Hello!! I'm back...and much more quicker this time, right? (smiles) Well, that's because I got a lot of amazing reviews on my last chapter, which I still have to thank you for, so...thank you very much! As for now, I will turn off the babble faucet before I drown any of you! Enjoy!!
Chapter 10:
'What? No way! You can't make it?'
Maya shook her head, and Andy groaned. 'I'm really sorry, Andy,' she said earnestly. She wrapped the robe she had thrown on tightly around her. 'But there's just no way that dad's going to allow me to go to the football game...and especially the last football game of the season. He doesn't like me to go to places which are crowded like that unless he's with me. He worries too much; says I could get hurt in a crowd like that.'
Andy sighed, and leaned against the railing of the stairs which led up to Maya's house. It was surprising how time quickly flew by when you were doing something; it was only last month that they started the football tournament, and already they had come to the final game; the game which decided who was going to win the whole tournament. 'Can't you talk him around?' he asked.
She shook her head again. 'You obviously don't know my father; once he's made a decision, there's no changing it,' she told him. She noticed that his shoulders had slumped, and he was looking a bit down. 'I'm sorry, I really wanted to come, Andy, but...'
'Yeah, I wanted you to come, too,' he mumbled. 'I know that I'll probably do a lot more better if you're there, cheering me on.'
Maya frowned, puzzled. 'How come?' she demanded.
Andy gave her a surprised look. 'Don't you know? You're my lucky charm! Everyone knows that!' he exclaimed, but she continued to look confused. He chuckled. 'Everyone keeps telling me that my performance on the pitch have become much better ever since I met you. The coach's even telling me that I might get a scholarship!'
'Really?' she said, eagerly.
'Yeah, the coach told me that scouts are going to be there to watch the game, and he said that there's a great chance that they might corner me after the game,' he said, and she laughed. 'So...that's why I wanted you to come. I know for a fact that I'm going to be at my best if you were watching me.'
Maya opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when her father's car pulled into the driveway. They both watched silently as he killed the engine, stepped out of the car, wearing a crisp black suit and carrying a brief case with him. 'Salam alaikum, dad,' she said. 'How was work today?'
'Wa alaikum assalam, sweetheart. Work was fine, thanks for asking,' he replied, smiling and giving her nose an affectionate tweak. He turned to Andy. 'Hello, Andy. Keeping my daughter busy, I see.'
Andy felt flustered all of a sudden. 'No...I...um...I was just...' he stuttered. 'The suit looks good on you.'
He didn't know where that came from, but it made Maya's father chuckle. 'This thing? It makes me dead uncomfortable; I just can't wait to get home so that I can take it off,' he told them. 'Ah, well, shall we go in for lunch now? Will you be joining us, Andy?'
'Ah...no, I don't suppose I will; I've got to go and practice a bit for tonight's game,' he replied, looking hopefully at him.
Mr. Gorman placed an arm around his daughter's shoulders. 'Right. The game. Maya told me that you have to play the last game of the season tonight,' he said, nodding. 'Good luck with that. I really hope you win. You'll be sure to tell us if you do, won't you?'
Andy's shoulders slumped in defeat. He knew that Mr. Gorman had gotten his hint, and he knew that he had deliberately ignored it; the firmness of his tone told him so. 'Of course I will, Mr. Gorman. Thank you,' he said quietly. 'I'll see you later, Maya.'
Maya waved silently at him, before her father led her inside the house.
'I know you want to go, Maya...' he started.
'It's okay, dad,' she cut him off, taking off her scarf and pulling both hands through her hair. 'You really don't have to explain things to me.'
'I also know that Andy wants you to be there,' he continued, and she looked up at him to see that he was smiling. 'Which is why I'm going to let you go in the second half of the game...and the second half alone.'
Maya mouthed silently at him for a few seconds, and then she laughed and hugged him. 'Oh, thank you so much, dad!! You're the best dad ever, did I tell you that?' she said happily. 'Oh, Andy will be so happy when I tell him...!!'
'Wait, wait...why don't you make it a surprise?' he asked her, and she paused. 'Just imagine his face when you go and congratulate him after the game, and tell him how amazing his final touchdown was...considering he does make a final touchdown, that is.'
Maya's face broke into a grin. 'Dad, you're evil,' she said, laughing.
'Thank you,' he replied. 'Just...be careful, alright?'
'Relax, dad,' she said. 'What could possibly happen at a football game?'
-
'We did it!!! We won!! We won the game!!!'
The football team all filed into the locker room, screaming their lungs off. Andy slumped down on one of the benches and grabbed a water bottle and emptied the whole thing on his head, all the while laughing; he was laughing so much he felt like his face had stretched into a permanent laughing position. It had been an amazing game, and they had won by a huge difference; he just couldn't believe they did it. His teammates were still cheering, doing playful head butts and crashing against the lockers...Andy didn't think he could be happier. He had just pulled off his football jersey when the door opened again and Jamie and Nick walked in.
'Hey, where's our champion?' Jamie called into the room.
Andy got up to greet them. 'Hey, you guys!' he exclaimed.
Nick frowned at him. 'Whoever said we were talking to you?' he demanded, and Andy felt a bit taken-aback. Nick looked at Jamie. 'See? Told you this would happen. He won one tournament and now he's got an ego the size of the universe!'
'Nick...' Andy said warningly.
Jamie nodded in agreement. 'I know what you mean; I never thought he'd get so cocky,' she said viciously.
'Guys...' he mumbled.
Jamie laughed then and hugged him. 'We were just kidding, Andy!' she assured him. 'You played a great game!!'
Nick patted him on the shoulder. 'Yeah, man, that game was awesome!' he told him. 'I'm telling you, you stole the scouts' eyes on the field today!'
'Well, I don't think...' Andy started, trying to appear modest. 'Oh, to hell with niceties! Really? I did?'
Jamie laughed again. 'By the way, you'll never guess who we ran into on our way here,' she told him, and he looked at her, puzzled. Jamie turned back to the door. 'Hey! You can come in now!!'
When Maya walked in through the door, Andy felt his jaw literally dropping; he just couldn't believe she was here. She smiled and waved at him. 'Hello, Andy,' she said cheerfully. 'I watched the second half of the game, and you were...!'
She didn't get to continue with her sentence, though. Andy didn't think; he just wanted to share his joy with the girl who mattered most to him. He rushed forward towards her and pulled her into a tight hug. He whirled her around, shouting, 'Maya! We won! We won! And now I know why we did...because my lucky charm was here!! Thank you so much!'
He only realized what he was doing when he noticed that the whole locker room had gone silent. He loosened his grip on Maya and she pulled away from him, and staggered as she took several steps away from him. Andy didn't feel like he could look her in the eye. He cast a quick glance at her and saw that her face had turned a deep shade of red and her eyes were moist with tears. She was breathing slowly.
'Maya, I'm so sorry...' he whispered, aware that everybody was watching him.
'You know what? Coming here was just a big mistake; I should've gone with dad's first decision and not put up any arguments, but...' she said, and hastily wiped the tears which were welling in her eyes with the back of her hand. '...I really wanted to see you make that final touchdown, and I did.'
'Maya...' he murmured, reaching out for her.
She backed away from him several more steps. She took in a deep breath. 'I suppose I should just say what I came here to say and leave,' she said in a shaky voice. 'Congratulations, Andy. You played a great game tonight.'
She turned on her heels and hurried out of the room. Andy made an attempt to go after her, but Jamie blocked his way. He looked around and saw that everyone was shaking their heads at him. Even Nick was giving him a disapproving look.
'Come on, guys! I didn't do it on purpose!' he protested, but no one said anything in reply. He turned back to Jamie. 'Well, at least let me go after her...'
Jamie firmly shook her head. 'No way,' she said. 'Maya is probably feeling really embarrassed now, and I think the last person she'd want to see right now is you, since you're the cause of her humiliation. I think you shouldn't follow her at the moment.'
'But...but...we can't leave her alone now!' he pointed out.
'Well, I'll go after her,' she told him. 'But you mustn't talk to her at the moment, you understand? Don't follow me.'
-
Maya stumbled in her footsteps as she made her way away from the football stadium. She squeezed in between the many cars in the parking lot, while her tearful eyes searched for her mother's car, which had borrowed in order to come to the game. She found it and hurried towards the olive-green Honda. She dug the keys out of her pocket...only her hands were shaking so much that she dropped them to the floor. As she dropped down to her knees to search for them, she felt a shadow fall over her, and immediately tensed up.
'Maya?' came a familiar voice, and she looked up to see that it was Jamie. 'Maya, what are you doing?'
Maya found the keys, and hastily wiped away her tears before scrambling up to her feet. 'I just...dropped my keys,' she told her, showing her the keys while she grinned sheepishly.
Jamie nodded slowly. 'Listen, about what happened back there...' she said, jerking her thumb towards the stadium.
Maya quickly shook her head. 'It's really nothing to worry about,' she assured her. 'I'm fine. You don't have to say anything to me.'
Jamie smiled. 'I know I don't, but if I didn't, I'm sure Andy would never let me rest until the day I died,' she told her, and Maya couldn't help but let out a little giggle. 'No, seriously, you seemed pretty upset back in there and I thought that it would be better to come and check on you. Are you really okay, Maya?'
Maya looked at her for a moment, and then she shook her head. She hugged herself as she leaned against her mother's car. 'No, I'm not. I'm really not okay,' she murmured. 'What Andy did...it really took me by surprise, especially since I had trusted him not to ever lay a hand on me. So when he hugged me back in there, while every body was watching, I felt that my trust had wavered a bit...and it hurt. I really wanted to trust Andy, but...then I realized, he was just a guy. You can never expect a guy, Muslim or Christian, to hold back.'
'He didn't do it on purpose, you know,' Jamie pointed out.
Maya smiled and nodded. 'I know he didn't,' she admitted. 'But he did, and you know...I feel that this is partly my fault, too. My dad was right; I shouldn't let myself get too close to a guy, because, as he said, you may never know when the guy might accidentally do something which would hurt you. He was always telling me to be careful, and I was always assuring him that there was nothing to worry about...that Andy would never hurt me, and what do you know? Turns out my dad had a point.'
'Maya, no! Andy would never want you to get hurt because of him!!' Jamie cried out, defensively. 'You just caught him in a moment where he was really excited!! He just wasn't thinking clearly! He did the first thing that came to mind! He hugged me before you came in, and so...I don't know how to explain thing, but...Andy loves you!! He would never hurt you! You know that, don't you?'
Maya nodded. 'I know that, Jamie, I swear I do. The thing is, when Andy hugged me like that, I got this feeling that I...' she murmured, and took in a deep breath. '...that I might actually have some feelings for him, too.'
-
A/N: Yes! That's it! Don't go trying to scroll down more because that's the whole chapter! What did I tell you? It was pretty interesting, wasn't it? I told you that something was going to happen in this chapter, and it did! Ah...things are becoming more complex now! I mean, think about it...even if they loved each other, there was no way something could happen between them...very confusing, huh? Well, anyway, please review, okay? And wait for my next chapter!!
- S. N. B.