Page 61 of The Interns

“Oh, come on!” Syd yelled from behind. Maya turned to see her slumped in the seat behind the monitor and clearly so over this. When Darby had suggested they go bowling, Syd was adamantly against it, but outnumbered now that everyone but her had a plus one on their side.

Maya bumped Reed’s hip again and whispered a quick good luck then joined Syd. Darby and her new lady friend, Kate, were busy canoodling on one side of the lane while Adam and Evan were doing the same on the other side. She sat down next to her bestie, but her eyes were drawn back to Reed as he readied himself to bowl, looking so cute standing there in the two-tone leather rental shoes.

“Okay, I know I called it too early over the summer, but now I’m certain. You either just slept together or you’re about to.”

She whipped her head around. “Syd,” Maya barked in a hushed whisper.

“It’s one or the other because this is next level. You two are way too giggly and handsy with each other.”

“Well, I’m not answering that.” Maya glanced back at Reed to see he’d knocked seven pins down in his first attempt. He looked at her just before his second go and she gave him a thumbs up.

“It’s okay.” Sydney grinned as she watched the exchange. “You don’t have to.”

“Drop it,” Maya warned since he was heading back their way now. “Nice work!”

Reed squinted. “I just rolled a gutter ball.”

She shrugged while he picked up the pitcher and poured the last of the beer into her and Syd’s cups.

“I’ll go grab another pitcher,” he offered.

“Thank you!” Syd’s tone and smile were sickly sweet and clearly meant to tease her.

He gave Maya’s shoulder a quick squeeze, a small good-bye before heading off to the bar.

“So are you two together now?”

Maya rubbed her temples. In all honesty, she wasn’t sure what to call it. “Yes? For now.”

“How about when you go back to school?”

Maya shook her head no.

“What about after graduation?” Syd continued.

Maya shook her head again and shrugged in response to Sydney’s widening eyes.

“This is just a vacation thing?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Maya.” Syd’s face softened. “That’s something you do with exes or randoms, not with someone you actually care about.”

“Yeah, well.” She knew this now. An ache had formed deep in the pit of her stomach and was steadily growing now that she was two days away from leaving.

“What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking…” Maya trailed off as she glanced back at Reed, standing at the bar carrying on with the bartender about who knows what. He was good like that. You could bring him anywhere, and he could talk to anyone which always melted her heart a little bit. “This is the last time we’re in the same place for a while and I just wanted to be with him,” she answered honestly.

“Oh babes, you’re gonna need Dr. Darby.” Syd turned to find her still in a world of her own with Kate. “Darby.”

She looked up, startled by the sound of her name, and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. “Yeah?”

“It’s your turn,” Maya cut in, pointing toward the empty lane in front of them.

Kate gave her a high-five for good luck before she got up to bowl her frame, none the wiser about what was going on around her. Once she was out of earshot, Maya turned back to Sydney.

“Yes, I will probably need her,” she admitted, “but now’s not the time.”

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