Elise: Here’s the address! Good luck tomorrow!
*enclosed google maps link*

Maya’s POV
The door fell shut behind Naira and with that last bang the rest of the sound disappeared from the room. I looked at Mike from the corner of my eye and saw that he was staring at the ground. He hadn’t moved at all since Naira had stood up to leave the room. Why did she have to leave? Like really? She had just left me in a room with the person I least wanted to talk to.
I mean, I came here to avoid him after all. I knew that it was going to be hard seeing him here, but I hadn’t thought at all about the possibility of him bringing other girls! It’s something Mike would do, but somehow I didn’t think he would do that after…
No. Stop. You don’t have a weird connection just because you shared one insignificant kiss. He doesn’t owe you anything. He’s a single man and can bring a date whenever he wants to. And you shouldn’t even care about that! Stop it, Maya!
I saw Mike shuffle around a little in the corner of my eye, but I kept staring blankly across from me. “Well, should I just go or something?” he said unsure. He sounded annoyed, but I knew it was just to hide that he was nervous.
I had no intention of feeling sorry for him, though. I was angry and anger mostly was the hardest feeling for me to hide. Sadness, joy and fear were way easier for me. “Yeah, of course. Just leave again. It’s not like we’re friends anymore, I guess.” I muttered and I dug my nails into my arms,to stop them from shaking. I was not going to let him see me cry. He could probably see that I already had, but that didn’t matter.
Mike had started moving towards the door before my words, but then turned around and took a step towards me. “Are you blaming this on me?! You were the one that started ignoring me! I’ve tried to message you so many times, but eventually I just had to come to the conclusion that you wanted me to fuck off!” he said raising his voice.
He was now standing right in front of me and I turned my head to the side so I could avoid looking at him. “It’s still your fault.” I muttered, even softer than before. I didn’t want to lose all of my temper. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction to see that I actually cared.
He took a step closer to me, his shadow covering me. I was so pissed at him, but I felt kind of small and intimidated by him towering over me like this. I, on the contrary, was making myself as small as I could by keeping my knees to my chest with my crossed arms.
“Why?! Why could this possibly be my fault?!” he screamed and his words echoed through the room. It was like they didn’t give me a possibility to think.
I finally looked up at him, feeling like a small child as I did. His face was filled with anger, but there was desperation visible in his eyes. “You kissed me!” I yelled out and his face softened quickly. It probably wasn’t what he expected to hear. Not because of the content of my words, but because they were honest. “You fucking kissed me, Mike! You shouldn’t have done that! The one rule of friendship I begged you not to break and you did it anyway!” I yelled at him, immediately regretting every word that left my mouth.
I buried my face in my arms and forced myself to not let any tears spill. It was of no use, though. I already felt the warm liquid on my skin. Why was I so sensitive right now? Was it because I had relapsed again? I hadn’t really eaten since yesterday and that wasn’t even much.
I heard a few footsteps and then I felt the bed sink in a little left from me. It took a few seconds, but eventually I felt a hand on my back, rubbing in a comforting motion. It almost felt like he doubted whether he could touch me. “I-I’m sorry.” he stuttered. He was obviously shocked. I didn’t want to hurt him. It probably was the last thing I wanted to do.
I raised my head again, but avoided looking at him. No matter how hard I tried, the tears kept flowing over my cheeks. Eventually I felt soft fingers tracing over my left cheek, drying the place where a tear was rolling down. “If I knew it would upset you, I would never have done it.” he said softly.
I turned my head so I was facing him while his fingers were still resting on the side of my face and I couldn’t help but turn a little red. “It’s okay. I think I just overreacted. I just am a little afraid this would end up like the whole thing with Jaime again.” I said. Even though it wasn’t the reason why I was so upset, I still meant it. I didn’t want to fight with Mike, I didn’t want to lose him and I definitely didn’t want to date him.
“Yeah, but I mean, we wouldn’t end up like that, right? Because we don’t actually like each other like that, right?” he asked. His words sounded a little unsure. He was probably afraid to hurt me if he was wrong.
It did stung a little I admit. I could’ve known this was all one-sided. I should’ve noticed that his behavior towards me hasn’t changed since that kiss. I was the only one freaking out about this and feeling this way.
I softly swapped his hand away from my cheek, so it wouldn’t look like I was angry or upset with him. “No, we don’t. I was just afraid that would happen.” I said. I wondered if he actually believed my words. They sounded very unbelievable to me.
He took his hand away from my face and shot me a weak smile. “So, are we friends again? I hate fighting with you, honestly. I much rather have you help me take revenge on Naira.” he said and the watery smile on his face morphed into an evil grin.
I chuckled and wiped the remaining wetness of my cheeks with the sleeves of my shirt. When I looked at them I saw that there were now black stains visible on the white material. God, I hated crying. “Yeah, I heard about the ice bucket incident.” I said giggling. “I’m afraid you have to prank her back yourself, though. I’m not choosing between my two best friends. I’ll remain neutral on this one.”
Mike stood up from his place on the bed and walked over to the nightstand. He took a tissue out of a paper box and handed it to me. “But being neutral is boring! C’mon, you know we can form an excellent team.” he said, as I took the tissue from him. He sad back down and I blew my nose in the paper towel.
“I know, we would be an amazing team.” I said. “But Naira and me would be too. Remember the prank we pulled on Jaime as revenge? Seriously, you’re underestimating her. She looks all cute and innocent, but that’s just a disguise. Believe me, she will kill you.”
Mike scoffed and sat up a little straighter. “Please, I can take her.” he said like we were talking about a spider he had to squash. Then his expression softened again. “But we’re friends again, right?”
Friends. Why did that word hurt? It shouldn’t hurt. Goddamn it! “Yes, I’ve missed you, Mike.” I said and I laid down my head on his shoulder so he wouldn’t have to see my expression when I said it.
I felt his arm raise and then go down again. But then he raised it again and placed it around my waist. “I’ve missed you too.”

*

I straightened my skirt one less time before I got my car keys out of my pocket. As I put the key in the engine, I panically watched over my outfit again. Should I wear something else? I mean, this dress is awesome, but I hate wearing dresses so what if I’ll be uncomfortable the entire interview?
The skirt was long enough to cover up the large tattoo on my thigh, so the only ones visible on my leg was a small one on my right calf and another tiny one on my left ankle. Even though the dress had long sleeves, it was made of thin material so I hoped the tattoos on my arms wouldn’t be too visible. But they wouldn’t not hire me for my tattoos, right? Elise had told me that, right? I also had taken out my septum piercing and it felt a little weird to be honest. When I looked into the mirror, I almost looked normal. It has been a while since I looked like a normal person. But I guess that if I got this job, I would have to look ‘normal’ way more often. It would be worth it, though.
I pushed my doubts aside and started the car. As I drove over the highway towards my first job interview in ages, I felt a pressure building up in my chest. Oh god, I hoped I wouldn’t have a heart attack! How bad would that be if I had a heart attack in the middle of the interview?! On the other hand...Maybe they would give me the job out of pity. Mmmm… It was a strategy worth considering.
I stopped the car in front of a high, white building with lots of windows. The building had a large square in front of it were little benches and picnic tables were placed. To the left of the parking spaces, was a small place for motorcycles and bikes. It wasn’t that far away from the place where I went to high school and I couldn’t help but think of my time in high school. I was popular and had a lot of friends, but I was far from happy. What would’ve happened if I had gotten help back then? Wouldn’t I be such a wreck right now? It doesn’t matter. Right now all that mattered was that I would be able to help these kids before they would experience what I went through.
I looked at the time on my dashboard and saw that it was still way too early. Weird, I really thought I would be too late when I was home. Well I guess I have been speeding then.
I sat back in my chair and took my phone out of my bag. I looked over the lockscreen and saw that I had a message from Mike and Naira.

Mike: Go get em tiger! I will be at home cheering you on!...
Mike: HOLY SHIT. I literally found pompoms in a box in the attack! I don’t know why I have them, but I will be literally cheering you on! GO MAYA GO!

I smiled down at the message and felt a little bit of the nerves fly away. He was literally so amazing. I wouldn’t know what I would’ve done without a friend like him.
I had told him about the job opportunity just after we had made up and he was probably just as surprised and enthusiastic as me. Although the first thing what he said was that he didn’t have to listen to me whine about my job anymore.
I quickly messaged him back.

Maya: Would you be wearing one of those short skirts? Because I’d like to see that ;)

Then I moved on to Naira’s message and messaged her back too.

Naira: GOOD LUCK MAYA! I feel kinda bad that I won’t be able to massage your shoulders like you did when I had my job interview. :/
Maya: THANK YOU, BAE! No worries! I will be fine! I will let you know how it went right after, okay?

With a smile on my face I locked my phone and stepped out of my car. I felt a whole let better about myself now. When I stood up straight, I got a little dizzy and had to balance myself to not fall over. No! Not now! This couldn’t be happening right now! I even ate normally today to make sure this wouldn’t happen. Even though I wanted to look skinny for this interview, it was more important to me that I was able to think properly.
But only a few seconds later the light headed feeling faded away and I found myself standing normally in my heels. I took a deep breath. See, there’s no need to panic. You just stood up too quickly. This is going to be all right. You’re going to rock this interview. Now go!
I walked over to the big glass doors and heard my heels click on the floor. I loved that sound. It was was the sound of confidence and femininity. As I entered the building, I almost had another flashback to my own high school years. When I looked left and right, I saw teenagers walk down the hall and talk to each other. The familiar, stereotypical lockers were placed against the deep red walls.
I followed the signs on the wall that led me to the principal's office and tried to avoid the stares of kids. They were pointing at me and wondering out loud what this random woman did in the school. Kids these days really didn’t have any shame anymore, did they? In my days, they at least tried to hide that they were talking about someone.
‘Kids these day’? ‘In my days’? Jesus Christ, I’m really getting old. I never considered myself old, because I never really grew up. But now I had a chance to get a serious job at a high school and suddenly I was the teacher instead of the kid.
I took the stairs to the second floor and took a right turn. Eventually I noticed a little transparent sign on a door to my right. ‘Principal Alif Nader’ was written on it in cursive black letters.
I knocked on the door and heard someone say ‘Come in’ from the inside. I took another deep breath and cautiously opened the door of the office. This was it. Please don’t let him be a dick, don’t let him be a dick.
As I entered the room, I saw a man smile from his chair behind his wooden desk. He was probably in his early forties and a few grey hairs mixed into his black hair. He had slightly tanned skin and wore a suit that suited him perfectly even though his tie didn’t match the rest of his suit. I couldn’t help but think of James and the fact that he always wore perfectly matched clothes. It annoyed the crap out of me that he always wanted everything to be perfect. So just by the look of his tie, I decided I was going to like this guy. “Hello, you must be Maya Milton. I’m Alif Nader” he said in a deep friendly voice and he stood up from his chair to shake my hand.
I shook it back and shot him my most charming smile. “Yes, nice to meet you, sir.” I said.
He let go of my hand and mentioned to the chair at the other side of the desk. “Please, sit down, Maya. This interview would get really weird if you’d be standing there the whole time.” he joked and he sat down on his own chair.
I laughed at his joke and did my best to sit down charmingly while wearing a dress. Okay Maya, cross your legs, be a lady. Yeah, like that. I sat up straight and waited for the principal to start the interview. One thing I did learn from all those useless interviews I went on, was exactly how things went and what they wanted to hear from me.
Mr. Nader took a few papers from the drawer of his desk and wrote something down on it. “Okay Ms. Milton, first of all I want to ask you to just be yourself during this interview. Since I have looked into your college grades and activities and since I have heard so many great things about you from Elise, I doubt the chance that we wouldn’t hire you. What I want to do in this interview is get a good idea if you would fit our team and if you’re fitted for our school. Of course, I expect a certain level of professionalism of you, but just try to relax and don’t force out rehearsed lines, okay?” he said and he looked up from his paper.
I didn’t saw that one coming. It only made the desire to work here so much bigger. Besides, I was good at socializing, so this was going to be piece of cake for me. I shot him a smile and nodded. “Got it. I just need to be my charming self, but without the swearing.” I said convincingly.
He laughed. Thank god he did. He could’ve taken that joke the wrong way. “Oh and before you’ll call me ‘Mr. Nader’ or ‘sir’, please just call me Alif. I already feel old enough.”

Notes

Okay, I totally forgot to update XD

I'm behind with everything, what has my lfe become?

xxxxx

Nicky