It’s been a week since Mae arrived at Daytona Beach, and at this point she never wanted to go home. She and Doniya have done something together every day; they’ve went to the movies, watched movies at Mae’s rental house, went shopping at the mall, and went swimming together. The two girls had gotten extremely close ever since Doniya decided to awkwardly plop down next to Mae, and at this point Mae would consider her one of her close friends. They were already so comfortable around each other that they shared secrets, even though Mae didn’t know who the people Doniya talked about were and Doniya didn’t have a clue who the people that Mae talked about were, but it was still nice for Mae.

“So, what are we doing today, chica?” Doniya asked Mae as they both laid on their stomachs on the sand. “We’ve been tanning for, like, two hours now.”

Mae turned her head to look Doniya. “Are you still wanting me to do your nails?”

“Oh, yes!” Doniya said happily. “We can do that after we shower and whatnot. You can come over to my house and we can eat something for lunch and then you can do my nails. Does that sound good?”

“That sounds perfect,” Mae replied as she slowly got herself off the ground. “Ready to head in?”

“Sure,” Doniya sighed as she stood up and stretched. “So, shower up and then come on over!”

Mae nodded before picking up her hot pink towel and silnging it over her shoulder. She and Doniya made their way towards their houses, and once Mae got inside she headed towards the stairs.

“How was tanning with Doniya?” LeeAnn asked her daughter, stopping her from going up the stairs.

“It was fun,” Mae said as she rested one foot on the first step. “I’m going to shower and then go over there to eat lunch and do her nails. Did you and dad have anything planned?”

“Not that I know of,” she said as she shook her head. “You have fun, and let me know if you’ll be back for dinner so I can put out a plate for you. And let me know if you go anywhere. I know you’re old enough, but I only have met Doniya’s parents once so I don’t know much about them.”

“Don’t worry, Mom,” Mae told LeeAnn as she started to go up the stairs. Once Mae got upstairs, she walked into her room and rummaged through her suitcase until finding a pair of jean shorts and a pink v-neck to wear to Doniya’s, before she headed into the bathroom and started the shower.

+

Crossing her fingers, Mae walked up the driveway of what she thought was Doniya’s house; she knew that Doniya told her which house it was when they first met, but Mae hadn’t been there yet and it would just be her luck to show up at a strangers house and have absolutely no idea.

Once she got up to the front door of the two-story, yellow rental house she knocked on the door and waited patiently. She stepped back and looked around at the beautiful palm trees that hung over the house until the front door opened and Doniya let her inside. The rental house that Doniya’s parents rented was a lot bigger than the house Mae’s parents rented, which didn’t surprise her considering there were 10 people staying in Doniya’s rental house and only three staying in Mae’s.

“What do you have in mind to eat?” Doniya asked Mae as she led her through the foyer and into the giant, spotless kitchen. The cool tile felt good underneath Mae’s feet and the air wasn’t as cold as it was in her house (only because her dad liked to live in an icebox). As Doniya opened the fridge, Mae looked into the next room to see five boys that were around her age watching a horror movie (or so she assumed considering there was a half-naked woman lying on the floor with blood all over her). There were soda cans scattered on the floor and end tables, and three boxes of pizzas on the coffee table, two of them empty and two pieces left in the third box. Mae looked back at Doniya, “Whatever is fine.”

“Zayn!” Doniya shouted. “Can we have some pizza?”

“There’s only two pieces left,” one of the boys responded.

Doniya turned around and looked into the family room where the boys were. “Seriously?”

“Niall ate like everything,” the same boy said with a smirk, and it was obvious to Mae that he was Doniya’s brother. He had the same dark skin, hair, and eyes as her and they had similar facial features.

“Whatever,” Doniya muttered as she stared into the fridge again, before pulling out a Tupperware container. “Do you eat leftovers? It’s spaghetti from last night…”

Mae smiled. “That’s fine.”

“Are you sure?” Doniya asked as she tossed the container onto the counter. “I feel cheap for just making you eat leftovers…if the boys weren’t such pigs.”

“I’m positive, Doniya,” Mae said with an amused laugh. “Don’t worry about it.”

Doniya mumbled to herself as she pulled two cans of soda out of the fridge and set them on the counter next to the container. She took down two bowls from the overhead cabinets and after she put an equal amount of pasta into both of the bowls she put one in the microwave after the other. Once their food was done the two girls walked over to one of the biggest kitchen tables Mae had ever seen and sat down.

“So, ready to do my nails?” Doniya asked Mae as she put both of the empty spaghetti bowls into the kitchen sink. Mae nodded her head as she saw one of the five guys make his way into the kitchen. He looked over at Mae, before glancing at Doniya. “Sorry about the pizza…”

“Shut up, Niall,” Doniya said as she walked past him and towards the stairs. “You probably ate everything on purpose.”

“No, I didn’t,” he said as he opened the refrigerator door. “It just…happens.”

Doniya smiled to herself and looked at Mae. “I’ll go get my nail stuff; I’ll be right back down.”

Mae nodded again and set her phone down next to her on the kitchen table before looking back at the boy (who now she knew as Niall) who was staring into the fridge; he wasn’t tall for a guy but he wasn’t short, he had blonde, obviously dyed, hair and he was wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. After he took out a bottle of water he shut the fridge and looked at Mae again. Mae looked back at him and they made awkward eye contact for a few seconds before he finally spoke.

“Niall,” he introduced himself, a crooked-toothed smile forming on his face that Mae actually thought was kind of cute, which surprised her considering she preferred taller men with darker hair and (as bad as it sounded) straight teeth.

“Mae,” Mae replied shyly, never being a big talker around cute guys…or any guy in general.

Niall, seeming to be totally calm around the ladies, nodded his head. “Like the month?”

“…Yes,” she said, trying not to laugh. “But M-A-E.”

“Oh, that’s cool,” he nodded. “And you live…?”

“Three houses down,” she answered. “Well, for the summer at least.”

“But you’re originally from…?” he wondered, a smile on his face as if this was somehow entertaining him.

“Ohio.”

Niall nodded as if he approved and the two of them just fell silent, and he still had that crooked-toothed smile as he stared at Mae. Mae looked down at the table as she felt her blood rush up her neck and into her cheeks, and by this time she wanted to ask him what the hell he was staring at because it was starting to make her uncomfortable. She was never used to male attention; she never got asked out on dates much at school, she never had a lot of guy friends, and she wasn’t one to go searching for a boyfriend that would only last for two weeks or maybe a month. She wasn’t going to tell herself she didn’t think Niall was cute though, and maybe she did like it a little bit that he was staring at her… the only thing that bothered her was that she felt like she shouldn’t ask why he was staring.

As they both heard Doniya descend down the stairs, Niall headed towards the family room. “Maybe you and I can…do something sometime? I sometimes consider myself a fifth wheel with the guys.”

Mae’s eyes widened as she realized that she was somewhat just asked on a “date” by a complete (but cute) stranger.

And all she could do was nod.