Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi but if I did I wouldn't assassinate Eli's character and Zig wouldn't have disappeared.
AN: I wrote this before Black or White so Tristan is a good friend and doesn't like Zoe in this story. Characters might be a bit OOC but it is fiction. Also Miles already knows about Cam in this story and can we pretend there has been a longer time between when they got together and Christmas. Maya in this story hasn't completely moved on from Cam but has come to terms with the situation and feels more open talking about it. I'd be surprised if anybody actually read that but anyways on with the story.
"So are you excited about seeing your sister again?" Tristan asked Maya over the phone. Maya nodded her head before remembering that Tristan couldn't see her.
"Yeah, Tris I haven't seen her since before school started. I mean I've talked to her on the phone and Skyped with her but this is my first time actually seeing her." Maya said while looking out the window for any sign of her sister.
"I thought your sister came home for Thanksgiving?" Tristan replied curiously.
"Yeah she was supposed to but before she could leave she got a surprise visit from Jake." Maya answered remembering how disappointed she had been to learn that her sister was too busy to come home.
"Ooh I wonder what they were doing." Tristan said suggestively.
"Dude that's my sister." Maya countered wrinkling her nose.
"Sorry, and I'm pretty excited myself. Tori's coming down for a visit too and I haven't seen her in way too long. You have to make sure you stop by to say hello." Tristan screeched excitedly to Maya.
Just then Maya heard a car pull up in their driveway. "Sorry Tris but Katie just arrived. I'll talk to you later. Say hi to Tori for me."
Maya hung up the phone before checking herself in a mirror and running out the door.
"Katie! You're here." Maya screamed excitedly before engulfing her sister in a hug.
"Hey, chicken little. I missed you too." Katie laughed but hugged back just as tightly.
"Alright guys I'm going to go pick up your father from work so we can have an early dinner and hear all about Stanford." Mrs Matlin said before getting back in the car and leaving.
"Alright Maya tell me all about what's been going on at Degrassi. To be honest I kind of miss it." Katie questioned with a smile. "Who cares about Degrassi, I want to hear all about Stanford without Mum and Dad around." Maya smartly avoided the topic of Degrassi.
"Maya we always speak about Stanford and yet I have no idea what's going on in your life. I mean you know Jake and I decided to stay broken up due to the distance and I've told you about my classes, soccer and friends. What else could you possibly want to know?" Katie retorted.
Maya had to take a second to think of what else to talk about besides Degrassi. She didn't want her sister to know about the video and Zoe; disappointing her parents was bad enough but disappointing Katie would be a hundred times worse. "What about Marisol? Have you spoken to her much?" Maya finally responded.
Katie rolled her eyes at her little sister's obvious avoidance techniques before answering. "Marisol's great. She ended up transferring out of T.U to where Mo's going so they could be together."
"It's awesome that they're still together. Are they living…?" Katie cut Maya off before she could go any further. "Maya cut the crap. Why won't you talk about Degrassi? Is somebody giving you a hard time?" Katie questioned. "Katie, Degrassi is fine and as for the kids? Well it's not anything I can't deal with on my own." Maya replied rushing back into the house with Katie not even two steps behind.
"Just because you think you can deal with the bullying on your own doesn't mean you can't tell me about it anyway." Katie explained closing the front door behind her.
"Katie you wouldn't get it and how do you even know about that?" Maya accusingly asked her.
"I saw the video Maya. You're my little sister; did you really think I wouldn't know about it?" Katie retorted. "Yeah, but how do you know about the bullying?" Maya asked slowly as she sat down.
"After I found the lovely fan page about you I called Mum and she told me everything." Katie replied softly. "When you say everything what exactly do you mean?" Maya asked slightly scared oblivious to how much her sister knew.
"I mean I know about Zoe, the fight, the bullying, the suspension and the not-life-threatening-at-all song." Katie informed her albeit the last bit sarcastically. However, before Maya could respond Katie continued. "I'll admit I was a little upset to find out about all of it from the internet and our mum instead of my little sister." Katie then sat down beside Maya on the couch staring at her.
"I just didn't want you to be disappointed in me." Maya muffled from behind her hand which she had over her mouth. "Maya, I was bulimic, had a pill addiction, got kicked out of student office for sabotaging a school video and almost had sex with a guy for fifty thousand dollars. Nothing you do could ever disappoint me." Katie said sincerely.
"You say that but even after all that happened to you; you got into Stanford whereas people at school still haven't stopped calling me a slut. I've tried ignoring them but it doesn't make it hurt any less." Maya admitted her gaze dropping down to the floor.
"I understand that Maya, I remember when Mo a really good friend of mine called me a prostitute. It hurt like hell but eventually he and Jake got over it and so will everyone at school." Katie told Maya optimistically.
"Katie that was one person and he only forgave you because Jake forgave you. I'm talking about pretty much everyone at the school. The only people who don't care are Tristan, Winston and Miles. The seniors don't really care but everyone else treats me like I'm an STD. It's worse than it was after Cam." Maya retorted.
"You're right I don't know what that's like but I do think that you should just stick with your friends for a while until he next big thing happens. I mean this is Degrassi we're talking about. Soon somebody will have a pregnancy scare or cheat on their girlfriend and nobody's going to care about the video." Katie told Maya.
"I know that it will eventually stop but that doesn't make it any easier to deal with now." Maya confessed before continuing on. "But I don't want to be sad or upset right now so let's talk about something else."
Katie sighed but nodded in agreement. "Alright, how's your music going?" Maya's attitude immediately seemed to perk up before she spoke. "Music has been really good lately. I've actually been collaborating quite a bit lately." Maya admitted.
"Who have you been collaborating with? I hope it's not Zig because no matter how nice he was to you after Cam I just don't think he's a good person for you to be hanging out with." Katie told her.
"No, actually Zig and I haven't really spoken much this year. I've just been collaborating with my friend." Maya responded vaguely.
Katie raised her right eyebrow suspiciously before asking again "Who?" Maya avoided eye contact with her older sister while answering. "Just Miles." Katie noticed her sister's lack of eye contact and her suspicions grew stronger. "Oh, well who's Miles?"
Maya looked at anything but Katie and awkwardly chuckled "Nobody." Katie could obviously tell that her sister was lying and stood up before speaking assertively.
"Maya, who is Miles?" Maya groaned. "Fine, you got me. Miles is my boyfriend." Katie looked as if she wanted to say something but Maya spoke before she could.
"I met him during the summer and we started dating after my whole Zoe song fiasco. He's really sweet and funny and cute and respectful and he's not a jerk as much as he wants some people to believe he is." Maya rambled on. Katie laughed before stopping her. "Maya stop; I'm glad that you're happy." Maya looked at her sister surprised.
"Really, because I was worried you were going to…" Katie cut her off in the middle of her sentence by holding her hand up signalling for her to stop. "However, I'm going to have to meet this Miles to make sure that he's a good guy and isn't just going to screw you over."
"Katie I love you and everything but you don't get a say in who I date." Maya told Katie sternly. "Maya, ever since what happened with Drew I have a radar when it comes to bad guys. If Miles is a good guy he'll pass, if not… well it is better that you know now." Katie retorted smartly.
"You have a radar? Katie, you have got to be joking. What about that guy you flipped at Little Miss Steaks for no good reason?" Maya asked smugly. "Please Maya that guy was an ass. It was obvious." Katie replied, easily waving it off as no big deal.
Maya huffed and rolled her eyes. "When you met Cam you thought that he was a bad guy and just wanted me for sex and then he turned out to be the complete opposite." Maya points out but her mood dampened a little thinking about Cam.
Katie hesitated scared to upset Maya before she answered "You can't blame me for that. He was an ice hound anybody would of thought he was a womanizer. I mean you do remember Dallas right?"
"From memory Dallas didn't date anybody at all last year except for one date with Alli." Maya exasperatingly pointed out.
"Yeah, but…" Katie started to say before being spoken over by Maya. "No Katie, even if Miles was a bad guy which he is NOT you don't get to decide who I do and don't date."
"Chicken little, I'm just trying to look out for you." Katie stated sweetly. Maya sighed before she answered. "I know Katie, but this conversation was pointless anyway because uh…" Maya quickly tried to think of an excuse as to why Katie couldn't meet Miles. "Because Miles is away for all of break. Yeah, that makes total sense he's away to um visit family." Maya blurted out hastily. "Where?" Katie asked. "In a place, a place that is called um it's called Winnipeg. Yeah, Winnipeg." Maya thought up.
Katie suspiciously scrutinized her but believed her. "Oh, well maybe next time then." Maya exhaled a breath of relief before she responded. "Yeah, maybe we'll see." Katie nodded at her not suspecting a thing. "Alright so tell me about how horrible this Zoe girl is to you and all human kind?" Maya smiled before she told Katie in extreme detail about what a horrendous human being Zoe was.
Twenty minutes later after she heard a funny story about Stanford; Maya offered to go get drinks for them both. "Hey, Katie what drink do you want?" Maya shouted from the kitchen. "Just bring me some water." Katie shouted back just as Maya's phone buzzed from the coffee table. "What's the magic word?" Maya taunted condescendingly. "Maya you just got a text." Katie retorted, staring at Maya's phone which had lit up with Miles' face.
"That's not the magic word Katie." Maya said jokingly. "Hahaha Maya. Do you want me to see what it says?" Katie asked. "Sure. Go ahead it's probably just Tristan." Maya replied carelessly.
"Actually, it's from Miles and it says Hey Maya Mat, super bored. Do you wanna have lunch at the Dot tomorrow? That's strange, unless of course there's a Dot restaurant in Winnipeg and you just so happen to be visiting him tomorrow." Katie told Maya sarcastically.
"Ok so I might have bended the truth a little when I said he was visiting family." Maya excused. Katie raised her eyebrow at her. "Ok so maybe I bended the truth a lot; but I'm just not ready for you to meet him yet." Maya stood her ground.
"Well now I have to meet him. Text him back and tell him that he will be having lunch tomorrow with both of us." Katie ordered.
"No, I won't text Miles that because we're not having lunch with him tomorrow." Maya answered back firmly.
"Maya, that wasn't a question." Katie sternly told Maya.
"Katie, you can't tell me what to do." Maya replied angrily. "This isn't a conversation Maya. We're meeting him tomorrow. End of discussion." Katie said grabbing her water.
"But Katie…" Maya tried to argue to no avail. "I said end of discussion." Katie spoke affirmatively.
Maya glaring daggers at Katie spoke softly but angrily "You know just because you act like it half the time doesn't actually make you my Mum. I already have one of those and I definitely don't need two."
She then huffed angrily before storming out of the house without a jacket or her phone. She could hear Katie calling after her but she ignored her and started walking to Tristan's house.
Maya can't seriously believe Katie just spoke to her like that. Just because Katie's three years older didn't mean she could just tell her what to do. She's always acted like that but it had been so much more prominent since she left for college. In every phone call or Skype session she tells her what to do. It is so frustrating. She's fifteen for god's sake not seven.
Maya stopped walking when she arrived at Tristan's house. She stormed up the front steps to his front door before knocking more loudly than she usually would have. Tristan's brother Owen answered the door.
"Hey little Matlin, I'm assuming you're here to see our latest house guest. They're upstairs acting out some hospital scene from that show they watch all the time. You know the one I'm talking about." Owen told her while he opened the door for her to come in.
"You mean West Drive." Maya told him quietly still a little bit intimidated by him.
"Whatever." Owen said before going back in to watch some muscle building show.
Maya quickly headed upstairs to Tristan's room where she knew Tristan and Tori would be doing a dramatic re-enactment of Zoe's west drive character's death. She smiled a little forgetting her problems when she remembered that Tori her female best friend who she hadn't seen in six months would be there. While she did love Tristan she missed having a female around to talk to or go to for advice. For a second she thought maybe Zoe could be that person but that didn't exactly work out the way she hoped it would. She was just glad she could see Tori again. With both Tori and Tristan there they'll easily be able to give her advice and help her with her problems.
With that in mind she opened the door and saw her two best friends playing west drive. Tori was laying on the bed with a white sheet over her and Tristan was standing next to her with what she was pretty sure was a sports cup over his mouth and a plastic knife and fork which he was using to perform 'surgery' on Tori.
"Do you seriously have a sports cup over your mouth right now?" Maya asked a little creeped out.
"It's not yours Owen, I swea- Oh Maya it's you. What a lovely surprise." Tristan greeted her taking off the cup and smiling.
"And don't worry we washed it like a thousand times." Tori said getting off the bed. When she stood up she could see that Tori had dip dyed her hair blonde and had straightened it.
"Hey Tori, I'm really glad to see you." Maya told her before she hugged her tightly. "I've missed you heaps."
"Aw Maya, I've missed you too. Tristan told me about the fan page thing. I was so disappointed to learn that the girl who played my favourite character is such a bitch!" Tori replied mid hug.
"Yeah, it's a shame really; she's so talented." Tristan added to the conversation. "We were just acting out Gatsby's death scene." He continued.
"Yeah, I noticed. I love your hair by the way Tori." Maya changed the subject off of Zoe.
"Oh, I know isn't it fab. Oh, sorry Tristan I didn't mean fab as in your ex-crush Fab I meant fab as in you know- oh never mind the point is my hair looks great." Tori stated factually.
"Actually, when Tori changed her hair I decided to bleach mine; so thank you Tori." Tristan added.
"You're always welcome Tris." Tori replied cheekily.
"So anyway, Maya what brings you here?" Tristan queried her.
"Me, obviously." Tori butted in.
"While that is true Tor, I also just had to get away from my sister." Maya said. "But why? You were so excited to see her earlier." Tristan responded. "I know but she found out I was dating Miles and she…" Maya started but Tori cut her off. "You still need to tell me all about him. All I know is what Tristan has told me which is that another guy that he had a crush on is definitely not gay and really into you, Maya." Tristan looked scandalized before he retorted "Sorry but I was a little too busy listening to you go on and on about your new boyfriend."
Maya could tell that a fight was about to break out so she spoke before it could start. "Guys, while I'm sure this is a very important conversation can I tell you about my problem? I'm not sure how long I can stay here for."
Tristan and Tori shared a look before apologising and gesturing for her to finish her story. Maya then went on to briefly explain the fight Katie and her had before she came over to Tristan's.
"I mean she's being completely ridiculous right? She has no right to meet Miles or to tell me what to do." Maya finished her explanation with. Both Tori and Tristan looked sceptical and curious.
"One of you say something, please." Maya pleaded desperately. Tori and Tristan shared another look that Maya couldn't decipher before Tori opened her mouth to share her thoughts on the subject.
"Well, while Katie has absolutely no right to tell you what to do; maybe you should just let her meet Miles. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."
Tristan nodded his head in agreement before speaking "Yeah and it will make Katie's trip a lot more fun and easy if you get this out of the way now. Not to mention that Miles is a charmer so he'll be fine."
They both seemed to think that they were done with the subject but Maya was nowhere near done talking about it. "How can you two brush this off so easily?" Maya asked.
Tori cautiously opened her mouth several times before she spoke. "Honestly Maya, you're both sort of being melodramatic about the whole thing. I mean seriously it really isn't a very big deal."
"You wouldn't be saying that if you knew how Katie acted when she met Cam. It was really embarrassing and she asked him if he was a virgin and other stupid questions about love. I don't want her talking to Miles about that sort of thing. Commitment isn't really his favourite thing." Maya told them drearily.
They both "Ohhh" in what Maya thought was understanding. "Yes, finally you two get it." Maya replied.
"Uh no it isn't that exactly it's just; are you sure Miles is the one with the commitment issues?" Tristan questioned thoughtfully.
"What do you mean?" Maya asked confused.
"Well, ever since Cam you've kind of been afraid of anything with too much commitment and what Tristan and I think is that you think Miles meeting anybody in your family is a really big step and you're scared this relationship is moving too quickly." Tori added considerately.
"What-uh-no-nothing-but; this has nothing to do with Cam." Maya eventually sputtered out.
"I think it has more to do with Cam than you realise." Tristan said.
"It's been 8 months since he died and you're worried that you're moving into another big relationship too soon. Kind of like you're not taking enough time to remember Cam but Maya, Cam wouldn't want you to be afraid of moving on. Cheesy would want you to take every step possible into moving on and being completely happy. And I think that making your relationship with Miles more serious could be one of those final steps." Tori advised in her therapeutic voice.
Maya finally realised they were right and it had been more about Cam than she thought felt a little bit relieved but also sad. "I guess it's just sometimes when I'm with other people especially Miles I suddenly feel really guilty for being happy without Cam here." Maya admitted to what she had never told anyone before.
"That's ok Maya. It's normal but it is ok for you to be happy with someone else. He wouldn't want you to not introduce Miles to your family out of fear that you're hurting him." Tristan informed her.
Maya finally connecting all the dots realised they were right and while Katie might not like Miles this needed to happen so she could move forward with her life. "Thanks guys, this really helped." She told them with a grin.
"Well duh Maya, we're always here for you. Well, I am she's heading back to British Colombia in two weeks." Tristan sassily replied. Tori rolled her eyes before hugging Maya again.
"Guys I'll catch up with you again over the next two weeks but right now I need to go home and set up a date with my boyfriend and my sister. Bye." Maya hurriedly told them while heading for the door.
"Good luck. Oh and don't tell my brother that we're using his sports cup." Tristan called after her.
She headed back downstairs but before leaving she quickly turned to Owen to warn him before leaving. "Um Owen, don't go upstairs for a little while. Ok?"
"Why, did my brother magically decide he was straight and thought he should have a little roll around in the hay with his oldest friend?" Owen asked Maya creepily.
"Um first of all; gross, second of all you're disgusting and thirdly don't go upstairs." Maya told him still haunted by the image of Tori and Tristan.
"Whatever, I guess." Owen replied.
Maya rolled her eyes before walking out and muttered 'whatever' under her breath.
She quickly rushed home to speak to Katie and text Miles. She hoped her parents were still out but it wasn't likely.
When she arrived home her mum's car wasn't in the driveway so she had figured they were still out. She walked into her home and was immediately met with a hug from Katie.
"Holy crap Maya! Where were you? You can't just run out without your phone."
"Katie, relax I was just seeing Tristan and Tori and they made me realise that it wouldn't be too horrible for you to meet Miles." Maya admitted.
"Well, that's good because I already texted him with your phone and set up a time for tomorrow." Katie swiftly replied.
"What-Kati- ugh whatever." Maya uttered in retort before realising Katie had had her phone with all of her conversations with Miles. Oh crap.
"Wait you didn't read my conversations did you?" Maya sheepishly asked.
Katie narrowed her eyes at her "No, why?"
"No reason." Maya replied easily. Before the conversation could go any further their parents arrived home.
AN2: This was my first story so it's not that great. Please only give constructive criticism to help with my writing. Let me know in the reviews if you want me to do a second chapter with the lunch or leave it like this. Anyway please review.