A/N:

Hiya!

So this is a collaboration between GirlMW and Fanatic21!

It is a first and so it was decided a new account, that is shared, would be the best option, *cue GirlMeetsFanatic*.

We are both really excited about the story and hope to keep it going regularly throughout the year however we are both Year 11 Students and have a lot of school exams. D:

We both hope to update every two weeks and will probably on a Friday (this Chapter is a day early!)

We really hope that your enjoy the story and would appreciate the comments, reviews, follows and favourites!

There are a lot of twists along the way that should keep you interested!

Enjoy!

The Girls

Disclaimer: Neither of us own Girl Meets World!

Chapter One:

"C'mon short stack you can't hide it anymore. You may think that beautiful smile can cover it up and you can shrug it off, but you've got no chance."

"I can assure you, Huckleberry, that I am not hiding anything." Maya said, walking into Mr Matthews history class and sliding her books onto her desk, before taking a step closer to Lucas, much to his surprise when her turned around to face her.

Her gaze moved directly to his eyes and she stopped still, as a smile grew on her face.

"You think that I have a crush on YOU. Don't you?" She said pointing at Lucas with her index finger pressed gently into his ribcage.

She held it there as she looked up at him - a smirky smile appeared on his face and he looked down at her finger still resting on his chest.

The rest of the class stood and sat, scattered around, listening in awe at the quiet argument going on between Lucas and Maya that was slowing building up in the middle of the classroom; all nodding in agreement as they reassured themselves that voting them for best couple in the yearbook was a good idea.

"Are you sure you don't?" Lucas replied, taking his gaze back to Maya's.

"Look, we're in Highschool now; I'm pretty sure I know what I'm feeling Ranger Rick." Maya told Lucas, taking her finger off his chest and sitting down. She was starting to feel a little insecure.

He had the look that he had 'something' to use against her and she felt it coming.

"Yeah, then how come you've just had an identity crisis?" Lucas said. That was it; the 'something'.

He'd hit a nerve and now Maya was angry. No... she was furious.

"Oh, how I wish I had a smoothie right now!" Maya yelled, standing up, pushing her desk back slightly. The noise of the desk grating along the floor and the escalation of Maya's voice caused the majority of the class to lean in and turn their full attention to the argument building rapidly in the middle of the room.

"You could not be more wrong Hopalong. That's over, I've found me again, what more do you want?"

"You know." Lucas said, smirking slightly.

"NO I DON'T LUCAS!" Maya screamed, tearing up, as Riley and Farkle walk through the door, pausing when they see the intrigued audience watching the dramatic show unraveling in the centre of the classroom.

"No you don't know or…" Lucas said.

"NO I DON'T LIKE YOU LUCAS." Maya continued to scream, "You know, Huckleberry, you must be messed up if you think I would even consider thinking about you like that when you're dating Riley. Just drop it." Maya said, tears starting to stream down her face.

"Well, you have been acting like a bit of a second Riley lately." Lucas said, instantly regretting what he had just said.

"Lucas." Riley said softly, in attempt to take back what he said.

"REALLY? I'M TIRED OF BEING THOUGHT OF AS A SECOND RILEY! IS THAT ALL I AM TO YOU LUCAS? RILEY 2.0?" She sobbed, trying her best not to choke on her words, "OH WAIT, I CAN'T BE BECAUSE I'M NOT A BETTER, MORE IMPROVED, GLITCH-FREE VERSION. I'M JUST A WANNABE, AREN'T I?" Maya grabbed her book off her desk and pushed her way through Riley and Farkle as she ran from the room, leaving them all, staring blank-eyed at the door, in complete silence.

Riley shot Lucas a warning look before turning round to follow her best friend, only to be stopped by Mr Matthews speeding round the doorway, placing his briefcase on his desk.

"Hello class." He said, making the whole room silent and everyone jump to their chairs. Riley, however, stayed standing as he turned to her.

"Is Maya alright? She seemed… disorderly? And she was crying." He said, looking up at the class and the number of huddled whispers travelling around the room.

Everyone was twisted round in deep conversation, gossiping about something that Cory couldn't quite grasp.

"I need to go." Riley said, walking towards the door, looking at the floor.

"Wait…" Cory said, snapping out of his gaze to look at her and grabbing hold of her wrist.

He looked back at the class and realised what he was stuck on. There was one face, one person not talking. One person sitting dead still. One boy; Lucas.

"Riley?" Cory said turning to her and bending to look at face, "Was it Lucas?"

"I have to go." Riley said, trying to break free from her father's grasp.

"Riley… not this time."

"What?" She questioned, looking up at him.

"No Riley, let her think."

The lesson passed, and Maya never returned to the classroom. Her desk remained empty and as the seconds counted down to the ringing of the end-of-period bell, Riley was getting more anxious.

It wasn't that she didn't know where Maya was, it was because she knew what Maya was capable of; the quick rash decisions she could make.

"This is all my fault." Lucas said to himself worryingly, looking up at the clock.

The bell sounded as Riley stood, ignoring her father continuing to teach at the front of the classroom, sliding back her chair with her legs and slamming her book shut.

"Riley!" Cory said, as she made her way towards the door.

"No Dad." She said, standing in the doorway, as Lucas, Farkle, Smackle and Zay joined her.

"The bell rang, your lesson's over."

And she left, with the others, down the hall past the rows of lockers and trash cans, towards the staircase.

"Maya?" Riley questioned as she pushed the door to ARTROOM 3 open and walked inside, "Are you in the cupboard?"

No answer. No sign of Maya.

"She must have been up here." Farkle said, holding Maya's empty equipment box up to the others, "all of her stuff…"

"...it's gone?" Lucas questioned, grabbing the box off Farkle as the next class started to file in in small groups.

"She's gone." said Mr Jackson. He was their art teacher and Maya loved the way he taught his perspective on art.

"She rushed in just under an hour ago. She grabbed her sketchpad and paintbrushes, emptied the rest of that box and then left. She told me that she wasn't going to be in art class today." Mr Jackson explained.

Riley pushed through the group of students walking into art and out into the hall without saying a word.

"Riley?" Lucas called, as he and Zay follow her out.

"Thanks for the help Mr Jackson." Farkle said and he too, along with Smackle, left through the doorway.

"So you guys aren't staying for class either?" He yelled out after them.

"Where are we going Riley?" Farkle asked, as the group pushed through another set of double doors.

No answer.

"Riley?" Zay said, tapping her on the shoulder, "Anyone there?"

No answer.

"RILEY!" Lucas shouted, causing everyone, including Riley, to stop still, "They're talking to you."

"I DON'T KNOW!" She shouted back, a little choked up, "I DON'T WHERE SHE COULD BE. SHE COULD BE ANYWHERE. YOU KNOW MAYA."

Lucas could tell she had snapped. She was broken, frustrated, worried.

"Riley…" Lucas replied, taking hold of her shoulders with both hands, "We'll find her."

"We might not Lucas. How do you know?" She said, looking down at the floor.

"She's run off before and we've found her before." He said, reaching for her hand.

She yanks it out of reach and steps back slightly.

"BUT WE'VE NEVER BEEN THE REASON SHE'S RUN. EVER. WHY DID YOU DO IT? WHAT DID YOU GET FROM IT? YOU COULD SEE HER GETTING ANNOYED AND, AND…" She stuttered, tearing up slightly.

She took a deep breath, stepped back forward and looked straight into his eyes. It was soft yet meaningful, "I'm sorry. But please help me; we have to do something."

There was a pause. It was short, but long enough for everyone to know it was there. Lucas and Riley stood facing each other; there gaze locked together.

"Her apartment." Smackle said cutting in. Their gaze dropped as they turned to see Smackle standing holding open the large, heavy front doors to the school and they filtered out, slowly, onto the sidewalk, not knowing what else to do.

"Should I try calling her." Lucas said, reaching for his phone, as they walked along fifth avenue towards her apartment block.

"YOU better not." Riley smiled weakly, taking his hand. "I'll call her."

She dialled the recent number and put the phone to her ear.

"Beeeepppppp Beee… I'm sorry but your call can't be taken at the moment. Please leave your message aft…"

Riley hung up. Maya rejected her call. She called again.

"Bee… I'm sorry but your call can't be taken at the moment. Please leave your message after the tone. Bleep."

"Maya, you have to call me back. You, you just… just call me back Maya." And she hung up.

"She didn't pick up?" Zay asked, a little confused.

"No, she rejected the call." Riley said in even more concern, biting her lip.

"How do you know?" Lucas asked.

"It rung like twice and then went to voicemail. I called again and left a message though."

"Maybe she doesn't have service." Farkle suggested.

"No, she just didn't answer." Riley said, a little defeated.

"She wouldn't do that Riley." Lucas said, trying to reassure her.

"Well, her phone will be on even if she was at school right now. She might have gone home or something, like Smackle said. Let's just keep going - it's the only place we've thought of so far." Riley said, looking at the floor, even more defeated.

They walked through Maya's hispanic neighbourhood and up her apartment building stairs to Maya's front door. She pulled a spare key from under the doormat and hovered nervously at the keyhole. Riley felt sick. Maya wasn't at home - she knew that; it was too easy and Riley was racking her brain for other places Maya could have gone. Topanga's, the park, the subway?

"Riley!" Katy panted as she swung the door wide open; Riley's hand and the key still hovering inches from the door, "Is Maya with you?"

She sounded half relieved and half worried as she spoke to Riley and it confirmed it.

"No." Riley said, not knowing what else to say, surprised that Katy wasn't at work.

Katy's face changed from relief to anxiety in a split second and Riley couldn't speak.

"So she's not sleeping over at yours?" Katy asked, the panic in her voice building.

"No she's not Mrs Hunter." Lucas said, speaking for Riley as he gripped her hand tighter. "Do you know…"

"Wait." Riley interrupted. Riley was confused by what Katy had just said, "Why would you think that Maya was sleeping over at mine?"

"Her erm… well, I came home for my lunch like normal and the door was unlocked and, um... her stuff. It's gone." Katy said quietly, and Riley let go of Lucas' hand and ran for Maya's room as soon as the words left Katy's lips.

"Not all of it..." Katy shouted after her, as the rest of them followed Riley into the apartment.

"Just a bag's worth." Riley finished, as she stopped in the middle of the bedroom, looking around at the half open drawers and wardrobe.

"The sleepover thing was the only explanatory situation I could think of but then I realised you guys should be at school. I was still hoping anyway." Katy said, panicked.

"At least we know she's been here." Lucas recounts, with a little hope in his eyes, "It will help us look for her."

"How?" Farkle asks, "Just because she's been here, doesn't mean it gives us any idea to where she could be now. There's no link betwe…"

"Okay Farkle, whatever…" Lucas said, slightly exhausted, trying to drop the comment he made.

"I was just saying that you're wrong and they can't be scientifically lin…" Farkle continued.

"OKAY! I WAS WRONG - AGAIN! I SCREWED UP! I'M SORRY." Lucas interrupted, the hope fading quickly, "It's my fault but I don't know what else to say. I don't have a clue where she is or where to go next. I messed up. I'm sorry."

"Wait, it's your fault?" Katy asked, looking even more concerned, "You made her run?"

"I didn't mean to. At the beginning we were messing around and…" he tried to explain.

"But did she think you were messing around?" Zay asked him, in a matter-of-factly kind of way.

"I think so…" he replied, but he didn't really know, "She wasn't angry at the beginning…"

"Wait. She was angry." Katy asked, the intensity in her voice building.

"STOP IT!" Riley shouted, and everyone turned to see her standing in the same spot she was in when she walked in.

She hadn't listened to anything going on around her. She didn't care. She didn't know what to do next. She was stuck. She didn't have a plan.

Maya was missing.