He twirls me around, and we dance and eat and dance some more, falling into each other and making love on the living room floor. Then we move to the bedroom and do it all over again, taking our time because I don’t have to be home until morning. It was a night of absolute perfection. What we didn’t know is that the world around us was changing. And our secret was coming out.
Maya
Iwake to the sound of my phone pinging that alarm that means someone is trying to find me. “Oh no!”
“What is that?” Brody lifts a sleepy head as I scramble over him, rushing into the living room where I find my bag.
“No. No. No,” I moan, silencing my cell while taking note of all the missed calls and text messages. “No.”
“What’s going on?” Brody follows me out and drapes a robe around my naked body, crouching down beside me as I show him my screen. Tamara. My dad. My stepmom. The school. They’ve all been trying to call me. “Fuck.”
“Do you think they know?”
He scrambles to grab his phone, shaking his head when his screen is blank. “I don’t think so. But they’re obviously looking for you.”
“I need to go,” I say, out of breath as I pull on clothes and grab my things. “Thank you for last night. I’ll never forget it.” I smile, placing a lingering kiss on his lips before I rush out, promising to call him later.
Brody
That was close. I run my hand through my messy hair as I watch her race out the door, missing her already.
Graduation is only a few days away, and then we won’t have to hide anymore. Granted, we’ll have to lie forever about when we got together, but it’s a small price to pay to be with the woman I love.
Taking a moment to survey the mess of our makeshift prom, a flash of silver catches my eye, and I realize Maya has left her keys behind. “Maya,” I call out, scooping them up and chasing her out the door. I catch up to her in the street, and call her name again, it’s not until she turns to me with stricken eyes that I realize what I’ve done. “Fuck.”
Standing on the sidewalk are Maya’s parents, the school principal, Tamara, and oddly, Josh. Is this a nightmare? I blink twice, hoping they’ll disappear, and I’ll wake up.
“We didn’t know when we met,” Maya blurts as I hand the keys over in slow motion. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. While standing in my boxer shorts on the sidewalk. Excellent.
“Morning all. I suppose we have some explaining to do.”
“To the police, most likely,” Maya’s father says.
“Now, let’s not rush to that,” the principal says. “How about we hear them out first? Maybe there’s a reasonable explanation?”
“He punched me in the face in a jealous rage over her!” Josh yells, pointing at me. I feel like beating him down again.
“I stopped you from practically raping her, you twat. What the hell are you even doing here?”
“He came with me,” Tamara says. “We were looking for Maya like everyone else. She’s valedictorian.” She shifts her gaze to Maya. “I was trying to work out how you went from a flailing GPA to valedictorian on extra credit, but now I know how.” She curls her lip, sneering between us.
“This is completely unacceptable,” the stepmother says. “Maya. Get in the car.”
“I drove here,” she says, causing her stepmother to fume. “Then get your ass home. You’re grounded until the end of summer.”
Her father shakes his head. “I can’t even look at you anymore.”
That’s all it takes for Maya to crack. “You haven’t looked at me for years!” she yells. “Ever since Mom died, I’ve been swept to the side and ignored.” She points a finger at her stepmother. “You treat me like a health project,” she accuses, shifting her finger to Josh. “You treat me like a thing, and you treat me like a competitor.” That last part is directed at Tamara. “And the one person who loves and supports me is the one you’re all accusing of wrong doing. I met him at the grocery store during spring break. We didn’t realize we were teacher and student until it was too late. And we broke up as soon as we found out.”
“You don’t look broken up to me,” Tamara says, her arms folded across her chest.
“Nothing happened until school was finished,” I say, trying to maintain some sort of dignity while still standing in my shorts.
Voices erupt, arguing over each other until the principal raises her hands and commands everyone to stop. “Dr. Miller is my staff, and therefore my responsibility. If we can all stop arguing for a moment, I’d like to suggest we adjourn to my office where I can ask the appropriate questions before we discuss a course of action.”
Our gathering reluctantly disperses. Maya mouths that she’s sorry as she’s led away. I shake my head because she has nothing to be sorry about. I’m the one in the position of power here. I should have been stronger and waited.
Maya
