Fortunate Meetings

Maya was nearly bouncing with excitement as she waited with her friends while Miles parked the car.

"What's gotten into you?" asked Allie.

"I think we all can guess," Liz suggested with a knowing smirk.

"And you'd be wrong, Liz. We still haven't done that," Maya replied.

"Yet."

Maya stuck out her tongue at her friend.

"Note, she didn't deny it," said Liz, looking around at the rest of the team. Her smile faded slightly as her eyes came to rest on the twins.

"Here he comes!" Maya squealed as Miles stepped from the parking lot onto the sidewalk.

"We can see," said Jay as Kay stood next to her twin, glaring at Miles's approaching figure.

"Knock it off," Allie snapped in a hushed voice before he entered earshot.

The twins both looked at their team captain with surprise before getting distracted by Maya running out to greet her boyfriend. As soon as the twins looked away, Kristen threw a worried glance in Allie's direction.

Maya glommed onto Miles's arm and escorted him the rest of the way to the group.

That morning, she wanted him to wear his new suit and let her do something with his hair in preparation for this meeting. Miles put the brakes on the suit but let her style his hair in a reasonable impression of what the stylist at the mall had done. In the process, she pressed her breasts against him and brushed against his cock enough to convince him to wear the suit, but refused to budge on the jacket. It would be too much of a departure from his regular wardrobe, and he already felt uncomfortable enough getting so dressed up for school.

"Miles said there seems to be a trend of getting introduced to people he has gone to school with for years," said Maya. "So, keeping with the trend... Everyone, this is Miles Benson, my boyfriend. Miles, meet Liz, the twins Jay and Kay, Kristen, Allie, the team captain, and Beau, her boyfriend and wide receiver on the football team."

Miles bowed to the twins and Allie in turn before offering his hand to Beau. "I don't keep up with sports much, so I hope we can find things to talk about."

"Maya says you're a gamer. I've been known to kill a few space bugs myself. I'm sure we can find something to talk about," Beau replied with a smile.

Miles nodded and looked at Allie. "When Maya's dad kicked her out. She said you were her rock and kept her sane. Thank you for being there for her."

"She's like a sister to me, so being there for her was never a question, but thank you for telling me.

Miles smiled and gave a quick nod to Kristen before turning to the twins. "Were your parents fans of Men in Black?" he asked.

"Not that I know of," said Jay. His question seemed to catch her and her sister off guard. "Why?"

"Your names, Jay and Kay, were characters in the movie."

"Our actual names are Jane and Kate," said Kay.

"Ah," said Miles. "Maybe Star Trek fans instead?"

Both twins' eyes narrowed. "How would you know that?" asked Jay.

He looked at Kay and said, "Katherine," then at Jay and said, "Janeway."

Kay rolled her eyes. "Wow, you really are a nerd."

"Who the hell is Katherine Janeway?" asked Liz.

"The Captain of the Starship Voyager from Star Trek. She's also one of my favorite characters," Miles explained.

"Too nerdy for me. Save the introduction and trying to chat me up, Miles. I think we got to know each other well enough last night to skip it," she said.

"That's good because I kind of knew what I was going to say to everyone else, but I didn't come up with anything for you or Kris."

"Wait," said Allie. "You already had your introductions? And what do you mean 'last night'?"

"After shopping, we went over to Maya's and had supper. Miles's cooking is every bit as good as Maya claimed," Kristen replied.

Beau chuckled. "As many good things as I've heard about your cooking. I'm glad I missed it."

At Miles' questioning look, Liz said, "Those two were about to get it on right next to the pool with us watching before we left. I doubt they stopped because we left."

Miles looked back at Beau. "I'm not offended, and I don't blame you one bit."

"Liz, he didn't need to know that," hissed Allie.

"Glad we missed this particular pool party," said Kay as her sister nodded.

Liz ignored them. "True, but now Miles won't be wondering why Beau was happy he missed an excellent supper."

"Speaking of supper. What the hell did you mean by 'music lessons' last night?" Maya asked.

Instead of answering right away, Liz turned to the twins and said in a cold voice, "If you two are going to get all bent about Beau and Allie getting freaky by the pool, you may want to leave... now."

Jay looked like she was about to get into Liz's face, but Kay stopped her, saying, "Yeah, we put up with enough of your constant sex talk every other day, but I'm not in the mood this morning. Let's go, sis."

As soon as the twins left, Kristen sidled over to Liz and took her hand before laying her head on the other girl's shoulder.

"Uhhh, what's this?" Allie asked with a glare at their hands. "Liz, I told you no hitting on the other team members."

"Maybe you should have mentioned that to her," said Liz, tilting her head toward Kristen before looking over at her and frowning. "I thought we weren't going to do this today. We agreed that this was going to be Maya and Miles's moment."

"Sorry, but last night was a lot of fun, and I just wanted to be close to you. And Allie, don't get mad at Liz. I made a pass at her, not the other way around."

"Soooo... are you two a thing now?"

Liz and Kristen both shook their heads before Liz answered, "FWBs. Kristen discovered during music practice that she's into guys."

"What the hell is this..." Maya's eyes went wide. "Oh!"

"Oh? What 'Oh!'?" asked Allie as Maya glared at Liz and said, "Why are you calling it music practice?"

"What the hell is going on?!" Allie nearly shouted. "What are you two talking about? Neither of you sing or play instruments."

"Maya, you're going to hate me for this, and I'm sorry," said Liz before turning to Allie, holding her fist up to the side of her face, then moving it back and forth while making a bulge in her cheek with her tongue.

After a moment of stunned silence, Beau burst into laughter. Allie spun on her heel and glared at him, "What the hell is so funny?!"

Beau needed a moment to compose himself before wheezing, "Sk... Skin flute. She was teaching them to play the... skin flute. Music lesson! That's... that's funny as hell, Liz."

Allie spun around and cast a quick glance at Miles before asking Liz, "Were you really?"

"Well... ahem... somebody wanted pointers on how to handle her soon-to-be boyfriend, so we got some toys and did some practice while waiting for supper."

Miles didn't think his face could get any redder. "Did you really tell all your friends about my junk?" he asked Maya.

Maya looked away and nodded. "I don't really keep secrets from my friends."

"Hey, no getting pissed at her, alright?" Liz growled at Miles. "Judging by the size of the toy she got, Maya had every right to ask for advice from her more experienced friends."

"I'm not pissed at her. I'm just weirded out by the fact that I was just introduced, and everyone here knows how big my dick is."

Kris piped in, "Except for the twins, they weren't at the pool party yesterday."

"Small comfort, but I guess I can be happy that the two who hate me don't know what's in my pants."

"I don't know about hate. They were surprisingly cordial considering how they acted when I moved in," said Maya.

"So," said Liz, getting everyone's attention. "Did you put any of your music lessons to use last night?"

Maya and Miles both blushed bright red, but before Liz could pounce on their embarrassment, Miles said, "I believe that's a nunya question."

"Nunya?" asked Kris, then immediately giggled at the surprised look on Liz's face. "Nunya damn business."

Liz stuck out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout. "I just wanted to know if my teachings were effective."

Beau chuckled and draped his arms over Allie's shoulders before leaning down and whispering in her ear. "I think like this guy."

---

"I told Liz you weren't a doormat, but I wasn't expecting that," said Maya as they walked into the school together. The early bell had just rung, telling all the students to get their asses in the building. In a few minutes, the warning bell would ring, and then a minute later came the class bell that started first period.

"Liz comes across as the type who gives everyone shit but won't respect you unless you give it back."

"I think that's accurate. What do you think about her and Kris hooking up?" she asked as they reached her locker.

Miles thought for a moment as Maya put in her locker combination before saying, "I worry a little because of how she seemed to be going after my mom last night. I don't want to see Kris or my mom's heart get broken by her. But otherwise, I think it's kind of cool. I got the impression from our talk last night that Kris really misses being loved by someone. Even if it's only a friends-with-benefits kind of thing, she looks happy."

Maya closed her locker and looked at him. "You're going to be late for first period."

"Worth it."

"Cute, but I don't need my boyfriend earning a reputation for getting in trouble."

"Fine, then. I suppose holding up a tardy slip and saying I got this for spending two point seven three extra seconds with my girlfriend may be romantic at heart, but it isn't very cool. Goodbye kiss?"

"No PDAs in school, remember?" No sooner had the words left her mouth than she looked around for any teachers in the hallway. Seeing no one looking in their direction, she bounced up on her toes and gave him a quick peck on the lips before darting away, blushing furiously and calling back, "See you at lunch!"

Miles's final concern evaporated as he turned in the opposite direction and started walking toward his locker, followed by stares of disbelief from the other students. He didn't really mind their looks because he understood where they were coming from. Maya Andrews, one of the stars of the track team, a member of the dance team, and a former cheerleader, just kissed a virtual nobody right there in the middle of the hallway. She couldn't have announced they were dating any louder over the school's P.A. system.

Despite how well things were going between him and Maya, Miles had been worrying about the social optics of having him as a boyfriend once they were back in school. There was a nagging doubt in the back of his head that she might have a change of heart and not want to be seen with him or acknowledge the change in their relationship. But with a tiny peck on the lips, it all vanished.

---

At lunch, Miles returned the peck on the lips as he sat down.

"Aww, you two just started dating, and that's all she gets?" said Liz as Miles set his backpack on the bench seat and sat down beside Maya.

"No PDAs in school, remember?" said Maya.

"No, regular kisses are okay," said Allie. "But you can't stand in the middle of the hall and tonsil-check each other. That's why you and what's his name got yelled at." She turned to Miles, "That was back when we were sophomores, so nothing you need to worry about."

"Be fair, he stuck his tongue in MY mouth. He was doing the tonsil-checking, and I was standing there scared stiff and grossed out because nobody had ever done that before," Maya huffed.

"I'm glad you don't react like that anymore," Miles chuckled as he pulled a granola bar out of his backpack and began unwrapping it.

Allie raised an eyebrow at his choice of lunch. "No fancy dishes from home?"

Miles shook his head. "Most of the dishes I would like to bring either take too long to make, and I don't feel like getting up even earlier since I would have to do it before I go jogging with Maya, they don't do well being cooked in a microwave instead of a stove or oven, or can't viably be left in a warm environment until lunch."

"Viably?" asked Liz as Kristen and Beau joined them, followed by the twins.

"One of my favorite snacks is a bowl of rice with a splash of high-quality soy sauce, which you and Kris got to try last night, some fried, chopped-up egg whites, and a good heap of chili crisp, then drop the egg yolks on top."

"Cooked egg yolks?" asked Kristen.

"Nope, raw."

"I'm not a big fan of rice, but I drank plenty of raw eggs while trying to bulk up for the team. I'd give it a shot," said Beau.

"You'd probably love it," Maya told him. "It makes my mouth water when he makes it, but that chili crisp stuff looks and smells dangerous, and I still can't get past the raw eggs. I prefer my eggs scrambled or over hard."

"I would have thought you preferred them fertilized," snickered Liz.

"Liz!" cried Allie and Kris as Liz's eyes popped open from what she just said. "What is wrong with you today?" Allie continued.

"Sorry! Sorry! Between music practice and other things going on," she said with a glance at Kristen, "I've been in a mood."

"Why are you so hung up on Maya and Miles's sex life?" asked Kris, ignoring the shocked looks on the twins' faces.

"Because I want it to be good. And I understand that's selfish. I'm not sleeping with either of you and have no say in what you two do in the bedroom. But, after all the bullshit that Maya's gone through because of her dad, she deserves to have a first time that feels good and brings out everything that is good and fun about sex."

"What? You aren't satisfied with spreading your legs for every cute guy or girl..." Kay started.

"Now you need to mess with other people's love lives?" sneered Jay.

"Maybe if you two got laid once in a while, you wouldn't constantly act like you have sticks shoved up your asses," Liz fired back.

"What the fuck is your problem with us today? First put by the parking lot, and now this. What has you so damn pissed off, Liz?" hissed Jay.

"Liz, no," said Maya, cutting off her retort. "Allie and I discussed it in second period. Not now."

Liz stared daggers at Maya before starting to get up. "Fine, but I'm not in the mood to put up with these two."

"Don't bother, we're leaving," said Kay as she also started to stand up. "I'm sure this is because we didn't welcome Miles with open arms like all the rest of you," she spat with a glare at Miles.

"That's not it," said Allie as Jay stood up with her sister. "But we aren't going to talk about it now, or even any time soon. Liz, Kay, Jay, sit your asses back down and play nice, even if you have to do it through gritted teeth. We are still a team and still need to get along."

"Yes, Captain," all three muttered as they slowly sank to their seats.

"So cafeteria food isn't good enough for you?" asked Beau after a few moments of awkward silence.

"No offense to the lunch ladies, but no," Miles replied. "Once I started cooking with fresh ingredients, a lot of the processed foods I liked started tasting bad. Chemical-y."

"You sound like one of those crystal-waving health nuts," sneered Jay.

"Believe me, I'm not. I go jogging with Maya in the mornings to spend time with Maya, not because I want to."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," said Maya.

"But I do want to."

"You just said--"

"He said he wants to spend time with you," Beau chimed in. "That's worth more to him than the inconvenience of getting up and going jogging."

While Maya sat there and blushed, Kristen asked, "What else do you like about cooking? You seemed so happy and relaxed when you were working in the kitchen last night."

"As almost everyone at this table has commented, I'm a nerd. I love science and computers and space and all that stuff. Well, as I started diving into culinary arts, I soon realized that it's all just science. Mostly chemistry and thermodynamics, but a little bit of biology too."

"Is that what you and Maya are? Thermodynamics and chemistry?" she giggled.

"If so, then I'm chemistry, and she's thermodynamics."

"Why am I thermodynamics?" Maya asked.

"Because you're hot."

Groans erupted from those around the table, and you could almost hear all the eye-rolling except for Maya, who blushed bright red.

"That had to be the nerdiest sappy compliment I've ever heard, but I don't hate it," said Liz.

"Surprisingly, I don't either," said Beau. "Sadly, I can't store that one away for later use. I'm not enough of a nerd to pull it off."

"No, you aren't. That would have sounded insanely awkward coming from you," said Allie.

"But I can say that I think of you every time I'm grilling steak," he said while reaching around Allie and pulling her close while leaning toward her.

"Eww, Beau, that's weir--"

"Because you're hot, juicy, and I like to nibble on you," he growled in her ear.

Allie's breath caught in her throat as his lips brushed across her ear before turning an even brighter shade of red than Maya's had been a few seconds ago. Once her brain started working again, she pushed him away, hissing, "Beau! Not in public!"

"Daaamn, that was good," said Liz.

Miles put his hands together as if praying and dipped his head. "I bow to the master. Please teach me your ways."

Liz shook her head. "What you said and what he said are in two different categories. What you said was cute, what he said was meant to have you looking for a nearby janitor's closet."

Miles took in what Liz said before leaning across the table with his hands clasped and looking up at Beau with pleading eyes. "Please, master, teach me your ways!" As everyone but the twins laughed, Miles sat up and blinked rapidly. "I got a little too into it for a second," he chuckled. "I almost squeezed out an actual tear."

---

Miles walked Maya to her locker again after lunch. When she finished changing out her books, Maya turned around and looked up at him with a smile full of mischief.

"Kiss me."

Miles smiled softly before bending down and gently pressing his lips to hers. Again, he had to beat back the animalistic part of him that wanted to push her back against the lockers and devour her lips with his own. Although from the way she pressed back into the kiss and the tiny whimper that escaped her throat, he had no doubt she would welcome him being a little more forceful. Unfortunately, the school wouldn't. He'd do that later when they were at home.

He heard a catcall directed at them and decided it was best not to draw any more attention. Miles released Maya's lips and watched as her eyes fluttered open.

"I'll see you after school."

Maya bit her lip as she looked up at him. Her face was flushed, and breathing had quickened as they kissed. "See you," she said before darting off.

As Miles turned to walk back to his locker, he came face-to-face with the vice-principal and froze.

The man grunted and cocked his head to the side. "Get to class, Benson."

---

A rumor had reached him some time ago that Maya Andrews was now living with Miles Benson. Earlier today, he was informed that they had been seen kissing in the halls. Fearing another incident like with Damon Weber, the vice-principal decided to investigate for himself. What he saw in front of Ms. Andrew's locker couldn't have been any further removed from the incident with Mr. Weber. Benson's and Andrews's body language as they approached her locker told him all he needed to know, but that kiss was definite proof that there was no coercion going on. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned and headed back to his office.

---

"Dude! Duuuuude!"

Miles had been waiting for this all day. He was honestly amazed Chuck managed to wait until the break before last period to hunt him down. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned as Chuck came to a halt so abrupt his sneakers squeaked on the tile.

"You weren't in the library at lunch, dude."