The Great Escape
AN. Thank you to xHalosandwings, Cena-Wilson-Crazy, Grits0205, sophia0401, MrsDibiase-10, BigRedMachineUK, bathpinkdog, xTwistedxImperfectionx, Tiffyxox, quteash, John Cena's Field Hockey Star & TJ Sparkles for reviewing the last chapter.
Thanks very muchly! :)
Chapter Thirty-Eight – Kiss the Girl
MARIA
"So, have you decided what you're going to wear tonight?"
Twisting her lips in deep thought, Maria swayed to the side in front of her full length mirror, wishing she could answer yes to her roommate's curious question. It was at times like these that she disliked having such a creative mind for each and every fashion taste out there; in her mind, it was crucial that tonight—of all nights—she had to look perfect.
It was New Year's Eve – always an important night to look good – and if she couldn't spend it at home with her family, she would spend it with friends at the local campus bar, where a lot of people with cameras would be masquerading around, hoping to capture students having the time of their life while they waited for the exciting ten-second countdown.
But it wasn't all about being picture perfect for Maria; brushing aside her red bangs, she bit down on her bottom lip, trying not to allow her smile to become too obvious for others to see. Part of the reason, or perhaps the whole reason, she wanted to look at her best was because it was a big night for herself and Randy. Maybe he didn't know it yet... but she planned to tell him how she felt about him.
And being the most romantic girl of them all, what better day was there to do it on? It was time for a new year, and also a new, honest start. More than anything she just wanted that in her relationships: honesty.
"No," she pouted, turning away for the briefest moment to look at her best friend. "Have you?"
"I think I'll go in my best jeans, some fancy top and heels. I haven't really had the opportunity to wear my pretty gold stilettos yet."
"Oh... you always make such a big deal about looking amazing for New Year's. I thought you would be making more of an effort. Oh, no offense intended there!"
Eve laughed, amused. Having known the girl for most of her life, she definitely knew the redhead never meant to cause offense; Maria was the sweetest person she knew. "I don't know," the brunette shrugged, while the student turned back to her reflection in the mirror, "I just don't have anyone to celebrate with this year – apart from friends, obviously. Is it sad that I've never not had a boyfriend for New Year's since high school? God..."
"I thought you were meeting up with Cody beforehand? Isn't that why you can't go when Mickie and I are heading in?"
"Yeah, I am, but we're going to have dinner together first... which I know sounds like a date, but it really isn't. I've just really come to like him recently as a friend." Another shrug. "And as it looks like things with Mike aren't going to happen... I guess you can call me single tonight."
"Well me too, if something goes wrong with Randy."
"I refuse to believe you're going to get anything short of a happy ending with that guy. If the night ends and come morning you're not with him, I will be shocked—and the only reason I'll accept is that you couldn't find him."
Maria giggled. Then, just a beat later, gasped. "What if that actually happens – like you know when you say stuff and then it comes true?"
"Huh, really? I usually find I daydream all these things up, imagine them over and over again... and then, of course, they never happen."
"I hope that's the case for what you just suggested then." Pulling her hair up, she began to twist it around in various directions, hoping to somehow settle with a nice hairstyle. "I feel like I have so many things I want to say to him but I just don't know how to. Do you think that's what Ash was like with Adam?"
"I think that girl knew exactly how she was feeling but was too stubborn to do anything about it."
"At least she has now, and I'm really happy for her. Here's hoping we all get our happy endings."
The Latina smiled. The thing about being around Maria was she could make anybody feel better, simply with her optimistic attitude. The girl could feel down, but it would only be for a short amount of time before she bounced back into happiness, convincing everybody else to do the same. It was admirable, really.
It took another fifteen minutes for Maria to finally decide on a dress. It was a simple, strapless and black, stopping about mid-thigh. Short, but not enough to be deemed slutty. She then realized she could wear her hair down—and began to style her hair in this way—while adding accessories to brighten her outfit somewhat. There, sorted.
"Wow, you look great." Jeff offered a compliment in the way of a greeting as he stepped inside the room and saw her in all of her beautiful glory. He waved at Eve, who smiled warmly before looking back down at her magazine. "Hope you don't mind me interrupting... whatever this is."
"This," smiled the redhead, entertained by the fact he still thought he was intruding whenever he came in unannounced, "is me finally realizing how I want to look for tonight – even if it is a few hours away."
"It's not surprising, knowing you."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" She beamed, knowing full well, and took a playful swipe at him when he brushed past her to take a seat on her bed. "Are you saying that I'm indecisive when it comes to clothes?"
"Basically, yeah."
He offered her that playful grin of his she adored, and couldn't help but to smile back. He was lucky that he was so cute. "Whatever. Why wouldn't I want to look my best for tonight? It's going to be a New Year soon – I have to go into it feeling good about myself!"
"Fair enough. I'll probably go into it drunk... or drunk and dancing on top of a table. And I'm sure someone will film it and post it on the web tomorrow for all to see."
"Please no thrusting," interrupted Eve, turning to the next page of her mag. "That was definitely something I could have gone without seeing."
"You're just jealous you don't have my moves." The Hardy Boy winked. When she shook her head at him, he simply laughed and turned back to his friend. "Are you planning on dancing with me? C'mon, it'll be fun."
"As much as I'd love to, I'm hoping that when the clock strikes midnight I'll be with the guy I love." She answered. "It's about time that I sorted things out with Randy. Michelle has been in the way for so long."
"Oh... okay, sure. I'll definitely let you off the hook then."
Maybe if Jeff hadn't stopped in-between words, and suspiciously so, Maria wouldn't have suspected a thing. As it happened, he did—and turning to him, she caught the sadness in his expression before he faked one of her favourite smiles of his. What was going on with him?
All too quickly, an excerpt from her last conversation with Michelle McCool came to mind.
-x-
"And what, let you get your hands on the one guy who was supposed to mine? You really don't have a clue do you, Maria? Every guy around falls for your pathetic Little Miss Innocent routine—hell, even that loser Jeff Hardy is in love with you."
"That's not true."
"Believe what you want, I don't care. He's not who we're talking about here."
-x-
They hadn't been talking about Jeff Hardy at the time—it was all Randy Orton. But now... looking at him as he reached for one of her books, about to check out the blurb... she realized that the blonde, though exposed as a liar, may have a valid point about this boy.
Every intimate moment with the guy she called her closest friend, besides Eve, came to mind, and it all seemed so blindingly clear. They were so close because he felt something for her... something other than the platonic feelings she had for him.
Knowing that it would make things worse if he had the slightest clue she now knew about his feelings, Maria gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.
"What was that for?" He looked confused. Rightly so, as well. "What – do you think I won't have a happy New Year without you to dance alongside me? Into yourself much, Maria?"
She merely shook her head, turning back to the mirror. "Shut up, Jeffy. I just... you're my best friend; I don't need a reason to hug you."
The turnout for the New Year's event was incredible. Even before she entered the place with Mickie, who soon rushed off when she spotted Phil in the corner, reading; what an unusual sight that had been at such a thriving place—she'd heard the noise while approaching the building.
This was what could be called a happening place.
Anticipation coursed through her veins as she took off her jacket, feeling the warmth from all the body heat to be particularly demanding. There were many college students from her class here, which meant that maybe, just maybe, Randy would be here too. She didn't know whether he would be attending, but certainly hoped he'd know about her being here, so he could find her if necessary.
Out of her close circle of friends, she spotted Ashley first. The blonde was dressed casually but had a certain spark about her; Maria guessed, while she made her way over, that it had something to do with the guy who had his arm around her shoulders.
"Mariaaaa." Chris Jericho beamed at her from where he sat at the bar, drink in hand and Christian to his right. She'd meant to say hello to the couple standing opposite them first, but he hadn't realized this. There were no guesses as to why... "Can I just say you look... good?"
"You can say that. Can I just say you sound drunk?" The redhead giggled, focusing her attention on the guy beside him. "Christian, how much has he had to drink?"
"You don't even want to know. He was upset about his band not being picked to perform tonight - it's this new punk band that are local around here instead - and so I suggested he started drinking to drown his sorrows..."
"But Jericho here obviously didn't know he was joking," said Adam, filling in the blanks. He wore a faint smirk on his lips. "And so here we are, a few hours 'til midnight and our very own rockstar is on his way to passing out."
"Oh who cares?" Ashley laughed, looking up at her boyfriend. "We're all going to be drunk soon enough. Chris just started early."
Maria watched as the two interacted, Adam mocking her answer and then leaning in to give her a long kiss. It was almost mesmerizing to know that these two people—two very stubborn-in-their-own-way individuals—could come together like this. The romantic in her found it beautiful. "So hey, now that you two are a couple," she began, a random thought coming to mind, "Surely you can tell us now why you were forced to go out on a date with him ages ago."
"Oh yeah. What was it Mickie had over you that was way too embarrassing?"
Even Chris seemed interested in this answer, and the group waited until after she'd buried her head into Adam's chest, truly squirming about saying why, before she rolled her eyes. "I'll kick anyone's ass who repeats this but... but..."
"Hurry it up, Ash." Christian prompted. "There's only so many hours left until New Year..."
"Okay, okay. I was once... once a fan... of The Backstreet Boys." The blonde let out a sigh of relief after she'd finished the sentence, while the others struggled for words. "There, is everybody happy now? Mickie would have told Adam and I'd never hear the end of it..."
The answer wasn't underwhelming as such... but it did leave them stunned for things to reply with. In the end, they all settled for laughter, though Adam settled for a smirk when she hit him playfully.
He kissed her again. "If your favourite song wasn't 'I want it that way', I'm going to have to break up with you."
For the next couple of minutes or so, they took their turns to tease her, and Maria chose to leave them to it, moving on to where she found Eve. The student didn't think to bother her best friend; she looked far too comfortable sharing a booth with Cody, Ted and Maryse. She did consider it interesting, however, as she walked away, to find he'd had her arms around her... they really did look like a couple.
Having talked to Mickie on the ten-minute walk over, she knew she didn't have to go and find her next—besides, she knew she'd only end up playing third wheel while the brunette made out with her straight-edge boyfriend for the entire night. They were inseparable in that way.
And so, just as she'd run out of people to look for, knowing Jeff hadn't arrived yet and she didn't know others well enough to interrupt their conversations, it was rather lucky that she spotted Randy just a minute later. He stood at the bar with The Miz, who she noticed was staring miserably at Eve. But his pining for her best friend didn't seem to matter when she focused in again on the guy she'd really wished to see this evening.
Was it possible to look even more handsome than usual?
Maria knew she hadn't been attracted to him for his looks in the first place—while, yes, she appreciated his features and knew why the girls were jealous of Michelle being able to call him a boyfriend, his personality had drawn her in first. Standing here now though and taking him in properly – with him not having a clue while he talked on – she felt the butterflies begin to swarm around in her stomach.
With glee, she realized that once again, when it came to him, she felt like the leading female characters she oh-so-envied in all the romantic novels she read. This was... simply an amazing feeling to have.
Knowing Randy felt the same way about her, her smile only grew wider when a throwaway glance in her direction revealed her to him. He did a double-take, slowly placing his bottle of drink back down on the bar and they stood there, a short distance apart, staring at each other.
There's so much I want to say to him. But where to start? She bit down on her bottom lip as he began walking towards her. This is it. This is the moment where I tell him I love him... but how? Here he is, walking towards me... looking so wonderful... and I'm stuck for words. Oh God, I'm... I'm stuck for words! No, what if I mess this up? What if—
He stopped in front of her.
She swallowed lightly, more than aware now that 'now or never' rang true in this very moment. "I—" The girl opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off when he cupped her cheeks, moving in closer, and kissed her full on the lips.
Wait, wasn't this wrong? Wasn't there supposed to be some huge romantic speech in which they confessed their love for each other (again)? Wasn't... oh, who was she kidding? It no longer mattered, not when he was kissing her like this...
Maria melted into him, truly happy to finally have this moment – her own little selfish moment – to enjoy. He moved his hands a beat later but only to wrap them around her waist; using this to her advantage, she wrapped hers around his neck, and they were suddenly as close as they could physically be to each other.
They found they had to stop for air sooner or later, and with regret Randy pulled away, but rested his forehead on hers in a gentle moment for them. It hadn't dawned on either of them such a passionate make-out in such a public place, in the middle of all the company around them, would look strange.
A giggle spilled through her lips as she stepped back, if only to get better sight of him. She was over the moon – positively glowing. This was everything she wanted and more. "I couldn't have said it better myself," said Maria to him, giggling some more, until he kissed her again.
So there's the next chapter. Please review :)
Up next is the last chapter for Mickie.