A Kiss for Maya

Breathe

"I want to make sure that the first person you kiss loves you, okay?"
    ~Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

***

I cried myself to sleep last night. After hours of stressing and going through possible scenarios, my brain finally tired itself out.

Today seemed to stretch out. Each time I heard voices, I would become afraid. Ophelia came up to check on me a few times and change my bandage. Riley's mom brought me breakfast and lunch.

All I've been thinking about is this evening. I want to see Mason more than anything but I'm worried. I can't help but shake the feeling that things might go wrong.

What plan was Mary talking about? What are they going to make him do?

The door opens and I jump off the bed. I relax a little as Ophelia appears.

"Please come with me." She smiles and waves me over.

I take slow steps behind her. I thought I wasn't supposed to be out of the room. Mr. Coleman warned he'll give out instructions to shoot.

I leave the door open and continue to walk behind Ophelia. I make sure to avoid the gazes of the two guards. She stops in front of the door near the stairs, the one she entered the first time I saw her.

"Sweetheart, I'm coming in." She says whilst knocking softly.

She opens the door and walks in. I step into the room, which is shockingly larger than mine. How can the rooms get bigger?

Unlike mine, this is painted white and the walls are decorated with posters, fairy lights and photographs. I take in the queen sized bed in front of me with a white, semi-circle headboard. It's covered by a neatly made, plain black duvet with black and white pillows messily tossed over it. Above the headboard is a painting of half a face of a girl who appears to be crying. The black, white and brown paints blend in perfectly. 

"Here she is." Ophelia speaks and my eyes finally rest on the teenage girl standing in front of us.

"Thank you, Lia." Mary replies with a grin and Ophelia nods before walking out.

I fiddle with my fingers, struggling to breathe now that I am all alone with Mary.

"Relax." She laughs. "Look."

She points to her bed, a grin still plastered on her face. I look at the bed and back at her. When I look back at the bed, I follow the invisible line from her index finger to the dresses I hadn't initially noticed, buried under all the pillows. 

"I'm choosing a dress for this evening." She claps her hands excitedly.

"Why am I here?"

"To get ready, duh." She rolls her eyes. "You're my plus one; you have to be gorgeous. Now, sit down and I'll get started on your make up."

I sit down in front of her dresser and she makes her way over to me. She opens one of the drawers and reveals layers of palettes. 

She takes a few items out and places them on the dresser table.

"We need to deal with this." She lightly taps the square white material on my forehead. She opens the drawer again and this time produces a pair of scissors.

I frown and she smiles before explaining.

"Bangs will do the trick. Just to hide that hideous thing a little bit."

My eyes widen and I lift my hands up to my hair.

***

"I lied when I said you weren't pretty enough." She says and my mind rushes to the memory. The first time when we met behind Lucy's. "You're actually pretty. Still, you're not Mason's type."