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Maya Bishop
I walk with an apple in hand alongside Mason, bumping into him and chuckling. “Did you study for your History test?” I ask him and he nods,
“Yes, Mai. Stop being such a mom! I’ve got everything I need,” Mason says and I smile at him,
“Only when you learn to be responsible”
“I am responsible!” I nod my head and see Andy waving her hand and I run over to her with Mason behind me.
“Hey, track star!” Vic says while on Andys back and I smile,
“Hey, Vic” We all go into the school together, Mason soon drifting off to find his friends. I put my bag in my and Andy's locker and grab my history book.
“There she is!” Vic says excitedly and I raise an eyebrow,
“Where’s who?” I ask,
“The exchange students, Carina and Andrew DeLuca” I just shake my head at them and watch as they walk past us, then I saw the girl and she was beautiful. She was stunning, I mean it too. She walked like she owned the school, she’s confident, I like that. “Maya stop checking her out,” I shake my head lightly and push Vic.
“Shut up! I don’t like girls! I told you that!” I whisper shout and Vic just shakes her head at me. What I had just said was a complete lie, and Vic knew.
“Twitching nose,” Vic mouths, and I glare at her. Then I hear an excited giggle and turn my head around and see Carina. Our eyes lock then I see her shyly wave at me, so I wave back, my face already turning pink. Then the bell rang and we all walk off to our separate classes.
Carina DeLuca
I walk with Andrea. “Here I am going by Andrew” I nod my head, I was still thinking about the girl I saw in the hallway. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and she was very pink. Her hair was in two french braids and she wore leggings and a sweater. It was winter here and it was very cold. But she still looked gorgeous, I mean insanely gorgeous. She reminded me of the moon, just from the way she looked. She only showed me emotion when she smiled back, but even then I don’t think it was a genuine smile, making her a mystery to me.
I walk into my class, everyone had their heads down writing until we walked in. Then I saw the girl with blonde hair and I smile happily noticing the empty seat next to her. “Hello, Carina DeLuca?” The teacher whispers and I nod.
“Si,” I whisper and she grins.
“I’m going to have you sit next to Maya Bishop, everyone's taking a test right now so if you have something you can read or something to work on you can pull that out” She explains and I nod my head, she points over to the girl with blonde hair and I smile. Maya. I repeat in my head, I’m never going to forget her name. I walk over to her desk and sit down. I pull out a notebook and a pencil and start to write some sentences in English, I was still learning and writing helped me practice.
I hear a chair scoot back and see Maya walking to the front putting her paper in the basket. She looks at me and puts on a smile. I turn over my notebook and point to her pencil and then to my paper. She grabs her pencil and I smile. Writing down ‘Hi :)’ on the paper.
‘Hello’
We continue to talk for the rest of the class until it ended which made me frown. I liked talking with Maya and I didn’t want it to end. “Do you have anyone to sit with today at lunch?” She asks me as we both walk out of the door. I shake my head,
“Not that I know of,” She nods and I see her picking at the skin around her nails. So, I grab her hand gently.
“Would you like to sit with me and my friends?” She asks not making eye contact with me. Instead staring at my shoes. I nod my head,
“I would love to,”
For the rest of the week, I would go and sit with Maya at lunch. Andrea sat with some friends he had begun to make and I learned very little about Maya during our week together. All I knew was that she did track and her dad trained her, but even then she didn’t tell me that, Victoria Hughes and Andy Herrera had to explain it to me. They told me how her dad trained her for track and cross country, they also told me that I should come to see one of her games. Maya hit their arms for that which I don’t get why.
I listened to them, and I went with Andy and Vic to watch Maya run. I stood next to them noticing a man with a stopwatch in his hand, shouting at Maya to run faster. She was running very fast and I don’t know how she did it but suddenly she went even faster than she already was. I cheered for her with Andy and Vic. She caught sight of me and her running started to slow down causing a girl to run past her. It scared her and she sprinted her way back up, she and the girl hit the ribbon at the same time. I see the man's eyes turn to pure rage and watch as he grabs Mayas' arm pulling her to the side and beginning to shout at her.
“Why is he so mad? She tied that's good isn’t it?”
“Not for Lane Bishop. He’s training Maya for the Olympics,” my jaw drops in shock.
“No,” I say shocked and they both nod their heads. I watch as Maya turns her head after her father storms off, watching a boy approach her. It wasn’t Mason, I think his name was Jack.
“Not him again, he always does this and every time she says no- did she just nod her head?” Andy says, Maya runs over to us. “Did you just nod your head at Jack Gibson?”
“I had to, he asked me in front of my dad. So looks like I’m in for so much fun tomorrow night,” I felt a pang of jealousy go through me and I frown.
Remember how it was supposed to be just one night? Yeah well, it turned into a 3-month long relationship. I developed a huge crush on Maya and was always rude to Jack, I couldn’t help it. I was jealous and him being with Maya made me so upset. But, Mayas is supposed to come over to my house today and we’re going to have a sleepover. Maya said she didn’t get to do these often but if she kept going the way she was going with Math she was going to not be able to run in track meets and her dad was not happy about that.
I hear a knock on the door and I take my apron off, brushing my hands free of flour before opening the door and seeing Maya with Lane standing behind her, a hand on her shoulder. “I expect that my daughter will understand math by the end of this sleepover,” he says, he scared me but I stand straighter and lift my chin.
“A math genius by the end of this. Sir” I say through gritted teeth and a small glare.
“This won’t happen again otherwise” he explains. I nod my head, grabbing Mayas' hand gently and pulling her inside.
“Goodbye, Mr.Bishop,” I say and Maya waves to her dad who just rolls her eyes and I shut my door. “stupido figlio di puttana violento” (stupid abusive son of a bitch) I say loudly, causing my mama to drop the rolling pin she was using, immediately putting her hands on her hips.
“Carina!” Maya starts to giggle at that and I put my hands up and smile. “Don’t use that language again,”
“What did you say?”
“Don’t worry about it Bella,” I say and she tilts her head. “Mama I’m going to go help Maya with math,” I say to her and she nods her head at me. I pull Maya up the stairs and past Andreas' room, seeing him make out with some random girl so I pull his door shut. Then open my bedroom door, and Mayas' eyes immediately light up.
“You have fairy lights!” She exclaims and I nod,
“Do you like them?” She nods her head quickly,
“I’ve always wanted some of these, what are these of?” She asks, taking in the rest of my room and pointing to the posters on my walls.
“Constellations. I like space, it's mysterious and cool,” I say taking her bag from her and setting it down by my bed. “This is Andromeda. She was the daughter of Cephus and Cassiopeia, she was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to the sea monster Cetus. But Perseus saved her,” I explain and watch as Mayas' face drops.
“A sea monster?” She asks and I nod. Then moving on to my next poster,
“This is Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Its a big bear and a little bear, this was the first constellation that my mama taught me about and she said that I was her little bear and she would be a big bear and protect me always” Maya smiled, I motioned for her to sit on the bed and she does so,
“That’s so sweet. I love that,” I smile and point to my final poster.
“This is the Carina Constellation. Andrea- Andrew got it for me for my birthday last year.” I say and she smiles,
“What’s it mean?” she asks, she was very interested which made me happy that she liked something that I loved.
“In Latin Carina means the keel of a ship. It used to be a part of a larger constellation called Argo Navis. Along with the constellations Puppis which is the stern and Vela which is the sails. It represented the ship which was called Argo on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed to get the golden fleece. Did you know that Carina contains the second brightest star?” I ask and she shakes her head,
“I didn’t know anything about constellations until you told me. You could be like an astronaut or something one day!” She exclaims and I just shake my head laughing.
“I want to be a doctor of some sort I think. What about you?” She shrugs her shoulders,
“An Olympic gold medalist,” I just shake my head.
“Maya do you want that? Or is it your dad who wants it?” I ask her and she stays quiet, I sigh “Sorry,” She just shakes her head at me.
“It’s okay,” she whispers and I start teaching her how to do the math we were currently learning.
We sat together at the table, my mama and Andrea joining us. Mom had made us cookies in honor of Maya coming over for the first time. She gave us each a glass of milk and Maya looked at her cookie. “Ms. DeLuca? I can’t have this,”
“Are you dairy-free? We have something else you could have,” she starts to say and Maya shakes her head,
“Strict diet,” I watch my mom's lips turn downward.
“Nonsense Maya. Just take the cookie,”
“Trust me, Maya, you will never have a cookie as good as hers,” Andrea says causing mom to smile. Maya just sighs,
“Okay,” She whispers and I smile brightly, taking a bite of mine. I wait for Maya to take a bite of hers, and she does, a small bite, immediately going in for a bigger one. “Oh my god, this is the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth,” She says in delight and I laugh.
“Told you” Andrea smiles. She quickly finished her cookie, and mama holds her glass up, catching our eyes.
“To Maya’s first time in the DeLuca household,” Me and Andrea raise a glass with my mom and Maya starts to turn pink,
“To new friendships,” I say and look to Andrea,
“And to many many more sleepovers with cookies to come,” Maya giggles and raises her glass and we all clink our glasses together. “Bet I can drink my milk faster than you can,” Andrea challenges and I raise an eyebrow.
“You’re going down,” I say and we each hold our cups to our lips, not drinking yet.
“On your mark, get set, go!” Maya says and we both chug our glasses. Mama and Maya cheering for us. I slam my empty glass down on the table slapping my hand on our kitchen table.
“Done! Done I’m done!” I scream Andrea finishing right after me groaning at his loss. I squeal at my win and stand up in my chair doing a little dance. “I win, you lose, I win, you lose!” I sing and Maya laughs.
Maya Bishop
I laugh as I watch Carina do her dance. I've never experienced such a fun snack time at the dinner table. I wish I could live here forever, I loved it here. I love Carina's room and I loved Andrew annoying Carina constantly. I loved the homey feeling of this house, I wish I could live here with Mason and my mom. Away from my dad, I wish that I could have this life. “Okay okay that’s enough,” Carinas' mom laughed. Carina sat back down in her seat, I chuckle noticing her face, and grab a napkin, gently taking her chin in my hand and wiping away her milk mustache. I lock my eyes with hers and I held the napkin by her lips, we’d gotten very close. She’s so beautiful if I could just kiss her- I hear Andrea clear his throat and I quickly pull my hand back and sit back in my seat.
“You had a milk mustache,” I whisper and she just chuckles.
Later that night, Carina and I were in her bed. She wouldn’t let me sleep anywhere but her bed and I didn’t want to argue with her over it. I now notice the glow stars on her ceiling, smiling gently, I stare up at them as I wait for Carina to come back from the bathroom. She comes back in with her hair in a loose messy bun, climbing under the covers with me. I roll over on my side to face her and she smiles gently. “Can you tell me more about conste-”
“You remind me of the moon,” She says suddenly and I blink,
“What?”
“The moon. You remind me of the moon,” she says and I start to smile slightly.
“How?”
“You’re dark and mysterious to me. I know very little about you, much like how we know very little about space. You don’t show emotions very often, tonight was the first night I’ve seen you have a genuine smile on your face. And like the phases of the moon, you start completely closed off to anyone trying to get to know you much like a new moon. Then waxing crescent, you start to show more about yourself, but only little things, then we get to a level which would be the first quarter where you are starting to show more personality and want to hang out sometimes and talk to people more. Then Waxing Gibbous, I know a lot about you but not all of it. Then Waning Gibbous where you start to close yourself off again because of something, we’re at the third quarter which is the same as the first quarter. Then waning gibbous again, where you're distancing yourself and then we’re back to square one where I feel like I know nothing about you,” I blink in shock, nobody had ever put so much thought into connecting me with something.
“No ones ever explained it like that,” I whisper and she smiles.
“And like the moon. Let's take your heart for example,” She makes a heart with her hands and I watch her hands. “You have little craters, which are caused by asteroids or meteors. Your asteroids and meteors are most things your dad says to you, and how hard he works you. And these craters are constantly being added and you’re not able to heal because you can’t distance yourself from him. And, he keeps going at you, he keeps beating you down over and over again until you just break down. Then you try to heal yourself but you can’t” She whispers and I rub my eyes. “And your eyes are blue like when the moon shows up in the sky during the day, and they sparkle like stars when you’re excited,” She turns her head to look at me and suddenly everything was quiet. I grab Carins face gently and press my lips against hers.
Carina DeLuca
Oh. My. Gosh.
Maya Bishop
I quickly pull myself away before she got the chance to kiss back. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m so sorry oh my gosh I’m so so sorry,” I whisper and she places a hand on my shoulder,
“Maya-” I hear her say and I quickly roll myself over, holding my hands to my chest. I hear her sigh deeply before getting comfortable in bed.
Carina DeLuca
Once I know Maya is asleep, I slip out of bed quietly before grabbing my hoodie and pulling it over my head, and going downstairs. I see mama on the couch and I walk over and sit next to her. “Ciao Bambina” She whispers, stroking my hair gently as I lay my head on her shoulder.
“She kissed me,” I whisper.
“Maya?” I nod my head, “Oh, I wasn’t expecting that,” She says and I start crying and she immediately is pulling me to sit up. “Hey, what’s wrong why are you crying?”
“I asked the moon for Maya. I sit in my bed every night staring at the moon begging it to let me have Maya, to prove to Maya that I can be a good anything to her, I begged it to let me be hers and for hers to be mine, and then she goes and dates stupid Jack! And, I came home that day and I sat in my bed all night saying please let me have her please let her like me please not let their relationship work out. She’s not happy with him I can tell by the way she looks at me and all I want is to make her happy. I made her happy today Mama so I know I can do it and she just won’t let me! She kissed me and she pulled away before I could kiss back and she told me sorry and then she rolled over and went to sleep! Why. Can’t. She. Like. Me.” I ask crying, Mama holds my head to her shoulder as she rubs my back.
“You have it so bad for her,” Andrew says from the stairs and I feel Mama shoo him away.
“It’s okay Carina. It’s all going to be okay.”
The next week back to school I watched as Maya avoided me on purpose in the hallways. I watched at lunch as Jack took my spot at the lunch table and I sat with Andrew and his friends. I stopped putting effort into getting ready for school, not caring about my appearance. Mama brushed my hair for me every morning and night while I cried. Andrea said I was being over dramatic but I truly felt like my heart was being stomped and spat on constantly.
I sat in my bed, staring at the moon from my window, my hands placed over my heart and I whispered to myself. “Please, please. Please let her like me, please please,” Over and Over. I begged for Maya, I wanted Maya to like me more than I’ve ever wanted anything. I liked her, more than I’ve ever liked anyone. I feel my phone buzzing for a phone call and I look at it. I squeal in delight as I see Mayas' contact and answer the phone quickly.
“I broke up with Jack. I don’t like Jack. I never liked Jack I did it to please my dad. Carina, I like you, and I hope you're not mad at me for ignoring you all of these days I’m so sorry. I like you and-” I cut her off by screaming and throwing my phone on my bed and jumping up and down.
“Grazie, grazie, grazie! Grazie! Giuro che non farò mai più niente di sbagliato, lascia che la tenga come mia oh mio Dio” (Thank you thank you thank you! Thank you! I swear I will never do anything wrong ever again just let me keep her as mine oh my goodness)
“Carina?! Is everything okay?!” Mama asks knocking on my door, I open it quickly.
“She likes me! She broke up with Jack!” I scream then my face drops and I run back to my phone, “You like me?” I ask,
“Yes, I like you. And, from the sound of it, you like me too-” I scream again, “Carina you have got to stop doing that it sounds like a fire engine”
“I’m loud when I’m excited I’m so sorry. Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it worked” I say,
“What worked?” She asks
“I begged the moon for you,”