015. ━━━ ❛ BULLSHIT ❜
real life. . .

          MAISIE STARES AT HER cuticles as her fingers tap along the surface top of the bar counter in front of her. she feels bored out of her mind as she readjusts the way she's sat on the stool she chose, glancing around the dimly-lit place as the blaring music echos loudly in her ears.

she had originally planned to hopefully hangout with sunny today, but she already had plans with chris when she asked. see, maisie just found out the medical receptionist internship her father signed her up for this summer starts next week. he originally told her about it months ago but she had completely forgotten in all honesty. she's not excited for having to spend so much of her time there soon, so she wants to enjoy the short free time she has left before it becomes such a scarcity for her.

that's why when malikai texted asking if she wanted to tag along with him and his friends to a party, it seemed like the second best option for her. she just wasn't expected the 'pregame' he suggested to last so long, seeing as they've been at this bar for an hour now. she's just glad she brought her fake so she's been able to drink.

she's trying to distract herself from the fact that she hasn't seen matt in a week. she knows she kind of chose that herself by fleeing from his house that night, but she was just really freaked out. she was hoping the texts wouldn't be a reoccurring thing, but they have been, and she doesn't know if she's supposed to tell him. the entire situation stresses her out when she thinks about it so a distraction seemed nice, but now that she sits here, it's all that she can think about.

she's been thinking about shooting him a text all week, but she hasn't acted on it. she wouldn't know what to say anyway.

she blows a huff of air from her lips as she glances back at malikai playing eight ball with his friends. the opposing team is making a play, so he's leant against a nearby table with his pool stick held in his hands as he watches. he must sense her eyes on him, because his eyes eventually migrate from the table to her. he raises his eyebrows and she looks away to focus back on her cuticles. she's not sure coming here was the right idea.

almost as if malikai can sense her thoughts of doubt, he appears at her side in minutes. she feels his presence next to her before he speaks and turns her head, finding him to have left the match behind and take a seat. she purses her lips and he obviously attempts to get a reading out of her as he glances over her expression. he asks softly, "you okay?"

maisie sighs at his light tone of voice, finding it to be genuine. she offers him a small smile and shrugs her shoulders. "yeah, just bored," she replies.

malikai hums, nodding his head before glancing back at his friends. despite them still going on with the game, he turns back to her and leans in to whisper, "do you just wanna go to the party?"

the corner of maisie's lips turn upwards, thinking that sounds like a much better idea. "kind of, yeah," she answers honestly.

malikai chuckles, leaning back as he responds, "don't worry, it started a bit ago anyway." when maisie raises her eyebrows, he explains further, "they just wanted to finish the game, but we'll leave now."

"great," she beams, not feeling bad in the slightest as his friends aren't particularly her favorite people. she grins at him. "you're the best."

malikai is quick to return her grin, his growing smug as he stands up from his seat. maisie follows his lead and as he watches her stand, he teases, "say that again?"

she only rolls her eyes, lightly shoving him as they both turn away from the bar. "shut up."

          THE PARTY IS NOT NEAR as fun as maisie was hoping, she quickly realizes within the first twenty minutes of her arrival. the night air she's breathing in outside is humid as she leans back against a concrete wall, the alcohol in her red solo cup splashing around as she mindlessly spins it between her fingers.

the music blaring from the speakers is loud and untasteful in maisie's opinion, finding the party rather unenjoyable as she stays on the sidelines observing it all. her eyes scan over different people throughout the crowd of partygoers outside, no one in particular standing out to her.

she sighs to herself before bringing the cup in her hand to her lips, trying to push back thoughts of matt and all their unfinished business. she had come here tonight in hopes of forgetting all about it, but now that she's arrived and it's only a bummer, she fears that may not be an option.

when she reaches the bottom of her drink rather quickly, she sighs again, lowering it from her mouth and frowning. she stares at the bottom for a prolonged moment before accepting her fate and looking up to survey the area for somewhere to find a drink without having to venture back indoors.

nothing is catching her eye until she spots a fold-out table next to a small bonfire going on, different packs of bottled alcohol opened on top. she grins without thinking and quickly ditches her cup in the nearest trash can.

she begins heading straight for the bonfire without a second thought, not getting a good glance at the occupants of the chairs behind the fire until she gets closer. it's none of those people who cause her to do a double take, but the subject of her thoughts himself stood arms-crossed next to one of them. she feels her heart drop from her chest to her feet as matt nonchalantly stands there in all his glory, his jaw moving in the warmth of the light provided from the fire. it looks like he's chewing gum, maisie guesses due to the lack of a drink in his hands. sirens are immediately going off in her head telling her to hide.

on second thought, heading inside does sound appealing. within seconds, she spins right back around. how against her does the universe have to be for matt to just appear at the same party as her? this was supposed to be her escape.

she finds herself wishing she had a piece of gum to chew on herself as she eventually makes it to the doors inside. she's instantly bombarded with new irritating crowds and blasting speakers once she enters the place, rolling her eyes after beginning to weave through strangers.

she scans around the crowded area as she starts to head towards the kitchen, still keeping her original plan of finding drinks in mind. it's when she makes it past the bar though, that she finds the ridiculous line coming from the table with all the alcohol. she heavily sighs out loud as she stands in last, catching the attention of some randoms in front of her and ignoring them as she continues skeptically looking around.

her eyes find nick and roddy in the corner of the living area, her pupils widening just slightly. how had she not noticed them before? of course the band is here; they're everywhere. she glances over the pair by the wall, roddy leant back with his glazed over eyes on nick, listening silently with a look of admiration casted towards the boy enthusiastically talking with his hands. their dynamic interests her, and as much as roddy has pissed her off so far, she can't help but find it a little cute that he appears to hold a soft spot for nick.

she gets so lost in watching them from afar that she loses focus on her primary surroundings, missing the nearing footsteps behind her. her mouth is quick to drop once she hears, "what the fuck are you doing here, maisie?"

quickly, she shuts her eyes for only a second. great, she sarcastically thinks before gathering the courage to open her eyes. she ultimately turns around and comes face-to-face with matt, her heart beating insanely fast due to the feeling in her stomach. she immediately puts up a mask of courage at his tense jaw and hard eyes. "hi to you too, matt," she sarcastically quips, crossing her arms over her chest for a sense of security. "what am i doing at a party? god, i wonder."

it becomes apparent that he does not find her funny at all when his expression does not falter, his unchanging face not flinching. "no, on this side of town," he specifies seriously, his voice harsh enough for maisie to begin wishing she had texted. "are you stupid?"

"a party is a party," she manages a careless shrug, uncomfortably shifting her weight on her feet under his uneasy stare. his mouth remains set into a thin line as he looks at her. he's so impressed with her that it has to be because of her quick departure after their heated moment together. she didn't realize he would have cared so much. she frowns. "i came here with a friend, so i'm not worried."

"oh, a friend?" he repeats pointedly, causing maisie to instantly realize her mistake. she already knows where his mind jumps to by the challenging raise of his eyebrows, and when he opens his mouth, her heart drops. "malikai, you mean?"

when she fails to reply, instead pressing her lips together and weakly looking away from him, he scoffs. maisie knows she's doomed as she watches him rub at the edge of his jaw, dryly chuckling once he mutters, "you're fucking kidding." his voice is as sour as she's ever heard it, and it causes a pit to form in her stomach. she really wishes she hadn't ran into him at such a bad time. after dropping his hand, he looks back to her, and her bitter frown is uncontrollable. "you shouldn't be here."

"what makes you always think you know better than me?" she breathes out a frustrated huff of air, her mind on autopilot to come up with an argument. he is always acting like he knows best, and it irritates the shit out of her. "i'm fine, so back off," she continues, matt's jaw clenching in the poor lighting.

"you're not fine, not here," he argues stubbornly, a crease between maisie's eyebrows forming on her forehead. "let me take you home," he says, but it's not a suggestion, his voice is firm. she's not a fan of the way he's acting, even if it may be her fault. he's always taking her home.

"excuse me?" she acts as if it's some foreign idea, clearly irritating him.

"i'm taking you home, " he decides to tell her. he's clearly already decided, and it has maisie scoffing in disbelief.

"um, no you're not," she argues shortly, blinking at him. she then gestures towards the drinks. "i haven't even got my drink yet."

matt's eyes follow the direction she gestured towards and ultimately rolls his eyes, having not realized before that's what she's over here for. he begins to silently shake his head, no longer able to take her seriously. "of course you're in line for alcohol," he murmurs as if she's a legit alcoholic.

her mouth quickly drops open. "what was that?" she tilts her head at him challengingly, having heard his quiet remark.

he ignores her question, instead going on to say, "there was bottles out there, you know?" maisie is momentarily confused as to what he is talking about until she realizes he means the alcohol he was nearby outside.

maisie purses her lips. "i know."

at this, matt's eyebrows raise. "ah," he first mutters, maisie already sighing as he crosses his arms over his chest. hers are at her side now, and he begins to glance over her face before taking his turn to tilt his head at her, "just didn't want to face me, huh?" his voice is smug, knowing that his assumption is correct before she even attempts to respond.

maisie presses her lips together for a second time. she hates that he's right, and she hates that he knows he's right. is he really aware her guilty conscious has had her regretting running out on him in the dead of night? she keeps her guard up. "maybe i just didn't want a bottle," she deflects, although they both know the truth.

"maybe," matt replies, "but you don't care that much," he then adds, maisie's heart doing a thing at him knowing her. his eyes glance over her face again, this time taking in the features with a light sigh etching from his lips. "tell me why you left, mason."

she wishes she could tell him the truth, but her gut has her refraining from showing him texts warning her about him. how could she explain she's getting shooed away? "it was getting late," she answers.

matt almost laughs at how that is an absolute lack of an answer. "and?" he questions.

maisie frowns, looking away from him when she provides weak reasoning, "i didn't want to get caught."

"bullshit," matt immediately calls, their eyes locking again.

maisie's expression falters at how clearly he sees through her. she bites on the inside of her bottom lip out of habit as she glances over his face. his eyebrows are furrowed deeply, as if he's confused as to what she's keeping from him. "not bullshit."

matt ignores her entirely, only stepping closer to her. her eyebrows scrunch together, confused as to why he seems to care so much. "what are you hiding from me?" he asks her seriously, her lips parting just slightly due to being caught off guard at the question.

"really?" she quips, narrowing her eyes at him. "you're asking me that?" she finds that rich coming from him. he seemingly has an entire other life he refuses to tell her about from what she has been able to tell so far. "i can't have one secret when you're practically made of them?" she questions harshly.

matt's eyebrows raise at her tone of voice, finding her words more cold than usual. he assumes she has been waiting to bring this up, because he can now see she's extremely bothered by everything he keeps from her. "fine, keep your secret, mason," he gives up with a sigh, letting her win as he drops his arms from his chest. "let's go now."

maisie's eyebrows jump to her forehead and she quickly opens her mouth to predictably argue, but she's surprisingly interrupted before she can. "her name is maisie," a husky voice that could only belong to malikai has matt's head turning quickly, finding the boy suddenly approaching maisie's side. he has no idea where he came from and how much of their conversation he heard, but matt's expression instantly sours when he stands next to maisie and very loudly, wraps an arm around her back. malikai glances over to maisie, and matt takes the opportunity to as well, finding her clearly taken by surprise as her small smile is delayed. matt's jaw twitches as his eyes go back to malikai's right as his jump to him as well, the air surrounding all of them now becoming thick. "why would she be going anywhere with you?"

"i know her fucking name, moron," matt is not one to play nice, his voice nothing but nice as his face is flush with rage due to the smugness of malakai's easy touch on maisie's back. he has so many things to say to the sly boy in front of him, but he wants to keep this short, so he bites his tongue and simply tells him, "i'm taking her home."

"yeah, no chance," malikai laughs like matt's just told him a joke. matt remains dead serious and malikai raises his eyebrows at him, seeming to pull maisie just slightly closer to his side, which is clearly in attempt to get a reaction out of matt. it's working. "what, you seriously think i'm going to let you steal my date?" he says mockingly.

"your date?" matt repeats, immediately finding that humorous as his eyes slide over to maisie on instinct. she gives him a look as he chuckles, "that's funny."

malikai's jaw visibly clenches at the sound of matt's amused laughter. "what's funny about that?"

matt only appears to grow more amused, a mischievous glint brewing in his eyes when he looks over to maisie again. "i don't know, what is funny about that, mason?" he decides to ask her.

maisie's eyes widen in disbelief at his obviousness, suddenly letting out a shaky breath and attempting to step out of malikai's hold. "i should probably—" she begins, her eyes on matt as she tries to head his way. she always ends up leaving with him. it's just written in the cards at this point.

malikai's eyebrows scrunch together, his arm not dropping from maisie. "are you serious?" he questions, his eyes solely on her as her face drops.

matt steps forward after she frowns, instinctively reaching forward and pulling her from malikai's grip himself. his hands stay on her waist once his arm has dropped, then guiding her behind him and letting her go. he then looks back to malikai, his face serious and voice full of malice when he tells him, "you never should've fucking brought her here." maisie would take time to swoon over how hot him being protective is right now if it wasn't such a tension-filled moment.

malikai scoffs at matt's fury, still not taking this as seriously as him as he glances to maisie halfway behind matt, and then back to him. "she's safe with me," he argues.

matt finds that hilarious. "that's even funnier than maisie being your date, malikai," he tells him, maisie covering her mouth with her hand. no way.

malikai does not take matt's joke lightly, his expression souring as he takes a step closer to matt as an act of intimidating him. "oh and you seriously think she's any better off being with you?" he turns it around on matt, matt's face quickly dropping and satisfying him to continue, "go ahead and take her; i'll wait until she finds out who you really are." matt's face visibly fills with anger when he has the nerve to then look over to maisie, right as he takes a step back from him. "text me, maisie."

"fuck. off." matt's jaw clenches as malikai defensively puts his hands up when he continues to step away, eventually walking away from the pair. matt feels only half of his anger leave with him, looking down to maisie after they've been left alone and deciding to let most of the rest go too. he heavily sighs, "let's go."

maisie is frowning though, malikai's words still echoing in her head. all these warnings should be enough for her to continue running far, far away from matt, but the boy in front of her is unfortunately a temptation that she struggles too much in staying away from. her feet remain glued in place, the only question she currently has to ask being, "how do you and malikai know each other?"

matt clicks his tongue, seeming to internally decide on his answer before he ends up ignoring her ask entirely. "why did you leave?" he asks a question as well, making it apparent that neither of them are going to be hearing what they want from each other anytime soon.

she sighs, "let's go."

💌

writing maisie be like "why does he act like that" when he literally acts like that cus he wants her is so funny to me

who's ready to find out ab matt's double life !!!!!!!!🕵️‍♀️🕵️‍♀️🕵️‍♀️

<3
jaden