AN: Cue Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In the Dark," right now, to enhance your reading experience. No, literally right now, it's the italicized font.

It should be a crime, how fast time can fly. Maya swore just yesterday, she was sitting next to Riley at the bay window - their bay window - watching the world go by. Now, they have to run and catch up to it. In the past few years, Maya gained a new father, a secret Monarch butterfly on the nape of her neck she named Janis and three boyfriends. But, it would only be fair to mention that she lost those boyfriends too. Also, she lost any clear sense of the direction she wanted to take in her life. All that was OK though because she still had Riley, the only person she needed. Together the girls were taking a trip to New York University for a Spring Break vacation. It was one of Riley's top schools and Maya, well… she was just along for the ride. Side by side, they took a Megabus to downtown New York City.

"Maya…"

I get up in the evening, and I ain't got nothing to say. I come home in the mornin', I go to bed feeling the same way.

"Maya…?"

I ain't nothin' but tired, man I'm tired and bored with myself. Hey, there baby, I could use just a little help. You can't start a fire. You can't start a fire without a spark, but this gun's for hire. Even if we're just dancing in the dark.

"MY-YAHH!" Riley shook her friend with both arms, waking her from daydreaming and making the earbuds drop. Other bus goers stopped what they were doing to see if they needed medical attention.

"God, what?!"

Hearing the attitude in Maya's tone, Riley answered her small, "I need to talk to you."

Maya sighed, leaning on the headrest and shutting her eyes. "What up, Thundercat?"

"I think," she paused dramatically. "That we," then the brunette gestured between the two of them. "Need to have the talk." She whispered so hard, Maya felt the spit ending at the 'k'.

Maya opened one blue eye, "The talk-talk?"

"The talk-talk-talk-talk-tallllkkkk."

Maya then gulped, sitting upright. "I knew this day would come. Just not so soon."

"I know."

"You're still...so young." Maya feigned tearfully.

"I know, but I'm growing up." Riley palmed Maya's tousled, blonde locks. "I have to experience things and I want you to experience them with me. You've raised me well, you know that, right?"

Holding back fake sobs, Maya reached for Riley's hands, "Yes. Yes, I do." Then, serious, "So, you and the Ranger are gonna… duet?"

Riley took a deep breath, "I've been very lucky with Lucas. He's never pressured me, always respected me and now that we maybe—we might— "

"Sound it out, honey."

"Guh-oh to diff-er-rent coll-lege-es— "

"Good girl." Maya gave her a pat on the back.

"I just, I can't imagine my first time being with anyone else." All of the memories—the first time she fell into his lap, their first painfully awkward date, kisses, glances, hands, whispers— it was moving so far away in Riley's eyes, she closed them to keep them in her grasp a little longer. She turned to Maya, "This year. Junior Prom. I am losing my innocence. I am spoiling myself. I am letting Lucas pick my flower."

"Ew." Maya whispered.

"Tell me again what it was like between you and He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named?"

"Riley, you can say his name."

"No, I won't. It's a swear and I don't swear. I'll call him… Mother-Chucker. It's close enough to his real name and I like it when my life relates to Gossip Girl as much as possible."

Maya shook her head, hopelessly smiling but shrugged, "I mean… it—I don't know what to tell you."

"For the first time ever." Riley declared.

Maya made herself face to face with her best friend, "I am Maya. You are Riley and Huckleberry is Huckleberry. It is different from person to person. With me and— "

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR HIS NAME!" Riley warned with a finger.

"Mother-Chucker," she rolled her eyes, "it was OK, I guess, for a first time. I mean, no matter what it's gonna hurt, it's gonna be hella awko-taco and it's just gonna… suck." Riley winced more with each negative Maya listed. "But one thing I do know, for sure, is that your first time is sure as hell gonna be better than mine."

"Why?"

"Because you're in love. You've been all googly eyed since 7th grade."

"You were in love with him, though."

"Feh."

"You were, Maya." Thinking of Mother-Chucker made Maya's heart bleed with regret and dumb love.

After some beats, Maya replied, "Yeah, well, at least Huckleberry is in love with you, too. And, no matter how painful or awko-taco, that is going to make it perfect."

Maya wrapped her skinny arm around Riley. Riley's head laid on her shoulder for about five minutes until the conductor announced over the loudspeaker that they were at NYU. The girls grabbed their overnight bags from the upper cubbies and walked single file off the double-decker bus. They were walking hand in hand, on their way to meet Riley's uncle Josh when Riley, tall and fair, stopped suddenly.

"Chris Pratt?! Where?" Maya told her to only stop her on two conditions: Chris Pratt and free food. There was no food anywhere in sight, so that only left one option. "CHRIS! CHRIS PRATT I LOVE YOU!" Maya was about to run any way to her favorite actor when Riley pinched her.

"Ouch! Pinchies? Why pinchies?" She asked in a baby voice.

"You said it was OK for a 'first time'. So you and Mother-Chucker did more than one duet?"

Maya looked away, her cheeks becoming the color of her lipstick, "Well… he was my boyfriend, Riley. Besides, I never though feminist, bra-burning you, would try to make me feel bad about it."

Riley, remorseful, "Then, why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think there was anything to tell."

"Maya, did you duet with… Ramon?" Riley rolled the 'r' just right so as soon as his name was said, maracas and a seductive, deadly tango would play in Maya's ears. Ramon Santiago: taller than Riley and Lucas combined, hard as a rock yet sweeter than sugar, Cuban-born and the freshest of Maya's past exes. Ramon, or as Maya called him affectionately, Ram, transferred to AAHS the beginning of Junior Year. Impressed with Miss Hart-Hunter's good Spanish and smitten with her beauty, he pursued her with real perseverance. Truth be told, Maya wasn't really into him at first and told him this but he said that he had no fear of a challenge. So, in her mind, that gave Maya permission to bust his balls. She would trip him, cut him off in class, ruffle his hair. However, to all the teasing and hazing Maya put him through, he did the same to her. He would nudge her in the halls and push her long, wavy light hair in front her face. Once, he pulled out a chair from under her in the cafeteria, but quickly picked her up in his arms.

Shocked and off the ground, Maya asked, "God, Ram, you don't give up, do ya?"

"Are we done playing games, mi princesa?" He asked back. They have been dating ever since. Well, that is, until Maya broke up with him last week, for reasons no one, not even Riley, can seem to understand.

"So? Hablas chica!" Riley commanded. The Spanish snapped Maya out of remembering the look on Ram's heartbroken face when she said it was over.

"Muy bien!" Maya deflected, congratulating Riley on her improvement in the language.

"I know… now tell me, Maya. Please? Did you and Ramon…?"

"… Yeah, sure."

"WHAT?"

"I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WANTED TO KNOW! GUYS ARE LIKE EGGROLLS, YOU HAD ONE, YA HAD EM' ALL!"

"WHEN?"

"WHAT ARE YOU, A DOCTOR AT PLANNED PARENTHOOD NOW?!"

Realizing they were making a Youtube-worthy scene, Riley pulled Maya into a campus coffeehouse. They sat in a love seat, almost on top of each other. Forcing Maya to sit down, Riley gawked at her with eyes as wide as saucers, wanting for her to explain.

"OK," Maya began, "It was my birthday. He set up this whole dinner and made me all kinds of tacos. You know how I feel about tacos, Riles and… that's when. After that, we did a couple more duets and that was it."

"Wait… you also dated Zay- "

"Ugh, no! We only dated for a month, remember! We didn't feel all the stuff that couples should feel, so it ended."

"So, just Ramon and Mother-Chucker."

"Yup."

Riley let her hand slip back into Maya's hand. They both held tight.

"It's like… you did all this growing up without me." Riley said, tenderly.

"Yeah." Maya replied.

"Well, well, well."

Both girls looked up and there was their chaperone, in a beanie and flannel like it was still his Freshman year. "Y'know, I'm really proud of you guys for not setting my campus on fire yet. Slow clappin' it out for you both. Great job, girls."

Maya and Riley smiled, "Josh."