Maya's P.O.VThe morning sunbeams peeked through the clouds and cascaded onto my blinds, indicating that it was the morning. I rolled over to check the time on my phone.6:45 am.That means I had precisely forty-five minutes until the bus came. The first thing I do every morning is open my window, taking in the fresh morning air. After my short therapeutic session finishes, my typical morning routine begins as I fumble my way to the toilet to brush my teeth and wash my face.Once I finished getting ready, I headed downstairs for breakfast. The kitchen was an absolute battlefield with mom stirring chocolate chip pancake batter and cutting up fruits at the same time."That's a lot of food for just breakfast," I said.She shook her head in denial. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."With a defeated exhalation, I dug into the pile of food onto the table. Fifteen minutes have passed and I was finally cleaning my last place. My mom wouldn't let me leave the table unless I ate
Maya's P.O.VAfter I told Leah that I could go, she made it a tradition to talk about the trip every lunchtime, or realistically, any time she could. When she managed to convince me, it was about over a month until the trip. But before I knew it, time flashes right in front of me as I prepare to head to the auditorium for the final meeting before the actual event.We walked into the auditorium to realize that nobody was here. The room was pitch black. It didn't surprise me that we were the only ones here as we were always punctual. Well, most of the time.Putting our bags on the floor, we got comfortable in our seats before pulling out our sandwiches. A couple of minutes later, a group of people walked in, and nosiness filled the room. I frowned at Leah, wringing my hands together. She knew I didn't do so well in big crowds, so she held out her hand as a sign of reassurance.When we heard the sound of Ms. Wilson's voice enter the room, both of our eyes widened as we hurriedly shoved t
Maya's P.O.VI didn't even need an alarm to wake me up. As soon as I felt the slightest hint of sunlight shine through my curtains, my eyes were already wide open. If it were any other Monday, I would have groaned and rolled back to bed, but today wasn't just any other Monday. Today is our trip to Europe.Sliding off the bed, I skipped my typical morning routine and headed straight to the bathroom. There wasn't any time to mess around. I half-curled the ends of my hair and changed into some comfy sweatpants and a v-neck shirt.I was, without a doubt, the most forgetful person in the world, which meant I had to double-check everything before I left the house. Rummaging inside my suitcase and mentally ticking off all the things I needed, after feeling satisfied, I went down to the kitchen for the most important meal of the day.I poured some coffee from the counter and checked my phone.Eighteen unread messages from Leah.Apart from reading the very first message she sent at 4 am saying
300. 301. 302. 303. 304.After Leah swiped the card, it made an electronic beeping sound. I ushered her inside and followed her inside the room. We threw out suitcases to the side.Leah sat on the edge of the bed."God, that was almost fourteen hours of traveling.""To be fair, we slept for the whole 11-hour plane ride."One of the first things I did was set a timer for 6 am. Despite knowing we had to meet at seven, I definitely did not want to be late, especially after seeing Ms. Wilson's angry outburst to Leighton. I fell into bed a short time later, my mind fading out to the sound of Leah's voice rambling about how excited she was to go to our very first destination of the trip.As soon as I heard the high-pitch sound coming from my phone, I woke up briefly, feeling disoriented. I blearily raised my head, my eyes checking the time. 6:00 am. I called Leah and told her to wake up, but all I received was a silent groan as she turned around with her back facing me. She snuggled into he
Maya's P.O.VAlessandro leads us across the road and into a narrow lane. About a hundred meters in, he stops in front of an Italian restaurant called Mama Leones.The building was a shade of brick red with a few cracks on the wall. Must've been an old place. The place was wide and open, not crowded tourists or anything. On the other end of the restaurant, there was a small garden. It was beautiful. Clusters of daisies were peeping through both sides of the fence, and the sun was shining through the trees. There was a welcoming of scents in the air as we walked inside.I stood and gazed at the building before me in awe. It radiated a warm feeling that made it seem like you were eating at home.The room was split into two big tables of eight chairs. Everyone moved steadily around the room and took their seats while I stayed standing and hesitating. Unlike the rest, I didn't have any friends here while everyone had their individual groups.I decided to wait for all the seats to be taken
To say I didn't think much about what Ethan said was a lie because I thought long and hard about it. No matter how hard I tried not to, I just couldn't. I was definitely becoming crazy. Replaying and evaluating his every move and searching for small signals.After we finished lunch, we went back to the hotel for some free time. Once again, I sat alone on the bus. But this time, every time I was caught staring at the buildings that we passed, Ethan would occasionally give me friendly grins as our eyes met.Leighton hesitated at first but decided to sit next to Ethan, even after his sudden outburst. She apologized with a pout, and he said it was okay — it wasn't — but I wasn't going to say that out loud. I mentally curse at Ethan for being way too kind and forgiving her way too quickly.I was currently sitting alone in the lobby, waiting for Leah to come back. The bright light in the room acted as the perfect reading light as I tried to escape the loneliness by burying myself in Gone wi
Maya's P.O.V"Does everyone know which role they're playing?" Gabe asked.He was also part of the football team, playing as the left tackle. His job was to protect the quarterback's blindside, which was Ethan, to prevent him from getting tackled. Being almost 6'5" tall, everyone referred to him as the mountain.His hair was an unusual mix between a light brown and dirty blonde, slightly ruffled, but he didn't look like he cared. Gabe was reasonably quiet compared to the rest of the team, always did his own thing and minded his own business. He was one of the bearable ones."We can't win if our team is unsynchronized. Everyone needs to know precisely what they're doing." He repeats.The team nods as he goes over the roles of each person again, probably for the fifth time now. Once he's done, he huddles us close together for a final pep talk before the real thing begins."The New England Patriots wouldn't have been able to win so many games if their team didn't know what they were doing
Maya's P.O.VIt was currently two in the morning, and I was standing by the balcony, watching the glint of starlight and the radiating moonlight. Nobody was here to accompany me, not even the wind. The streets were quiet and empty, and not a single person was outside. Damn, this is what loneliness must feel like.here were a lot of things I enjoyed doing alone, such as reading, listening to music, or going to the park. But despite my introversion, this very moment made me realize that although I liked being alone, I don't fancy being lonely.The only sounds that filled my eyes were the sound of chirping crickets. It was like they were mocking me because even they had someone to accompany them. Leah was fast asleep after spending hours comforting me. I found it quite amazing that I didn't even have to tell her that something bad happened. Just with one look at my face, she could automatically tell that something was off.I was too busy crying to remember what she said to me accurately,