Chapter 14: Sparks Were Flying by Star and Victory Thru Tears

Maya's POV

I walk with Taz towards Room 217. Taz is thrilled about this detention for two reasons. The first is that her detention slip is purple. She's been trying to get one of those for months. The second is that we're in Room 217, which not only has a great view, but is also the number of the haunted room in The Shining, a big plus for Taz. She's a huge Stephen King fan.

I myself am less than thrilled to be here. I was hoping to forgo the homework tonight and snuggle up with Taz for a post-fight video fest. I was thinking a nice slushy romance would be appropriate.

I was also hoping to get to talk to Adam and find out what the devil was going on in his head when he kissed me. I'm actually more annoyed than Taz was about that. I thought we were friends. That kiss came out of nowhere. If I wasn't so annoyed I'd be quite concerned.

Maybe I'll hunt him down tomorrow. I can't imagine Taz will be all that understanding about it, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Or now.

Since Adam Banks is sitting in Room 217.

Taz stares at Adam, then looks at me. "Oh, god, you didn't sign us up for one of those problem mediating classes, did you?"

Usually I would laugh, but this is bad. Any minute now Taz is going to remember that a purple detention slip and the number 217 don't change the fact that Adam kissed me.

I give it to the count of three.

Three…

Two…

"I am not sitting in a classroom for an hour with this scumbag!"

One…

Ok, I credited Taz with more patience than she really has.

"He's not a scumbag… well, not much." I notice a fourth person in the room. Another hockey player. #96, Charles or something? One of Adam's friends.

Adam snorts and gives him a nasty look. "Thanks. From the likes of you that's a real compliment."

Have I accidentally wandered into hell?

"Forgive me for standing up for you, Banksie."

Shouldn't there be a teacher here?

"Believe me, it's the last time… and I'm never eating paper for you again either!"

"Leave me alone, you kissed a girl too!" #96 yells back at him… I really must pay attention to names.

"Oh, just stay out of it." Taz snaps at the nameless hockey player. "This has got nothing to do with you."

He snorts incredulously. "Nothing to do with me?"

"That's right. Adam kissed my… uh, roommate."

"So really it's got nothing to do with you?" He responds angrily.

This is not good. I could try and calm her down, but it would be futile. At least there's nothing breakable around.

CRUNCH!

I look at Taz in horror, wondering what she's found to smash. I'm relieved to note she just dropped her bag on the floor. I wonder what made the crunching noise but I guess I'll find out later.

"This has everything to do with me!" She tells him, marching over to him. For a five foot nothing leprechaun, she's terrifying.

And all this anger at a guy she's never met before. Maybe I should try to get her out of here before she remembers Adam's here too.

I wonder how long it will be before she starts cursing in Irish. Now there's a truly horrifying experience.

"Taz?" Good start. What to follow it with though.

Charlie's POV

"You know, I really don't think you should be joining this conversation. This is between Adam and I." Whoops. Not quite right… I shouldn't be hinting at our relationship to complete strangers.

"Hey, he kissed me!" Maya yells back. Adam glances behind him. The door is closed, thank god.

I had been sitting in this room, already started on copying the words "I will not pass notes in class" onto my paper. I was glad that she didn't have us at the blackboard. I could only imagine what she was having Adam write—"I will not eat paper"?

I looked up to see Maya and a girl with bright purple hair enter the room. I've seen the other girl with Fulton, but don't know her name. And I really don't feel like seeing Maya at this point.

"You're the one that kissed him!" I yell at the dark-haired girl.

"That's not true!" Purple Girl retorts. She has a strong accent, but I can't place exactly what it is.

"Why are you even talking?" I ask her exasperatedly.

"Oh, just stay out of it," she says impatiently. "This has got nothing to do with you." Ah, yes… she's Irish. Definitely Irish.

"And it's got to do with you?" I ask with the same tone.

"Well, yeah… Adam kissed my, uh… roommate."

Maya exchanges a glance with her friend.

"Yeah, well… that's not true. That hussy kissed my roommate." Uh oh. I can tell that this comment isn't going to bring sunshine.

"Hussy?" Purple Girl's eyes are wide. "She's no hussy!"

"Adam's not your roommate!" Maya says at the same time.

Along with them, Adam turns to Maya, surprised. "You kissed Guy?"

"You what!?" Maya's purple friend doesn't know where to turn. She glares at Maya, then at me, and then at Adam.

"What are you looking at me for?" Adam asks her indignantly. "I had nothing to do with that!"

"I did not kiss Guy Germaine!" Maya's voice is much louder than it looks like it would be.

"How do I know that? You even know his last name!" Her friend seems to be too hot-headed to realize the obscurity of her comment.

"Taz!" Maya says, lowering her voice. "You know Adam's last name, have you kissed him? For god's sake!"

I let the girls go at it, and turn back to Adam. He's sitting at his desk, looking back at me.

"This all comes back to us. Why the hell did you kiss her?" I ask.

"Why did you kiss Linda?"

"Why does that matter?"

"Why doesn't it matter?"

"Why—" I'm cut off by the Irish Taz again.

Taz's POV

Must revert back to English. Nobody understands a word I'm saying. I take a deep breath and stop talking in Irish.

"So you didn't kiss Guy what's-his-name?" I ask Maya. Well done self, good use of the English language.

"No!" I can't work out if she's highly amused… or vastly irritated.

I decide to turn my temper back on someone who deserves it. "You kissed Maya!" I snap at Adam.

He rolls his eyes. "Ok! I did! I kissed her! I'm sorry!"

"Why?" I ask. "You're not her type. She doesn't think of you like that."

"How do you know?" he snaps at me.

"Because I'M her type!"

Ooops. I glance at Maya. One look tells me that not only did I say that out loud, but I said it so loud that all of Minnesota knows what Maya's type is.

I decide to look on the bright side. I give Charlie a smug look. "I told you that this was my business."

Adam gives me a look. "You're a lesbian?"

I turn on him. The look in his eyes tells me he's real sorry he drew attention to himself.

"Yes, I am a raging lesbian. I only date girls. The girl in question is Maya. And you kissed my girlfriend, so forgive me if I don't want to make small talk with you. I generally think of you as scum of the earth." I pause for breath, reminding myself not to talk in Irish as it will be lost on this idiot. "You're a pathetic little weasel who hits on my girlfriend. We've been together for a year and if you think you can just waltz in and…"

"SHUT UP!"

I turn to the source of the noise. Maya is standing on a desk. The same look on her face as before, but I'd bet my grandmother that she's not even slightly amused.

Hrmm.

I think I'll be quiet now.

Adam's POV

Maya steps down cautiously from her place on the desk. It looks as if she's going to be the voice of reason.

"It's definitely time to stop hurling insults at each other and actually figure this out. First of all… Adam, why in the world did you kiss me?"

I feel a blush creeping to my cheeks. "I don't know. Spur of the moment."

I hear Taz mutter something in Irish, and I hope she doesn't start yelling again. That wasn't fun.

"Taz…" Maya warns.

"Sorry," she smiles. "I'm being a lunatic, sorry…"

"It's okay," Maya grins back at her. "You're my lunatic."

"Hey, how come you never say stuff like that to me?" Charlie speaks up for the first time in a while. I turn to look at him, shock written all over me.

The girls are silent and staring at us.

"Of course…" Maya says slowly. "It's perfect! You and Boyfriend have a falling out, and want to make Boyfriend jealous by kissing a girl! Why didn't I see it before?"

"Why are you calling me Boyfriend?" Charlie asks her, a mean look still on his face.

"Because I don't know your name," she answers.

"Charlie."

"I'm Maya."

"I know."

"Anyway," Taz cuts in. She looks straight at me, not half as mean as before. "Is that it? Is that why all of this has happened?"

I give Charlie a glance, wondering if I should confirm their thoughts of us. He shrugs, an answer that means 'yes' coming from him. I nod.

"So you're a couple?" Taz asks.

"Yes," Charlie says. "See why it was my business too?"

She shrugs her shoulders. She doesn't look mad anymore, now almost satisfied. Charlie sighs, and then gets up. He walks towards me, and hugs me. I'm shocked by this display of affection, but I put my arms around him.

"I'm sorry," he says, his head on my shoulder. "I'm going to break up with Linda right now. I swear it."

"Awww…" Taz makes a mocking noise, and I see Maya hit her softly. I break from Charlie, now standing awkwardly in front of them.

"Don't worry; we won't tell anyone about you," I'm not sure of how else to bring this up.

They shrug indifferently.

"It doesn't really matter, we're pretty obvious about it anyway. But we won't say anything about you either." I can tell that Maya is still a little bit mad for whatever reason. She keeps looking at the floor, or at Taz.

"You know," Taz says thoughtfully. "I'm quite disappointed that I didn't see this coming. My gaydar must need recharging."

I can't help but laugh. Soon the four of us are laughing so hard that we're clutching our sides in pain. As our fit dies down, I realize that I'm supposed to have copied "I will not distract the class" down onto a sheet of paper one hundred times. I've only done it seven. It's hard to believe that we've spent half an hour fighting. I sit back in my desk and get to work. The others follow my example and also get to work.

Thirty minutes later, Dean Buckley pokes his head into the room. "You kids are free to go on now."

I can tell by his expression that he's not happy to see Charlie and me in detention, but there's not much he can do about it now.

We gather our things together, a happy foursome. I see Taz glance at me.

"You know, I still think you owe us a favor. If it weren't for your lips, Maya and I wouldn't be on detention. We'd be watching a scary movie and snuggling…"

"Yeah right, it was my pick this time… and it would not be a scary movie," Maya cuts in.

"What are you getting at, Taz?" I can see there's something behind her comment.

"Well, the school has a rule about girls taking other girls to dances, and boys taking other boys. Now… Maya and I want to be together. You and Charlie obviously want to be together. Do you see my thinking?"

"I do," Charlie sighs, looking at me. "But what about Linda?"

"Who's Linda?" Maya and Taz ask at the same time.

"My girlfriend." His answer comes out very soft.

"Your girlfriend?" Taz can't seem to believe this. "That's horrible!"

"Yeah, yeah… don't get me started on you again." I can see that Taz and Charlie still haven't resolved their differences.

"Anyway, Adam. You can take me, and Charlie can take Taz," Maya says, grinning at her girlfriend.

"Yeah, I guess." Taz sees the firm look on Maya's face and agrees. Her face gets that scary look on it again as she turns to me. "But you touch my girl again and I kill you!"

"If she," Charlie points to Maya, "touches my boy, then I'll kill you."

Well, that's a nice happy little ending.