At some point of time, we are all bound to come up with a bucket-list. Given how very few end up accomplishing it, I don't think it is necessary to say that it is indeed a very big thing to actually complete one. To tell the truth, I never planned on making one, or at least I didn't think I would. But that wasn't required anyway. I had Maya Parker make me a bucket-list herself, upon her own insistence. And I'll be honest, never did I ever think that I'd be able to complete that list.

*****

To say that my hatred for parties remained the same post the one I'd just attended would be a lie. To say that Maya Parker forgot all about the idea of the bucket-list and moved on with her "thrilling" life would be an even bigger lie.

That night after the party, Maya had been so convinced that she was finally able to break through me and was going to give me, and I quote, the experience of my life, I actually ended up having second thoughts. But Maya was far clever then I thought; she'd sensed that I'd be having second thoughts already. And so, insisting that she'd walk me to my dorm, she stepped into my room, closing the door behind her. I'll be honest, my first thoughts weren't pleasant and actually uncomfortable, and I was only hoping that all that alcohol hadn't hit Maya that hard. But my worries lasted only for so long as Maya took out the dreadful piece of paper along with a pen, all this while giving me a weird look.

I raised my eyebrow at her. Seated across me on the bed, she forwarded the piece of paper and the pen towards me. I looked at both Maya and the paper, wondering what in the world I was going to be told next.

"We made a deal today, remember? Of course, you do. Anyway, something tells me that you're probably having second thoughts. So I decided that we, or rather I, would have to come up with something to make sure you don't let your inner sissy side come out and then back out of this whole thing."

"Second thoughts? You mistake me for a person who's very weak-willed," I muttered sarcastically.

Maya looked up at me. "Please," she scoffed. "Two minutes into the deal and I bet you already had your bloody second thoughts running up in your mind."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Maya smirked.

Then, she rubbed her palms together before speaking again. "Since I'm confident that you're not sure about this list, I've concluded that we must come up with a pact." She looked as though she had just come up with the smartest idea in the world.

"A pact," I repeated. "Why?"

"So you don't back out. Duh." She rolled her eyes. "It's simple, really. All you have to do is sign this piece of paper and you're all set," she said as she tapped the corner of the page.

"Sign it? What is this, a law court?" I questioned in surprise.

"Something of that sort. Anyway," she said as she nudged me to sign on the paper, "do what you must."

I rolled my eyes, but held the pen in my hand anyway, turning to sign the paper. Then, I paused. "Wait. Does signing this mean that I'm, like, committed to this thing?"

"Uh-huh. It's sort of like a death pact, really. Once you sign this, you can't back out. Not at any cost," Maya said with certainty.

"Uh, I don't think I'm ready for that type of commitment yet," I remarked mockingly. The girl rolled her eyes, something she'd been doing around me a lot lately.

"Just do it. Quick." I sighed as my fingers absently signed on the paper. "Happy?" I asked. She nodded. "Now get out of my room."

*****

It was Tuesday evening when Maya knocked on my door. As I opened it, she pushed me aside and comfortably sat on my bed.

I looked at her quizzically.

"You do realise you just freely walked into a stranger's room, right?"

She huffed. "Cut the bullshit. I'm here to do business." When she saw my clueless face, she sighed. "The bucket-list, remember? We've roughly gotten only six months to complete the rest of the targets."

I groaned. "Can't we just pretend that never happened?"

"No chance. Plus, you signed the document. All's fair and square. And it's legal, even." I rolled my eyes.

When I didn't reply, she plucked out the bucket-list paper from her pocket. She read out the first three objectives that I had completed, though I could tell she had the list memorized.

"Fourth mission: Kiss a girl." She looked up at me and smirked, a hint of playfulness clearly visible in her bold eyes. "And mind you, when I say kiss, I actually mean a full make-out session."

She had gotten through me but my manhood did not want her to know that. But I bet a hundred bucks that my expressions gave it all away.

I passed her a small, sympathetic smile. "The fact that you think you can actually make me do that truly makes my heart ache for you. Really, it doesn't hurt to give up."

She narrowed her eyes at me. Then, she walked up to me, the top of her head reaching a bit above my shoulder. She grapsed me by the collar of my shirt and pulled me towards her; we were incredibly close. At that moment, I couldn't help but notice how Maya looked from close- her eyes dark and bold, strands of her hair covering parts of her forehead, how, unlike most girls, she had not applied any make-up at all, but looked dazzling nonetheless. As I continued to allow my eyes wander around her face, I noticed that she hadn't done anything fancy with her eyebrows, opting for a natural look instead. It was only then when I noticed a scar towards her right temple. It was something you couldn't see from a distance; only when you were that close. I wondered where she'd gotten that from.

My eyes wandered back at Maya's, who had been starting at me intently. "You and I, we've made a pact. I only make pacts with my friends, and I don't like it when my friends let me down. Kinda why I don't have many around; just acquaintances. But I see that you're not likely to let your friends down, and so I've chosen you. I've chosen you to get close to, to trust, to help. Don't destroy it."

I gulped. "Kissing a girl it is."

*****

It was the next day when Maya had invited me to go out of campus with her. My initial response, of course, was no. But Maya Parker had a way with words, especially with me, so I found myself seated on the front seat of her car, on Wednesday.

Truth be told, with all that adventure and danger stuff she spoke about, I had expected her to be a rash driver. But man, when have I ever been right about Maya Parker.

"You drive pretty well," I told her.

She smirked, not lifting her eyes of the road. "Of course. It's me we're talking about here, genius."

I rolled my eyes. "You know, you'd actually make up for a pretty decent person if it weren't for your attitude and that high dosage of sarcasm that you take."

"Sounds like someone's trying to make me a better person." I opened my mouth to argue, but realised it was all futile anyway.

I looked outside the window on my side; I hadn't been out of campus so far, so the town was completely new for me. "I'm not trying to make you a better person; I'm just trying to remind you that you are one."

"You wish, Grey."

I sighed. "Deep, deep, deep below that tough facade you put on, there is a good girl."

"Yeah, a good girl who's been exploited by the world." She stopped the car. I looked around to see that we'd reached a cafe. Unfastening her seatbelt, she got off the car, a smirk evident on her face. "You getting out or what?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "As much as I'd like to stay in-"

"A deal's a deal's," she finished.

"As much as I hate to say this, a deal is a deal, after all." I sighed. I unfastened my seatbelt and got out of the sedan.

Maya and I walked till the entrance of the cafe. Then, before I could open the door and enter, she held me back by placing a firm grip on my left wrist. I looked at her quizzically.

"You're forgetting something, Grey," she said. Then, she continued, "Once we step in this cafe, you're all mine. You're totally committed to this list and our pact, okay? No second thoughts are entertained beyond this point."

"And you're telling me this just to seek confirmation?"

She scoffed. "Of course not. I'm telling you this so that you know what you're getting yourself into. What you have gotten yourself into, period."

I sighed. "I actually feel bad for myself, you know," I said as the two of us entered the cafe.

"Well, there's always some pain, when you're with Maya Parker. Just no regrets," she said, a sense of pride taking over her. I shook my head as we made our way to a booth at the corner. I sat down and plainly looked around, while Maya say across me.

I picked up the menu card that was placed on the table and started going through the options. "I'll have an ice-tea. You?"

"Cold coffee."

"Be right back." I walked towards the counter, placed the order, and returned to my seat, a tray in my hand.

I placed the cup of cold coffee in front of Maya. "Here you go."

She passed me a small smile. "Thanks."

"No problem," I replied. Then, I added, "Okay, what do you have planned for us?"

She raised her right eyebrow. "Woah, somebody's eager."

"That'd be an understatement."

"Sarcasm," Maya said, shaking her head. "Honey, you've gotta use your big boy words, ya know."

I continued sipping my drink.

Maya looked around for a moment before she turned to face me, her complete attention now directed only at me. "Okay," she begun. "I've looked through the lot of them, and I think you should go ahead with that one," she said, pointing to a girl seated two booths away from us. The girl was plainly dressed- black tights with a green top, her neck covered with a designer scarf.

My first instinct was to argue, to refuse. But if anything, I knew that was useless. So I considered the offer, or order, rather. "When you say that I should go ahead with that one, you mean I should trying hitting on her, don't you?"

""Hitting on" seems very cold, don't you think?"

"And "banging" doesn't?" I asked.

"Nonsense, Grey." When I looked at her with my mouth slightly opened, she added, "What? I'm a devout feminist. I refuse to let you objectify women and consider them to be an item that can be hit on." I rolled my eyes.

"Anyway, you want me to flirt with her, right?"

"You could flirt, or you could just go ahead and kiss her."

"I'll go for the first option, I think."

"Very well, Mr.Zach Grey," she said. "You may proceed."

I gulped down my glass of ice-tea. "Are you su-"

"No second thoughts, no backing out," Maya interupted. "Now, go ahead."

"But what am I supposed to do, even?" I questioned.

"Ask her to a date on Sunday." When she saw the protesting expression on my face, she quickly added, "Now go, quick. Just compliment her or something, and ask her if she's free this Sunday."

I resigned. I had, the moment Maya had given me that speech about our friendship and how she trusted me. "I hate you," I silently murmured as I walked away from the table. But I was loud enough for her to hear me and pass out a small laugh.

I took a deep breath in as I walked towards the girl, the first girl whom I'd ask out.

At the same time, I was also walking towards the fourth goal on my bucket-list.

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Dear readers, firstly, I'd like to thank you all for taking out some of your precious time and giving 'Maya' a try- it truly means a lot. I really hope you liked this chapter. I know there wasn't much to this one, so it probably wasn't up to the mark, but I decided I had to put this one in order to portray proper character development and story development. All your comments, opinions and suggestions are always welcome, of course. I sincerely hope that you all would be willing to read further on and learn more about the story (although I wouldn't blame you if you didn't). Please do vote for this chapter, thereby extending your support for the same.

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