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Monday, March 25
A few minutes before lunch on Monday, Luis catches sight of Maeve standing at her locker, switching out her books.
“Look, it’s Maeve,” he says aloud to the group he’s standing with outside the closed cafeteria doors.
“Yes, I can see that,” Bronwyn says, glancing over to her younger sister.
“Are you two suddenly best friends or something?” Addy asks, leaning against a locker.
“Hmm?” Luis asks. He’s watching Maeve stand on her toes to find something on the top shelf of her locker.
“Well, you spent the entire time at my party talking.”
“Proximity,” Luis says calmly.
Nate snorts next to him. “Proximity my ass.”
“Funny,” Luis murmurs.
“God Luis please don’t tell me you still want to ask her out,” Cooper adds, palming a crumpled ball of paper.
“So what if I do? Would that be so bad?” Luis is met with four skeptical faces. He wishes Kris is here. He doesn’t judge people.
“Well you can ask, but she’ll say no,” Bronwyn says with a shrug. “She never dates anyone.”
Luis raises an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?”
“Yep,” Bronwyn says, almost as if she’s daring Luis to argue.
“Right, well. We’ll see about that,” Luis says stubbornly. He crosses the hall briskly, and pauses when he reaches the girl in question. Once he’s out of bravado, he doesn’t actually know what to say to Maeve, who’s now looking down at her phone, eyebrows wrinkled. Luis had fun on Friday, sitting in a corner of Addy’s living room laughing about how obvious Nate and Bronwyn were being about their relationship and talking about sports. But that felt like an isolated moment in time. Maybe their conversation was flowing freely because he was one beer in and she was running on pure post-soccer adrenaline. If things had gone south, he could have blamed the alcohol and left it as a one time thing. But he doesn’t have the option here if Maeve says no.
Maeve sees him stalling. “Hey Luis,” she says calmly. Her bag is swung over one shoulder, and she twists it around to her front and hugs it close, like a shield.
“Hey Maeve,” he says quietly. He’s not sure what to say anymore, which is stupid because he’s asked girls out before. This isn’t his first time. Maeve is still looking at him patiently, her head tilted. The helix piercing on her left ear is glinting in the fluorescent lights. “Um, Maeve, I was wondering… I um…” Luis rubs at the back of his neck, still not sure what to say. Maeve smiles, nodding slowly if she wants to help him along.
“Wondering what?” she asks gently.
“IfyouwantedtogoonadatewithmeonSaturday,” Luis says in a rush, his words tumbling into each other.
“What?” she asks. That’s a fair question.
“Date. Saturday. Do you want to?” For some strange reason Luis can’t seem to get his words out in coherent sentences.
“Go on a date with you on Saturday?” she clarifies.
Luis nods, waiting for the rejection. He can feel his friends across the hall gearing up for it too.
But it never comes.
Maeve brightens. “Sure! I’d be happy to.”
Luis risks a glance over his shoulder and sees Bronwyn’s startled face. Cooper just shrugs at him in a resigned sort of way. Addy gives him a discreet thumbs up, and Nate, as usual, looks like he couldn’t care less.
“Wait really?”
“Yes really,” Maeve says. Her signature sarcasm is gone from her voice. She sounds genuinely happy at the question.
“Oh. Cool. Want to go get dinner?”
“Sure. Does seven work for you?”
“Yeah, I’ll pick you up,” Luis says.
“Great,” Maeve says with a smile as the bell rings. She steps away with a wave, heading towards the cafeteria doors where she meets her friends Jules, Monica, and Phoebe. Luis doesn’t know them well, but judging by the way they keep glancing back at him as he goes to meet his friends, they’re talking with Maeve about the date.
And Luis couldn’t be happier.
Saturday, March 30
Luis pulls into the driveway in front of Maeve’s large house right on time. He’s incredibly glad he borrowed his mother’s car, since his old Honda would look shabby compared to the SUV he’s idling behind. Luis takes a deep breath, resisting the urge to check his hair in the mirror one more time, since he’s sure the lock of hair he can never flatten will bother him, even if he does or doesn’t look at it one more time.
“Okay get out of the car,” Luis mumbles to himself. Easier said than done.
Finally after a moment of stalling, Luis turns off his car, climbs out, and walks up the gravel path to the front door, to find Maeve sitting on the porch swing in a white dress with green vertical stripes, her hair piled onto a bun on the top of her head.
“Hey,” she says, standing up from her spot as Luis approaches her.
“Hey back,” he says. He pauses at the bottom of the steps, and Maeve stops at the top. In this position, they’re the same height. He looks into her amber eyes for a beat, wondering how he could have ever missed how beautiful Maeve is.
“Well, no one’s home to pester us about curfews or anything so we should… go.”
“Right,” Luis says. Stepping back to let Maeve skip blithely down the steps in her sandals. “Are you going to be cold?” he asks. The heat wave had disappeared as quickly as it came, and it’s nearly as cold as it is in December. Maeve runs a hand down her arm.
“Nah. Bronwyn couldn’t find a jacket to match my outfit so I didn’t bother.”
“You know you don’t have to do everything your sister says right?” Luis asks, voicing something he’s wanted to tell her for a long time. Maeve looks up at him as they walk towards his car together.
“If only it was that easy Luis.”
There’s a warning in her tone, so he doesn’t push her.
“So, where do you want to go?” he asks as they settle into his car. Maeve shrugs.
“I don’t have a preference.”
“Glenn’s?”
“Sure, why not?” she says, looking out the window as Luis backs out of her driveway and turns onto the road. There’s an awkward tension between the two of them that wasn’t there in Addy’s living room, and he’s not quite sure what’s causing it or how to fix it.
Well, if all else fails, there’s always sports.
“How’s soccer going?” he asks as they turn off her street and onto the main one. Maeve looks over at him.
“It’s alright. We’re in the off season right now, so it’s pretty relaxed. We’re coaching middle schoolers actually.”
Luis glances over at her at a red light. She’s glowing; clearly this was the correct question to ask her. “Do you like it?”
“Yes so much. I love kids.”
Luis laughs. “I do too. I kind of have to, I guess, having four younger brothers.”
“How old are they?”
“Well, the youngest is six and the one closest in age to me is thirteen.”
“Wow, thirteen’s a fun age.”
Luis chuckles. “Tell me about it. He’s constantly exasperated.”
It’s Maeve’s turn to laugh. “Hey, I’m sixteen and I’m still constantly exasperated.”
“Sixteen? But you’re a sophomore?”
“Cancer,” Maeve says shortly. The tension is back, and she’s turning in on herself.
Okay so maybe not the best direction for conversation. Luis considers saying something else, but that sucks doesn’t seem to cut it, and it fucking blows that shit happens, especially when we don’t deserve it, and we can’t do anything about it seems too raw and too close to the truth for a first date. So he doesn’t say anything.
Luis considers turning on the radio, thus prompting a conversation about music taste, but he doesn’t. He’s learned that sometimes it’s better to let a person be when they’re vulnerable and hurting.
They don’t talk again until they reach the restaurant. Once inside, Maeve smiles at him over her menu. “You look nice.”
“Thanks. You do too Maeve,” he says truthfully.
“Thanks. Although I think the credit should go to Bronwyn.”
Luis laughs as the waitress comes over. They order quickly, since both of them have been here a billion times. Now, without the added protection of the menus, Maeve looks even more awkward.
“Baseball season’s starting,” Luis says casually.
“Oh?”
“Yeah,” Luis says, and he’s off, talking about stats and practices and away games, long past when the waitress comes with their food. Luis doesn’t stop until they’re nearly done with their food and Maeve’s eyes have glazed over. “Sorry,” he says, stopping suddenly.
Maeve shakes her head, still looking annoyed. “No, it’s fine.”
She pokes at the last wilted leaves of her salad. Luis can feel the panic sink in. This is not going well at all.
“Want to head out?” he asks.
“Sure,” Maeve says. They sit in silence, Maeve staring out the window behind Luis’s head, where dark clouds are gathering, until the waitress comes over with the check. Both Maeve and Luis reach for it at the same time.
“Oh I’ve got it Maeve,” Luis says in his most diplomatic voice.
“Don’t worry about it,” she says back, gently taking it from the waitress’s hand.
“Oh hey is that Jules?” Luis asks. Maeve whips around, and while she’s distracted looking for her friend Luis slips the check out from her hand.
“Oh no you don’t,” Maeve says, sliding her card through the presenter while it’s still in Luis’s hand.
“Maeve, really.”
“No, no, I insist.”
“Maeve you’re going to pay for a meal where I literally talked at you?”
This makes Maeve pause, and she grins. “Yes.”
Luis grins at her, and shakes his head. “Fine.”
Once they pay, they make their way outside, where Luis pauses. “Do you remember where I parked?”
Maeve looks up at him as the first drops of rain fall from the clouds overhead. “Nope,” she says, and Luis almost cringes from the tone of her voice. She’s not pleased.
“Um,” Luis says, looking around the parking lot. He doesn’t see his car, seemingly forgetting that he had borrowed his mother’s car. He’s about to apologize to Maeve when suddenly he hears giggling. He looks down to see Maeve covering her mouth, shoulder shaking with suppressed laughter. “What?”
“I’m sorry but this is so bad,” she says, reaching out, leaning on Luis’s arm as she starts laughing out loud. “Who would have thought Luis Santos would be awkward during a date?” Luis bites his lip to keep from laughing too, but it doesn’t work. Soon, they’re both doubled over laughing as the rain comes pouring down on them.
When they finally straighten up, Maeve points straight ahead. “Your car is over there,” she says, back to deadpan again, as her hair drips onto her dress.
“This is so bad,” Luis says as they finally climb into his car and he cranks up the heat.
“It’s fine, I’m having fun.”
“Really?” Luis asks, turning to look at her.
“Well, no.” she says. Luis is surprised to find that he isn’t hurt. There’s something about Maeve - maybe the way that she’s never anything but truthful - that makes him feel safe. Almost as if everything she says is for his benefit, no matter how painful.
“We could do something else?” Luis asks.
“Sure. What should we do?”
They both stare ahead, looking at the rain beating onto the windshield as they think. It’s too cold for ice cream, too late for coffee. “We could go to the grocery store,” Luis suggests without thinking.
Maeve turns to look at him, the ghost of a laugh on her face. “What?”
Luis smiles a little. “Well, I mean, I like grocery stores.”
Maeve bites her lip as she tries not to laugh. Without thinking, he reaches forward to push her lip away from her teeth with the pad of his thumb. “It’s going to bleed,” he says awkwardly as he pulls away.
Maeve raises an eyebrow, nodding slowly. “Fine. That’s fine, thanks. But can we go back to the part where you suggested going to a grocery store on a date?”
Luis shrugs.
“Wow Cooper was right. You are a mess.”
“That’s so mean,” Luis says.
Maeve smirks. “Okay, let’s go to the grocery store weirdo.”
Luis is sure that Maeve only agreed for entertainment purposes when they walk to the brightly lit store from the parking lot. It’s still raining, and Maeve’s holding his hand, not because they’re feeling particularly in love, but because it’s hard to walk in heels when it’s raining. She let’s go the moment they step inside.
“I ended up in a grocery store at three in the morning after my cousin’s quinceañera once,” Luis says as a way to start conversation as they meander through the baked goods section, staring at the old cakes and cookies before they’re taken away.
Maeve smiles. “How’d that happen?” she asks as she looks down at some strawberry strudels.
“No clue,” Luis saus truthfully, with a small smile. “We were driving and all of a sudden, well… you know how it goes.”
“Not really,” Maeve says darkly, glaring down at the stand of muffins they had drifted over to. “I never had a quince. Bron did though. I didn’t go,” she adds as an afterthought.
Oh right the cancer thing.
Luis doesn’t know what to say again, so he doesn’t say anything. He wants to kick himself as Maeve makes her way towards the snack aisle. He’d asked her on a date because he’d actually liked her, not because she was a pretty face he could hang with a couple times, and now here he is forgetting what tact is, talking about sports during an entire meal, and dragging her to a grocery store. He wouldn’t be surprised if she never spoke again.
Damnit Cooper was right. Luis is a mess. It’s not a comforting thought.
“Coming?” Maeve calls, turning back to look at him. Luis perks up at the thought of Maeve looking for him, then realizes that she probably just doesn’t want to be the only person wandering around the store alone. Luis hurries to catch up to her.
They make their way to the baking aisle. “I like to bake,” Maeve says casually. Luis perks up. Food. Not that’s something he can talk about. They stop next to a worker restocking the shelves. He ignores Maeve and Luis.
“Me too. My dad owns a re-” Luis never gets to finish his sentence because someone shouts “watch out!” and a case full of bottles of something - Luis doesn’t know what - comes falling from a cart a foot away, breaking onto the ground and splashing onto both Maeve and Luis.
Maeve’s frozen in her spot, the liquid clinging to her dress and face. Luis steps towards her to look at it. It smells florally, and he understands what the dark, viscous liquid is instantly.
“Molasses,” he informs her as a uniformed person comes towards them. He looks young, maybe Luis’s age.
“I am so sorry, this stupid cart sticks at the worst time,” he says, waving his hands around frantically. “I can get you towels, or something?”
Maeve shakes her head. “No, no it’s okay,” she says, wiping some of the molasses off her face. She looks down at her sticky hand in dismay. The worker looks as if he’s going to say something. “Really,” Maeve insists sharply. He backs off, and Luis cringes. He’s really annoyed Maeve now.
Maeve turns towards him and tilts her head in a let’s go gesture. Luis follows her as she slips out of the aisle, leaving the worker to stare at the molasses.
Once outside, Maeve groans as she sees the rain pouring down. “This dress isn’t too nice for a matching jacket now, is it?” she asks, looking down at the stained dress.
“Maeve, I’m so sorry,” Luis starts.
“No, no, it’s fine. Let’s just go okay?”
Luis wants to cry. He has never, ever been this awkward in his life. “Okay, but please take my jacket? It’s cold.”
Maeve glances over and sighs. “Okay. Thanks.”
Luis pulls off his tan bomber jacket and hands it to Maeve. She pulls it on, and Luis can’t help but notice how adorable she looks, her hair a little poofy from the rain, her eyes bright, even in the dark. She looks over at him with a mischievous smile that makes his stomach roll. She leans down and pulls off her heels, reaching out to him with her free hand. “Shall we make a run for it?”
“We shall,” he says with a grin.
Luis turns off his car in her driveway, ignoring the porch light that was clearly turned on by a parent - or worse, Bronwyn.
“Maeve, I’m so sorry this was so awkward.”
Maeve laughs and turns to him. “I guess first dates are always inherently awkward,” she says, reaching for the zipper of his jacket, presumably to give it back.
“Nah, Maeve, it’s still raining, keep it. You can give it back later.” Judging by her track record with Bronwyn’s sweaters, Luis isn’t getting it back anytime soon. And he’s okay with that.
Maeve pauses for a moment, then smiles. “Okay. Thanks. And Luis? Please don’t feel bad about it being awkward today. I had fun. Truly.”
“Thanks,” Luis responds quickly, wanting to say one last thing before she climbs out of the car. “I… Maeve?”
Maeve nods, waiting for him to continue. “I just wanted to say that… it’s really unfair you lost so many years of your life, and you had to fight to stay alive all the time, and it sucks that people who don’t deserve to be hurt are.”
“Thanks,” Maeve says quietly, reaching across the console to squeeze his hand.
“And I didn’t ask you out because I pitied you or anything.” Luis has to add this. She needs to know. She tilts her head, smiling at him hesitantly. “I asked you out because I really liked you. And I still do.”
Maeve takes a moment to respond. “I was sort of worried that you just felt bad for me. But I’m not anymore. I had fun.”
“So did I. Except for the Great Molasses Flood Part Two.”
Maeve snorts, falling forward a little as she laughs. After a moment, Luis is laughing too. All of the residual tension and awkwardness flows away as they hold each other, laughing until they can’t breathe. They both sit up at the same time, and somehow Luis manages to elbow the horn on the steering wheel and they’re laughing all over again.
It takes five minutes, but they finally calm down. Maeve takes a deep breath. “If you need help getting all the molasses out of the car, let me know.”
“Girl, worry about yourself,” Luis says, reaching forward to wipe some molasses from Maeve’s cheek. He cups her cheek in his hand.
Maeve laughs. “Bronwyn’s going to go insane when she sees me.”
“Your sister is terrifying,” Luis says with a shudder. Maeve clucks her tongue, pulling away.
“She’s not that bad. You just have to get to know her.”
“Which I’m sure I will if we go on another date, on, say…”
“Wednesday after we’re out of work?” Maeve suggests.
“Perfect.”
“But we’re taking this slow, okay Luis?” Maeve looks suddenly serious.
Luis gives her an easy grin. “I can do slow,” he promises. Maeve raises an eyebrow. He shrugs. “Hey, a slow relationship means I get more time with you.”
Maeve grins. Before she can think much of it, she leans forward and kisses his cheek. “Good night Luis,” she says as she reaches for the door handle.
“Good night Maeve.”
He waits until she’s safely in her house before he backs out of the driveway, grinning all the way home.