a|n - first joshaya story, hope i did okay!

Everything seemed normal.

The sun shined brightly through Maya's sheer curtain and into her sleepy blue eyes. A horrible thought appeared in her head as she twisted her small body to go back to sleep.

School.

High school to be more specific which seemed like the calamity of the teen race. But just as she did every week for five days, Maya got up and made her way to the kitchen where her step dad, Shawn Hunter waited with breakfast.

Shawn differentiated himself from Maya's biological father in many ways. The obvious one being that Shawn cared about her like she was his own while her father couldn't care less. But one that always made her smile every morning was the fact that Shawn never cooked. He tried once and it was a disaster, tons of smoke and white foam from the fire extinguisher.

On the table was a brown paper bag that Maya knew had her usual breakfast sandwich from a store around the corner. There was also a small paper coffee cup which she was more than happy to see.

"If your mom asks, it's decaf." Said Shawn once Maya sat down and grabbed the coffee.

The girl rolled her eyes, "She won't. She never does."

It came as a shock that Maya's mom had the chance to meet and fall in love with Shawn. Because she never seemed to have time for her daughter though Maya tried not to take it personally, her mom has been lonely for quite some time and Shawn was an amazing person to have in your life.

But it still stung when Shawn would pretend that Maya had a regular mom. She knew she only had half a mother and learned to live with it.

"Maya—" Shawn started but she cut him off, not wanting to listen to his long speech about her mom loving her.

"I gotta get dressed or I'll be late." And they both knew the conversation was over.

[*]

Farkle pulled up to her the front of her apartment in his beat up dark green 2000 Honda. The brisk March air blew at her jean clad legs before she got in the car to meet Farkle and his bright turtleneck.

"You know it's not that cold outside, I don't understand why you have to wear that everyday." Said Maya as Farkle pulled away from her block and began driving.

"I'm a fashion icon at John Quincy Adams High and I need to uphold my reputation. If anyone else is wearing a turtleneck, they're pulling a Farkle."

She rolled her eyes but an amused smile played on her lips. Farkle definitely wasn't your average guy. And he's been this bold since they were in diapers. Maya could remember, Farkle was the one that stood out from the three of them.

Maya, Farkle and Riley...

The two of them had a good ten minutes to go to their shared locker before class started and it just so happened that they had their locker right in front of miss tall and beautiful herself.

There at her locker was Riley Matthews, their ex best friend.

She was slathering pink lip gloss on her lips while glancing in her compact mirror. The sight made Maya nauseous. Things changed completely since freshman year...

And like clockwork, Missy showed up with two other look a likes by her side and a pained looking Lucas Friar behind her.

That poor boy became her personal toy the moment he stepped into the school building. Maya almost felt bad for him if it wasn't for the fact that she knew how much of a coward he was. That was the only reason she "didn't care" when Missy glared at Riley like an insect before plastering a dazzling smile on her face.

"I feel so honored seeing royalty altogether." Farkle whispered and Maya chuckled faintly.

[*]

Everything seemed normal.

Her classes were tolerable until she went to her eighth period.

English was dull and boring as usual with the exception of the texts Maya would get from Farkle. Then something odd happened.

"That's it! Everyone get off your phone!" She screamed. And it was unusual because Ms. Kelly never yelled or got angry. She was so calm that some people accused her of being a pothead. But that also had something to do with her long frizzy mousy brown hair.

All eyes were on her instantly. Even the royals gave her their undivided attention.

"Children of this generation truly are a disappointment. You all are looking down at your phones in your laps! Talk, learn, live a little bit!" Her small figure practically begged the class. Then her eyes lit up in a way that Maya's never seen before.

It almost worried her.

"I'll be giving all of you an assignment and you'll be working in pairs." Maya could hear chairs being pushed back and voices of people claiming their partner.

"But I will be deciding them." said Ms. Kelly and everyone stopped. She smiled when they did before returning to the middle of the classroom again.

Everyone returned to their seat grumbling about how unfair the class was. But Ms. Kelly didn't seem to care in the slightest. Quickly she read off names as people went to their partners,

"Brandon and Sarah."

"Darby and Isadora."

Maybe if Maya's life was full of surprises, she would've expected to be put with someone she didn't like.

Missy Bradford, for example.

But Ms. Kelly did her one better.

"Maya and Riley." Ms. Kelly called out and Maya's stomach dropped. She dared herself to look over at Riley who didn't seem to like the arrangement either. That, or she saw who Missy's partner was.

The cowboy.

Reluctantly, Maya grabbed her stuff and moved to Riley's desk three seats in front of her. She could already hear Farkle's teasing. Of course, she would be partnered up with Riley.

Avoiding her eyes was Maya's main goal in the class.

"You'll be answering twenty questions about the other and I expect this back in two weeks. Spend time together, speak to people who aren't in your clique, learn new things about people you won't see after you graduate in June."

Her inspirational speech was ended dramatically by the bell ringing and Maya was grateful. After she left the classroom, it was like the air came back to her lungs. She had to answer questions about Riley, a girl she hardly knew anymore.

[*]

"You get to work with one of the queen's waiting ladies? What an honor." Said Farkle on the way back to Maya's apartment.

Maya didn't feel like smacking Farkle, she was too busy thinking about how awkward the next two weeks would be for her. Would they bring up freshman year? Would they talk about what happened?

Would they go back to how it was before?

Farkle's stop at her house pulled her out of her reverie. And she pushed Riley Matthews to the back of her mind like she usually did.

The pair walked in to Shawn talking to someone in a hushed serious tone on the phone. Farkle waved hello while Maya shot him a concerned look which he didn't seem to notice.

She almost brought up the topic to Farkle but he had already gone on his rant about Isadora Smackle and how obsessed she was with him.

The girl really couldn't get enough. She would send him flowers and "secret" admirer notes, the worst part is that she's probably done that since they were kids. Telling Farkle that he was so handsome and that he looked extra dashing was part of Isadora's daily vocabulary.

When Farkle left, she felt drained. The day at school had done in her in though. Her old friend kept popping up when Maya tried to sleep.

Defeated, she got up to drink something but stopped before turning to go into the kitchen. Shawn was talking to someone at the door in the same tone of voice as before and Maya peeked to see who.

For the second time that day, Maya was shocked, standing in her living room was the boy she remembered fawning over for so long when she was in middle school.

Joshua Matthews.