THEY'RE IN TENTH GRADE :-)


A loud cough erupted through the room. The center of the explosion came from the front of the room, approximately the fourth seat over. And then a sneeze, a shiver, another cough. The class was interrupted for a moment while Maya had a small moment to herself.

"Do you need to excuse yourself, Maya?" Mr. Matthews asked her.

Maya nodded quickly, her eyes watering in anticipation for another dry cough. Her voice hollow, she replied. "Yes, please - sir. I - I'm going to go get a drink." All Cory Matthews did was nod. Maya took that as a sign as dismissal and immediately excused herself.

/

She was also excused to go out in the hall during the next three periods - which, all three periods also had Lucas sitting behind her.

Ranger Rick was a bit concerned, but he couldn't say anything to her. Not yet, at least. She would whip his ass if he said anything relating the matter of 'a possible public humiliation continuum', as she put it.

/

It was just the two at lunch today. Riley was out to visit her Great-Aunt Prudence Curtis with her mom. (Mr. Matthews wouldn't go, though. He claimed that the woman didn't believe in him and Topanga.) She was a decent woman, Maya thought. Besides the whole 'I don't believe in love' thing. Riley absolutely hated the woman, though. She remembered the last time Riley visited her Great-Aunt (before she got over Bucky), she tried talking about Lucas and Prudence wouldn't hear a word of it. Maya went along with her that time. She wasn't making that mistake again.

Farkle was in Washington DC - again. Every other month or so, Farkle would take a couple of days off to go to Washington DC. He was learning up on how to become President, he was also studying the premises of the White House.

(Farkle still had that life long dream to take over the world, he wasn't going to give up now.)

Lucas was sitting in his usual spot, and Maya debated whether to sit next to him. Riley and Farkle just had to be out of town at the same time. While she was sick, too. Not that she would tell Riley or anything. Riley would feel awful for leaving Maya - and she didn't have a choice. Sometimes, Riley just takes things a little too personal.

Ah, yes - but then she remembered. She doesn't even have any other friends. Besides the Druggies she experimented with one time - but Riley told her to stay away from them. And if she even stepped foot in that direction, Lucas would pull her away and take her home. And then he would call Riley and then she would drive all the way from Pennsylvania to New York to give her best friend a stern talking to.

And if that happened, she couldn't say that she didn't want to sit next to Lucas and that's why she sat next to the Druggies. She knows that Lucas wouldn't leave and so she would say it anyway and she didn't want to get blamed for going back to her old ways. And then Lucas would feel bad because she couldn't explain why - because he's her best friends ex for god's sake! - and she didn't want Lucas to feel bad even if they did tease and banter all the time.

So, she decided to sit next to Lucas. Her potatoes plopped on her tray and she grabbed her fork. "How ya' doing?"

Lucas was already half way done with his tray. He had football after school, and he needed to be strong and ready. He was the star quarterback after all.

(That reminded him of his good ol' friend Billy Ross for some odd reason. He remembered what he said back in seventh grade - oh seventh grade - about hanging out with his weird friends like Farkle and Riley. The gang had been inseparable for the three years he had known them. What a life.)

He looked over at Maya poking at her potatoes. After the lunch elective incident in seventh grade about them getting the lunch duty, Maya had always eaten her lunch and said thank you to the lunch lady. It was odd seeing her not eat.

He decided to answer her question with his own. "How are you doing?" he asked her. He recalled the earlier four classes. They were conveniently placed behind each other in every class, and they were in every class, so he was able to notice her coughing fits.

All she did was shrug. Normally she would reply with something snarky like: "I'm doing so fine Ranger Rick, I could just do-si-do!" Instead, she said, "Fine."

She kept picking at her potatoes, until she finally decided to pick up a green bean. Lucas was proud of her for a moment, but only for a moment. She picked it up then set it back down. He had to ask. "Why aren't you eating your food?"

She shrugged for the second time. "I'm not hungry."

"What - you're always hungry."

She picked up the green bean once again and chomped on it once. She put down the second half of the bean on his tray. She gave him a teasing smile. "Happy now, Bucky?"

He couldn't say yes, because - well - she ate only half of one green bean. But it was better than nothing.

For the upteenth time that day, she doubled over in a coughing fit. Lucas awkwardly patted her back, hoping he would help her.

After the coughing subsided, Maya sat up straight and glared at Lucas. "Thanks for the 'help'," she said in a grim voice. Then, as usual, her coughing fit was followed by an achoo!

All over her food.

"See," she grimaced, pushing her food away. "Not hungry."

Lucas grabbed her hand. Maya didn't know what to say or do - what the hell was he doing? With his other hand, he feathered his fingers along her scalp. Then, he firmly placed his hand on her forehead.

"Dammit, Maya," Lucas grumbled. Lucas grew out of his "perfect boy" status. Well, sort of. He was still extremely attractive and perfectly nice - his only flaw was his tendency to swear. That was another reason Riley got over Lucas. She still loved him as a friend and everything - a best friend, but she liked the more "influential" men. Maya didn't care either way.

Maya pretended to not know what was wrong with her. "What?" she said innocently, with a bat of her eyelashes.

"Don't play the dumb card on me. You know I can see right through you." It was true. "And you're sick as hell! Why didn't you just call in sick? We both know how much you love missing school."

She did love to miss school, but her mother wasn't home - as always - and she would rather stay in the warmth of her school where there are actual people than be home all cold and alone while Riley was away. And she wasn't going to ask Mr. Matthews or Mrs. Matthews to take her in or anything - she was a sixteen year old girl! She could take care of herself if she needed to.

But apparently Lucas didn't see that.

"Oh, you know! I just - uh love school, I didn't dare miss a day!" Maya lied straight through her teeth. Achoo!

"Remember last week when we were learning about the Civil War? In the middle of class, you stood up on your desk and declared we get freed from school - because according to you we are "slaves being entrapped in the circle of school, so if the slaves in the Civil War get to be freed - we should too!" Don't you remember?"

"Dammit, you remembered that?"

"How could I forget?" he joked. "That's beside the point. C'mon, I'll take you to the nurse and get you checked out."

She wanted to protest - she really did. But she just couldn't tell Lucas that her mother isn't home and that's why she went to school when she was sick. Because if she did, Lucas would have called Riley and then Riley would have driven all the way back to New York and given Maya a very stern talking to - once again - about how she needs to tell Riley when her mother isn't home and when she is sick and Riley feels just so awful that she wasn't here when she was sick and that her mom and her would've taken her in and why won't you let us adopt you?

Maya needed to avoid that conversation as long as possible.

/

He took her home in his car his mom gave him on his sixteenth birthday. She was fast asleep as soon as her head hit the seat, and he securely wrapped his varsity jacket around her shoulders.

He drove to her house - of course. He's actually been there quite a few times. The first time was during seventh grade, him and Farkle had decided to prank the girls with masks on Halloween.

The other times was throughout the years. When he forced her to get tutored by him, when she called him in the middle of the night for ice cream - and that one time she made him go buy a blanket from Walmart.

It was in the middle of winter during ninth grade year, and her mom didn't have enough money to buy a heater. It was the coldest night of the year - and hell, in New York! Riley was really really sick with the flu, and Maya didn't want to bother her (Riley would have gotten up anyway and trudged through the snow if she had to) so she called Lucas. She was balling through the phone, rambling on about how her life sucks and how her mom would just please "man up" and get a "real job".

It was like, three AM, and he was fast asleep. But he wasn't annoyed one bit. Because Maya was cold and it's the coldest night of the year - and what kind of friend would he be if he didn't help her? So he shut her up and went to the nearest store. (He walked because he hadn't gotten his license yet - hell, he was barely even fifteen!) He spent all of his allowance money on a bunch of blankets, but he wouldn't tell her that. If he did, she would feel awful because Maya is actually a sweetheart if you get to know her. And he walked up to her house. It wasn't that far away from the Walmart he went to, anyway.

The following week, he also got the flu (not as bad as Riley, though). He claimed that he got it from Riley.

He would never tell her that, though. He would rather he have the flu than her, of course. Any day.

Once he stopped at her house, he decided not to wake the poor soul - so Lucas carried her. Her long blonde hair (that he wish he could have combed his fingers through oh-so many times) draped past his bicep as he picked her up. Her head wobbled a bit, but soon found its place in the crevice of Lucas' elbow.

He knocked a few times, but no one answered. He checked to see if the door was open, and to his delight and confusion - it was. He entered her living area. The counter was scattered with un-payed bills. He walked over to her room, less pink and happy the last time he saw it three years ago. He assumed as much, she was a girl in changing. (Other than the constant cowboy nicknames.)

/

They were at his house now. This is how it happened.

Maya had woken up later, and Lucas was right onto the questioning. "Where is your mom?" "What happened to your room?" "I miss your Ferret, where is he?"

Regarding the first question, the conversation went much like this:

"Where is your mom?"

Maya shurgged. "Out for work."

"The job at the Diner?" Lucas asked. "Does she ever come home?"

"Sometimes," was all she said in reply. "Weekends usually."

"Does she know you're sick? Who leaves their sixteen year old daughter all alone during the week?"

Maya rolled her eyes. She noticed that Lucas was always like this about her mom. He always said crazy shit like "Your mother should be there for you more often." and "You shouldn't be alone, Maya.". Like him telling her that was going to change anything. Riley tried once already, and if Riley couldn't change something - Lucas sure as hell couldn't.

She responded to only the first question. "No, she doesn't. She was here last night, I felt a bit down - I thought it was nothing. We told each other goodnight and then she left early this morning. I'd rather be at school than be in my cold and lonely house that has no AC or heater."

Lucas sighed. Sometimes Maya was just so.. interesting. He couldn't find the right word. "I'm calling Riley," he stated.

(Speaking of Riley, the reason why he had broken up with her was because she was a bit too.. odd for his taste. He loved her and everything, he really did - but she and Farkle would be a much better pairing. And besides, Farkle stopped liking Maya and liked Riley better. And if Lucas wasn't interested in their relationship that much anymore, he would let Farkle have her. They were perfect for each other.)

Before Lucas could even grab his phone, Maya was already in the midst of pleading. "Nonononononononononononononononononono!" she begged. "Please don't! I know Riley. If you call her and tell her I'm sick and that I have no parental unit to look after me, she'll drive all the way home from Pennsylvania and talk to me for at least three hours about how I need to tell an adult that I'm sick and I need to find someone that will look after me and then she'll offer her family to look after me and I'm already as much as a burden right now to them I don't want to add any more weight on to them. They have so much to deal with Auggie and Riley and their selves. Plus, Topanga is pregnant! And including on to that, Riley will feel absolutely awful that she was out of town while I was sick and then she'll be all upset for a week and the only way to make her feel better is to watch the Notebook and I've watched the Notebook so many times already with her."

And then Lucas replied with a "Then what should we do?"

Because he would always listen to what she says - most of the time, anyway. "Not we," she corrected. "What should I do. You should go back to school, I'll just stay here. My mom'll come home eventually, right?"

"Oh no," Lucas stated clearly. "I'm not leaving you home alone in your cold and lonely house. That's not an option, you hear me? Not an option. We'll just have to figure out something."

"I'm not going over to the Matthews. Topanga is at work and I'm not going to bother her. And according to you, I'm not going back to school or staying home by myself. And we have decided that we're not calling Riley. And don't you dare call Farkle's dad. I've heard too many "I should have Topanga, Cory Matthews shouldn't" stories to deal with."

"Then that leaves only one option."

"I'm not—"

"You're not staying home alone, Maya. I'm not letting you, it's not an option. If you don't want to call Riley or bother Mrs. Matthews, then you're going to have to come home with me. You've been there before, it's not like it's unfamiliar. And my mom is home. She doesn't work on Thursdays."

So, here they were.

/

"Oh, Maya!" Layla Scoggins cooed as the two entered the Friar/Scoggins residence. Maya was getting considerably colder by the second. Lucas' varsity jacked just didn't seem to be enough at the moment. "Oh, you poor soul!"

Layla grabbed a few blankets from the closet and lied Maya on the couch. "I'm so very sorry dear that you're sick, I'll go get you anything. Advil?"

"No, thank you Miss Scoggins. I'm sorry to bother you."

"Maya," Lucas apprehended, "you're not bothering anyone. I invited you, remember?"

"Well, love, if you don't want some Advil - I best be making you some soup. I have this very wonderful organic recipe for chicken noodle soup. Oh, it's just absolutely magnificent. I'll go make some right now."

Maya almost - almost - laughed. She remembered the time when they were doing muffin sales and his mother just wouldn't shut up about food and her organic garden. Her Texas accent was quite strong, by the way. "It's not necessary," Maya said quickly. "I'm fine, really. I don't want to burden you with any of my needs - or whatever."

Maya was really self conscious about bothering people with her problems. She was afraid that her friends would ignore her like her mother and leave her like her father. "Ah, nonsense!" Layla said cheerfully. "I'm going to make some anyway. You must be starving."

It felt nice to have someone care for you, Maya thought. Of course Riley and her family did - but not just one family seemed to care for you, that was nice. It felt as a substitute for her absentee mother and her MIA father.

Achoo! "Lucas, why aren't you at school?"

"I'm taking care of Maya, mom."

/

After her great bowl of organic chicken soup, Maya feel asleep.

/

She woke up to Lucas sitting down on the couch, her head in his lap. His fingers were combing through her hair mindlessly. "What're you doing?" she said with a slurred tongue. She was still just waking up from a haze.

"You snore in your sleep," he replied without answering her question. He continued to comb his fingers through her hair.

Achoo! She then coughed again. "You're from Texas," she reminded.

"Touché," he joked. When she was still half asleep, she had nothing clever to say.

She got up and sat in a seated position. Maya then grabbed a tissue from the box placed next to her by Lucas. She blew her nose heavily, and Lucas didn't even bother to flinch. She appreciated that.

Cue the shiver.

She turned her head. "Why aren't you at school?"

"Ooh, Clutterbucket actually caring for my education? What a day."

Maya rolled her eyes. Sometimes Rick could be so annoying to her. "No, but seriously. I'm just a sick person at your house with no solid parent in my life. No need to smother me."

"Well, that'll definitely persuade me," Lucas said in a sarcastic tone. "Maya, don't you get it? I'm not leaving you."

/

Somehow, Lucas ended on top of her - their lips locked. He didn't really know how it came to this. He recalled something including truth or dare.

They had come up with a set of rules. Instead of wimping out, if you didn't tell the honest truth or do the dare completely - you had to do whatever the other person wanted you to do. Excluding the dare if you didn't do it.

Lucas had wimped out twice, something along the lines of 'shaving your hair' and 'going to school completely naked'. She had made him call her Princess for a week and carry her around school for a week.

Maya had only wimped out once. After she pointed out that she never turns down a dare, Lucas dared her to cut her hair. She refused to do so - because she loved her hair and she wouldn't cut it. Lucas made her promise that she wouldn't call him Ranger Rick for a whole week.

She started calling him Ranger Roy.

He fell right into that one. Again. For the third time they've known each other.

Lucas and Maya knew this wasn't a way to spend being sick, but hey! It was better that nothing.

Maya was in the midst of eating her granola bar. Her head was rested on his lap and her legs were atop the arm rest. Lucas was, once again, playing with her hair.

"Truth or Dare," Lucas asked.

Maya had thought for a moment. Maya had only said dare for the whole time - while Lucas was switching every other one. She decided to do truth for once and see what Lucas could come up with. "Truth."

"Have you—?"

"Don't ask about my dad," she interrupted. "Or my mom. Or anything having to do with my family or the way I live. I'm not answering any of those things."

Lucas didn't ask because he wouldn't push it, he had enough respect for her to do that. He wasn't going to do so anyway, he knew it was a touchy subject. "I was going to say, have you ever taken dance lessons? Your legs are so lean and pretty."

Her mind seemed to conjure up only one thing: "?". Why on earth would he ask that? "Yeah..." Maya said uneasily. "But the last time I took a class was seven years ago."

She seemed to sense that something wasn't right with Lucas' smirk.

Well, now that that was out of the way - it was Maya's turn. "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," Lucas responded easily. He had done Dare last time. Him and his whole 'being perfect and organized' persona annoyed Maya. Sometimes, at least.

"Have you ever taken dance lessons?" Maya asked, not knowing what to say. She was still in a confused state at what Lucas had asked her. No way was she going to do truth again if he asked her something like that again.

"Nah, I'm a football player and a baseball player. My calves are fine enough."

Maya laughed. (Maya didn't giggle, she didn't find giggling fond. She would just not giggle.) "Reminisce this moment, Ranger Roy. This'll be the last time I'm laughing at anything you say."

"You've said that the last thirty times," he pointed out.

He wasn't exaggerating. "Anyway, Princess. Truth or Dare?"

She was definitely not doing Truth again. "Dare," she responded cheekily. He surely couldn't mess this one up. Sure, she's heard some pretty messed up dares in her experience but Lucas couldn't be that bad.

"I dare you to dance."

She almost choked.

"Wh - what?" She sat up from her laying position on his lap. "I'm not dancing. I don't dance, for anyone. Those days are done and over with."

"Fine, fine," Lucas shrugged. "Then you have to do what I want."

"Anything but dance - or sing. Nope nope nope, not doing any of that shit. Not for a million dollars, not for mom that pays attention - never mind, maybe for that - but still."

His response was quick. "Kiss me." Her response was slow. "N - not if you don't want to or anything. But that would be very nice, for my part. You don't have to. I'm not forcing you."

Maya then responded back. "But what were the rules again? I have to do what you tell me to, right? That wouldn't be fair to you if you are required to call me Princess and carry me around the school for a week."

So Maya sat on top of his lap, clad in her pajama shorts and T-shirt. Her arms snaked around his neck and her lips connected to his.

So here they were.

/

"But you're going to get sick," Maya stated while they were taking a breath. "Not like I care for your health or anything, dear ol' Ranger Roy, but I ought to think that school is important to you and you don't' want to miss it if you're sick."

"I never get sick," he said while his tongue swirled around her neck. "My immune system is very well. I assure you."

"I'll say I told you so when it happens."

/

"I told you so."

He hates it when she's right.


lmao fluff. first lucaya fic i only write auslly lmao bye