The Survivor (Book #2)

Chapter 7

He was a good dancer... no, he was a great dancer. He held my hands tightly and pushed and pulled my body away from his and then back close to his chest. I didn't know where I was supposed to move but I followed his lead as the music blared and we ran out of breath together. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Magnus looking at me with fake anger. There were little smile lines around his eyes and his lips were twisted, trying not to look like a smile.

"You left me for him?" he asked indignantly, even stomping his foot to play the role properly. I giggled and let go of one of Asher's hands to turn towards Mav. I looked back and Asher's left eye twitched once. What was that? He smiled at his friend and let go of my other hand, to allow me to say hello. I gave Mav a little hug and he kept one arm around my shoulder as we turned to Asher.

I leaned my head just slightly onto Mav's shoulder experimentally and watched as Asher's jaw clenched. Interesting. I'd have to store that information away for later.

I didn't feel weird leaning against him, but Asher's palm twitched as if he was aching to push the boy off of me.

"Hey, Mav. What're you doing here?" he asked. His voice sounded normal and friendly, maybe I was imagining things. I did tend to overthink.

"I've been dancing with all the pretty girls I can," Magnus said, whipping his dark hair back from his face. There was sweat on his forehead and I could tell he wasn't lying.

"Did you get to this one yet?" Asher asked as he nodded his head towards me.

I blushed at the compliment and took a quick step away from Mav's body back towards Asher.

Magnus noticed and looked me over once with a smile before turning back to Asher.

"I did, but I don't think she liked it because she left as quickly as she could." He teased.

"I did not!" I said, letting my head roll a little as I looked at him. My eyes blinked for a second too long and I realized I was getting sleepy.

"You tired, Anders?" Asher asked as he looked at my face closely. I yawned at that but shook my head no. I wasn't done having fun! I secretly loved that he called me Anders even though he knew my real last name. I smiled serenely and let my eyes close.

"Hmm, why don't I get you a glass of water and you call your ride?" he suggested.

I hesitated but nodded. It would probably be a good idea to sober up before I saw the others.

I sat on the couch next to Magnus and typed a message to the family group chat, and then sent it. We waited there as people began filing out and stumbling into their cars or Ubers.

My phone lit up almost immediately. Dominic was on his way.

Asher walked back and handed me a cup which I eagerly sipped.

"Thank you," I said to him. "For everything. Inviting me, dancing, everything." I held up the water cup to add that to the list.

He smiled and said, "My pleasure." He looked at me with something unfathomable in his eyes.

"What are you thinking?" I asked desperately.

"I bet you wish you could read minds, save yourself the trouble of trying to understand everyone all the time." He said back with a smirk. I poked his shoulder just like I'd do to one of the boys.

"I probably don't want to know every thought people have about me," I said, scrunching my face up just thinking about it. Slut. Selfish. Bitch. My face relaxed into a frown.

"I wouldn't want you to know what I was thinking either," Asher said with a wink. "Much too nice."

"You're thinking nice things?" I questioned, raising both eyebrows. I knew he wanted to be friends, but I thought we were still kind of enemies.

"Why the tone of surprise?" he asked, incredulous. He smiled like he was genuinely surprised that I didn't know people thought nice things about me.

"Can we still be enemies, even if we're friends?" I requested, giving him the saddest expression that I could make.

"I'm tired of being your enemy, Maya." He said intensely. I snorted a laugh and leaned my head against his shoulder, closing my eyes.

"You're not my enemy. It's just a joke." I explained drunkenly.

"Who is your enemy?" he asked casually. He was a little too nonchalant.

"I'm not that drunk," I said, smiling. I breathed in a little and we waited in companionable silence. I realized that he smelled good and I leaned my face closer to inhale more of it.

Out of nowhere, he said, "I never told you this... but I heard your conversation with my dad. At the station. I'm so sorry."

I sighed. "I know. You didn't close the door all the way. I only noticed at the end. Very clever."

"You're not mad?" he asked, pulling me away from his body and sitting up. I straightened out and stretched as if I was waking up.

"I'm not mad. I probably would've done the same."

"I'm so happy you said that," he choked out. "I'm really sorry." I shrugged, letting it go. What felt disastrous at the time didn't really bother me now. Funny how life worked like that.

"I have to go say bye to the girls!" I realized with a start, before clumsily heading to the backyard. I waved and shook my phone, implying that I would text him. I walked easily enough through the empty hallway, but my balance felt a little bit skewed. When I reached for something, it was just an inch farther than I thought it would be. I somehow managed to make it outside without any trouble. 

I saw Cassie sitting in the same chair as before, dying of laughter as Lucy acted something out. She was standing on her tiptoes stretching as tall as she could, and she moved her arms up and down dramatically as she tried to explain something. I giggled at the scene and plopped next to Cassie in a chair.

Cassie glanced at me and said "Charades. I'm winning. Mostly because we're playing with two people and we don't know the actual rules of Charades."

She turned to Lucy. "I give up Lucy! What are you?"

Lucy walked over and whined, "The inflatable things outside of car dealerships that move up and down!"

We all laughed together and then Lucy seemed to notice me.

"Maya! Did you have fun with Asher?" I smiled and said yes.

"Are you leaving now?" Lucy asked, rushing over to me and wrapping her arms around my neck. I hugged her tightly back and said "Unfortunately, yes. But tonight was so much fun!"

"Yeah, even if JJ never showed up!" Cassie grumbled. "Maybe her mom didn't let her come or something?"

"Maybe she's inside and just couldn't find us, for all we know!" Lucy said sadly.

"Well, if you see her, tell her I say bye! Bye, you guys!"

After hugging them and promising to see them at school on Monday, I walked out to the front of the house. 

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A/N: YES, Magnus/Mav is Warren Peace from Sky High, but with piercings. I COULDN'T HELP IT. HE'S SO CUTE.