"Cam" Cameron Hedge was a huge pain in the ass. However, nobody else saw it that way. The second the posh red head entered Abigail Adams High School he was a hit. Every girl was so in awe of his thick British accent that they hung on his every-word. Every boy was in awe of the way he could easily rugby tackle people two times bigger and stronger than him. He was smart and tried hard enough in class, he was already a starter on the football team, he was apparently a personable fun guy, his hair color, and even Lucas had to admit, impressive physical form made him a school wide heart throb, and from what he heard he could hold his liquor. Meaning everybody loved him, except for Lucas Friar that is. In Lucas's mind Cam was a snobby boring outsider. A boring outsider that had no business coming into his school, talking to his friends, and inserting himself into his life. And it was all Lucas could think about as he walked into lunch and saw the redhead sitting in between two of his best friends, his usual spot.

The first to notice him was Maya, his blonde haired short stack, who was sitting on the table with her legs crossed and stretched onto a chair in front of her. A position that he knew was for flirting, she had used it on him a time or two. She smirked as he approached his friends with a miffed look on his face. She hopped off the table and spread her arms wide to the side.

"Huckleberry!" She exclaimed with a bright smile on her face, she placed her hands on her hips and began to pout, "Now what's got your cowboy boots scuffed."

He rolled his eyes at her antics, "Not one of your best short-stack, and I was just wondering where I'm going to sit with our new… friend sitting here." Lucas threw a glare at the sly red head that was now absorbed in conversation with a very eager Riley.

Riley was a ray of sunshine with her constant smiles and obsession with rainbows. Usually a little trip through Riley's mind, they liked to call it Rileytown, could put Lucas in a better mood (it was the main reason he had dated her freshman year). Riley's infectious optimism frequently rubbed off on and their other friends, but not today. Not when Cameron Hedge was taking the one person keeping Lucas together, Maya.

"Well Zay," Lucas's best friend since grade school, "isn't here today, so there's an extra seat," Maya could read him like a book so she realized the silent question and why is he sitting here, "and gingerbread boy didn't have a place to sit."

Gingerbread boy he thought with spite, he was the only person Maya teased like that. At the mention of gingerbread Cam whipped around and playfully glared up at Maya, "Well if I knew goldilocks over here had so many creative nicknames up her sleeve I would have sat somewhere else," he teased.

"Be my guest. There's even a seat right over there," Lucas rudely snipped. Maya and Riley gave him confused looks, and Cam moved to stand.

Maya sat where her feet had previously been and pushed Cam back into his seat, "Hold your horses posh spice or are you ginger spice?" she fired back at Cam ignoring Lucas's rude comment. Riley giggled at the mention of the spice girls, and Lucas's hatred for the brit only built as Maya fired more insulting nicknames Cam's way. Those nicknames were supposed to be their thing.

"Good question," Cam laughed out, "but you certainly are scary spice, and this one," he poked Riley in the shoulder, "is definitely baby spice." Riley giggled and blushed at the poke, and despite their past that didn't bother Lucas one bit, but Maya closing the distance between herself and Cam definitely bothered him.

"Saying that you're scared of me spark plug?" Maya smirked, and chuckled slightly as the red head searched for the right words to say. "Its ok Rusty most people are." She winked and leaned a little closer to him.

Lucas continued to stand rooted in his spot as Cam and Maya shamelessly flirted and teased each other. Riley, oblivious to the flirting, continued to add in bits and pieces to their conversation.

"Hey weirdo" Maya's snarky voice broke him out of his trance. His entire body relaxed and he felt like he could move again. "Are you going to sit down you've been standing for like 10 minutes Lucas."

Lucas he thought to himself she never calls me Lucas. He slowly pulled out a chair and sat down dejectedly as he thought about her lack of insults. They had always bothered him; at least he thought they had. Her constant picking at his chivalry, his morality, his looks, and even his cowboy like qualities had made him crazy since they were in 7th grade and all of a sudden he missed them. The humor of their little nickname game never failed to put a smile on his face and keep him on his toes. Over the years he began to think of her almost all the time just so that she would not end up winning, but recently maybe his constant thoughts about her shifted. He was constantly thinking about her smile that he worked to put on her face, her laughter that sounded like bells, the way her eyes lit up when she teased him, her soft lips, her curling blonde hair, the way that she fit perfectly under his chin, the gentle curve of her hips, her shapely smooth legs, but mostly her heart that was filled with her friends and family. Jesus Christ what is wrong with me? He hadn't thought about her in THAT way sense freshman year and even then the slight crush only lasted a few months.

Truthfully he missed the teasing because he knew that meant those smiles and her beautiful laughter wasn't directed towards him anymore. Of course, he would never admit his feelings. He would never admit how much he liked Maya. He would never admit how Maya's obvious feelings for Cam drove Lucas to hate him.

His mind drifted back to reality when he heard the lunch bell ring signaling that he could finally escape the torture that was watching Maya and Cam flirt. He left the cafeteria in a near sprint not waiting for Riley who he usually walked to class since his next class was right next to hers. He left so fast that he didn't even hear Maya yelling after him.

He sat in his Biology lecture distracted and bored out of his mind. In the back of his head he could hear echoes of ATP and Cellular Respiration but all his head could focus on was Maya. For some reason after 3 years his subconscious chose this exact moment to reveal to him all his feelings of affection towards the feisty beauty. In middle school when he had fiercely protected her art program it was clear he cared. But once he actually saw her art, and heard her sing his care grew he saw a completely different side of her. A side that she rarely displayed but one that was closer to her true personality than he had ever seen. When he had chosen to venture into the depths of Mayaville instead of Rileyville. He had never felt so free standing by her side and not trying to force himself to be anything that he wasn't. When he was with anyone else he felt the need to police himself, everyone held him to such a high standard, but not Maya. Maya understood that humans aren't perfect, and Maya did not expect him to be the face of morality. Everything about her intrigued him. She was the strongest woman he had ever met, besides his mama, and yet she was also delicate. Her hair was a soft wavy blonde but her eyes were bright sharp blue. Her body was covered with soft curves from her waist to her jaw but her skin was strikingly pale. She painted such emotional pieces filled with soul but she was so closed off emotionally. She was an enigma a living breathing paradox.

A sharp vibration against his thigh brought him out of his thoughts. He sneakily pulled his phone out of his pocket praying that Mr. Paine didn't see the move. Lucas had his head on the desk the whole class so him laying his head on his desk to peer into his lap shouldn't have drawn any attention. His breath got caught in his chest as he saw Maya Hart flash across the screen. The text read: Huckleberry what the hell I had to go halfway across the school to drop Riley off because shes too scared to walk by herself!

After two or three minutes he shot her a dismissive text hoping it would end their conversation and more unlikely her anger. Immediately he felt the vibration that signaled her response.

Oh no you don't! He didn't respond. After a few minutes she texted again. Lucas you dont get to say whatever to me.

Another reason he was infatuated with her, she really truly cared about him. She would text him, and probably has texted him, one hundred times in a row just to make sure he was ok.

Luke what the hell is wrong with you. You were acting all funny at lunch

Lucassssssssssssss

LUKE

Are you ok?

You were acting spacey

Luke

Are you sick?

Lucas shared a desk with Sarah Carpenter a smart brunette so he knew she was probably catching on. He lifted his head off his desk to look at a very annoyed Sarah.

"Lucas would you please answer your damn texts!" Sarah whispered to him.

"Sorry Sarah but I can't."

"You can and you will, those vibrations are driving me crazy! I'm actually paying attention Lucas and I'm trying to take notes and I am insanely distracted right now!"

"I'm sorry Sarah! I can't answer my phone I can't talk to her right now!"

"Talk to who?"

"Maya!" Lucas bolted up in his seat as he said her name a little too loudly. The entire class whipped around to stare at the blonde.

"Mr. Friar! Please use some restraint!" Mr. Paine spoke exasperatedly from the front of the class.

"Sorry Mr. Paine, I'm just going to the bathroom real quick." He didn't wait for a response from his teacher, and quickly leapt out of his chair. It slid behind him and hit the wall as he evaded the small room.

Lucas ran through the maze of hallways and rooms trying to find somewhere that he could duck into and finally breath easily.

Fucking Cam coming in and making me question everything. If he hadn't come I wouldn't be in this situation at all. It was running through his head over and over again.

He finally stopped his frantic searching for a space to lay low when he heard beautiful bell-like laughter. He knew that was Maya. He knew he shouldn't follow the sound that he was turning into a bit of a stalker, but he had to follow the laughter. He found himself standing in front of Maya's art class (they were currently doing pottery). She had on a long plain button up shirt that was being used as a smock, her hair was up in a bun, and her arms and face were covered in clay. Her body was vibrating with laughter and in the process she accidentally pushed her clay a little too hard making it spin off-center effectively ruining whatever she had been working on. She stopped the wheel from spinning but she didn't seem to care about the ruined piece as she continued to laugh hysterically. She beckoned for whoever made her laugh to come closer so she could show them something. Lucas watched as Cam came into view and held Maya's arms to ensure that she wouldn't fall off her stool. He was laughing too as Maya tried and failed to tell him some piece of information.

"Ok Goldilocks take a breath." Cam laughed out seeing as Maya could not keep herself together. Maya tried to take a breath to calm down. However, she just kept giggling.

"It really wasn't that funny Goldie!"

"Yes it was!" She shrieked through her laughter.

Seeing her like this seemed to calm him down. Seeing her laughing and radiating pure happiness made the tension ease from his shoulders. Whatever anger or anxiety filled him previously seemed to leave his body at the sight of her smile. The second Cam put his hands on Maya all the previously resolved anger was back. He could feel himself becoming tense once again he could literally feel his blood boiling. Watching Cameron steady her and then pull her so that her head was resting on his shoulder to further steady her. He was stuck in his spot staring at the scene unfolding in front of him. He could feel his mind jumping to conclusions and simultaneously catching on fire. His heart was sinking in his chest; he had lost his Maya to that redheaded smooth talking crumpet-loving bastard.

"Mr. Friar? What are you doing?" Lucas's head whipped down the hall to see vice principal Lenard standing there.

"Lucas?" Lucas's head whipped back to the classroom he had been standing in front of to see Maya staring right at him with confusion written all over her face.

Lucas started to panic Lenard was closing in on him meaning he was going to detention for sure and Maya was staring at him willing him to give her some reasoning behind the current situation. He shot her a remorseful look and took off in the opposite direction of Lenard.

"Mr. Friar stop right there!" He didn't stop.

Lucas turned some random corner and ducked into an open supply closet. He heard heavy footsteps rushing past him, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Slowly he sank to the ground and leaned his back against the door. Lucas sat in the closet for a couple of seconds thinking about all that had just happened. He left class with no excuse, he ran from the vice principal, who knew his name, who had the power to expel him What the fuck am I doing!

"Lucas?" He heard a faint sweet voice call out.

"Lucas I know you're out here somewhere-," the voice was coming closer, and it was becoming more distinguishable, "-or you're not and I'm a crazy person yelling into an empty hallway." Maya, he knew it was Maya.

He heard her soft footsteps coming closer to him. She quietly huffed and kicked the door he was leaning on. The sudden pressure on his back threw him off guard and he grunted softly.

"What the hell?" Apparently he did not grunt soft enough. He gave up on trying to avoid her he reached up and opened the closet door from where he was sitting on the ground. She shrieked and jumped as the door swung open.

"Hey Maya."

"What the hell Luke!" She took some breaths to calm herself down and entered the closet. She closed the door behind herself and sunk onto the ground beside him. "You're in so much trouble my friend!"

"I know Maya, I know. What are you doing out here anyway? Why aren't you in class?"

"I convinced VP Lenard that as one of your best friends I would be able to find you and convince you to come in. He's putty in my hands Luke."

"Good I'd rather you find me than him." Maya smiled for a second before she got serious.

"What is going on with you today Lucas?" There was nothing accusatory about her question. She sounded so genuinely worried about him.

"Nothing."

"Lucas."

"Really Maya just having a rough day."

"Lucas we talked this morning, and you were perfectly fine."

"Fine, fine. It's just that Cam!"

"What?"

"He's so pretentious, and everyone loves him but I just don't trust him."

"I understand Luke, but he's really not so bad."

"Of course you don't think he's so bad! He's got a British accent and red hair and he's nice and he's funny and he's apparently a dreamboat."

"Did you just call a man a dreamboat?" She would be the one to focus on the accidental compliment, instead of the problem that was at hand here.

"Against the point Maya. I just don't trust him we barely know him. Everyone's so in love with his looks and his charm, but nobody is questioning him at all."

"Well I'm not in love with him." Lucas scoffed at her statement. "What? I'm not I'm just being nice to him!"

"A little too nice if you ask me." She rolled her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I was flirting a little wasn't I."

"Yeah maybe just a little."

"So is Cam all that's made you so moody on this fine day?" He searched his head. Should I really tell her, well it's either that or let myself suffer in silence. Might as well.

"Ok, so something as been bothering me all day. Where'd my nicknames go?"

"What do you mean? I thought you hated them?"

"No, no I never hated them! They were our thing Maya and now they're you and Cameron's thing."

"Hold your horses cowboy!"

"Maya what I'm trying to say is that-"

"Lucas, stop! I like you ok! I really like you!"

"Wha-"

"I thought maybe if I flirted with someone else it would force my feelings to change, but it didn't. I stopped the nicknames because that was my subtle way of flirting with you. I couldn't do it anymore because I know you don't like me back, and I can't waste my own time doting over some guy who doesn't even like me."

"Maya-"

"No Lucas, you don't have to pity me or say something to comfort me. I'm ok I can get myself over it."

"But Maya-"

"Really Luke I'm just fine you don't have to say anything." He reached out and lifted her head off his shoulder and grabbed her hands.

"Maya please slow down!"

"Lucas, I don't think you're taking this seriously! I didn't mean to hurt you but I am a strong fierce powerful woman and I can't hide this any longer. Plus you're Riley's ex-boyfriend I can't do that to her! I can't like you Lucas I just can't! Either way-"

Lucas couldn't take it anymore. She was rambling and it was very unlike her, but it was too cute. He needed her to stop talking she was confusing him. However he knew that he liked her, and he knew that he liked her a lot. He reached out and grabbed the beautiful girls face and abruptly pulled her lips to his. He could hear her swallow her words as she kissed him back. Her lips were soft against his and he felt like he was floating on air. It felt better than he had imagined, and he had imagined it was pretty damn good. She put her hands on his chest and pushed softly away from him, he got the message. Slowly and regretfully he pulled away from the kiss.

"Lucas what-"

"It's my turn to talk," he smiled and stroked the curls that were falling into her face, "I like you too, I like you a lot Maya."

She smiled and he pulled her closer to him so that her body almost overlapped with his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and this time she pulled him into a soft kiss that turned into a full out make-out session in the janitor's closet. Eventually they were separated by the bell for 4th period and a call to send Lucas Friar to the principals office.