Mary POV
"First of all, why did it take you so long to come back inside? And when you finally did, you could barely make eye contact with him." I asked, lightly shaking Lana's arm.
"Mary, you have a terrible imagination. He just apologized, nothing more," Lana replied, biting her lip.
She always did that whenever she was trying to stop herself from smiling.
"You sure?" I narrowed my eyes at her before grinning. "By the way, I checked your post, and guess what? Your followers have gone up, and the comments are amazing!"
"Seriously? Wow!" Her eyes widened with excitement before she sighed dramatically. "Tomorrow, get ready to be the topic of the day."
"Don't worry, I know better."
"You need to drop me home. It's almost dinner time."
"Shit! We should go say goodbye to the guys."
The ride to my—well, our—house was surprisingly tense. It made me wonder if these were the same people I had spent the last three hours laughing with.
We had gone to say goodbye, but somehow Ruby and Lee ended up giving us a ride. Don't even ask for their excuse. They had come with Peter that morning, but apparently plans had changed.
Lee was driving, Lana sat in the passenger seat, and Ruby was beside me in the back.
I was convinced the tension was coming from Lee and Lana. They kept stealing glances at each other, while Ruby decided to bless my ears with the nonstop sound of her chewing gum.
She was unusually quiet.
I didn't like this version of her.
At that moment, I made a silent promise to myself.
Never hitch a ride with these people again.
Please, appreciate the sarcasm.
That's just who I am.
"Drop me here, Lee."
"Call me when you get home," Lana said.
"Yeah. Bye."
I looked up at the building. Maya's room light was off, but the living room light was still on.
Maybe Mom was awake.
I pushed the door open only to be greeted by Maya's furious expression.
She looked terrifying.
"Where have you been?" she demanded, practically shaking with anger.
"I would appreciate better manners, sis. Excuse me, I need to use the restroom," I replied, already annoyed.
What was wrong with her?
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to spend the night at Lana's house because of her behavior.
"I don't care what you do with your friends," Maya snapped, "but have you asked them about their relationship?"
"Which friend? I'm lost here, Maya. And whose relationship?"
"Lee and Ruby's."
She said it with a smug little smirk.
"Oh, I did. And it's none of your business. Just make sure it doesn't magically fly all over campus before tomorrow morning."
I sighed and headed to my room.
The moment I stepped inside, I let out a long breath of relief.
Thank goodness.
She was calm.
Too calm.
And somehow, that scared me even more.
I actually needed to ask Lee about it anyway. It had completely slipped my mind.
I also needed to tell the others about Maya's reaction.
I expected her to go on a full rampage, but instead she was strangely composed. Maybe the look on her face wasn't about the competition after all.
Maybe it was because I had spent the day with Lana.
We already had a group chat, so I picked up my phone and checked it.
No one was online.
Or maybe they were and just weren't replying.
Before I could think any further, sleep slowly pulled me under, and I drifted into unconsciousness.