24. Maria and the Routine

Maria chewed the end of her pen as she sighed dreamily to herself. While the teacher stood at the front of the room going on about Trigonometry, the only thing the brunette could focus on was the boy sat in front of her; a grey and red beanie aggressively letting the world know he was 'Drug Free' directly in her line of sight. Poking underneath the hat were some tuffs of blonde hair, a stark contrast to the black mop he was sporting only a week ago. But that was Phil Brooks for you; the 'Punk' was notorious at Springfort High for his unpredictable ways and uncompromising beliefs, but that was exactly why Maria loved him.

He clearly was not paying attention to the class either, but then again, it was virtually impossible to tell what he was ever really thinking. What was certain however was that the doodles he was jotting down on the sheet of paper in front of him had nothing to do with this Math class. Just like Maria, he was constantly stuck in his own little world.

As per usual, Maria's eyes ran up and down Punk's back. She took in the beat up beanie, the bright blonde hair, the baggy hoodie... He was just so... different. He wasn't a bad boy like Dolph Ziggler or Mike Mizanin were "bad boys". No, as much as Kelly and Eve hated to admit it, their boyfriends were sanitised. They were popular young men with more money than attitude. Maybe a little controversial, but still fully on track for the Ivy League educations their parents were more than happy to pay for. Punk was the exact opposite. He was rugged and rough around the edges. He didn't care what anyone else thought of him. He spoke his mind and did his own thing and because of it was despised by guys like Dolph and Mike; and unsurprisingly, he despised them just as much. He was just... different.

She wished she could be just as cool as he was. With her mousy brown hair and perfectly ordinary life, there was no way she could ever impress someone like Phil Brooks. But a girl could dream, right? Maria and Punk... Punk and Maria... Maria...

"Maria. Maria? Maria!"

Her head shot up as some giggles arose around her. Mrs Feinstein was stood with her arms crossed over her chest, a knowing smirk on her face.

"Yes?" Maria replied nervously, looking up sheepishly.

"I just asked you if you could answer question six."

Maria frowned and stared at the board. The symbols and squiggles may as well have been straight out of her German class.

"Uh. Do you want me to be honest or...?"

The class burst into laughter as Maria turned red. She hadn't meant to be rude or snarky at all, but the teacher was clearly unimpressed.

"Honesty is always good," she muttered, trying to keep her cool.

"Um," Maria cleared her throat. "Okay then. I most definitely cannot answer question six, Mrs Feinstein."

The laughter resumed as Mrs Feinstein shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Her eyes then fell on the boy in front of Maria.

"Alright Phil, I see you chuckling away to yourself. Why don't you give the question a try?"

Maria's heart began beating wildly at the thought of Punk even noticing her; let alone laughing at her joke (even if it was unintentional).

"Well," Phil leaned back in his seat. "I guess you want me to be honest too, right?"

The class sniggered, used to Punk's sarcastic comments. Evidently their teacher was too, as she simply rolled her eyes and swiftly moved on.

When the bell finally rang, he was the first to shove everything into his bag and leave the classroom. Maria barely even noticed she was staring off in his direction until her daydream was interrupted by Kelly waving a hand in her face and saying something about lunch. Just as they passed his desk, Maria quickly noticed that his sheet of doodles had fallen to the floor.

"Just a minute, Kells!"

Kelly rolled her eyes and stood waiting by the doorway as Maria quickly leant down, pretending to tie her shoelaces. She peered down at the sheet of paper. It was covered in what looked like a collection of different cartoons and logos, but in the centre of the page was what looked like song lyrics.

'So I sit and wait and wonder, does anyone else feel like me? Someone so tired of their routines and disappearing self esteems...'

'I'm so overdosed on apathy and burnt out on sympathy...'

"Maria!"

"Coming!"

Quickly shoving the paper into her bag, Maria raced over to her friend.

Chewing the end of her pen and flicking through the latest copy of Vogue, Maria hummed along to the radio. Her new job as a sales assistant at a local boutique was nothing like she thought it would be. Today, for example, was a particularly slow one. A few sales here and there, but overall it felt like she'd spent hours just hanging around behind the counter.

"Hey Maria," a beaming young woman sauntered through the store, shaking off her jacket and tossing her silky brown hair over her shoulder. "Sorry I'm a little late; the traffic out there is insane!"

Maria gave a friendly grin and a sigh of relief.

"That's fine, the store's been pretty dead anyway."

"What a surprise," she muttered, her English accent taking on a sing-song tone.

Maria giggled and grabbed her keys, itching to go on her lunch break.

"Feel free to take an extra twenty," her colleague called after her as she came back out of the staffroom with her jacket and handbag. "To make up for my tardiness."

"Thanks Layla!" Maria replied, blowing a kiss in her direction. "Drop me a text if you need anything."

Layla nodded and assumed Maria's earlier position at the counter; sighing dreamily as she flicked through one of the many magazines Maria always left lying around.

Scanning the aisles of Call It Classic, Maria couldn't stop peering over towards the cash register. A bored looking Phil Brooks was flicking through a comic book as he aggressively chewed his gum; looking up every now and again to help a customer but remaining firmly in his own world. His signature can of Pepsi sat beside him on the counter.

"Hey Maria."

Looking up quickly, a warm smile spread across Maria's face as Alex Riley appeared as if out of nowhere on the other side of the CD rack she was glancing through.

"Hey Alex! What are you doing here?"

It was an innocent enough question. Call It Classic was the last place Maria expected to bump into a jock like Alex Riley. The two had several classes in common and even lived just down the road from each other. Maria had always found him particularly friendly.

"It's my little brother's birthday soon," he explained, leaning casually against the rack. "He's big into music and spends practically all of his time here, so I figured it'd be the best place to get him a present."

"Aw!" Maria cooed, putting her CD down. "How old is he?"

"About to turn fifteen."

"Nice! What type of music is he into?"

Alex thought for a moment before letting out a snort.

"This kind of noise," he said, making reference to the song that had just come on through the speakers. Maria frowned as she realized she recognised the lyrics. "Shit," Alex cursed. "Hope I didn't offend you there."

"No, of course not," Maria giggled. "But it's not noise. It means something, y'know?"

Alex gave a confused nod, obviously not confused. Maria shook her head and gestured for him to follow her through the store.

"If your brother likes this, he'll love this kind of thing." She picked up a CD from the Rock section and held it up to Alex. He frowned, clearly not recognizing the band at all, but gladly accepted it from her.

"Thanks," he said, looking up and down the tracklist. "That's really nice of you."

She shrugged. "It's no biggie. It's just nice to feel understood I guess, especially when you're fifteen! I hope he enjoys it."

"I'm sure he will," Alex said, looking intently down at Maria. "Well, uh, I better get going. I guess I'll see you in class tomorrow?"

"Yup! It was great bumping into you!"

They said their goodbyes and she left him to go and pay for the CD. Again, Punk casually put his comic to the side and did his job. When Alex looked away for a moment, Maria noticed Punk rolling his eyes at the star football player. Her attention was so much on him that she barely noticed Alex looking back at her and winking.

'I'm so far gone,

That deep down inside I think it's fine by me,

That I'm my own worst enemy!'

"Man, I love this song," Maria smiled dreamily to herself, staring as Punk bopped his head along to the last few bars of 'The Science of Selling Yourself Short'.

Maria hummed quietly to herself as she strolled down the avenue; the music playing through her headphones as always serving as her own personal soundtrack. Since the disastrous sequence of events that had made up Eve's dinner party, she had found herself becoming increasingly closed off. After Alicia's outburst and Punk's no-show she could barely bring herself to face her friends. After the world's most awkward dessert, she was quick to slink off in a taxi and head home to lick her wounds. In a rather bizarre twist of fate, she was surprised to wake up the next morning to discover that she had passed the job interview and could start work on Monday at Flora. It wasn't the high fashion job she was aiming for, but it was something; and right now something was a whole lot better than her world of nothings.

It wasn't a bad job by any means. She spent all day surrounded by clothes and on the odd occasion a customer asked for her opinion she would jump at the chance to give them fashion advice. She saw her partner-in-crime Layla El as a slightly older but just as fun-loving version of herself; with her wild sense of humour and sparkling charisma the two of them had in the short time Maria had worked at the boutique managed to bring some fun to the long shifts they worked. The London native had moved to the States several years earlier for college and like Maria had aspirations in fashion.

Her daily routine had started to become, if nothing else, comforting. On her lunch breaks she would stroll around the surrounding area of the boutique and pop into the French cafe just a short walk away. While sitting at a corner table with her coffee and baguette, she'd flick through the latest fashion magazines; cutting and pasting into the scrapbook she was building up. As she flicked through Vogue, she found herself lost in thought, smiling to herself as she stroked the gorgeous Prada collection being modelled by Jourdan Dunn. Paying close attention to every colour, every cut, to all the subtleties, all she could think of was how badly she wanted to see one of her own designs in print, or on a catwalk... hell, even on the E! Network. Her mind suddenly racing, she grabbed a pencil and began furiously sketching on a fresh pad of paper.

She was so much engrossed that she barely even noticed the sudden appearance of a tall figure hovering by her table. Mouthing along and bopping to the song blasting through her headphones, all that she could think about were the intricate lines firing out of her pencils, with the cleverly placed shading and curves. It wasn't until Phil sat down in the seat opposite her that she gasped and shot up straight.

"Is that Less Than Jake I hear?"

Maria gaped at the dark haired man sat before her, his lip ring glinting as he smirked at her.

Maria closed the bathroom stall behind her and sighed heavily. Putting the lid down, she perched down on the toilet seat and retrieved her scrapbook from her backpack. She ran her fingers along the magazine cut-outs.

"Did you hear how Maria Kanellis got asked to prom by A-Ri?"

Maria's breath caught in her throat as a selection of footsteps could be heard coming into the bathroom. The first voice she could hear was Nikki Bella's; Springfort's 'It Girl' and head cheerleader. The next voice that came ringing through was from a fellow cheerleader, Brooke Tessmacher.

"I don't get what he even sees in her," she snorted. "She's a total weirdo."

"Tell me about it," Eva Marie, Nikki's main sidekick, chimed in. "I sit by her in Trig and if she's not doodling, she's drooling after Phil Brooks of all people.

"Ew, no way," Nikki laughed. "That explains why she rejected Alex."

The other girls gasped before bursting into laughter.

"She must be crazy," Lena Yada, yet another cheerleader, snorted. "Hasn't she seen how much of a status boost dating Mike and Dolph has given her friends? And she's chasing after that greasy punk?"

"Totally crazy," Eva agreed in her casual, nondescript way.

"Alex must be pissed," Brooke sighed. "I don't think that boy's ever been rejected in his life."

"Oh, of course he is!" Nikki replied. "Dolph was telling me how he'd been chasing after her for months. They'd always hang out together after school and 'study', and go out for coffee and stuff. She even helped him pick out a birthday present for his little brother and everything!"

"Sounds like she's been leading him on," Brooke said knowingly.

"Oh come on, Nikki," Brie said, unconvinced. "You know how those guys are. They think a girl giving him the slightest bit of attention means she's in love with him. You remember how things went down with me and Montel."

"Yeah, but it's not like someone like Maria is ever gonna do better than Alex."

The other girls giggled at Nikki's quip but Brie scoffed.

"God, Nicole, you're such a bitch sometimes. Why don't you go to prom with A-Ri if you feel so strongly about this injustice?"

"Oh Brianna," Nikki sighed, although Maria could hear the glee in her voice. "You know full well that I'm more than satisfied as I am."

Brooke, Eva and Lena laughed through Brie's protests.

"But listen to this," Nikki continued. "I heard that Punk's got his eyes on that Amy chick."

Maria's eyes widened.

"You mean that slutty redhead who sings in that lame band?"

"Eva, you're one to talk about 'slutty redheads'," Brie said, making the other girls giggle.

"Whatever," Eva scoffed.

"Okay, okay," Nikki interrupted. "You know how she hasn't dated since that mess with Matt Hardy, right? Well apparently Amy and Phil have been sitting in the tree for a long, long time."

A series of 'oohs' rung through the bathroom, ending in laughter once again.

"Oh god, that makes so much sense!" Brooke sighed through her laughter. "Those two just fit in hand in hand, don't they?"

"More like dick in vag," Nikki scoffed, clearly satisfied with her joke.

"You're so gross Nikki," Brie quipped. "Now can we please just go to class? Leave poor Maria alone."

The girls continued their laughing and joking as they left, leaving 'poor Maria' still sat in the bathroom stall sniffing and wiping her cheeks dry.

"Punk. Hey. So you got my text?"

"Yeah, I did. Sorry I didn't text back, I've been feeling pretty shitty about no-showing the other night. I didn't really know what to say."

"That's cool. At least you're here now, right?"

He nodded. "Please don't be mad at me," he sighed, carefully reading her facial expression. "I swear I can explain."

"It's whatever," she shrugged. "But you could have called! Or texted! Or something!"

"I know," he nodded, leaning forward and folding his arms over the table. "I'm an asshole."

She bit her lip and shrugged, closing her sketchbook and pushing it to the side. "So what's the explanation?" She folded her own arms, surprising herself with her steely demeanour.

"Man, I don't even know where to begin." He exhaled and ran a hand through his short hair. Maria's expression and stance began to soften, her concern coming through.

"Is everything okay?" She asked, reaching over and placing a hand over his.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Yeah, it will be. I guess it just depends on how you define 'okay'"," he added with a small chuckle.

Maria frowned, but urged him to go on.

"Well, in her typically totally unpredictable way, Amy showed up on my doorstep the afternoon of your friend's party."

Maria let out an 'oh'; suddenly becoming stoic once again.

"Yeah, 'oh' indeed," Punk scoffed. "So she comes back from Central America and tells me she just had to talk to me, talking about how when she was away she'd been thinking and finally figuring out just what she wanted out of life. So of course I ask her how I figure into all of this and she gets really serious and sad and says she's found a job out in Nicaragua and how it's just perfect for her. I ask her about our Chicago plans and so on and she says she isn't ready to settle down like that, that we're too young to commit to each other like that. So we argue and she accuses me of holding her back and she flat out tells me she's moving out there whether I like it or not. So I finally ask if she's breaking up with me... And after an entire day of arguing, she tells me that we're done and walks straight out the door. And this time I think it's for good."

Maria sat staring at him in shock, trying to process the bombshell.

"Wow," was all she could muster up. "I'm so sorry. Being dumped is the worst."

"Oh yeah," he sighed. "Even worse when you're about to put down a deposit down for a place together and she ends up leaving the damn country."

Maria couldn't help but to giggle at this, apologizing profusely as she did so.

"Nah, don't worry about it," Punk reassured her, allowing himself to laugh too. "I guess it's pretty funny when you think about it. And just my luck, right? I mean, my lady troubles are about ten miles high and date all the way back to when this girl Penny kissed me back in kindergarten before running away and screaming about my cooties."

The two burst into laughter at this story, making Maria loosen up finally and begin to reminisce on her own romantic endeavours.

"Well, back in college I dated this gorgeous athlete, John. He was a senior and I was a sophomore. He dumped me just before school ended because he just wasn't ready to properly settle down. So get this, he goes back home when he graduates, becomes a star NFL player and gets engaged to his high school sweetheart. And get this, I eventually end up meeting her, and you know what she says to me?"

"What?" Punk grinned, his eyes sparkling as he took in Maria's story.

"She thanks me for helping John realize how ready he is to follow his heart and finally settle down. And she was totally serious, too!"

Punk leaned back in his chair, laughing almost uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry," he breathed, wiping an eye. "That's not funny."

"Oh yeah it is," Maria giggled. "And it perfectly sums up every single one of my romantic endeavours."

"It's totally their loss," he said warmly. "If those guys can't see great you are, they're total idiots."

Maria couldn't help but laugh at the irony.

"But hey, this Dean guy sounds like he's pretty cool, right?" Maria frowned, wondering what the hell he was talking about. When realisation finally hit her, she cursed under her breath.

"Yeah, Dean. My man," she giggled nervously. "Yeah, we're doing okay."

"Just okay? I thought you guys were talking about marriage and all that stuff?"

Her jaw clenched.

"Uh, yeah. But you know, all these things are difficult. Things can change in an instant."

"Yeah, true," Punk said thoughtfully. "It's hard when you're in a relationship for so long that it starts to feel like a..." He paused, searching for the right word.

"A routine?" Maria offered.

"Yeah," Punk confirmed. "A routine. I think that's what made Amy run."

Maria nodded. "A little routine doesn't hurt though, right?"

"Yeah, I agree. Spontaneity is great and all, but at some point you've just got to learn to be realistic. And that's coming from me, of all people."

The two sighed. To Maria's dismay Punk kept on with his questions about Dean; asking about where they met, what he does, how it's going and so on. Maria grinned and bared it all, picking at her lunch and internally cursing herself as she did so. When he returned to the subject of the gig he had invited the couple to, her heart might as well have stopped.

"It's this weekend," he pressed on. "Hey, bring whoever you want, it's an awesome band and they'd really appreciate the support."

Maria nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat, before saying the very last thing she should have said in this situation.

"Great. We'll be there!"

So it was true. Maria sighed as she watched Punk and Amy walk confidently onto the dance floor hand in hand. After several months of secrecy, the new relationship was now out in the open and most came to the agreement that they suited each other perfectly. Both cool, confident and rebellious, it was only a matter of time before the two would come together. Sure, they weren't about to win Prom King and Queen (not that they even cared about that stuff anyway), but they had quickly become something of a power couple.

Come to think of it, the power couples seemed to be everywhere. The scene at prom was exactly what you'd expect to be; fancy suits, beautiful dresses, and a whole lot of romance. Maria watched as her friends partook in the festivities: Eve and Mike, Kelly and Dolph, Alicia and Randy, even Kaitlyn and her on/off flame Johnny Curtis were all loved up and floating around the decorated gym. She looked over and saw Alex Riley sipping on punch as Eva Marie hung off his arm, adjusting his corsage. Maria tried her best to smile over at him with a small, friendly wave, but the football player simply looked right through her with the blankest of expressions.

So, junior year was about to end and Maria had still never been able to strike up a conversation with Punk. And now it was determined that she probably never would. Maybe Nikki and her friends were right; she should have just accepted Alex's prom proposal. Or maybe she should have just spoken to Punk in Trig, or at Call It Classic; just once. Looking away sadly, she glanced back over at Phil and Amy as he pulled her in closer, swaying along to 'Wherever You Will Go'. Usually he'd be the first to scoff at this selection cheesy love songs, but as he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's frame, looking down at her with a dreamy expression that seemed out of place on his hard features and running his hands through her hair, it was clear that he was in just as deep as all the other lovesick teens she'd often heard him laughing at.

Amy did look truly beautiful. Her long red hair was pinned back in a Rockabilly-esque up-do and she wore a floor length red, lacy dress that hugged her curvy features and exposed some of her sizeable chest and the collection of tattoos on her arm. With Punk's slicked back and freshly black hair and his black tux, they looked like Punk Rock royalty. Maria looked down at her own dress; a glittery light blue number that was backless and fell to the floor. Of course, her own creation, as was the up-do her mousy brown hair was in. But catching sight of her reflection in the mirror as she entered the bathroom, all she could think was how plain and ordinary she was. What was really special about her? Sure, Eve, Alicia, Kaitlyn and Kelly would always rave about the clothes she designed, but it wasn't like she'd ever done anything about it. Her prom dress was one of those designs that was quiet about itself; cute, but it didn't make any statements. Just like its creator. It was no wonder Punk had never once noticed her all these years; and going into senior year, now that he had Amy, there was no chance that he would. She was just as pathetic as Nikki and her friends had said.

Holding back tears, Maria left the bathroom and made a beeline for the exit.

"Maria!"

She stopped in her tracks, quickly whipping around at the sound of the voice calling her. While she was still happy to see Jeff, her shoulders drooped and the smallest hints of a smile disappeared again.

"Hey Jeff."

Her old friend Jeff, one of her closest outside of the girls. He had been there for her for years, practically since diapers. And of course, this wasn't about to stop.

"Don't tell me you're leaving?" He frowned, taking in her anxious stance and expression.

She shrugged. "Might as well."

He drew in a breath, quickly understanding the situation. Looking over his shoulder, he followed her gaze over to Amy and Punk.

"You know how much I love Amy," he sighed, thinking back to her stormy relationship with his younger brother. "But Punk's... Punk. You can do better than that."

Once again, Maria shrugged. Jeff smiled sadly at her, knowing there was no convincing her.

"Come here," he held out a hand. "Seeing as I'm about to graduate, I might as well get one dance off of my sister from another mister."

Maria finally broke into a smile and took his hand. "How can I say no to my brother from another mother?"

The two grinned and Jeff led her onto the dance floor.

"Hey you," Layla called, looking over at Maria with a grin as she returned to the store. "Nice lunch?"

"Yeah," Maria sighed. She dumped her stuff in the staffroom before returning to the cash register with Layla.

"A group of high school girls came in earlier," Layla recounted as a smile spread across her face. "Said they were looking for prom dresses. This early on! Can you imagine?"

"Wow," Maria breathed. "Well, prom's pretty serious, I guess. Did they find anything they liked?"

"I don't think so. Said they might come back another time. Then they started talking about getting dresses custom-made."

Maria's ears pricked up at this and she turned her head quickly in Layla's direction. The Brit gave her a knowing grin.

"I gave them your number and let them know my business associate is a fantastic designer."

The redhead's jaw dropped. She grabbed Layla and pulled her in for a hug, squealing out countless 'thank yous'. Layla giggled and blew her kiss.

"You totally owe me one."

"Of course!" Maria beamed as she stepped back, still buzzing where she stood.

"Well, you can start by giving me some plans for this weekend. My ex keeps texting me wanting to meet up and I need to do something that will take my mind right of him. Preferably something that involves men and booze."

"I think I can help you there," Maria laughed. "How does some live music sound to you?"