A Kiss for Maya

Dinner Plans and Departures

Mason's POV

"You're dumber than I thought." Max says and I shoot him a dagger glare.

He's sitting on my study table and I'm sitting on my bed.

"I don't want a lecture." I lie down on the bed and look up at the ceiling. "Besides, you were the one telling me to meet up with The Princess."

"Yeah but not on your own, dumb ass." Max retorts.

"Well, it's done. Tomorrow night we're delivering a package."

"I don't like this, Mason." I can imagine the frown on his face.

"Neither do I, Max. Neither do I."

I know exactly what he means. The assignment tomorrow could be a trap. It could be to lure me to my downfall or even my death. What worries me is that if anything bad happens then Max will also be caught in the crossfire.

He shouldn't be involved in this. It's my mess; my problem.

"You know if The Man doesn't kill you for what happened he'll definitely kill you for screwing his daughter." Max laughs, tying to lighten the mood with his very bad joke.

I sit up on the bed and throw a pillow at him. He tries to dodge it by bending down but it hits his shoulder.

There's a knock on the door and before I can say anything, it opens.

"Boys," there's a huge smile on my mom's face. "I've got something to tell you."

***

Maya's POV

"Girls!" My mom calls from downstairs.

Lilly and I get up and walk out. We don't say anything to each other but I give her a questioning look and she just shrugs.

"Aunt Alice, what's up?" Lilly asks as we get into the living room.

Mom and dad are sitting on the couch watching a documentary on bears. They look up when Lilly speaks and a huge smile forms on mom's face.

"So, I've got good news." Lilly and I sit down on the couch opposite theirs. "I know that you'll feel lonely without Lilly."

I just stare at my mom, not bothering to acknowledge her statement.

Of course it'll be lonely without Lilly.

"So I invited some guests for dinner." My mom claps her hands like a child and the grin on her face grows bigger.

She's ecstatic. We don't get guests a lot, the only time we do it's usually family. Whenever someone from work visits, she's always happy. She'll go out of her way to make sure she's a good host and that she makes a good impression.

"Oh, uhm..." I don't know how to react.

"Isn't that great?" My mom's excitement seems to grow by the second.

"Who's coming over? Is it Dr. Chu or Dr. Watson?"

Dr. Chu doesn't work at the same hospital as my mom but they went to Med school together and have since been friends. I love her. She's fun and lively.

Dr. Watson on the other hand is as boring as they get. He's always talking about work and making snide comments about Lilly's behaviour.

He likes me because well, I'm me. I read books and spend a lot of time at the library. I'm always indoors. Add an extensive vocabulary, my lack of social skills and ability to hold meaningful conversations with adults and he just sees a younger version of himself.

Wait! Am I boring?

"Neither," my mom replies, " I didn't invite any doctors this time. I invited someone I haven't actually known for that long."

"Huh?" Is all that comes out of my mouth.

"I haven't know her that long. Your father and Sarah have known her for a while." Sarah is Dr. Chu. "So either way, it's our new neighbours."

My jaw drops to the ground. New neighbours? As in the Wilders?

"Aunt," Lilly laughs, "you mean the family that just moved into the Williams' house?"

I know exactly what she's thinking. Okay maybe not exactly but I know it's along the lines of Mason and I getting closer.

Mom nods and dad sits up and speaks for the first time since we arrived downstairs.

"Since they arrived we never extended a welcoming hand. All the other neighbours have done something for them except us." He smiles awkwardly at us.

"And that's about to change." Mom's goofy grin returns to her face. "Tomorrow at 7pm, we'll be dining with the Wilders."

Oh no! Lilly won't be here. I'll have to go through the dinner alone.

I don't even remember the last time I had to go through these sort of events without her.

My eyes move to her, she's still laughing, finding all this very amusing. She's been so much of help these past few years, has been my shoulder to cry on and my human diary. I mean I have Shelly and Bianca but truth be told, I don't tell them everything.

What am I going to do without Lilly?

***

I'm sitting with Bianca and Shelly at our usual spot at lunch. Lilly's flight leaves in 45 minutes. I'll be in class by then so I went to the bathroom and called her.

That's where half my lunch time went. I'm holding on to my lunchbox, unable to even eat my sandwich.

Lilly's actually leaving.

The thought haunts me. We've never been apart for a long time but now she's going across the world and I'll only get to see her once or twice a year from now on.

Tears sting my eyes and I try my best not to blink and let them fall.

"May," Shelly wraps an arm around my shoulder and squeezes, "it'll be okay."

She assures me. Of course it'll be. I'm just missing her, before she's even gone. Without Lilly it'll just be me. Mom and dad are only there sometimes and half the time they're tired.

Before I can even realise it, tears are falling down my cheeks. I close my eyes and give up on holding them in any further.

"Oh, sweetie." Bianca puts away her subway and puts her arms over Shelly's, also squeezing me in an embrace.

"We won't ever let you be alone."

"We'll come over all the time."

"It'll be like Lilly's still here."

My friends say in an attempt to make me feel better. I slowly release myself from their arms and sit up right on the bench. Shelly hands me two tissues and I softly pat my cheeks and eyes dry and use the other to blow my nose.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

I realise then that I'm not just worried about me. I'm worried about Lilly as well.

Will she be fine without her family? Won't she feel like she lost her family again? What about when she misses us a lot but she can't come and see us and we can't go over there?