Finding Me

Chapter 5

Maya's balcony looks something like what's above or to the side.

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"Good morning," Emma greets me
when I walk into the kitchen.

I nod at her and sit at the island. She is standing on the opposite side from me and is cooking some eggs. I can smell biscuits cooking in the oven, and I watch her as she sprinkles cheese and bacon onto the eggs.

"How did you convince my uncle to let you cook in this kitchen?" I ask.

She laughs. "It wasn't very hard. I told him that I would be doing things my own way."

I let out one of my rare laughs. "Yet he hired you?"

She she turns the burner off and transfers the eggs to a platter. "He seemed desperate. Plus, he doesn't seem to mind the smell of food cooking."

I nod and stand up to leave. "I'm going to the bookstore."

Emma nods. "You sure you don't want anything to eat or to go say hello to your uncle?"

I shake my head and hurry out the door, carrying my bag that has my laptop, notebook, and pens and pencils. I walk quickly down the path to enter the center of town. I walk to the bookstore and walk to my little spot I've made in the back of the store. I say hello to the owner before pulling out my laptop.

I'm writing down ideas in my notebook when I hear a voice say, "Well, we meet again."

I look up and see the guy from yesterday standing in front of me with the same sunglasses on. "Not by my choice."

He laughs, sending a warm feeling all throughout me because his laugh is warm and kind-- not mean and inconsiderate. "You're a sarcastic one."

"What made you notice?"

He smiles at me and switches the subject. "I was looking for the computer the owner told me was here. Do you know where it is?"

I point behind me at a door. "Through that door."

The guy starts walking toward the door and says, "Great thanks to you. To whom do I owe my thanks?

I roll my eyes. "My name's Maya, and please don't ever speak like that again. We're not in some book where the guys try to speak eloquently."

I don't wait for his reaction. Instead, I quickly plug my earbuds into my laptop and start some music. When I look up, he's gone, so I turn the music down and take one earbud out of my ear. I let myself have a small smile on my face and go back to opening up Wattpad and typing a new part for my story.

My phone buzzes, and I look down to see a notification from my email. I stop typing and unlock my phone. I look at my email and see I have a notification from my blog post and the online high school newspaper.

Being the curious person I am, I decide to check the newspaper article. I know it's probably a mistake, but I can't help but feel like I should know what's being written about me. I open a new tab on my computer and type in the high school newspaper address. On the website, I click the link to the newest article.

"How to Avoid the Town's
High School Outcast."

I smirk at the new article title, and I mutter, "Is that the best you can do? That's pretty sad, especially compared to last time."

"What's that?" a voice asks me from behind.

I quickly shut my laptop and spin around to see the sunglasses guy standing behind me, staring at me. I clear my throat. He continues to stare.