Page 92 of Take Her On

Her mum inspected her dirty outfit and let out a sigh. “Thank you for bringing her home, Leah.”

Since when were they on a first-name basis? Maya would ask, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“No problem.” Leah rubbed Maya’s shoulder. “I’ll see you at uni.”

“Can’t wait.”

After she’d gone, Maya wished she’d thanked her, but all she wanted to do was close her eyes, lie down, and pretend none of this was happening. The taxi pulled away, and her mum helped her inside.

The door closed behind them. The warm light from the lamp partially illuminated the living room. Everything else was in darkness. Had her mum been waiting up? She kicked off her shoes while her mum watched.

Her mum sighed. “Are you alright?”

“I’m great.”

“No, you’re not.” Her gaze held hers, piercing through the walls.

Maya’s eyes pricked, and she wished the tears away. She was supposed to have her shit together. She was supposed to be the one helping. She didn’t want to cry in front of anyone. Especially not her mum.

“Oh, Maya, love. What’s wrong?” Her mum pulled her into her, and she collapsed, breathing in her flowery perfume. She sobbed into the soft cotton of her dressing gown while her mum rubbed her back.

She pulled away. “Sorry, I’m getting stuff all over you.”

“It’s okay. Nothing a bit of Grandma’s Vanish won’t fix. Or one of the Witch Club’s concoctions.”

They both laughed, but Maya’s smile quickly faded. Everything ached. Her head. Her stomach. Her chest. It all felt such a mess.

The emotions surged up, and she let out another sob.

“Oh, come on, love. Let’s get you upstairs.”

Her mum guided her into the bathroom, taking off her dirty clothes and helping her into the shower. She sat on the tiles while the water fell over her. Her mum washed her hair, the scent of strawberry shampoo replacing the stench of booze and sick.

Her mum let her cry for a while as all her feelings fought for centre stage. Hurt. Embarrassment. Guilt. Regret.

She was hurt that Jamie hadn’t confided in her. Confused about the revelations about her dad and former coach. Was there more Jamie wasn’t saying? Had Maya judged her too quickly? Did Jamie even like her at all? She was embarrassed at letting her team down. Getting a red card and losing to their arch rivals was the worst game of her life. She felt guilt and shame about her behaviour. Regret about pushing her friends away. Anger at Carly. Sadness at it all.

Sadness won out, drowning the others with its weight.

After her mum had washed the last of the suds out of her hair, she wrapped a towel around her and helped her to her bedroom to put on clean pyjamas. Maya sunk into bed, feeling clean but heavy.

Her mum sat next to her. “I’ve been thinking a lot about things lately.” She softly brushed Maya’s drying hair from her face. “I know we don’t speak about your dad. That probably wasn’t fair of me, but…I loved him very much.”

Maya’s breath caught in her throat. Her mum rarely mentioned her dad at all. They’d had a holiday romance when they were travelling, and Maya was the byproduct. She’d only seen grainy pictures of them together. She’d inherited his Spanish complexion and dark eyes, but she’d never really thought of him in any other way.

“We’d been dating for a while. Casual,” she continued. “But we’d spoken about travelling into Portugal together. And I was young. I would’ve followed him anywhere.” She gave Maya a small smile. “So when I woke to find he’d packed his bags and left without me, I was heartbroken. No note. Nothing.”

“Did you have his number?”

“No. Things were different in those days. We didn’t have social media or anything. He was just gone.”

Jesus. That takes ghosting to a whole new level.

“I’m sorry, Mum.”

“It’s okay. He gave me the best thing.”

Don’t say me.