A Kiss for Maya

"I'm sorry."

Glad to finally feel and smell fresh and clean again, I smile at my reflection in the mirror hung on the wall. I'm now wearing my pajamas, seeing as it's almost dusk. Also, I don't think I brought enough changing clothes.

My eyes fall on the chest of drawers next to the mirror and I move to it. There are five drawers and I put my hands on the handles of the first one. I slowly pull at them, allowing the drawer to open and reveal it's contents.

I'm both shocked and confused to find a layer of clothes, packed in it. I close it and open the second one and so forth. The fifth one, has two pairs of combat boots. The other ones are empty.

I grab the boots and scan them. Like the clothes, they belong to a girl.

Who do they belong to?

I stand up straight, returning to my full height, and open the first drawer again. This time, I move both my eyes and hand across the materials. I grab a t-shirt; it's black and has a sparkly diamond in the middle.

Most of the clothes are black t-shirts and jeans. They're a size smaller and I can't say how old the owner is. Considering I am actually small, they could be a year younger or so.

I put the t-shirt back, questions gallivanting in my head. After closing the drawer, I head out of the bedroom.

"You have to stop buying like this." Mason says to Max as I walk into the room. "We have to minimise going out as much as we can."

Max doesn't answer, instead he stares at the floor as if in thought.

"So I have to choose between the car and our safety?" He says to himself, rubbing his chin.

Mason lightly slaps the back of his head and Max glares at him. I chuckle and make my way to the couch.

Mason turns to me as I sit next to him. He runs his eyes over my body. A tiny smile appears on his face for a moment as he looks at the dancing marshmallows on my pajama top.

"Are you okay?" The concern in his voice makes me smile.

I give a nod as a response and he gets up, saying he'll be back in a moment.

"We're sorry we dragged you into all of this, Maya." Max apologises.

I smile and shrug my shoulders, not knowing how to reply.

"I know this place," his eyes move around the room, "isn't anyone's ideal summer abode but The Man doesn't know about it. We should be safe here."

Mason returns to the room, holding two paper plates in his hands.

"Max, I think you know where the kitchen is." He says as he hands me a plate.

"Gosh, I liked you better when you didn't have a girlfriend." Max grumpily says as he gets up and walks to the kitchen.

I say thank you to Mason before looking down at my food. Rice and chicken. It looks appetising and I immediately grab the plastic spoon and begin to eat.

The environmentalist in me frowns at the usage of the plastic spoon but my hunger sways her thoughts in a different direction. The spicy aroma of the food grabs my attention.

The food is a bit cold since it's been in the kitchen for about an hour and a half but it's palatable.

Max sits down on the recliner, his own plate in his hand. We all focus on our food, eating in silence.

I look up at them from time to time. They both seem deep in thought. It's like we're all still processing things. Well, I'm probably still processing more than them. I'm sure their thoughts are more focused on the plot to survive all of this so we can graduate at the end of senior year and  make it to college.