CHAPTER 1

(Set towards the end of eighth grade and a little while before GM New year)

It was a week or two after their awkward first date when Lucas noticed something weird about Maya. They were in the cafeteria, the general bunch, and everybody was talking a mile a minute. It was taco day, so they all got second (and some third) helpings. Everyone, except for Maya and that was when Lucas' gaze dropped to her food. She had destroyed the taco and put everything to the sides, making it seem like she had eaten and some of the filling had fallen out, except that all the filling had fallen out. And that set him off. Then he looked up at Maya who was busy talking to Riley about some newspaper article she had read that morning. Nothing was odd until you actually noticed her. Her hair was dull and her arms were thinner than usual. Her collarbone stuck out way more than it should and her favourite bracelet was holding on to her tiny wrist for dear life. As he analyzed her, he realized something and suddenly drew in a sharp breath, which caught the attention of everyone else at the table.

"Lucas?" Riley questioned and a fraction of a second later Zay said-"Lucas, man you alright?" but their questions fell upon deaf ears. Lucas' gaze was so fixated on Maya, a crushed look on his face, that he didn't even notice his two friends trying to talk to him.

"Hellllooo! Earth to Lucas Friar!" Farkle said, waving his hand in front of his friend's eyes until he snapped out of whatever world he was lost in and finally turned to Farkle.

"Huh, what?" he asked pretending that he didn't just realize that his friend-his best friend- hadn't been eating right, or eating at all for that matter; which could mean only one thing and he would rather not think about it. "Nothing's wrong. I was just, um, thinking. About. Stuff." He struggled as his eyes averted back to Maya's short frame.

Maya was scraping her boot's heel on the cafeteria's fake wooden flooring when she saw Lucas looking at her. And not 'just' looking, really looking. As in, looking at her as if she was one of Farkle's science experiments that he was trying to explain to the other four. She met his gaze, only to see that his eyes weren't set on her, but on her wrist. On instinct she coughed loudly and awkwardly and put both her hands under the table.

"You looked like you were taking a trip to Rileytown, I got concerned." Zay said with a mocking scoff.

"Hey! Rileytown isn't as a bad as you think Zay. It's full of unicorns, and glitter, and more shiny things." Riley defended, ending her sentence with a dreamy sigh as she undoubtedly thought about puppies and bunny rabbits. That was until she looked at Maya's plate to see that she hadn't even touched the second taco that Riley got for her a few minutes back.

"Maya, you haven't even touched your taco." She exclaimed exasperated, and sensing an opportunity, Lucas took it.

"Yeah Maya, eat your taco." He said in a cheery voice as he picked up his own and took another bite.

Maya, who was fiddling with her food, looked up and said- "I'm not that hungry Riles. Your father's class really kills my appetite sometimes, tell him that." She joked completely ignoring Lucas. "He isn't so bad." Riley defended, rolling her eyes at Maya.

"Yeah Maya," Lucas pushed, "he isn't. Don't let the lessons about the battle of Panipat get in the way of you and your taco." Lucas prompted as everyone laughed at his statement. Maya hesitated, but only for a second before scowling and saying-"Okay Ranger Rick, if that's what makes you happy." After she said this, all of them went back to their own conversations and Maya took exactly three bites of her taco before putting it down and just remaining quiet the rest of the time. Lucas was talking to Farkle about the upcoming debate which Farkle had reminded him, was very important. Even after hearing this Lucas' eyes kept turning to Maya every once in a while, and flashed at her with concern. This went on for a while until the bell rang, and Maya immediately stood up, claiming that she would be late for art class and rushed out not even bothering to look back at the group as she put away her tray and walked out.

Riley felt something was wrong about that, and so did the other two boys. Riley got up mumbling about 'sorting whatever this is out' as she rushed past Zay and Farkle until Lucas got up in a flash and caught her arm. "I got this." was all he had to say as he shared a look with Riley and she stepped back. Lucas was up and running as soon as she nodded, looking back at his two other confused friends with Riley standing to the side. Then he jogged out to confront Maya.

Lucas was standing outside the girl's washroom where he had seen Maya run to a moment earlier. His right foot bounced up and down as he waited for her to come out, earning weird looks from the few people who were in the hallway as they passed by. Soon enough he was standing in an empty hallway because Maya still hadn't come out. He almost gave up, until he heard the door of the washroom open as said girl walked out, looking rather pale. He reacted instantly, grabbing her wrist and pinning her against the wall next to them. Maya was startled until she looked up and then she let out a sigh as she looked up at him.

"Look, whatever game this is Huckleberry, I don't want to play it right now." She said annoyed as she freed her wrist and started walking away. Lucas immediately grabbed her wrist and pinned her against the wall again. She just looked at him for a second, annoyance written all over her face as she tried to free her wrist from his hand. She used her free hand to push him away but Lucas wouldn't have it. He took hold of both her wrists and placed them on the wall, next to Maya's head.

"You're not going anywhere until I'm done talking to you Maya." He said as she struggled to free herself but to no avail. "Maya," he started, trying to put it in a way that wouldn't make it hard on her, "something's not right." He said, his grip on her wrists tightening considerably.

"Yeah, I'll tell you what isn't right. You keeping me from going to class." Maya snapped, not sensing where this conversation was going. Lucas sighed, "No, it's not that. Let me rephrase myself, something's not right, with you." Maya tensed at that but didn't say anything. Then Maya's expression morphed back into a calm one and she started talking.

"What do you mean something isn't right with me? I'm fine Sundance, so I don't see what could be so important that you had to make us both miss Matthews' class. Oh I know, maybe I haven't been calling you enough nicknames! That's why we're here isn't it Huckleberry? Because I've been going to soft on you? I knew I shouldn't have. I was just trying to-"

"You're not eating." Lucas cut her off, his tone exsaspartated. "That's why we're here Maya, because you're not eating." He finished and Maya shut up. Her mouth closed with a faint click of her teeth and she just stared at him as he in turn looked down at her.

"What?" Maya asked after a long silence. After Lucas remained silent, in a quiet voice she continued, "I'm perfectly fine Lucas, so just let me go." She said trying to move away from Lucas. This time when she tried, Lucas lost it. He grabbed her roughly and threw her back against the wall, his Texas side coming out and he didn't even realize it. Maya's head hit the wall, and she winced. Before she could comprehend what was happening, Lucas gripped both her wrists so tightly that she could already see the bruises forming. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO LEAVE." He all but shouted and Maya winced once again She looked up and saw Lucas' eyes filled with rage, so she just dropped her gaze and stared emotionlessly ahead, refusing to look at him. Then, in a quiet voice, she said-"You're hurting me." And then Lucas realized what he was doing. He noticed Maya's small frame shaking, with anger or fear, he didn't know. As soon as he saw that he was cutting the circulation off from his wrists and that there was a distance of two inches between them, he instantly let her go. He stepped back ashamed, guilt washing over him when Maya refused to even look at him. She just stared straight ahead as he opened his mouth to apologize- "Maya I-"

"Don't." she said holding up a hand, a sign that she wanted to hear nothing right now. "Don't you dare." She warned looking up at him with anger and disappointment clouding her eyes, her hand still up in the air distancing her from Lucas. Lucas looked down ashamed and saw her hand that she was holding up, seeing that bruises were forming on her wrist. A quick glance confirmed the presence of the bruises on her other wrist as well. Then Maya wordlessly walked away, showing no emotion.

Lucas just stood there defeated, and made no attempt to stop her. This one was on him, he had let anger get the best of him, and he had scared her off with bruises to attend to on her own. Not knowing what else to do, he took off his jacket and left it at Maya's locker so that she could cover up her hands. Lucas knew she wouldn't tell Riley, but Riley was very observant so Maya would need a cover. So he left his jacket for her and then walked away, wishing he could take back what he had done.

Author's note- the chapter is set after Girl Meets Rileytown but that fact is actually insignificant to the storyline. and all that stuff with Lucas breaking into Riley's room after hearing about her being bullied didn't happen here, okay?

And this is a lucaya fanfiction so please don't expect any Joshaya or Rucas!

Review this chapter so I can improve, thanks a lot for reading! :)