Chapter 4 | Maya's Unconventional, Not-So-Fictional Romance {A Just-for-Fun YA Story}

Maya's Unconventional, Not-So-Fictional Romance is a young-adult story I'm writing just for fun! I'm sharing a new chapter each week.

Maya's adventures continue on the Fourth of July, meeting new people and finding herself challenged in different ways. If you'd like to see how her journey on the Northern California coast began, here are links to the first three chapters...

• Read Chapter 1
• Read Chapter 2
• Read Chapter 3

Chapter 4 starts now. Thank you for tuning in!

Maya's Unconventional, Not-So-Fictional Romance

By Amber Holcomb

Chapter 4

As it turned out, Conner lived in Arcata, about a 20-minute drive south of Trinidad. His family's house was one of the few normal-looking ones in an area crowned by small Victorian homes of various colors ranging from subdued blue to bright pink.

Maya drove herself there—the farthest she had ventured out since the move. She briefly panicked about finding a parking spot, but one appeared down a nearby street that didn't require fancy parallel-parking techniques, thank goodness. For a moment, she sat in the quiet of her car, taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves and wondering if she should have offered to bring some sort of side dish.

A man with long dreadlocks pulled into a ponytail ambled down the sidewalk, and once he'd passed, Maya grabbed her orange fabric purse and stepped out of the car.

She arrived at the front porch of Conner's house at the same time as a middle-aged man and a girl who might be close to her own age. She offered them a smile but didn't know what to say or how to greet them. The girl, who had straight auburn hair and a bag of potato chips clutched in one arm, held out her free hand. "Hi! My name's Lucy, and this is my dad."

The man, whose hair color nearly matched his daughter's, nodded with a polite smile as Maya shook Lucy's hand and then his.

"Um, I'm Maya. Conner's friend."

Lucy's grin widened. "You know Conner? He's my cousin. He's a few years older than me, but he's really cool and fun to hang out with. We have some other cousins who should be here today too."

"Cool." Maya held her purse close to her side, wishing she had something else to bring inside. She followed Lucy and her dad up the three short steps and let them be the ones to knock.

A woman answered and held the door open. "Hey, Rick, Lucy. Come on in!" Then the woman caught sight of Maya standing behind them and offered her hand once the others had passed. "You must be Maya. So glad you could come." Her smile was warm, and her soft face looked cheery framed by her short, platinum-blonde curls.

Maya shook her hand and smiled in return. "Thank you so much for letting me come."

"Of course." The woman who must be Conner's mom ushered her inside. "Before I forget, let me go grab the book I want you to borrow. As soon as Conner told me you were reading classics this summer, I knew I had to introduce you to this. Be right back."

Conner's mom hurried off, weaving through a small crowd gathered in a large open room to the right. While Maya waited, she thought about how her mom and Conner's would probably like each other, given their shared love of reading. Maybe if they had a chance to meet, they'd become BFFs.

Voices filtered over from the room tucked down the hallway to her left, which appeared to be a kitchen from the smell of barbecued meat wafting from that direction.

Before Conner's mom returned, Conner himself stepped away from a group of guys and met her in the entryway. "Hey! Did my mom abandon you?"

"She's just grabbing a book for me." Maya slid her purse down her shoulder. "Where should I set this?"

"Right there is fine," he said, pointing to a bench with a variety of tennis shoes and sandals beneath it.

Maya set her purse next to another much smaller, less colorful one on the bench and untied her sneakers, placing them among the other shoes. When she stood up, she found Conner smiling at her with an openness that caused her own smile to bloom.

"I'm happy you're here," he told her. "Let me introduce you to my cousins."

Maya was about to tell him she'd already met one of them when Conner's mom reappeared. "Here you go!" She held out a little hardcover book that looked old but beautiful, with red and gold flowers etched on the green cover. "It's a collection of essays called Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow. Perfect summer reading. I bet you'll love it."

Her excitement had Maya accepting the book with an eagerness usually reserved for the days when she discovered new releases available at the library. "Thank you so much for letting me borrow it." She turned and gently slipped the book into her purse. "I promise I"ll be careful with it and give it back to Conner soon."

When she turned back around, Conner's mom beamed at her. "No rush, sweetie. I love introducing people to great books." She glanced at Conner. "Are you going to introduce Maya to everyone?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Lunch should be ready soon." And with that, she headed off down the hall—a woman on a mission.

"Your mom is really nice," Maya said.

Conner nodded in agreement. "She is. Ready to meet some more of my family?"

He didn't give her a chance to say no or run away...which she may or may not have been tempted to do. Instead, he put a supportive, guiding hand on her back and led her to the two guys he'd been talking with earlier.

"This is Drake," he said, nodding to the younger one, who had a kind, rounded face. "And this is Tanner." He tilted his head to the taller guy with a more angular face and a full head of hair even darker than Conner's.

"Hi. I'm Maya," she said to both of them, hoping her smile didn't look as awkward as she imagined it to be.

"Hey," they replied. Tanner raised the cup he was holding in a semi-salute that almost made her giggle. She bit her lip to contain her grin as she watched a trickle of the guy's soda run down the clear plastic and over his fingers.

"These two and Luce are my best friends. Lots of family gatherings over the years, so it's not like we had much choice." But one look at Conner's face told Maya that he didn't resent the fact at all. He clearly enjoyed having them as friends, if his grin and relaxed expression were any indication.

"Did you guys start talking about me while I was in the kitchen?" Lucy appeared beside Maya, obviously the youngest of the group and used to tagging along.

"We were telling Maya how terrible you are at Mario Kart," Tanner said, grinning mischievously.

"What?" Lucy practically shrieked, startling Maya. But none of the adults sitting on the couch or standing near the front window reacted or paused in their conversations. "You guys are totally going down!" Lucy continued, her tone still one of high-pitched outrage. "I will prove once and for all that I'm the best."

Drake chuckled, hands in his jeans pockets, just like Conner. Maya caught Conner and Tanner exchanging a glance before Conner said, "You're on. Right after lunch." Then he met Maya's gaze and asked, "You'll play, too, right?"

Maya felt Lucy's excited energy mounting as the girl bounced up and down on the balls of her sock-clad feet. Tanner and Drake seemed both chill and happy at the thought of new competition. And Conner... He looked at her with such hope that she felt enveloped in a cozy sense of belonging.

"Only if you don't mind getting your butt kicked," she said.

The group "ooh"-ed appropriately, and Conner's gaze narrowed in friendly challenge.

Maya smiled triumphantly.

* * *

It was probably the best Fourth of July Maya had celebrated since she was a little girl. While she only won one race when they played Mario Kart on the Wii, it happened to be the very first game—and thus, obviously, the most important. Lucy had high-fived her, Tanner and Drake had groaned good-naturedly, and Conner had tipped his head in appreciation of her victory, his eyes almost twinkling with the sunlight that streamed in through the living-room blinds.

Lunch had been a lot of fun too. There had been hamburgers and hot dogs, a whole table full of chip bags, potato salad, a green salad topped with cucumbers and little cherry tomatoes, watermelon, and strawberries in a glass bowl. For dessert, they had a variety of cookies and brownies to choose from.

All the adults—Tanner and Drake's parents, Conner's mom, Lucy's dad, and two more couples, plus a set of grandparents—had been welcoming and kept the stories and laughter flowing in abundance.

Maya had returned home full. And the great day had ended with a trip to Eureka at night with her parents to see the fireworks over the bay. Each white sparkle and purple pop and red bang had sent shivers of hope through her. She'd left behind family and friends and interesting places, but maybe she could love this new home too.

But then the rest of the week fizzled in comparison. Maya had exchanged cell-phone numbers with Lucy, but hadn't yet heard from her. Conner had agreed to take someone's shift at work on Saturday, so he couldn't come to the beach with Ace for their usual walk. After the excitement of the holiday, Maya found herself growing bored. She didn't want to read another book for school. She was tired of unpacking boxes of dishes and clothes. And the house was so quiet, her parents busy preparing for their classes in the fall. Maya wanted to do something and nothing—but nothing was winning each new day.

It wasn't until the Monday after the Fourth-of-July party that Maya decided to pick up the book Conner's mom had lent her: The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow by Jerome K. Jerome. She didn't really think she'd like it, but she found herself chuckling while reading the preface and giggling through the first random essay. She devoured the whole collection that afternoon, feeling better for the laughter and the understanding—as this man from the 1800s articulated her feelings so precisely on topics like the hardship of getting out of bed and the way moodiness tends to strike in the evening.

For a while after she finished the book, she sat curled up in the corner of the couch, thinking. Then she got up, grabbed her journal and a pen from the desk in her room, and returned to write her own "idle thoughts."

"On Being Homesick and Lonely"

I've been homesick many times, since I've experienced many moves and new homes. I don't know exactly which place I'm homesick for most; I guess it's usually the last place I lived because that's where I'd been trying to rebuild my life, and that's where my most recent set of friends are.

In some ways, I like change. I like the thought of what's waiting for me, of what might be exciting and new. But I don't like having to settle down and make friends again and again. It's hard work. It's lonely work for a long time.

Wouldn't it be nice if you moved to a place and were given a set of friends along with the keys to your new home? You wouldn't have to try and fail, to reach out and feel rejected. They would just be there, wanting to spend time with you.

But I guess those friendships wouldn't feel very real. You wouldn't have a story of when you met that you could laugh over together after you've been friends for a long time. You wouldn't have those early memories and the closeness you feel only when someone has chosen you when you were alone. I wouldn't even trade these awkward but awesome weeks with Conner just to be automatic best friends with him and his cousins. It's just hard to remember all this when I'm feeling lonely and tired of trying. I guess that's why I need to remind myself.

Maya read over her very short essay, which wasn't exactly profound, but somehow made her feel a bit more hopeful.

She hadn't realized how dark the room had gotten in the early evening gloom until her mom turned on the tall lamp next to the other side of the couch.

"Is that better?" her mom asked with a parental smirk that had a chuckle behind it.

"I guess so." Maya grinned.

Her mom sat next to her, pulling down the light blanket from the top of the couch to drape over their laps. "What are you writing?"

"Just some thoughts." She held up her closed journal, then set it on the end table. After a moment of comfortable silence, she added, "I wish it wasn't so hard to make friends."

Her mom patted her knee. "I know. I like Conner though. He seems like a nice boy."

Maya nodded. "I was just hoping his cousin Lucy might text me. She's a couple years younger than me, but she seems really fun and sweet. And I wish Conner would invite me to hang out again, since Saturday didn't work."

"Well, maybe you have to be the one to reach out to them this time. It's not always about who does the inviting. It's still a gift if someone wants to spend time with you, even if they didn't reach out first."

Maya pulled at a string coming loose at the edge of the blanket. "But I don't know my way around the area like they do." She glanced up in time to catch her mom's sympathetic smile.

"You don't have to. Sometimes all it takes is a kind gesture to get the ball rolling."

"But I was the one who wrote Conner a letter. I've used up my bravery."

Her mom's laugh was full of love. "Remember, Conner invited you to that family gathering last week. Don't keep score, honey. Just be a good friend yourself, and the rest will fall into place. It might be hard sometimes, and not everyone will stick with you, but you'll never regret being the initiator. You've been so good about that before. Don't lose heart now."

Maya felt her eyes water, and she laid her head on her mom's shoulder. "Thanks, Mom. I love you."

A gentle hand swept back her curls. "Love you too."

* * *

That night, Maya sent two texts. One to Lucy, asking her how she was doing and seeing if she'd maybe want to go shopping sometime. The other to Conner, asking how his shift went on Saturday and wanting to know if he and Ace could show her a new trail.

Copyright © 2019 Amber Christine Holcomb