I've found time to write so I wrote this chapter in a wordsprint (nanowrimo-ers should know what that is) and I hope y'all love it as much as you love the other chapters! I have lots of craziness up my sleeve for this story and I'm getting really excited. Don't forget to leave a review down below! :) xxx
Maya wakes up about an hour after I do, but I stay in bed with her the whole time, knowing she'll be scared if she wakes up alone, but honestly, I think I'd be more scared of being left again.
"Hey, beautiful. That's some really lovely hair you're rocking this fine morning." I tease, laughing at her ridiculously crazed blond mess on her head. She chuckles weakly. "How're you doing?" I ask.
"Fine," she replies, not even making eye contact with me.
I raise an eyebrow. "Maya, seriously. Are you okay?" I ask. It would usually be a strange question for us, but given last night's situation, it's the least I can address.
Maya looks at me with a sad expression, and starts crying. I bring her in with my arm and she cries into my shoulder for a few minutes before pulling back and wiping her tears. "I'm sorry, Cam. I shouldn't be crying."
"Hey," I say, "you have reasons. Do you want to talk about it?"
She shakes her head. As much as it hurts me to see the girl cry, I wish she would talk more about it so I could do something to fix it. In my mind, I consider taking the issue to the police, but I realize the wasted time and money on a criminal that can't be caught isn't necessarily helpful. But it still feels wrong to leave the problem untouched like this. So all I can do is hold Maya so she doesn't crumble apart.
"We should do something today." I state, trying to change the subject. It's Saturday, so Maya doesn't have any scheduled classes and practice is postponed till tomorrow, because everyone on the team is practically snowed in today.
"Like what?" Maya questions eagerly, like she's glad I've changed the subject.
"Well, weren't we going to go get Christmas junk a couple of days ago on Queen Street?" I say. We had planned to get a small fake tree and other decorative items to celebrate our first Christmas in our own home, even if it is in a measly apartment in Toronto. But our plans were terminated by the incident.
Maya laughs. "Christmas junk, huh? You make that sound really fun." she says.
"You know what I mean," I laugh, "Does it sound like a plan?"
Maya nods her head. "I'm glad I have you," Maya says. That was out of the blue.
"Me too," I say, kissing the top of her head, "Life would really suck without you and your pretty face." I say. Maya laughs. "Now get dressed, it's already ten!" I tell her, getting up and pulling her out of bed.
"What about this one?" Maya says, pointing to a sparkly pink tinsel tree in the window of yet another girly boutique on Queen Street. It is decorated with ornaments that look like shoes and purses and lipstick. I raise an eyebrow at her ridiculous suggestion. "Kidding," she says, laughing to herself.
We've been looking at every little shop in the area for two hours and haven't found anything aside from a creepy snowman figurine and stocking with our names on them and a few tree ornaments. I would easily be convinced to get a real tree from the farm up by Maya's parents' house, but given the fact that we already struggle with the cozy size of the apartment, I decide it's probably best to get a small fake one to suit our living area. I told Maya she can choose a tree, as long as it's not ridiculously girly and/or glittery.
We pass a shop window with a small, green tree adorned with ornaments resembling cartoon characters, and Maya stops in her tracks and squeals at the sight.
"Cam! Isn't it cute? We have to get it, we just have to." Maya says. I roll my eyes; the tree is really corny, but I guess that is expected when Maya selects it.
"Isn't it a little cheesy?" I complain.
"Hey, you're one to talk, Cheesy!" she says, bringing up the horrendous nickname she gave me in high school.
"Oh my God, Maya, you're really bringing that one up now?" I roll my eyes again. She laughs mischievously before pulling me into the store with the tree. I let her drag me around as she looks at garish decorations around the shop. She stops to stare at the tree we saw from the window.
"Hi, can I help you with anything?" A voice asks from behind us. We turn around and a kid, probably fifteen stands before us. I recognize him as the boy from Degrassi a few days ago. I look at his name tag. Carter. That was it. The boy with the scars on his wrists. "Hey, you're Campbell Saunders!" Carter says, smiling a little.
"Yeah, you're the kid with the sc- the kid from Degrassi," I say, hoping I covered that well enough.
He nods with a smile. "So, are you looking for anything in particular today?" he asks.
Maya looks at me and smiles giddily. "This tree," she says to Carter, pointing at the tree.
So putting a fake Christmas tree together is a pain in the ass. Katie needed Maya for something this afternoon, so Maya's been over there for a a couple hours and I'm left here with the extraordinarily difficult task of assembling this freaking tree and its ridiculous ornaments.
"I'm home!" Maya shouts happily as she bursts through the door, stretching out the word home.
"And I'm struggling!" I shout back, starting to get really frustrated with the damn tree.
"What?" Maya asks, giggling. I get up and smile.
"Nothing," I say, "Why so happy?" I ask, and I can't help but smile at her overall cuteness when she's especially happy.
"I have news," Maya says, sitting down on the chair in the living room.
"Yeah?" I ask, going over to the couch and facing her.
"Katie's pregnant!" Maya yells excitedly.
I raise an eyebrow in surprise. "I guess that explains her extra frustration toward me lately," I say.
"Again, what?" Maya laughs with a confused expression.
"Nothing," I say.
"Well, in that case, we have a whole lot happening right now, so let's just be happy that everything's back to normal, 'kay?" Maya says. She's handling everything better than me, and I still don't know if that's a good thing or not. Either way, we're better off forgetting the flaws in our life and we can try to hold this normal life we dream of.
I love you all! The feedback on this story is AMAZING! Keep those reviews comin', they really motivate me to post more! :) xxx