maisie sat with petey and blue in their history class, attempting to work on the questions that had been posted to the board. her and alan had their fun the other night, but all that amounted to a very sleepy young writer. she just couldn't stop thinking about the events of friday night. nothing explicitly romantic had transpired, but it was almost like she could feel it in her bones. there was something there and she couldn't wait to figure out what it was. it had been keeping her up for the past three nights.

"how was y'all's friday night?" she asked curtly, looking over at her friends, "y'all paint the town red?"

petey rolled his eyes, unable to hide his annoyance. though he had mostly gotten over the events of the earlier night, it still made him angry to think about it.

"man, i don't even wanna talk about it," he replied with contempt, "damn californians don't know nothin'."

maisie knit her brows, wondering just what that meant. she hadn't heard of anything going awry, but truthfully she'd been so wrapped up in her own night that she hadn't really asked.

"what do you mean?" the girl questioned, setting her pencil down to give the boys her full attention. whatever had happened she knew it was something she wanted to hear.

blue sighed, looking somewhat exhausted as he answered. truthfully it was embarrassing to talk about it and both boys just wished it had never happened, "he just don't get it, ya know? he tried to take us into a diner and... we got kicked out. just like we told him we would, but he don't listen."

maisie frowned, reaching out and putting an arm on blue's shoulder. even though the school had integrated, it hadn't exactly been the push the town was waiting for to get the ball rolling. despite the fact that the titan's had pulled off a closeness no one could have imagined, there were still places they couldn't be found.

"i'm really sorry, guys," maisie told the pair, "that sucks."

they nodded in agreement. the guys appreciated the girl's words, but knew they didn't exactly curb the lingering sting of humiliation they were still feeling. it was nice of maisie to try to sympathize, but everyone knew it was something she could never truly understand.

"i mean, he said sorry and everything," petey shrugged, trying to find it in his heart to let the situation go, "i know he didn't mean for it to happen, but... i don't know."

maisie nodded, understanding feelings of mixed emotions like no other. it was true that she would never be able to understand how it felt to be them, but she knew what it was like to be conflicted.

"ah well, maybe if you had been there," blue teased, giving the girl a knowing glance, "a little too busy with bosley, huh?"

the girl rolled her eyes, trying to hide the smile that came with the mention of his name. her night had been absolutely astonishing, but she felt bad discussing it now.

petey grinned, giving the girl a little push, "oh, yeah? how was it, pulitzer?"

maisie stared at the boys for a few seconds, wondering if they truly expected her to answer. they looked back at her, their eyes getting wider every second that she stayed silent.

"i'm not talking about that with you guys," she scoffed, shaking her head at them, "what are you? gossips?"

petey threw his hands up in annoyance. sure, he had a pretty terrible night, but that didn't mean he didn't want to hear about alan's dream coming true.

"no," petey argued with a roll of his eyes, "scuse us for takin' an interest. bet you'll tell all your little girlfriend's though, huh?"

maisie nodded, knowing that she probably would. at least, she would tell amanda. after all, that was her best friend and confidant. she knew none of it would get back to alan, and she'd been dying to talk about it.

"yeah, seems likely." the girl replied casually, pretending to know nothing of the boy's frustration.

"oh, whatever," petey grumbled, looking back down at his paper, "i don't even care anyways. was just tryna be nice."

maisie chuckled lightly at the boy's antics before returning her attention back to her schoolwork. as much as she wanted to gush about any and every thing that happened the other night, she knew better than let her cards fall.

•

"what is he doing?" amanda asked with a sneer, watching as alan and taylor sat together in the library.

maisie had told the girl about everything: how much she liked him, what happened the other night, and how she thought he was going to ask her out soon. while she still believed some of these things, she couldn't help the sinking feeling in her chest.

"i don't know," maisie shrugged, trying to act nonchalant, "maybe... homework?"

"better be," amanda muttered, shooting a glare at the girl, "cause she sure isn't."

taylor was doing some of her best work with alan. she was pulling out all her tricks. she hadn't always particularly been interested in the boy, but she liked that he was a football player. he seemed nice enough and taylor was looking for some street cred.

alan, on the other hand, was just trying to get a paper written before it was due. taylor had offered to help him, seeing as she had already written hers. he figured he could take all the advice he could get. he barely noticed anything coming from her that wasn't strictly academic.

"why's he even with her?" amanda continued to ponder, annoyed on the behalf of her best friend, "like... shouldn't he be asking you for writing advice? aren't you the big expert?"

maisie swallowed a lump in her throat. she suddenly felt herself getting very fired up, because amanda was right. she was the one with all the knowledge, not taylor. the fact that alan was just letting this girl have her way with him made maisie angrier than she cared to admit.

"it's like... whatever," maisie replied through gritted teeth, trying to focus on anything other than the clueless boy who had made her green with envy, "like i don't even care, so... you know, if he wants to just- just do whatever he wants then-"

as smoke was actively blowing out the girl's ears, alan looked over at her for the first time. he had been so caught up in finishing his assignment last minute that he missed what was right in front of him. he uncontrollably smiled, fighting every urge to walk over and take her away. as much as he wanted to, he only had about ten minutes to finish his paper before the bell rang.

she met his eye line, immediately stopping any harsh ranting that was occurring. she returned the goofy smile on his face, before looking back down at her assignment.

"what are you looking at?" taylor asked him, annoyed that he had stopped listening to whatever she had been saying.

after all, he should've been paying attention to her. taylor was a beautiful girl. she never had trouble getting any guy to notice her. if she had started giving alan attention even three months ago, he would've folded. but now that he had gotten to know maisie, he was oblivious to any other possible attractions.

"huh?" he questioned, barely even hearing her. he attempted to look away from the writer, trying to go back to his work, "nothin'."

taylor scoffed, giving the boy a playful push, "come on, you can tell me. don't you trust me?"

the girl figured this was just his way of playing hard to get. he wanted to play the long game and that was fine with taylor, but she was starting to get impatient.

alan looked over at her, his brows knitting together. no, he did not trust her. in fact, he barely knew her. they had only recently become acquainted and it wasn't something he spent much time thinking about. he certainly wasn't going to confess anything to the overzealous teenager.

he just looked back down at his paper, making some final finishing touches.

"okay," he took a deep breath, setting his pencil down with a satisfied smile, "i'm done. wanna go to class?"

the girl nodded, excited to walk with him down the hallways. she was currently attempting to stake her claim, and walking down the hallways was essentially half the battle.

the pair began to walk out, but came to an abrupt stop when alan landed at maisie's table. he wasn't planning on visiting, but he couldn't leave the girl alone. rather, he didn't want to.

"hey, mais," alan smiled, leaning on both of his hands at the girl's table, "like the new story."

maisie had been under strict deadline to get friday football stories out by monday morning. it was the best way to generate buzz. her weekends were basically shot, but it was worth it to her to get out a good exclusive.

"thanks, bosley," she replied curtly, trying not to stare at the girl he had in tow, "you're not in it much, though."

he laughed, hanging his head with shame. he had been benched after only the first quarter, so there wasn't much coverage to be done there. while it was a sensitive subject, alan knew it was maisie's second nature to say the cattiest thing she could think of.

"it's only a matter of time." he replied, giving the girl a smug smile.

maisie narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what his angle was. she didn't understand why he had come over here, especially with taylor. it wasn't that she thought he would drop everything and run to be in her arms, but she at least thought he wouldn't go galavanting with his other prospects right in front of her.

"oh, yeah?" maisie questioned, trying to keep her playful nature, "got some tricks up your sleeve that i don't know about?"

alan grinned, nodding in confirmation, "more than you can imagine."

with maisie, it was easy for alan to get caught up. it wasn't always his nature to be so bold or suggestive, but he had gotten much too comfortable around the girl. in his eyes, she was already his. he just needed to cross some t's and dot some i's. however, maisie wasn't nearly as secure.

alan had almost entirely forgotten about the other girls who had been watching with intent eyes. amanda was scoping him out, trying to determine any grievances possibly done to her best friend. taylor was trying to get his attention back. it wasn't working.

maisie heard the bell ring overhead and stood up to say her goodbyes, "well, this has just been... so fun, but i've got class. let me know if you come up with a master plan to get off the bench."

alan watched as the girl walked away, unable to wipe the smile off of his face. something about her just put him in a better mood. no matter how much attitude she had, he could never seem to not enjoy her company. it almost made him feel crazy, so he decided to stop thinking about it so much.

he and taylor walked to class, with taylor ten times more annoyed than she had been before.