Chapter Seven — Maya

Nobody had warned me that growing up was this hard to do. Thrown into a world of period pains, out of control hormones, and boys groping at my body at every opportunity was something I wished I’d known about before it happened. Larissa and I never spoke about anything remotely related to sexuality and I didn’t feel comfortable discussing these issues with Daddy.

I’d gone from a bright sunshiny kid to a confused and bewildered teenager. Neither child nor woman, I wasn’t sure where I really fitted in. Daddy had become busier at work and spent most of his free time with Larissa, and I mourned the loss of the close relationship we’d had before my stepmother and her son changed our comfortable lives forever. There was no going back to the way things were—just Daddy and I—and I missed that closeness and familiarity we’d once had.

With every passing birthday I missed my mom more. Wondering what it would be like to have her hold and comfort me and tell me that everything would be okay. To have her tell me about boys and what was happening to my body. To share my dreams with and have her believe in me.

I was floundering—struggling with my desires and sexuality.

That’s why when Quinn came into my life she was just what I needed. Her parents had just divorced and her mom relocated to our side of town just after her fifteenth birthday. Ever since we’d been tight, covering one another’s backs in every situation. I trusted Quinn with my life. Although she was only a year older than me, she had an old soul and was smart and wise—at least she was in my opinion.

Luckily she had a great relationship with her mother, so she had a handle on most of the facts. But sometimes we had to Google shit to find out more than what her mother was willing to tell her. Like what a real penis looked like. Shit, it was seriously the ugliest thing I’d ever seen. We’d seen pictures of girls our age taking an erect dick into their mouths, but when Quinn found a girl doing it on YouTube I nearly puked. I was sure I'd gag if I ever tried that.

Except if it was Oliver’s dick. Knowing that bitch Bianca took his cock in her mouth had made we want to try it too. Jealousy flooded my insides, making my mouth water at the thought of Oliver’s dick between my lips.

Oh God, I’m dirty for having these thoughts about my stepbrother. Shame washed over me and I felt like such a whore that I didn’t even tell Quinn about my fantasies.

“Shit, Bee, I don’t have anything to wear to your stepmother’s party tonight. Can I borrow one of your dresses?” she said, eyeing me for my reaction.

A pang pierced my heart. Whenever she called me “Bee” it immediately reminded me of Oliver. Not that he was ever far from my thoughts anyway, but it just made my heart ache in a strange way. I’d asked Quinn not to call me that, but when she got really excited, like now, she just automatically switched from Maya to Bee.

That was one little cartoon bee I really wanted to hate. I never would’ve believed how a fictional character could affect my life. Daddy had told me my name meant “generous” in Old Persian and “love” in Nepali and I’d always loved my name.

Until junior high school I hadn’t minded being called Maya the Bee. Kids could be cruel and some of my friends had copped it far worse than me. Gabriella had become “Garbage” and it ate at her self esteem, even though I kept reminding her that it was only stupid twatwaffles who called her that derogatory name.

And then Oliver started calling me “little bee.” Deep down I loved that he had a special name for me. Lately I couldn’t hear the word “bee” without thinking of Oliver and how much he confused me.

Misunderstanding my long pause before answering her, Quinn pulled a face at me. I snapped out of my Oliver haze. “Only if you help me pick out something sensational. I have first dibs.”

“Fair enough. Let's see what you have.” She opened my closet and raked her hand over the small collection of dresses that hung there with their tags still on them. She whistled through her teeth when she came to the lacey red dress. “Shit, Bee, I wish I had a father who just gave me his credit card to go shopping. You’re a lucky bitch,” she grinned at me.

“Yeah, it helps the guilt complex that comes with neglecting me since the day he married Larissa. Every once in a while I splurge on dresses I know I’ll never wear, just to help him out with that.”

“You’re strange, you know?” she said, tilting her head to appraise me.

I laughed. “Yes, I do know. But that makes two of us and that’s why we’re such good friends.”

“Exactly. It takes one weird bitch to know another,” she laughed. “No wonder I love you as much as I do.”

“Hey, stop this fluffy stuff. You’re going to ruin my damn make-up if I cry, and it's taken me an hour to get this eyeliner perfect.”

“Try on the red one. That color is perfect with your dark hair and bronze skin. I can't imagine wearing red myself, it just screams look at me.”

I laughed. “So it's okay if everyone looks at me?”

She raised an eyebrow and tapped her chin with her index finger, giving me that knowing look that she was on to me. “Hmmm . . . well, correct me if I’m wrong, but I was thinking there was one person in particular whose attention you wanted. So I’m saying dazzle the shit out of him and wear the red one.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I sighed, shrugging. I didn’t know why I was so bothered. “Bianca will be there and she’ll make sure Oliver is occupied. He wouldn't notice me even if I went naked. So far my best attempts at stirring him up have failed. He just glares at me.”

“Ahhh, but I have a genius plan.” The wicked grin on her face and the glint in her eyes didn’t bode well for me. I groaned. Lately all of Quinn’s plans had backfired, and I was seriously starting to doubt her wisdom, but that didn’t stop her from coming up with new ideas.

“Make him jealous. Kiss another boy. Isn’t Calvin coming with his parents? Larissa and his mom are friends, aren’t they?”

My eyes brightened. I'd had a thing for Calvin once, before Oliver came into my life and ruined me for anyone else. And everyone at school already thought Calvin was my boyfriend, so maybe there wouldn’t be any harm in playing along and giving it a whirl. Maybe if I really kissed another boy deeply, let his tongue fuck my mouth, I’d like him so much that I’d get over this ridiculous crush I had on my stupid stepbrother. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of it.

“I can kill two birds with one stone,” I said, looking forward to executing my plan. Calvin had been drooling all over me in class lately and I knew he would love to have me alone somewhere all to himself. All I had to do was make sure Oliver saw it happen; Calvin would do the rest. He was horny as fuck last time I danced with him at a party, so it wouldn’t be difficult to stir him up.

“Oh boy, this is gonna be fun!” Quinn rubbed her hands together, grinning widely.

I eyed the red dress again. It was the sexiest of all the dresses in my closet and I didn’t think I'd wear it until I was much older. But desperate measures were needed, and I was going to go all out and take a wild risk.

Quinn chose a deep blue dress for herself that looked better on her than it would have on me. “Wow, that one really suits you. I think you should have it.”

“Don’t be silly, Maya. I asked if I could borrow it for tonight, I don’t want it forever.”

“Well maybe you’ll change your mind. Guess who else is coming tonight?”

She sucked in a sharp breath. “Who?”

“Our neighbors and their drool-worthy son. Larissa invited them. I heard her talking to his mom earlier confirming that they’d come over since they’re new to the suburb and don’t have many friends out here.”

Her mouth gaped open as she stared at me. “And you’re only telling me this now?” she shrieked. “Shit, I’ll be his special friend.”

“Thought I’d keep it as a surprise,” I said dryly as she grabbed hold of me and started waltzing around the room like an idiot. “Don’t make it too easy for him, okay? Make him work for it.”

She laughed. “That depends. If he makes me horny enough, and I’m sure he will, I can't deny myself a taste of his delicious body. You are so lucky to have such a hot neighbor. It's such a damn waste on you. If I were you, I’d stop crushing on Oliver and make out with the new guy.”

You aren’t me.

“You’re in luck because frankly he does nothing for me. Nobody does to my insides what Oliver does.” Boy, was that the truth.

Quinn scrunched her nose. “Honestly, I don’t know what it is you see in Oliver. He’s obnoxious, rude, fucking moody. And those are the nice things.”

I chuckled. She was spot on. But she forgot to mention that he was gorgeous and had a sculpted body like I’d never seen on any man.

Slipping into the red dress, I trembled as Quinn did up the zipper. It was so tight I had to suck in a breath, releasing it slowly until I filled into the dress. I still felt naked. The lace plunged into a deep neckline, showing my boobs to perfection. And it was short. So short that if I leaned over too far, my ass would be on display. Yet I felt good. Sophisticated. Sexy.  Grown up.

Quinn had stacked my hair up into a messy do with only a few tendrils framing my face and now she held out a red lipstick.

“No babe, that’s too over-the-top. This dress is enough to handle for one night. Who knows, maybe it will even help me lose my v-card.”

I appraised Quinn as she swirled around, showing off her tight ass. “If the men don’t go panting after you they either don’t have eyes in their heads or their batteries are flat. That new guy doesn’t stand a chance—his tongue and his dick will both be hanging out for you.”

Quinn beamed at me and it was my turn to twirl. “Oh my God, Bee. You look stunning. If Oliver doesn’t get a fucking hard-on when he sees you, the man’s a saint. And we both know he isn’t.” She burst into a fit of giggles, her hand over her mouth. “Just look at yourself in the mirror. You’re a knockout, babe.”