The Protagonists

Chapter Twenty-Four - Maya

Maya remained absolutely silent, not quite believing her ears-Oliver, her Oliver, did not remember her. Maya's Oliver, the boy she had been pleading to meet once more, refused to recognize her. "The disguise," she overheard Joel whisper to her. Nodding, Maya quickly threw off her silver beanie and her golden-like sunglasses; more carefully, she took out her lavender hair extensions. Please tell me you still recognize me, Oliver, she thought, staring at him intensely.

"Although you are very pretty," Oliver told her slowly, carefully picking out his words, "I just do not recognize you. You must be thinking of someone else, because I don't recall ever seeing your face."

Maya's face fell; her own, loving Oliver did not remember her. "What happened to you, Oliver?" She questioned, tears threatening to form in her eyes. "What did Iris do to you?"

"She knows your name," Sam suggested, feeling pity for the muddled girl.

Oliver huffed, crossing his arms. "Joel probably told her," he replied, sending a quick glance Joel's way. Joel, not knowing whose side to take, remained completely silent as he removed his disguise: the sunglasses and the brown color contacts-the chestnut hair dye had to remain in his hair, since there was no sink or shower nearby in the confusing room. "You have to be playing, Oliver," Maya called, practically begging for it to be true. Oliver shrugged in reply, honestly quite frightened of the girl yelling at him.

Before she could say any more, Maya felt herself become dizzy as a voice, her voice started to speak slowly and gingerly. Welcome back, Maya, the voice whispered. It looks like you and Joel finally made it out of that little trap. Yes, yes, I expected it. And yes, yes, I admit to the mistake of forgetting to check for a ring. Honestly, I forgot that Joel was an Intellectual. I tried to get him on my side, but one thing led to another, and boom, he became a Protagonist just like you. But now, I have a room full of Protagonists and I am ready. I hope you're prepared, Maya Rhodes, for I, along with some other Antagonists, am coming. I may have refrained from hurting Joel before, but when he introduces the world to three others- "Wait." Maya looked around, counting the heads-he made sure to not count the unconscious girl on the ground. "Joel, who did you introduce the Intellectuals to?"

"Well," he looked around, avoiding eye contact with Maya, "I told Oliver and Sam," he motioned to the two confused boys standing beside him, "but I also told Annalise Dakota."

"Where'd you say she was?" Maya asked, ignoring Iris's yelling in her ear.

"I don't know where she is," Joel replied, "but she's somewhere with Flynn."

"Flynn!" Sam and Oliver yelled in unison, looking at each other with shocked looks on their faces. "We were with Flynn!" Sam practically yelled, an adventurous gleam in his eyes-it was evident that he was glad he could offer aid in the situation in some way. "He was in the auditorium when we last saw him!"

"Yeah," Oliver nodded, staring down at his shoes, "but Annalise wasn't with him."

"Hey, Iris?" Maya asked, looking up at the ceiling-that definitely captured everyone else's attention. "Why'd you say that this room is filled with Protagonists, when Nana is with us?"

Iris did not respond. Some would have thought that she was gone, or that she just was not available, but Maya knew her cousin better than anyone else; Maya knew that Iris was there, but she was baffled and unresponsive. "Iris," Maya smiled slightly and hoped she was correct, "is Nana a Protagonist?"

Her heart says yes, Iris replied after a moment of pondering, but her mind, her brain, her head says no. Her heart says she is a Protagonist and her heart is screaming out to you for aid, but her mind remains quiet, believing that Nana is an Antagonist.