A Mean Tongue and Codeine

Chapter 3

Maia kept her head ducked as the door latched behind her, pretending to be oblivious to the 2 pairs of eyes drilling holes into her head. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she started towards her bedroom door – or tried to.

"Oh no ma'am," Lauren slid in front of her, blocking her path. "You have quite the story for us. Have a seat and share with the class," She moved over to the barstools, pulling one out and sternly tapping the seat.

Maia stared at Lauren, silently pleading with her. Lauren pursed her lips and gave her a small smile in response. She saw Alli fold her arms over her chest out of the corner of her eye. She swallowed again, a cold pit settling into her stomach. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk about it – she didn't – but she really didn't want to talk about it in front of Alli. She was trying to make it as a "multi-brand ambassador", and decided the best way to get that was to sell any celebrity gossip she could get to tabloids to get invited to parties and flown out to events. It had never been anyone serious, the closest she got to having "some real dirt" as she said had been some TikTok star Maia had never heard of, but if Alli became a new "inside source" to Hozier's personal life... Maia shuddered at the thought.

"There isn't a story," Maia breathed, trying to force a laugh. "He just came over to apologize."

"Yeah, my apologies usually end with cuddling on the couch and watching TV too," Alli rolled her eyes, shifting her weight to one hip.

"Cuddling?" Maia almost choked. "We weren't...he doesn't even follow me anymore. You can check." Maia felt her blood run cold as Alli pulled out her phone to verify. "He essentially told me to keep my mouth shut about seeing him at the New Year's party."

Lauren angled her head slightly, but luckily didn't add to Maia's half-truth. "Well," she flipped her hair, "I guess we won't be seeing him anymore. Sucks, I'd climb him like a tree if he let me."

Maia's face heated. "Alright, well, I'm going to go book my classes for the week." She almost jumped from the chair and did her best to look normal while speed-walking to her bedroom, letting a breath she didn't realize she was holding go as the latch clicked.

Maia scrolled through her school districts listings for open substitute positions, disappointed at the lack of selections. She was set for 2 of the 5 days, but the only one open for the remainder of the week was for a teacher that expected every small classroom rule and every minute detail of her lesson plan to be followed, or she would email the substitute coordinator and demand disciplinary action. Maia had been the subject of her emails plenty of times. Sighing and pulling her hair out of it's braid, she closed her laptop, turning on the TV on top of her dresser. Of course, the same show she and Andrew watched was still playing re-runs. Oh, the joys of daytime television. She caught her attention shifting to her phone and quickly snapped back. Shaking her head, she turned off the TV and opened the book on her nightstand.

The distraction made itself useful for a grand total of 5 minutes before Maia found herself scrolling through Andrew's private Instagram feed. Picture after picture of him on hikes or having coffee with his friends or—Maia stifled a laugh. Was that...?

She stared at the message typed out on her phone, debating on whether to hit send or not. Swallowing her pride and fear, she hit send.

"Bees?"

Her heart dropped and froze as she saw the delivered message appear. Rolling her shoulders back a few times and cracking her neck, she rolled back onto her side and tried to focus on her book.

Her phone buzzed a few minutes later. Maia almost injured herself flipping back towards her phone before the last vibration had finished.

"Stalker."

She fought the smile threatening to break across her face. "Sorry, I just didn't realize that you were old enough to be a beekeeper in your free time. I thought you were in your mid 20's. My apologies."

Maia watched the dots appear, then disappear before her phone vibrated once more.

"I'll have you know 29 is a respectable beekeeping age."

Her phone rang with an incoming FaceTime call before she could even begin to craft a response. She focused her hearing towards the other side of the door, Alli's boisterous laugh echoing through the apartment. Shame filled her as she hit decline.

"Alli is still here. I don't need the drama of explaining why you're calling me to her. She definitely enjoys that kind of scene. After this morning I'll be in hiding for the next 3-5 years."

She found herself sitting with her legs folded, waiting for his next response.

"Probably don't need that then. Thanks. I don't need my name in the papers anymore than it is with this tour."

"Just hanging out in Denver for the time being?"

"A couple weeks of downtime. Practicing a few changes to the setlist. Show next weekend, then onto Minneapolis."

"Minneapolis. Home of...Mall of America?"

His reply didn't come immediately. Didn't come after a few minutes. Maia began to wonder if he mistook her joke.

She put her phone down and opened her laptop, unsure of what she was planning on doing, as long as it wasn't staring at her phone or thinking of double texting.

"Drinks tonight?"

She stared at her phone in disbelief. She closed her mouth, gritting her teeth, blinking once, twice, three times. Alli and Lauren's screaming about Lord knows what rattled the apartment walls. She tightened her lips, reality sinking in once again.

"Some of us have 7-5's. Can't. Sorry."

She locked her phone and turned her attention back to her laptop. Opening photoshop, she decided to edit some of the photos she took at the party. Lauren might get most of the photos of her, but Maia kept those she's really loved to herself. She relaxed into her pillows, finding a natural groove as she added the various aspects that made her pictures, well, hers.

The sun was setting before she moved, hips aching as she finally stretched out. Maia closed the laptop and twisted from side to side, enjoying the feeling of her back popping. Her stomach growled with the movement. Standing to reheat leftovers she was mostly sure were still okay to eat, she caught a glimpse of the message waiting for her on her lock screen.

"RehearsingFriday. How about after? Or I'll bring you lunch this week. I make a meansandwich." Then, a few hours later, "Let me know, keen to see you again."