Maya walks down her apartment stairs and looks out onto the street. Immediately she spots the dark grey F150 with the license plate BIGNTXS and chuckles to herself.
Only Zay.
She thinks while shaking her head in amusement.
As she opens the door to the truck, Maya cannot believe her eyes.
"What are you wearing," she asks unable to control her laughter.
"What?! I'll have you know that this happens to be a crowd favorite," Zay responds. "And let me guess.. you are a little black kitty cat," he adds pointing to the black cat ears sticking out of her golden blonde curly hair.
She motions her hand in a "rawr" fashion, then gets in the car still laughing, unable to get over the fact that a ketchup bottle is now taking her to a party. The drive to Brian's is rather short; his house located approximately 20 minuets outside the city. They had only stopped once to fill up the tank, and during the rest of the ride they blasted music to dance and sing along to. Finally, they reach their destination. A bit anxious for how the night may go, Maya turns to Zay, "you're not going to ditch me the first sight of a hot girl, are you?"
"Relax, girl. I'm your friend, I would never do that," he stated unconvincingly.
They open their doors and make their way to the party. Upon entering the house, they are greeted by Brian; who had given into his Japanese heritage and dressed up as a soy sauce bottle.
I guess Zay wasn't lying; dressing up as condiments is an actual thing.
"Hey guys!" Brian shouts above the loud music, breaking Maya away from her thoughts. "Can I get you anything to drink?"
"I'm good," answers Maya.
"Thanks, man. I think we'll just settle in first," inserts Zay.
"Ok cool. Well drinks are in the kitchen to the right, but remember to drop your keys in the bucket if you're having some alcohol. Alright? Have fun!" Brian exclaims as he bounces his way back into his living room where a small dance party had ensued.
Zay and Maya look at each other and laugh at his antics. They begin to walk around greeting hey to some familiar faces before taking their spot back in the living room; Maya sitting on the arm of the cream colored couch and Zay leaning against the wall next to her. Things were going rather smoothly as they observe the crowd. However, the ease of the night comes to a staggering hault when Veronica walks up to Zay.
Known for her provactive nature, Veronica did not disappoint. The vivacious brunette dawned some yellow short shorts and a matching low cut tank that had the word "mustard" written across the front. She grabs Zay's hand and whispers something in his ear that makes him laugh like a buffoon, then drags him out to dance. From the middle of the room, Zay looks over at Maya and mouths the words "I'm sorry", but with a "look at her" gesture and face. Maya can't help but laugh at the moment, and she responds by mouthing "it's ok" back and gives him two thumbs up before leaving the room.
In the past half hour since arriving, the party increased tremendously leaving Maya to inch her way back into the kitchen. Seeing the little kitten struggle, Brian grabs her hand, pulls her through the crowd, and claims, "Mayas on my team."
Confused, Maya looks at him, then takes in the scene. Apparently, he had just volunteered her to play a round of beer pong.
Thinking she really had nothing better to do, what with Zay having his fun, she decided one game wouldn't hurt. However, the thing about alcohol, she soon realized, is that it makes you feel loose and able to do anything. So what started out as one game quickly turned into six, and before she knew it she was drunk. Stumbling her way out to the backyard, Maya finds a seat in front of the fire pit and tries to regain her thoughts and composure.
I think I'm drunk...Nope not that drunk.
Boy I miss Josh, I wonder what he's doing. I should call him. No. I shouldn't. I'm drunk.
Oooo...but I just want to hear his voice. I'm not that drunk. I'll just call him to say hi and then hang up.
She takes out her phone, and squints a little at the screen. Scrolling down her contacts list, she finds his name, and inadvertently clicks the video icon next to his number.
O shit.
She realizes she accidentally initiated a FaceTime call to him, but before she is able to hang up, she sees Josh light up the screen.
"Hey, Maya," he says.
"Joshieee," she yells a little too loudly.
"You, okay?" He asks concern looming over his face.
"Huh? O yea! I'm great! Better than great. I was just seeing what you were up to."
"Well," a smile making way on his face, "I was just about to head out to meet some friends."
"Oh." Maya says a bit deflated. "Ok, well I don't want to take too much of your time." She can feel the latter effects of the alcohol coming in; no longer was she feeding off its adrenaline high, her stomach bubbling and the world around her becoming disoriented.
"Hey, you sure you're ok?" he asks for the second time. He sees her eyes unable to focus completely and she begins to press her fingers to her head. "Maya." He says, his tone getting more stern.
"Huh?" She looks back to her screen, "yea. I'm fine. I promise," she lies. However, Josh's face has anything but relief. His eyes serious and jaw clenched; his usual smirk wiped clear away. She gets up and starts to attempt to walk in a straight line to prove her words. "See, Josh. I'm completely.." However, as she begins to look back at her screen she trips and falls on her face. Grabbing her phone and lifting it back, she continues, "fine."
One look at the red collecting on her forehead, Josh had seen enough. While breathing in deeply and letting out a slow breath, he tries his best to stay calm.
"Maya, where's Zay?"
"I don't know. Somewhere inside with Verrronnnica," she says still unaware of the cut on her head.
"Text me the address; I'm coming to pick you up."
"No, Josh. Really.. I'm fine."
He stares at her. His eyes piercing away to the truth, and she knows there no convincing him otherwise.
"Ok," she says quietly, "I'll text it to you now.
She holds her breath a little, embarrassed by the interaction that just took place.
How did that conversation come to this?
She thinks and once again starts to press her fingers to her head as the world begins to spin yet again. In an attempt to push away her thoughts, she starts to rub her forehead, finally feeling the reason for Josh's change in demeanor.
You're an idiot, Hart. A real idiot.
About a half hour after they hung up, Josh arrives at the house. Maya, ice bag and paper towel to her forehead, sits in the front. Like a child in trouble, she waves at him smiling innocently. He gets out of his car and walks over to her.
"Alright, let's see it."
She lifts the paper towel off her cut for Josh to inspect. Thankfully the drive over gave him enough time to calm down, and so he gently grabs her hand and guides her back to the house. "Let's go fix you up, kid."
As they walk back in the house, Zay looks up and smiles at the sight of the two holding hands, completely unaware of the situation. Still embarrassed, Maya grabs a double shot out of someone's hands to calm her nerves and takes it without Josh seeing.
They enter the bathroom, and Josh picks her up and sits her onto the counter. Arms straddling her, he lets out a big sigh and places his forehead on her shoulder.
"Josh?" asks Maya extremely confused.
"It looked a lot worse over phone," he says his head still down. "I just need a minute to recollect myself."
"I thought you were mad at me."
He lets out another sigh, then lifts his head, "Maya, I'd be lying if I said I've never been in your position. I have. I know the temptation of drinking, and I know it's fun. And I was mad, but I was more terrified that something worse was going to happen to you." His eyes stare directly into hers as he speaks. Her face burning with the close proximity; raw instinct slowly appearing as they hold each other's stares. Then, breaking the tension Josh lowers his head back onto her shoulder releasing yet another sigh.
Was she imaging things? Was he holding back? Was there more to the words he was saying and actions he was doing? Maya was seriously regretting the previous shot she took, as her thoughts battled with logic and reason against the irresponsible affects of alcohol.
Not even a minute after, Josh lifts his head and gently kisses the middle of her forehead, "You look cute, little kitten." He smiles and pets her head, then turns to the medicine cabinet. He grabs some alcohol swabs and bandaids, then softly cleans her wound and covers it up.
She smiles at him when he finishes and squeezes his shoulder as he picks up the trash, "thanks, Josh." As Josh helps her off the counter, the room begins to spin and she suddenly feels off balance.
"Josh," she grabs both his arms to steady herself, "I don't feel so good."
Chuckling and knowing full well how she was feeling as having been there himself, he lifts her up, cradles her like a baby and walks out of the bathroom. Maya, unable to keep her eyes open, gives in and just rests her head on his chest. Still, being the loyal friend she is whispers to him, "Zay! We can't leave without him."
Josh scans the room and sees her friend in a very intimate position with who he assumed was Veronica. He whispers back to her, "I think he'll be fine." Then he walks her out of the party and gently lays her in the passenger seat of his car.
The rest of the night comes in bits and pieces as Maya tries her best to stay awake. She remembers seeing the lights of cars passing by, hearing people talking outside, the feeling of Josh's strong arms under her as he carries her to her room. Now she lays there under her covers with Josh softly stroking her hair as she falls asleep.
Suddenly, Maya wakes up to the sound her phone ringing. Slowly sitting up she answers with a groggy voice, "hello?"
A frantic Lucas on the other end says with relief, "o thank God, you guys are safe! I've called you five times and got so worried when you weren't picking up.. I mean I saw the news and I just thought.. O my God.. How's Zay? He ok?"
"Whoa, Lucas, slow down," she says her brain still trying to catch up, "what are you talking about the news? And Zay is at the party still."
"He's WHAT?!" The horror in his voice snaps Maya back to reality, "what do you mean he's at the party? He isn't with you?!" His pace and breathing pick up again and Maya knows something is wrong. She grabs her remote and turns on the tv. And there she sees it; the headline that reads Two Teens Hospitalized After Car Crash with Big Rig. The details stream across the screen:
Dark grey F150
O no.
Male and female from local high school
No.
License plate BIGNTXS
Maya's heart sinks. A stabbing pain in the pit of her stomach, she can't believe the words she is seeing.
"Maya? Maya!" Lucas shouts through her phone. "Where are you? What happened tonight?"
"I don't know! I mean I can't remember," tears begin to build up.
"Well think," demands Lucas.
Slowly she begins to recount the events of the night, "we got to the party, then Veronica asked him to dance. Josh came.." Her voice trails off. Where was Josh? She knows he was there when she fell asleep. "Lucas, I'm going to call Josh. And I'll call you right back."
She gets up from her bed and dials his number as she looks around her house to see if he's there.
C'mon, Josh. Pick up.
She feels her emotions slowly get the better of her as the phone continues to ring with no answer. She calls Lucas back.
"Any luck," he asks.
"No, he's not picking up. Did you try asking the hospital?"
"They won't release that information."
Suddenly she hears her front door open.
"Josh?" she yells as she runs to the living room.
Relief sets in as she sees Zay walk through her front door.
"Jesus..." she lets out, "he's here, Lucas. He just walked in.. I'll have him call you."
She runs over to Zay, squeezing him tightly, "Zay! I saw the news and thought ... I thought you were dead!"
Zay, confused, checks his body after she releases her hug. "Nope, I'm alive." Nausea sets in and he grabs his mouth, "but I think I'm going to be sick". He runs to the bathroom and sticks his head over the toilet.
Maya still in the living room looks over at the person who had entered after Zay. "Josh?"
Suddenly all of the emotion and panic she had been feeling rendered her weak and she sat on the couch trying to relax her racing heart. Josh walks over to her and sits down.
"You seemed so worried about him, even on the ride home. So I drove back to the party to pick him up after you fell asleep."
Still unable to get all her emotions under control, the tears that had been building finally were released. She began to sob and shake; trying desperately to wrap her head around everything that had just happened.
Not knowing what else to do, Josh places his arms around her and pulls her in close. She digs her face into his chest taking comfort in his embrace. He places his chin atop her head and begins to once again stroke the back of her head. In an effort to calm her down more he softly starts to sing.
"You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running
To see you again."
Maya's heart flutters and she stops crying. She turns her head up at him, smiles, and says, "your voice is as terrible as ever, Mathews."
Relieved that she has finally calmed down, Josh looks down at Maya, her teary blue eyes aching his heart. He laughs lightly and replies, "shut up, you love it."
And she did. She loved that he was there for her. She loved that he cared enough about her to go and pick up her friend. She loved how safe she felt in his arms. She even loved his terrible singing. She loved him, she realized, burying her head deeper into his chest.
I am in love with Joshua Mathews.