Between the Lines

2: Who's who?

Prep school was the least that Maya cares about but since she came in, all she ever thinks about is escaping the place with flying colors. She didn’t expect three girls to be her friends and yet despite their expectations of each other, they’ve become the backbone of one another while staying in the school. The four of them were roommates and none of them thought it’s gonna turn out this way. When they first met, they barely talked to each other. It was Sora who broke the ice between them and started introducing herself, followed by Mila, then Raven, and lastly Maya. They spent the afternoon of the same day talking about themselves, opening up so the others can know something about them. Since then, they decided to be friends since they don’t know anyone in the prep school. Sora was very excited since all she ever wanted was to be away from her family, and yet at night she keeps on crying in the bathroom, keeping it as silent as she can. Mila’s parents call her almost everyday and they speak Russian so Mila doesn’t bother getting away when they call since all of her friends can’t understand Russian. Meanwhile, Raven wants to be known. She wants to be noticed by her parents not because of her weird way of living her life but as a talented artist. And Maya… she’s all about complying to social norms and living up to her parents’ expectations.

Since the girls chose different classes, they rarely see each other during class. Raven and Sora are taking art class while Maya and Mila are taking business management. Both Mila and Maya are classmates to every subject and so does Raven and Sora so when they meet, they meet only during lunch break and dismissal. Mila knows everyone in class compared to Maya but all of her classmates knew her. Mila was known for her alluring beauty while Maya was known for her brain. She rarely talks in class but she always gets high scores, making Devon mad all the time. Devon’s girlfriend-Kyla- hates Maya to the core. She tried to befriend Mila, thinking Mila would want to make friends with her if she knew she used to be a highschool crush. But because Maya doesn’t like her for no reason, Mila distanced herself from Kyla and Kyla starts hating Maya. Everyone knows about her rivalry with Devon when it comes to academics and her rivalry with Kyla when it comes to fame. Though she never takes things seriously, especially her turmoil with Kyla, she hardly gives her attention, until she witnessed her screwing her boyfriend’s best friend, Cain.

The all time rising football star, Cain Tyson who’s about to become a candidate for the captain position in the football team. Both Cain and Devon are athletes and they are roommates together with another two boys. Devon is part of the baseball team while Cain starts reigning the football team. Cain started to get famous when he appeared in newspapers and news outlets as an outstanding player during his highschool years. He was already famous then, how much more now that he’s about to make another unbelievable record? Many recruiters contacted him way before he entered the prep school, but he decided to think carefully where he wanted to go before deciding. Like Maya, Cain is in business management. Though his heart is in football, his parents wanted him to know something outside of sports, especially that his family is in business too. If it’s not because of his older brother, Cain would never experience touching a football ground.

During class, Cain texted Maya to talk, which Maya takes for granted. She tries to focus on the discussion while scribbling through her notebook, but everytime she looks in front, all she can see is Devon who’s listening attentively to the teacher. It always reminds her of what she saw in the bathroom where Cain and Kyla are screwing each other. She wanted to tell Devon the truth but since this morning, she never got the chance to talk to him because Kyla guarded him well. Beside Devon is Kyla who’s twirling a strand of her hair on her finger. She’s not even bothered by what she did, Maya thought, but that’s exactly Kyla. Cain texted her again, asking her one more time to see her after class and like the first message, she set it aside.

When the bell rings, Mila hurriedly pulls Maya out and heads to the next building where Sora and Raven had their class.

When the four of them met, she hurriedly switched to Sora, linking her arms with her while telling her a story about a certain guy Maya doesn’t even know. The group settled in the cafeteria, ordering minimal foods for all of them. Tables away from them are Devon’s group with Cain and Kyla laughing loudly together. Maya looked at them, wondering if such an act really happened around the group and what others felt about it. She even wonders if Devon really doesn’t know anything or their friends. She never thought she’s looking at them for so long already that she forgot she got her own friends around her. Mila and Sora are still busy talking about their crushes while Raven continues to sketch on her pad. Raven looked at Maya who’s really bothered, wondering if the woman was planning something on her huge brain.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Maya nodded, giving her full attention to the sketch Raven just finished. However, the more she tried to keep it in, the more it tried to get out of her. She knows she needs to tell someone or she’ll explode in no time. Besides, Raven was her friend and perhaps the only friend that will totally shut her mouth.

“Actually, I have something to say…” she started, garnering her other friends’ attention. “First, all of you have to swear to never tell anyone about this, not even a single soul dead or alive.” They all nod.

“This morning, before class, I saw Cain and Kyla having s*x in the girl’s restroom,” she finished in a low, almost a hush, voice.

Sora gasped, covering her mouth with her hands while Mila’s eyes were about to pop out from shock. Raven just chuckled.

“For real? Does Devon know?” Mila asked.

“I don’t think so. Cain tried to convince me to stay silent about it in the bathroom, but I didn’t give him a chance. I tried to talk to Devon but Kyla’s guarding him. Cain texted me during class and he wants to talk,” she answered.

They all come closer to Maya, giving her a little space to breathe.

“Does that mean she’s f*****g her boyfriend’s bestfriend at his back? And Cain’s okay with the idea? I can’t believe this,” Sora said.

“What can we expect from them, really? A group with a w***e, surely she f****d all of them without everyone knowing except for her,” Raven responded while making another sketch.

Maya ran her fingers through her hair, putting it back as she tried to make sense to everything.

“Girl, you judge so quickly. That’s a no no, but it could be possible. Anyway, they will surely try to silence you no matter what because though Devon loves her, he’s not a nice guy to mess with. We all know what Devon can do when he's mad,” Sora replied.

“Well, you should just keep it silent, Maya. I mean, Devon was an asshole too and what he did to you before, I guess this is karma. Karma’s a b***h, remember?” Mila said.

Maya knitted her brow in confusion. All she ever wants is for Devon to know so that she’ll never have to carry the heavy secret in her heart, but she doesn’t want to meddle in their affair too. Whatever Devon did to her before, she doesn’t want him to pay this way. He deserved way harder punishment.

“I’ll talk to Cain. He won’t stop bothering me until he gets what he wants. His growing popularity will surely crumble once this comes out,” she answered.

“Cain can f**k himself or Kyla but just stay away from those parasites. They’ll hurt you in the end,” Raven said.

Mila takes Maya’s hand into her. “Just do what you think you should do. We will always be here to support you, but Maya, I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I think you should talk to Cain and tell him that you will not say anything about it. I think only then he’ll feel at peace and stop bothering you,” Sora suggested.

Maya looked at the group again and this time she met Cain’s eyes. His smile vanished the moment it landed on hers.