mean, it just sounds like he doesn't want to talk about it on the phone, you know? Like, he wants to do it when we meet in person...maybe on Thanksgiving..."
"So, you're gonna go?" Josh asked her curiously.
"I don't know," Maya sighed. "I don't know if I'm ready to do that...what do you think? Should I go?"
"I think it's time to tell your parents what's going on, Maya," Josh stated passionately. "I know I sound like a broken record, but you need to let them know tonight about this phone call and everything else."
Maya nodded as she brushed her hand nervously through her hair.
"You can do it, Ferret," Josh encouraged her as he grasped her hand and squeezed it gently. "We're gonna do it together, ok? When I drop you off tonight, we can tell them. It's going to be ok."
Maya smiled softly at him. "I hope so," She murmured. "Thanks Josh."
"You're welcome Ferret," Josh retorted with an affectionate smile before pulling her into his arms for a warm embrace. He rubbed her back soothingly as Maya buried her face on his shoulder.
"Um...Boying?" Maya muttered his nickname in a muffled tone as she remained in his arms.
"Yeah?"
"Can we just dance now? I don't wanna do anything else. I just wanna dance with you to a very slow song...and then to a very fast song...and then we can kiss...and then we can cuddle for a lil bit, and then that's it. So, can we just do that tonight?"
Josh grinned amusedly at her comment as he continued to rub her back in a slow, rhythmic motion. "That sounds good, Babe, but what about food? You're not hungry? We got all this stuff at the market so that we could make some tacos tonight."
"Sorry Josh, I'm just not hungry right now. And I know I always tell you I don't like to cook, but I just don't feel like cooking right now...I just...I just wanna do something that's gonna help me not think about anything anymore...so yeah, let's dance!"
"What are you thinking about? Your Dad?" Josh asked her curiously as he pulled away from her so they could make eye-contact.
Maya sighed. "Yeah," She answered him. "About telling my parents...about how Shawn is going to react to everything after I tell him..."
"Maya, Shawn loves you- a lot," Josh found himself reassuring her. "He sees you like his biological daughter. Your Dad coming back into the picture- that's not gonna change anything for Shawn. He's fully committed to you and your Mom so you don't have to worry about his reaction. No matter what happens, I know he's always gonna want to be your Dad and to protect you. You just have to let him do it. So yeah, no need to worry. Ok?"
Maya nodded solemnly. "You don't think he's gonna freak out about my Dad, and Thanksgiving, and him being sick, and everything else?"
"He might," Josh retorted. "Your Mom too probably. But knowing Shawn, I know his first instinct will be to stay strong for you and your Mom, and to support you guys. So he'll hide whatever he's feeling. Later on, he'll just go cry to Cory, the love of his life. So yeah."
Maya grinned in amusement at his comment.
"But he is in love with you and your Mom, Maya. I've never seen Shawn so happy," Josh continued. "And I don't think your Dad coming back into the picture will change anything. He's here to stay."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Maya muttered as she sat down on one of the chairs by the kitchen counter and stared at the brown, wooden surface. "I love him too. A lot," She whispered. No matter what happened, she never wanted to lose Shawn.
"Then let him be there for you, Maya," Josh urged her as he placed his arm affectionately around her shoulder. "Let him be your Dad. Tell him everything so he can protect you. That's all he wants. He knows there's something wrong. He asked me once if I could tell him but I told him I couldn't say anything. I told him I would talk to you and get you to talk to him...but then the whole Zay thing happened, and then Riley and Lucas breaking up...and things just got crazy. But you can tell him now Maya. I think he's going to be pretty relieved actually when you finally tell him what's been going on. You know what I mean?"
Maya beamed at him. "Yeah, I know. Thanks again, Josh...for everything..."
"Awww, you're always welcome, Ferret," Josh grinned widely at her. "Now, it's almost 5:30, and um...I'm a bit hungry so...I think it will take like half an hour to get the tacos ready. You don't have to do anything. Just sit back, relax, and choose the songs you want to dance to, and I'll handle the cooking alright?"
Maya frowned. "Nah Boing, I feel bad. I'm gonna help you."
"You sure? You don't have to. It's ok," Josh told her as he started removing the ingredients from the grocery bags.
"Nah, I'll help. I'll feel bad if I'm just lazying around on my bum while you do all the work. So, just tell me what to do."
"Ok," Josh responded with a warm smile. "I love cooking with you, Maya."
Maya giggled. "We've only done it once, Josh. You say it like we do it all the time."
Josh chuckled. "I know. But that one time was really fun. We had a great time making water soup."
"My soup was terrible, Josh. Plus, I almost burned down your apartment. I'm trying to forget that that day ever happened, to be honest."
Josh laughed. "Oh come on! It was not that bad. Definitely one of our best dates by far!"
"Nah. You know what our best date was?" Maya stated.
"What?"
"When we randomly went to the beach during the summer, and we went to that restaurant, and you piggybacked me, and I beat you in ping-pong- that was our best date by far. I'll never forget it."
Josh grinned as he thought warmly of the memory. "Yeah, me neither," He agreed.
Maya approached him, wrapped her arms around him securely before gazing into his eyes with a fond smile.
"What?" Josh questioned her. "What is it? You want a kiss?"
"Nope," Maya shook her head as she kept staring at him. Josh raised his eyebrows curiously at her.
"I'm not taking off my shirt again, Maya," He told her forcefully.
Maya burst out laughing. "That's not what I want right now," She responded.
"Ok good. So, what is it?"
"I'm just looking at you, Honey. Just look back at me. That's all," Maya responded with an amused smile.
Josh grinned. "Ok."
For a few quiet seconds, their hearts raced as they stood gazing into each others' eyes before Maya broke the serene silence between them.
"Oh, I got you grapes from the market. Over there!" She eagerly pointed out the bowl of grapes she had placed earlier on the counter.
Josh gasped in excitement as he immediately reached into the bowl and started eating the grapes.
"Oh my gosh, they're so good!" He cried out excitedly as he ate some more.
Maya grinned in amusement as she watched him.
"When did you get 'em? We were together like the whole time. I don't remember you buying any grapes?"
"Remember when I told you I needed to use the bathroom?" Maya pointed out with a mischievous smile.
"Ohh..." Josh intoned. "So smart, Ferret. Thanks so much! I love 'em. And you should probably eat some now cos I'm literally gonna finish these in like the next two seconds. Once I start, I can't stop myself."
Maya laughed. "It's ok. I already ate some before when you were changing. The rest is yours."
"Gracias!" Josh muttered before devouring the rest of the grapes. "Alright, let's start cooking?"
"Yep."
"Awesome. Here, you wanna start recording?" He handed her his camera. "I set it to video mode. So we can do the second edition of Maya's Kitchen!"
Maya grinned excitedly. "Ok. But you can't show anyone the video, Josh. You can't post it anywhere either. I'm not trying to be a professional vlogger on Youtube. So I really hope this video just stays on your camera. If not, you're dead to me, Joshua Matthews."
Josh chuckled. "Alright, I won't show anyone, I promise...um, I showed Andrew the last video but he was the only one I showed it to."
"Wait, WHAT?!" Maya exclaimed in horror. "Josh! You weren't supposed to do that!"
"I know. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! It's just...you were so cute, Babe," Josh stated. "And it was a hilarious video and I just couldn't stop myself from sharing it...and Drew was right there so...I showed him. He thought it was really funny and cute too."
"That's it! We're definitely not filming this," Maya announced decisively as she set the camera down.
"Oh come on, Baby! I said I was sorry! I'm not gonna show anyone again. I promise!" Josh exclaimed.
"Nope. I don't believe you, Boing," Maya responded. "Next thing I know, you're showing the whole freaking family during the holidays and during Morgan's wedding. 'Hey guys, look what Maya did! Isn't it hilarious?!'"
Josh chuckled in amusement at her terrible interpretation of his voice. "Ok, first of all, I don't talk like that. Not sure who you were trying to imitate there, girl."
"I'm pretty sure it was you," Maya responded with a shrug.
Josh chuckled. "Anyway, seriously, Maya, I'm not gonna show anyone. Here. This is how you know I really mean it. Pinky swear!" He cried out dramatically as he held out his little finger towards her.
Maya burst out laughing. "What the hell? Josh, how old are you?"
"I'm dead serious," Josh retorted with a serious expression on his face. "I don't pinky swear unless my life depends on it. I've never broken a pinky swear in my life, and I'm not about to do it now. You could ask anybody back in Cedar Heights. They know how serious I am about this."
"Oh my gosh, I can't with you, Boing," Maya murmured as she giggled in immense amusement at the serious look on his face and his outstretched pinky finger.
"You gonna make the pinky swear with me or not?" Josh asked her. "Come on, Ferret. We gotta start cooking."
"Alright," Maya murmured after her laughter subsided. She linked her little finger with his, and touched her thumb to his in order to seal their promise.
"You know what happens when you break a pinky swear, right?" Maya stated in a serious tone.
"Yeah," Josh nodded. "I'm gonna die a horrible death. Alone. And sad. Duh. That's why I've never broken a pinky swear, ever."
Maya chuckled at his response.
"So now you know you can trust me. Alright? You gonna start vlogging? Let's do this, Baby!" Josh cried out enthusiastically as he clapped his hands.
Maya grinned as she observed him in amusement. "You are something else, Boing," She whispered affectionately.
She picked up the camera and turned it on. "Ya ready? I'm gonna do the intro."
"Sure! Take it away," Josh encouraged her. He never tired of seeing the playful, fun, spontaneous side of her. He had watched her previous "water soup" video numerous times, and he couldn't wait to see how this new video would turn out.
"HI ERRBODY! It's been a while! Welcome to the second edition of Maya's kitchen!" Maya cried out excitedly as she gazed at the camera. "So, the last time we did this, I made water soup. And I promised you that I was gonna make water tacos next. Or soup tacos...I dunno...something like that. Anyway, so I don't know how to cook shit- obviously. If you haven't noticed that by now- I really like don't know what to say to you. You're not smart, at all. We can start with that."
Josh burst out laughing.
"Anywho, now that I've insulted your intelligence, here's what we're gonna make today! Tacos! Like actual tacos! Not fake tacos! I swear. Pinky swear! So, like I said, I don't know how to cook anything to save my poor, miserable life. But, my boyfriend does! Look at that. Opposites attract folks! All those Disney movies were right! So, don't give up! You'll find your super rich Prince Charming, ladies! I guarantee it! Anyway, this is my boyfriend. His name is Josh. Say hi to him! Say hi to the camera, Honey!"
Josh chuckled. "You know, you keep saying we shouldn't post this, but you're treating this like we're gonna post it," He pointed out.
"Oh my gosh, Joshua Matthews, if you post this video anywhere on this planet, I will literally murder you. And then I'll cry a lot cos I'll be super depressed that you no longer exist. And I will probably die too."
"Oh my God," Josh muttered as he chuckled amusedly at her outburst.
"So yeah, Romeo and Juliet! Hashtag: relationship goals!" Maya cried out in a sarcastic tone. "Anyway, you've gotta say hi, Baby, so our invisible viewers can get to know you! Don't be shy!" She pointed the camera at him.
Josh grinned. "Hi," He murmured shyly as he waved at the camera.
"That's him!" Maya continued as she turned the camera back towards her. "Cute right? He's camera shy I guess but he'll warm up eventually. He takes really good photos by the way. You should check him out on Instagram at joshgmatthews. Show him some love! He wants to be a photographer!"
Wow...Josh thought as he gazed at his girlfriend in awe. And she doesn't want me to post this? She's a natural. He couldn't wipe off the wide, silly grin from his face as he continued to watch her in action.
"Anyway, let's start cooking, Chef Matthews! What are the ingredients for our meal today?"
"Well, Ms. Hunter, thanks for asking," Josh stated. "We're gonna be making some ground beef tacos today. So, we have a pound of lean ground beef here. We have some chili powder, ground cumin, salt, dried oregano, some garlic powder, ground black pepper, tomato sauce and some soft flour tortillas." He pointed to the ingredients arrayed on the kitchen counter as he announced them.
"Excellent! My mouth is watering already, guys! Yum yum. So, what's the first step, Chef Matthews?"
"Well, according to the recipe, we need to cook the ground beef in a large skillet with medium-high heat for about six to eight minutes. And then, we're gonna be adding the spices as we stir the beef. So, I'm gonna get started. You guys can watch as I do it, ok?"
"Alright! Let's go learn how to cook guys!" Maya responded as she moved closer to Josh. "By the way guys, I'm so happy that I'm doing this right now instead of literally anything else in this world!" She made a sad face at the camera.
"She complains, but secretly, she really loves cooking with me," Josh announced as he placed the skillet on the stove. He poured the ground beef into it and started stirring it with a large, wooden spoon.
"Ok, pass me the spices Maya," He ordered her.
"Uh...which one?"
Josh chuckled. "The chili powder first please."
"Oh ok. Here you go, Sweetheart!"
Josh grinned. "Ok, so you're gonna add one tablespoon of chili powder to the meat. Then, one teaspoon cumin- pass that to me, Babe? Then 3/4 teaspoon salt- I know it can be hard but make sure you're measuring your salt right when you cook, ok guys? Unless you want your food to taste like seawater."
"Under the sea! Under the sea!" Maya started singing the famous song from the classic Disney movie, The Little Mermaid. "Darling it's better, down where it's wetter, take it from me!"
Recognizing the lyrics, Josh spread his arms jovially and started singing along with her. "Up on the shore, they work all day. Out in the sun, they slave away, while we devotin', full time to floatin', under the sea!"
Maya gazed at him in shock. "Holy crap! Joshua Matthews, you know Disney movie songs?!"
"The Little Mermaid is a classic, Maya! It's like Mulan or Cinderella. So of course I know that song," Josh defended himself. "Not that I chose to watch those movies, but I have a little nephew, guys! And a niece. So yeah, that's why," He explained as he turned his attention towards the camera.
"No, he lies, guys!" Maya shot back as she turned the camera back towards her. "I know his niece and his nephew. I don't think they've ever watched The Little Mermaid cos it's like an old movie. He definitely has watched the movie more than once though and knows the lyrics of the songs, apparently. It's nothing to be embarrassed about Honey. It's a really good movie. I've watched it like a bajillion times."
"No comment," Josh simply stated as he turned his attention towards the ground beef.
Maya laughed in amusement as she pointed the camera at his face. "Aww, it's ok, Sweetheart. You can admit it if you like cheesy Disney movies," She teased him. "You've wanted to be a princess all along, haven't you?"
"Shut up," Josh shot back at her.
Maya giggled. "Seriously though guys, it's really cool cos I feel like every time I hang out with Josh, I learn something new. Like, I would think I know everything about him cos he's kinda boring you know-"
"What the hell?" Josh murmured with an amused grin as he glanced over at her.
"But then, he surprises me!" Maya continued speaking. "So yeah, it's really nice. I think it's pretty hot that he knows a song from The Little Mermaid. It's definitely one of my favorite Disney movies from like my childhood- and I'm not gonna lie, I still watch it to this day- so yeah, I'm glad to see we have that in common. You hear me, Babe? I think you're pretty hot!"
Josh blushed. "Under the sea!" He started singing again.
Maya laughed.
"Alright. Moving on with our food. As you guys can see, the ground beef is all set! The spices are all in, and it's looking good." Josh tilted the skillet towards the camera so Maya could capture it.
"So, now we just need to add some tomato sauce and water into the beef, stir it for like ten minutes, and then we're done! We can put the beef into the taco shells and start eating!"
"Yay!" Maya cried out excitedly. "I'm waiting for the eating part guys, as you can see. I wasn't hungry before but now that I can smell the beef, I'm so hungry right now."
"I knew you would get hungry," Josh commented with an amused grin. "When you were like, 'I'm not hungry, Josh. I just wanna dance,' I was looking at you like, it's tacos. I know this girl is gonna be hungry for that. Who's she kidding. Girl bye!"
Maya giggled.
"You were just lazy. You just didn't want to cook it," Josh pointed out.
"Yup. Caught me. Guilty as charged," Maya admitted with a teasing grin.
Josh shook his head at her. "Alright. Well, let's get you doing something. It's my turn to hold the camera. Why don't you put the tomato sauce and water in the beef? Shouldn't be too hard."
Maya sighed. "Fine," She murmured sadly as she handed Josh the camera. She added the ingredients into the beef and started stirring it.
"Is it ready?" She asked Josh after a few minutes.
"Yeah, it looks great," Josh retorted. "Taste it and see!"
Maya tasted some of the beef. "Mmm...it's delicious. Good job Chef Matthews!"
"Why, thank you. And a good job to you too, Ms. Hunter. You certainly helped out- even though you didn't want to- and made this an entertaining experience," Josh commended her.
"Oh, thank you," She responded with a wide grin. "So, guys, that's it for today! We're gonna start eating soon. If you have any suggestions about any new recipes you wanna see or if you want Josh to sing more Disney songs, hit us up! Until next time, thanks for watching Maya's Kitchen! See ya, losers!"
She turned off the camera.
"You're amazing," Josh stated as he gazed at her with a warm smile.
"Oh. Why do you say that?" Maya asked him curiously.
"Just...everything. You like come alive- when you're doing something you love, Maya. It's just really nice to watch how passionate you get," He told her. "I guess, I learn something new every time about you too. It's nice."
Maya felt her insides warming up as she listened to him.
"Wow. Thanks Josh," She murmured softly.
"You're a natural born performer Maya. No matter what it is- singing, dancing, acting, art- you're like multi-talented. I really think you should do something with that. I think there's definitely a way that you can combine all of that," Josh advised her.
Maya smiled. "I don't know," She murmured. "I was able to do this because I know you're not gonna be posting it. I know this video is just for you. But, if I was actually doing this in front of complete strangers? I don't think I would be able to do that."
"I disagree," Josh retorted. "You will definitely be able to. I think you will get more comfortable as time goes on, and you will just come alive. And it's going to be a very beautiful thing to watch."
"I dunno..." Maya muttered in an uncertain tone as her voice trailed off.
"Just think about it, Maya," Josh stated. "I mean, they got all these shows now- the singing competition shows. Maybe, you could try out by auditioning for one of those shows- you know?"
Maya felt her heart racing. She had never mentioned it to him that she had recently thought about auditioning for those programs, and even looked into the audition process, but he seemed to have read her mind.
"You mean like American Idol? The Voice?" She asked him.
"Yeah," Josh nodded as he started placing the ground beef inside the taco tortilla shells. "I know you're totally gonna get in. You just gotta try. Or, if you're not ready for that step, cos it is a big step, you could start a Youtube channel and just sing. Start covering a bunch of artists' songs. That's what Justin Bieber and a lot of other singers- that's how they started out, right? So, you could do it that way and see what happens. Anyway, I'm not saying you should be like a professional artist or performer. I know you're kinda focused on just doing art right now. But what I'm trying to say is that you're just so talented creatively, Maya. It's like, when God was making the creativity gene, He was like, lemme just give this girl like a hundred and ten percent, and like zero percent to Joshua Matthews, cos I might be able to cook and take exams, but I can't do like nine-nine percent of all that you can do creatively, Maya. So, yeah, just saying."
Maya smiled warmly at him as she grabbed one of the prepared tacos and placed it on her plate.
"I dunno, Boing. We'll see. There's a lot going on right now. Maybe once my life is finally not crazy anymore- I'll look into all that other stuff," She murmured. "Mmm...this is so good, Boing!"
"Wow. You're not even gonna wait for me to start eating?" Josh shook his head at her in disapproval.
Maya giggled. "Sorry, Honey. Come on, let's eat!"
"Hold on. I'm like finishing preparing the tacos. Chill girl," Josh retorted.
After a few minutes, he grabbed his plate and joined her. "Ok. Bon appetit," He told her with a wide smile before biting into his taco. "Mmm...muy delicioso," He commented as he ate some more.
"Definitely better than my water soup, right?" Maya observed with an amused grin.
Josh chuckled. "Um yeah. Duh."
Maya laughed. "Dang Boing. You're so mean."
"Hey, I'm just being honest. But you helped out with this too," Josh told her. "We both did it together. See? Cooking ain't that bad Ferret. It's pretty straightforward. And you save some money too instead of having to eat out all the time. I ain't got dough for that."
Maya grinned in amusement at his comment. "Me neither," She agreed.
"You chose the songs you want us to dance to?" Josh asked her.
"I chose my song. I want you to choose your song, and then we can dance to both," Maya suggested excitedly.
"Ok," Josh retorted as he reached out for another taco. "Sounds good to me." He already knew the song that he wanted to play for her. It was an African love song. Andrew had introduced him to it, and he had fallen in love with the rhythm, the catchy music video and the lyrics. He was curious to see how she would dance to it. Knowing how versatile his "Little Ferret" was in the creativity department, he was quite sure that she would have no difficulties improvising.
