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"Why won't you let yourself hope for things, Maya? Don't you want to be happy?" Riley cried, hoping off of her bay window seat, frustrated with her best friend. Maya had just told her that she didn't want to date Lucas, although Riley knew that she really did want to.
"I want to be happy, Riley. I just don't want to be disappointed. Lucas hasn't told me how he feels about me yet. And it's not helping anything by sitting around, hoping he'll feel the same way. He likes you, we already know that. Just go to him, tell him you don't like him as a brother, you have a big crush on him. We all know it's true," Maya said.
"I-I can't! I want you to be happy. What if Lucas likes you too?" Riley asked, looking at the blonde who she had known since she was eight.
"Look, I'm not like you and Lucas, and I can't force myself to be. It's better if you date Lucas. He likes you; you have things in common. You need each other," Maya told her.
"Maya, that's not true. Farkle said it: opposites attract. Lucas and I are very similar. We don't attract. That's why it's always been awkward between us. How are you not getting this?" Riley asked, sitting back down next to Maya.
"But... Riles, I can't do that to you. Not after he was your first kiss and your first date," Maya sighed.
"Peaches, listen to me. I want, more than anything, for you to be happy. And if it makes you happy to be with Lucas, then I am all for it," Riley said, grabbing Maya's hand and squeezing it.
Maya smiled. "Okay, Honey. I'll think about it."
Maya crawled out of Riley's bay window and started walking to the subway station to get back home.
She was walking back home when she ran into Lucas.
She was going to avoid him, but he was standing on the fire escape to her apartment.
"Hey," he greeted, smiling down at her.
"Hi," she smiled back at him, crawling up to meet him. It was starting to get dark outside.
"Look, I was gonna do this at school, but I really needed to talk to you," he says.
"What is it, Huckleberry?" She asks.
"I'm just gonna say it before I chicken out," he decides.
"I know how I feel about about you," he admitted, making her suck in a breath.
"I think I like you, Maya. Like a lot. And I think I've been suppressing it because I didn't know if you liked me back. I think I've liked you since we first met on the subway, and you broke up with me. And I think once I realized that Riley liked me and that you were pushing Riley to go after me, I accepted the fact that you didn't like me and I decided to move on and pursue Riley. Because I like Riley. She's happy and she's fun to be around. But when I'm with you, it's different, Maya. It's so different, and it made me so confused at first," he tells her. He's looking up at the dark blue sky, and she's looking at him, watching him.
"How is it different?" Maya asks, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
"It's different because you're different. You challenge me, Maya. You get under my skin and you're just this big ball of fire. But you're also so fragile. You're passionate about what you believe in, and about the people you love. And you always put everyone before yourself," he turns to her.
"I just don't get it. You like me now? What happened to you liking Riley? You guys are perfect for each other. You're both dreamers. Doesn't it make sense that you all would be together?" Maya asks.
"Look, you've been pushing for Riley and me to get together since I met you two, because you stepped back. Riley and I are dreamers. And you say you think it makes since that we'd end up together. But I've been thinking about it, a lot lately," he told her.
"You're a realist. You don't like to hope for things and I know that's why you didn't tell me about your feelings for me. You're hesitant about trusting people. I'm a dreamer. And dreamers like me and Riley need realists like you and Farkle to keep us from floating away from the world. And realists... you guys need dreamers too. Because without us, you all might never get off the ground," he told her, looking into her eyes.
She was about to open her mouth but she couldn't think of a response.
"I know we're still young and confused... But I do have feelings for you Maya. I know I do. I've always had feelings for you. You're beautiful and magnetic and I want to get to know you, as long as you'd let me?" He asks.
"Okay. I'll go on a date with you. But you're buying, Ranger Rick," she smiles, making him grin.
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