Fantasy World

The knock on her door made Maci jump slightly. She glanced behind her briefly before quickly shooting her eyes back to her TV. She'd never admit it to him, but she saw almost every single one of Steven's games. If she didn't get to see it while it was going on, she made sure she had it recorded so she could watch it later.

She told herself it was just so she could keep an eye on him and make sure he was okay. She knew if he was playing off that something was usually bothering him so she made sure to keep her eyes open. "One second," she called out.

Her eyes followed the boy she'd grown up with across the ice. He shot the puck at the net, but it was deflected by the goalie. A heavy breath escaped her lips. That had been at least the twentieth shot he'd had and still not a single goal at the end of the second period. The buzzer rang and the players filed off the ice. Maci muted her TV, flipped the channel, and quickly crawled off her bed to get the door.

Standing on the other side was Kyle Graceson. He gave her a crooked smile as he looked down at her. "Hey," he greeted half heartedly.

"Hi," she responded happily. She leaned up and gave him a soft peck on the cheek. Instead of responding in some way, though, he just stood there as still as a statue.

She pulled back and gave him an odd look. "You okay?" she asked curiously. She didn't want to drag him out for her birthday if he wasn't feeling up to it. By the uncomfortable look on his face, she knew something was up.

"Can we talk before we go?" he asked slowly.

Maci quickly nodded and let him inside her room. His eyes glanced at the TV as he took a seat at her desk. "What are you watching?" he asked lamely.

She shrugged. "Just flipping through channels," she mumbled as she sat down on her bed.

He nodded his head and looked around. "What's going on?" she finally asked.

He let out a sigh. "Look, first of all I didn't want to do this today..." he began quickly.

Her eyebrows scrunched together at the center of her forehead. "What do you mean?" she asked him slowly. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably.

Kyle wiped his hands on the denim of his jeans. "I'm just going to put this out there first... We've been together since seventh grade. It's been almost ten years," he pointed out. She nodded her head, already knowing this. "I think we either need to take our relationship to the next step or..." His words trailed off as his eyes drifted to the bed she was sitting on.

And just like that, she felt like someone had taken a sledge hammer to her stomach. "I thought you were okay with me wanting to stay a virgin until I got married?" she whispered out. She could feel her chest tightening.

His eyes got a little wider. "I'm twenty fucking four, Maci..." he stated a little harshly. "You really think I want to be sitting at home at night at this age?"

She frowned and looked down at her slightly shaky hands. She'd never thought it'd come to this. "No, I guess not..." she mumbled out. She felt stupid now. She felt like some idiotic twelve year old girl that believed that some guy would wait for sex until after marriage or whenever she was ready. Her eyes burned with tears of embarrassement. She couldn't bring herself to look at him. She was so stupid and naive.

He let out a happy sigh. "So, does this mean we're going to go to the next level then?" he asked.

She bowed her head. Almost ten whole years of her life... and it was coming to whether or not she wanted to give him that part of her?

Every single cell in her screamed no. She loved him, sure, but she didn't want to give that up. She wanted to hold on to that piece until someone truly trustworthy came along. And if he was giving her this ultimatum, was this all really worth it? Was he worth her time if he was going to make her decide on something so important?

She inhaled a deep breath, praying her voice would stay steady. "No. I don't feel comfortable doing that yet. So, no..." she answered him firmly.

Maci's teary eyes stayed glued to the floor of her small dorm room. She focused on a hanger that was sticking out from underneith her roommate's bed.

Kyle stood up abruptly, making her flinch back slightly. "Seriously?" he demanded. "You're going to sit there and tell me that I've just wasted nine years of my life and you're letting this end because you don't want to just fuck?"

She closed her eyes tightly. "Yes," she whispered out.

He slammed the chair back under the desk. "Fuck you, Maci Stevens!" he yelled at her as he stormed out of her dorm room.

Maci held her breath, trying to keep in her tears, as she fell onto her side. She curled up into a fetal position, hugging her legs tightly. Finally, she opened her eyes. It was over... Nine years of her life were gone just like that. A soft sob escaped her lips. And on her birthday.

--

Steven couldn't wipe the cocky grin off his face as he drove to his apartment. He glanced at his phone, still waiting for Maci to reply to his text. It had been almost an hour and a half and she hadn't responded. He knew she wasn't glued to her phone, but this was odd. Usually she answered quickly.

Seeing as it was her birthday, he highly doubted she was asleep at eleven thirty pm. She was 22, after all.

Steven sat in his car and stared at the wallpaper on his phone. It was him holding both Maci and Stephanie in headlocks at the airport as Stephanie was getting ready to leave for Paris. They all had on Santa hats, despite the date being December 30th.

Suddenly, the screen lit up with a text message. He quickly clicked the read button, smirking again. She would never believe that he'd actually-

His heart dropped.

'Can you comme over,'

The question alone told him something was up. She only asked to hang out it there was something going on or if she was alone and bored. Tonight was her birthday. Sure she had invited him to meet her and her friends at a club after the game, but he'd declined. He knew he'd be wiped out after the game.

The second tip off was the spelling errors. The French word mixed with the comma instead of a question mark was more than an oddity. Maci didn't make spelling mistakes like that. She was careful when it came to writing. And if she ever did make a mistake, she quickly corrected it. After three minutes, there was still no correction text.

Something was most definitely wrong.

Without a second thought, he tore out of his driveway and sped down the streets that led to her dorm. His mind was filing through every possibility that could have upset her. He didn't like the idea of an upset Maci. It wasn't in her nature. She was always happy or at least content. Anything below that had a damn good reason.

Steven parked his car and tried to keep himself from running to the entrance of the dorm. A few of the people milling around waved and shouted comments, all which he politely responded to. Time was moving too slow. His feet weren't moving fast enough. Her dorm room door wasn't appearing soon enough.

He rapped his knuckles on the wood of the door and waited anxiously. He ignored the cat call that sounded down the hall. He was still in his suit from after the game.

The door finally pulled open just before Steven could beat on it with his fist again. Every molecule making up his body stopped.

Her eyes were a bright red, her cheeks were covered in tears, her nose resembled Rudolf, and there were little flecks of mascara under her eyes. His heart broke.

Those light green eyes met his finally. "He broke up with me because I wouldn't have sex with him..."