Page 10 of Take Her On

Maya caught her up on her mum and grandma, leaving out a lot of the details about her grandpa. She hated the sympathy that came with it. There was nothing anybody could say to make it better, anyway. When she told Hannah about Jamie, her friend’s brown eyes widened. Hannah loved to know the latest gossip and was always filling Maya in on her own netball drama.

Hannah leaned in closer once she’d finished. “So…do you think she’s going to be here today, then?” Her eyebrows bounced. “Do you really think she’d have the nerve to show up at football?”

Maya snorted. “That woman’s got bottles of the stuff. Apparently, she’s trying to take my role of captain.” Even the mention of it made her jaw clench.

Hannah let out a soft laugh. “Women’s football, eh? So much drama and you’ve literally not even started this season yet.”

“Tell me about it.”

Hannah filled her in about the latest romances on the netball team and then her summer in Scotland as they walked to their lecture. Her aunty Fiona had insisted on staying with them for three weeks, bringing all five of her cats with her.

“I love her,” Hannah said, “but every night one of the cats woke me up pawing at my face. And they ate one of my Twinkies.”

Since her dad had brought her some back from a business trip seven years ago, Hannah had become obsessed with the American cakes and hoarded them so she’d never have to go through another Twinkie drought. Maya could just imagine the carnage when Hannah realised one of the felines had broken into her prized stash. Her temper had no rival. Especially regarding food.

Before Maya knew it, she was back in the safe routine of university. She caught up with classmates, took notes in her Sports Science lecture, and successfully avoided eye contact with their intimidating professor, Mr Dricken. She didn’t know whether it was his patchy facial hair or his receding hairline, but something always had his knickers in a twist.

When the bell rang for lunch, Maya spotted someone with long blonde hair heading towards the cafeteria. Carly. Her heart skipped involuntarily as she took in her long dancer’s legs in her light blue denim trousers.

Hannah followed her gaze and shot her a sympathetic look. “I’m guessing from those puppy dog eyes that you still haven’t told her how you feel?”

“I’m not a puppy dog. She’s just…”

“The classic queer fantasy.”

Heat prickled Maya’s neck. “She’s more than that, Han. I don’t wanna fuck it up.”

Hannah wasn’t shy about her opinions on Carly. Thankfully, today, she bit her tongue and just huffed instead.

Hannah and Maddie were the only people who knew about Maya’s hopeless crush. Maya didn’t usually get this way over women. Being openly gay and on the football team meant women weren’t shy about wanting to get to know her—and Maya didn’t mind, either. It was a good distraction. Something to keep her occupied…but her heart wasn’t in it.

“I’m meeting Maddie in the common room for lunch. Are you coming or…” Hannah’s gaze lingered over Maya’s shoulder, where Carly had disappeared.

She hated this part. The guilt that came with having two friendship groups. “I should go say hi to her. I haven’t seen her since she moved.”

Hannah might have bitten her tongue, but her eyes still shone with disappointment. “Alright. I’ll see you after for the practical, then.” She gave her a small smile before she left, her oversized tote bag clunking against her side as she went.

Maya blew out a breath. She hated feeling she was letting Hannah down, but she was sure she’d understand if she felt this way about someone. Hannah was always complaining about being single.

She picked up her bag and headed towards the cafeteria, heart squeezing when Carly looked up from one of the wooden benches. Carly’s wavy hair parted in the middle, framing her round face, her cat-like eyes snaring Maya as she strolled towards her. Carly’s pink lipstick mouth stretched into a smile.

She’s happy to see me.

Maya didn’t want to read too much into it, but she couldn’t help the way her stomach flip-flopped.

But when neither Carly nor Zeek stood to greet her, the excitement soured. Maya quickly masked it, taking an empty seat next to Zeek. He had a plateful of chunky chips already and was tearing open a tomato-sauce sachet with his teeth. Maya pinched a chip from his pile, and he scowled at her, swatting her hand away as Carly did the same.

Carly and Maya shared a glance that reawakened the butterflies.

Zeek’s dark eyes narrowed. “I hate you guys.” He swirled another chip in tomato sauce. “So, how was everyone’s summer?”

Carly sighed, fanning her blonde fringe with her expelled breath. “Really, Zeek, not you too. I must have answered the same question fifty times.” She reached for another chip, but Zeek pulled his plate away.

“Get your own. The line is still small.” Zeek tried his best to sound authoritative, but he had a naturally high-pitched voice that he couldn’t make sound scary, even when he tried. His sleeves were rolled up, showing off his dark, muscular arms. He barricaded them around his chips, blocking out any thieving fingers. “I’m so sorry for making conversation.”

“You’re asking this like we haven’t seen each other for eight weeks.” Carly laughed. “We went to the cinema on Saturday.”

Saturday? Maya looked down at the table, tracing the initials that had been carved into the wood. It hurt that they’d been doing things without her, but she should’ve been used to that by now. Since Carly and Zeek met in their first year, it felt like she was slowly being phased out of Carly’s life. They rarely texted each other, hardly saw each other between football and dancing, and now Carly had moved away. Sometimes Maya wondered if they would have stayed friends at all if they hadn’t lived opposite each other. Hannah certainly doubted it. Maddie would just shrug and tell Maya to do what made her happy. Honestly, Maya wasn’t sure what exactly that was. Her feelings for Carly were complicated.