"I swear to God if she wasn't married to my dad-" Maya shoved her head into her hands, the rest of the statement dissolving into a groan.

"So I'm guessing the dinner didn't go as well as we hoped for?"

More incoherent groaning. Lucas and Zay exchanged looks at the other side of the table. "Okay," Zay hissed, "what do we do? The last time I tried to cheer her up after another failed family dinner, I thought she was gonna give me a black eye!"

"To be fair, I don't think offering to dance for her was the kind of cheering up she needed."

"We've been over this! I didn't mean lap dance-she just took it that way!"

"Everyone took it that way! I thought Mr. Matthews was gonna give you detention for the rest of the year!"

"Okay, Ranger Rick, you're in charge of cheering her up this time. Watcha gonna do?"

Lucas glanced uneasily at Maya. Well, her head was no longer buried in her hands; her elbows were now resting on the table, eyes glued to him and Zay. "You know, we might be in an overcrowded cafeteria, but I can still hear you guys."

The two exchanged another look. Lucas cupped a hand around his ear and whispered, "I'm gonna do what Riley would do if she had lunch with us."

Maya rolled her eyes as he raced around the rectangular table, settling into the seat next to her. "Hi, Maya."

"Lucas."

"Tell us everything that happened; we'll fix it."

She looked at them both hesitantly before letting out a sigh.

"She won't stop asking why I don't have a boyfriend."

"Oh." Zay.

"Oh." Lucas.

"We can fix that!" Zay again. Maya didn't seem to notice the grin he flashed Lucas. She rested her chin in her hands, staring into space.

"Maybe she's right; maybe I should have a boyfriend. It's just, I spent so much time pining over Josh that it was like I couldn't even see anyone else. And now that it's over... it's like I still can't see anyone else. He's the only guy I've ever loved. How could anyone else compare?" Maya and Josh were more or less in a relationship for six months until junior year when she wanted to make it official; he said he was still "figuring himself out" and that she should do the same before either of them got into a serious relationship with anybody. Lucas knew because she'd retold the story a thousand times when she was still in the process of getting over him. Listening to her talk now, he found himself wondering if she was still getting over him.

"Maybe that's the problem," Zay was saying. "You need to stop comparing every guy you see to Josh. If it didn't work out with him, why would it work out with anyone like him?"

"Good point." Lucas offered.

"Who knows," Zay went on. "Maybe the perfect guy's been sitting right next to you this whole time-"

Lucas kicked him under the table.

"What?" Maya said as Zay cringed.

"I think what Zay's trying to say is to forget about Josh; picture the 'Perfect Guy' right now. What does he look like?"

"He's um, he's optimistic and sunshiney, like Riley, since ya know, opposites attract and all. He's funny, sees the best in people, but maybe has a little bit of an edge-the kind of guy who'd do anything to protect the people he loves-loyal, smart, athletic..."

"Sooo like Lucas?" Zay piped up.

"Yeah! Except less country," she drawled in a feigned Southern accent.

Lucas' pointed scowl in Zay's direction melted into a smirk. He let out a giggle at Maya's remark before clearing his throat. "I don't believe in the whole 'opposites attract' thing. I think you should date someone you have a lot in common with. That's why I started dating Riley when I moved here."

"Yeah, and how's that relationship going, by the way?" Zay quipped.

"Okay, okay, so we went on one date and called it quits. But just because it didn't last as long as any of your relationships doesn't mean it wasn't important." Maya snorted; since the end of junior year, Zay had a new girl on his arm every week. Funny enough, his longest relationship had been with Riley at the start of that same year. "I learned a lot about myself when I went out with Riley," Lucas went on.

Zay's mouth curved into a frown, his brow crinkled the same way it did whenever he thought of Riley (she'd come up in lunch-table conversation enough for Maya to make the connection).

Time to head back to their original topic. "So you're saying I should go out with someone who's more like me?"

"Yeah, why not? Even if it doesn't work out, maybe you'll learn something about yourself."

"Someone more like me," she considered. "Someone artsy, rebellious, dark-someone like him."

Lucas followed her gaze to a slouched figure dressed in all black sitting alone at a table on the other side of the cafeteria."Rebel? Yeah, okay. You should talk to him."

"I think I will," she grinned, standing up from the table and striding away.

Lucas turned back to Zay as she left. "Hey, we fixed it! See, that's how you cheer Maya up."

"Oh, yeah, great job," he returned with a roll of the eyes. "You just set the girl of your dreams up with another guy. I'd stand up and applaud you if your stupidity wasn't weighing me down to my spot."

Someone was sour. Lucas hoped it wasn't because he brought up his past with Riley; Zay had told him a hundred times he was over her. "Okay, first of all, Maya is not my dream girl. She's like my best friend."

Zay's face crumpled.

"My best girl friend."

"Yeah, your best girlfriend."

"Second of all, they're just talking. Maya's known Rebel since seventh grade; I hardly think they're going to start dating now because of me."

Zay shrugged. "If you say so."