Page 95 of Take Her On

They both chuckled, then Grandpa flashed another lopsided grin at her. “Go on, then. What’re you waiting for, kid? Get outta here.”

* * *

Maya brushed down her jeans and shirt, hoping the combination of the bus smell and the orange-fingered passenger scoffing cheesy puffs hadn’t rubbed off on her. Nerves coiled tightly in her belly as she walked the path to Jamie’s accommodation.

Jamie should have free periods this morning, but now Maya was edging closer to her door, doubt crept in. She should’ve texted her first. Of course—she should’ve texted her first! She might not even want to see her. Her heart sank.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and fired off a message.

Can I speak to you please? Are you in?

She paced the entryway, browsing the ancient-looking sweets in the vending machine, then looked through the flyers left on top of the mailboxes. A scraggly looking dude wearing an equally tatty denim shirt greeted her as he lazily opened his post.

He sifted through the flyers with grubby fingers. “If I get one more piece of paper for Rosie’s, man, I’ll burn that place down.” He dumped them in the bin—overflowing with takeaway leaflets and more of the same Rosie’s flyers—and left through the doors, taking the cloud of weed stench with him.

I guess not everyone has an appreciation for Jerome the parrot.

Her phone vibrated with a reply from Jamie.

When?

Now? She messaged immediately.

The dots bounced, and she strolled down the hall towards Jamie’s door. Her heart was thumping hard against her ribcage, making the nerves coil tighter and tighter with each step.

Are you already here?

Before she could answer, Jamie’s door opened down the hall, and she poked her head out, mouth slack, blonde hair sticking up in all directions.

Maya’s heart squeezed. She’d missed her more than she’d admit to herself.

“Hey,” Maya said.

Jamie slumped against the door. The usual electric Jamie-energy was nowhere to be seen as her tired eyes combed over her. “What’re you doing here?” she asked, one hand still gripping the door handle.

“I want to talk to you.”

“You could’ve given me some warning.”

“I…did.”

Her eyebrow arched. “Hardly.”

Maya aimed her puppy eyes and smile in her direction. “Sorry.”

Jamie sighed, leaning back to make room for her. “And you used to say I was a stalker.”

She led the way through the living room, and Maya caught a glimpse of something made out of old socks. Must be some new project the Morley twins were working on.

Jamie’s bedroom was the messiest she’d ever seen it—which still made it tidier than her own. Her dirty clothes were piled up on the chair in the corner, books and sheets of paper were spread over the floor like she’d dropped them and forgotten to pick them up. Jamie scooped up some of the pieces with her foot as she walked by, then flipped the notebook closed on her bedside table.

A strained silence lay in the air between them. Maya hated it.

“What’s that the twins are making?” she asked.

“Something for their art project. Finally solved the mystery of my missing socks.”

Maya wanted to make a joke about it, to tease her, but the mood made her swallow her comment.