AN: He Girl Meets World fandom! After watching the pilot, I've been very intrigued with Maya's home life and was thinking of writing a one-shot about it. So I started, but I began developing the idea for a full length story. I've noticed that not many GMW fanfictions so far deal with more mature topics so I decided to write one. Thanks for reading and let's start this! Please read and review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Girl Meets World

The sun rose to a new day, a new chance to fix the hell of a life she possessed. A distressed woman working tirelessly 24/7 as a waitress for the good of herself and the teenage daughter she raised single-handedly shamefully dressed herself in the same blue dress and apron she wore every day.

As she sipped her piping hot coffee while preparing to leave her shabby apartment for work, the woman took a moment to gaze out the window. She sighed. When she was young and hopeful she would have expected herself to live in a grand, spectacular house with her husband and many children and look out to see the most beautiful sights you could have imagined; instead, she was looking straight at another brick building. How delightful.

Aside from the brick building, the woman could slightly see dull, gray clouds covering the light and goodness of the sun.

"Story of my life," she muttered to herself. Before Kermit left her, the woman's days were filled with sunshine and happiness. But then a storm of clouds came rolling her way; a baby. Kermit couldn't handle the responsibility of being a father. The baby was this woman's cloud.

Deep down, she really loved her child. She wanted the best for her girl, but she couldn't supply it. And with her daughter hanging around another little girl coming from a family with money who could give her anything in the world she wanted, her daughter expected more. It seemed as if she didn't appreciate all of the struggles her mother went to just to keep the lights on. And wasn't the child the one who got her into the whole mess?

The woman's train of thoughts derailed as she felt a drip on her head- a leak. "Great," she muttered; however, Katy Hart's life was the farthest thing from great. All she had was a burden daughter to feed and an alcoholic boyfriend who couldn't keep himself out of any trouble for once.

She sighed, glancing over to the clock to notice that she should be waking her daughter up to send her to the other little girl's house.

"Maya, wake up," said Katy in a hushed voice, nudging her sleeping daughter's shoulder. Waking this kid up was always a challenge. There was no doubtabout it that Maya deep sleeper and if you even tried to awaken her, the odds that she would cooperate with you would be awfully low.

The teenage girl yawned, groggily turning away her mother and curling up underneath her sheets. All she wanted to do was return to the sweet dreams which helped her escape her everyday life.

Maya groaned something inaudible as she pulled her thin blanket over her head, blocking out the sound of her mother's voice.

The previous evening, Maya had remained awake until 2:30 am waiting for Katy to come home from working not a double, but that night a triple shift at the diner. Personally, Maya would have rather fallen asleep, but she decided to watch a couple episodes of Pretty Little Liars because she knew that if she hadn't stayed awake to care for the scrawny cat her mother loved, she would have to deal with an angry Katy as soon as she woke up.

"Maya," snapped Katy, her soothing and motherly voice turning into an angry barking. She was clearly getting aggravated with her daughter's disobedience. As much as she tried to, she could no longer keep her short temper under control. "Don't be retarded, get up, bitch!"

The startled girl shot up like a rocket after hearing those harsh words, although cruelty in her mother's language was nothing new. Katy was never exactly the most understanding and mellow type of mother.

"I'm up, I'm up," Maya repeated meekly, wincing back and covering her face sheepishly. "Don't hurt me."

Katy sighed heavily, placing her hands on her hips intimidatingly. "Get out now, you hear me?" she scowled. "God, you never listen! First you oversleep and then I have to tell you so many times to get out of bed. You're gonna be late to school again and it'll look like I'm the kind of mother who doesn't care. Sometimes I wonder if you really are retarded, Maya. It'll do nicely for our special wall!"

Maya bit her lip to hold back unshed tears as her mother grabbed a sharpie and began to write 'retarded' on her bedroom wall which made up all of the girl's verbal punishments.

"There," Katy pridefully smirked, turning to face her shamed daughter. "Maybe when you look at that you'll learn from it. You never listen to me so maybe to can open your eyes and read something useful for once."

Maya gulped, knowing better than to argue with her mother. She always felt at fault for when her mother attacked her whether it be verbally or physically, but this time her mind opened up in a new way. She knew her mother went through so much pain and suffering, but what she wasn't sure of was the amount of love the woman had for her. Sometimes Maya liked to daydream of what her life would've been like if her father never left.

Katy met Kermit during her senior year of high school and in an instant, the two fell madly in love. Kermit promised that he would love Katy unconditionally until the day he died. In return, Katy gave him something that she was going to wait until marriage for and as a result, Maya was on her way. And breaking his word, Kermit disappeared.

After being left alone by Kermit, Katy dropped out of high school before graduation and got a job at a local diner and nine months later, she had Maya. Almost fifteen years later, Katy's anger with Kermit for leaving her still never faded away.

"I won't be home tonight," mumbled Katy as Maya poured herself a bowl of cereal.

"Of course you won't."

"What was that tone?" questioned Katy, raising an eyebrow.

"I said," Maya repeated through gritted teeth. "Of course you won't."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing."

Katy rolled her eyes. "What, would you rather me be home?"

"No, Mom."

Katy laughed sarcastically. "Then I guess we both agree that we should stay as far away from each other as possible, huh?"

Maya bit her lip and clenched her fists as her eyes burned with unshed tears. "I hate you!" she suddenly outburst.

"You are so unappreciative, Maya Penelo-"

"No, it's so unappreciative of YOU to not even thank me when I clean up every one of your messes," growled Maya. "You never thank me for covering up for you with the police, for hiding your alcohol, for-"

"I never asked you to hide it, Maya!"

"You didn't need to," spat Maya. "I don't need your opinion to realize that you're an awful mother!"

This set Katy off, turning her into the woman she can't help but be. Without making a conscious effort, she clenched the knife in her hand and sliced it across her daughter's arm, making her wince in pain.

After catching her mistake, she dropped the knife, shaking. She sorrowfully stared into Maya's frightened gaze and slowly backed away. "I need help, Maya," she croaked.

"Just go," Maya breathed, her heart racing from what just happened. She wept silent tears as Katy wordlessly left the apartment.

Maya danced her fingers along the top of her desk as she rested her head down, reliving the episode of Grey's Anatomy she watched the previous night. She never wanted to start it, but it was the only thing Riley would ever talk about. She finally gave in and the show instantly took over her life. Netflix was her new best friend as she desperately tried to catch up to Riley.

She knew she should've been listening to Cory, but she couldn't. She was so distracted by her argument with her mother that she wanted to give her undivided attention so something she actually cared about- her favorite TV shows.

"And what those politicians didn't have in mind was the secret of life," Cory taught, noticing that Maya wasn't paying attention. "And that is..." he gestured to Maya, implying for her to finish his sentence.

"Huh?" Maya questioned, raising her eyes to Cory.

"What's the secret of life?"

"Um... People change people?"

Cory made a puzzled face. "Yes and no," he said. "The other half is more relevant."

"Matthews, you taught us this two years ago," sighed Maya. "You expect me to remember?"

"Maya, you all know it. Especially you."

Maya looked down. "What us does for them," she whispered.

Cory smiled. "And for extra credit?"

"I'm one of us," Maya growled, suddenly becoming very annoyed. She wasn't one of them. She wasn't blessed. She needed them to do something for her, but she couldn't ask for help. She had to lie and say she was one of them. She had to lie to her very best friends and it gradually started weighing down on her.

"Very good," nodded Cory as he proceeded to teach his class.

The remaining 20 minutes seemed like a decade for Maya as she fixed her mind on how wrong Cory was about the secret of life. She felt so helpless in that life is all about "what us does for them" when she knew she was a part of "them". The worst part was she had to smile and not let anyone in to see the burdens she carried with her everyday.

The bell finally rang and Maya couldn't by any more ready to exit the classroom. Just her luck- Cory called her to his desk.

"Maya, I want to talk to you."

Maya slowly trudged to Cory's desk. "What trouble did I get myself into now?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Cory chucked under his breath. "I've been your teacher for 4 years now," he started. "I'd like to say I know you pretty well."

Maya teetered on her heels, shifting her eyes back and forth. "Sooo what do you mean?"

"Maya..." Cory started, trying to be delicate in his word selection. "You just seem... Down, lately."

"What?"

Cory shrugged. "You just haven't been yourself," he stated honestly. "You used to be so happy. Even if you weren't, you seemed as if you were. Lately, you only seem nervous and upset. Is everything okay?"

Maya's vision blurred as she struggled to maintain eye contact with Cory. "I'm fine," she whispered hoarsely.

"Are you sure?" Cory pressed. "I know it makes you uncomfortable when people mention it, but I know your mom is fighting even her own lawyer to keep custody of you. I just hope she's not getting worse."

"It's same as old," Maya said. That was the truth, nothing much has changed. The only thing that changed was Maya's resilience. She was on the edge of reaching her breaking point.

" Yeah?"

"Yeah," nodded Maya. "I can take care of myself."

Cory looked down. "Alright," he sighed. "Go to your next class."

It was Friday. That meant Katy would be living up happy hour and would spend her weekend forgetting what it meant to be sober. Maya typically spent her Fridays with the Matthews and this occasion was no different.

Riley and Maya just got home from a mini shopping spree and as usual, they sat on their bay window. Maya loved the bay window. As long as she was their, she was reminded that she was loved and felt safe.

"Your dad was being so weird today," Maya brought up casually.

"What do you mean?" asked Riley, raising an eyebrow.

Maya shrugged. "He was asking me about my mom and shit. He asked if I was 'okay'. I don't know what he means."

Riley sighed. "You do seem... Depressed lately."

"I am depressed," Maya mumbled. "You know that."

"I know, it's just... It seems worse,"

Maya let her head drop. "It's nothing."

Exhaling heavily, Riley lifted Maya's chin. "I'm your best friend," she reminded her. "You can tell me anything. I know you're not okay."

Maya closed her eyes and faked a smile. "I'm always okay," she lied.

To be continued