future fic

She hadn't seen him years, and when she's saying years, she literally means years. She's twenty-four now, an official consensual adult, presumably. It had been, what? Six years since they last saw each other face to face. Not since they graduated.

He went to Harvard probably, she didn't know.. or care.. (at least that's what she told herself.) While she managed to make it into Columbia. (She had amazingly managed to get her shit together in the tenth grade and graduated at the top of her class behind him and Farkle and obviously - Riley.)

She's in a happy unstable relationship, so no - she shouldn't be thinking about him six years later after they broke it off and never talked again. And if she was one-hundred percent completely honest with herself, she did in fact think of him from time to time and how he's the "one who got away."

So why, out of all things and all ads in the newspaper did this one catch her attention and remind her of him?

Fortune Cookie, it read, new Chinese Restaurant out on 1st Blv. Come check it out!

And if it was something she said to him while they were in their fetus stages of life, she certainly doesn't remember. The restaurant name Fortune Cookie, for some odd reason, reminds her of his face. That happy Texas face...

:::

She feels like a paperclip. She remembers in Science of 8th grade, they did this weird experiment with paperclips and magnets and the paperclips were drawn to the magnet because they're.. well, paperclips, she doesn't really remember.

And this restaurant allegedly named Fortune Cookie has drawn her here. Like.. like a big gigantic human magnet.

It's new, so it's nice and it's all Chinese looking and she figures she has ought to like it. She doesn't really enjoy Chinese food, but she can bear through it if she has to; and yes, if you're wondering, she does have to.

She just.. has to.. go to the Chinese restaurant.

And she's absolutely hoping that this Chinese restaurant is awful so that she can forget Lucas Friar and if she ever does remember him she'll remember that Chinese restaurant she went to that one time that reminded her of him and then she'll hate him forever.

Her hopes are high-ish in hoping this place is sheer awful, I mean - how good can a Chinese restaurant get? She's certain that the goodness factor has to exceed somewhere, and she's completely picky with her food - and on top of that, she doesn't even like Chinese that much.

Besides, she's not even here with her on and off boyfriend. He's currently somewhere off in Tokyo or Japan or maybe the Bahamas, she doesn't really know; probably having sex with some prostitutes off the side of the road.

But she's not mad, not really.

If anything, it's something she should have expected with her boyfriends. It's part of a package deal when you're Maya Hart. You get the shitty guys, and when you come across someone good, he gets away.

And she relates, she really does. She gets it. Because you would be thinking to herself, oh god - what would it be like to kiss or have sex with someone that isn't my significant other at said current time? And it's not like I really want to know, because I don't, but I want to be rebellious for once in my lifetime (like actually rebellious) - and I'm Maya Hart so being rebellious isn't new and it's my Senior year, I have to cheat once in my life, right?

So all she did was kiss Jeffery Connors, I mean, it wasn't anything bad. And it was half dare half I'm going to do it for the hell of it and stop listening to everything Lucas says, and then she realizes after she got caught in the act by said boyfriend that kissing Jeffery Connors was an awful idea, because she doesn't want to be rebellious - she wants to date Lucas.

But that's all in the past and she's over it. Besides, she's the one that broke it off. Lucas said that he understood and all that crazy shit, because she's Maya and I love you Maya and oh god I would never be mad at you Maya!

And she loved him too, she really did, but she felt so awful for betraying his trust and maybe he wouldn't be able to trust her again. She wouldn't be able to live with herself, would she? She wouldn't be able to date someone she loved - like, really loved - without mutual trust. She wouldn't be able to do that. And with anyone she loved, actually. Riley, the Matthews, and Farkle.

The list was short.

And, so, here she was. At a Chinese restaurant because her high school sweetheart reminded her of this. (And honestly, truly, he was more than a high school sweetheart. She was just stubborn.)

:::

She hadn't been to a Chinese restaurant in awhile, to be completely honest. The last time she want was three years ago with Ry. Riley absolutely loved Chinese, Maya didn't understand, so she made her go for her birthday. And of course, she did.

It was awful.

She didn't know if this restaurant was fast food like Panda Express or.. or - she didn't know how to call it. She hadn't been in a sit down restaurant for awhile, actually. Oh, wait! Yes, that's what it's called. A sit down restaurant.

"Is this a - er - uh - a sit down restaurant?" she asks at the front podium.

"Yes Ma'am," a Chinese woman speaks in a Texas accent.

This is odd, she thinks.

But yet, it remains her even more of Lucas. "Party of two? Are ya' goin' to wait for someone?"

She shook her head fiercely. "No - uh, just a party of one please."

The Texas-speaking Chinese woman led her to her table located in the back corner. It was full, but not so full that there was a waiting list. She handed her a menu and she began to read off the food.

This Chinese food reminded her of Riley's birthday three years ago.

She was scarred for life.

:::

As she finished her fourth serving of food, she reached for the fortune cookie, but was stopped before she could touch it.

The Texas-speaking Chinese woman came up and intercepted her.

"Enjoying your food, Ma'am?" she asked her. "Would you like anther serving?"

As it turns out, Maya was wrong. The food at Fortune Cookie was absolutely delicious, which was sad.. kind of. She could rank it in her top ten list of favorite restaurants to go to - you know, if she had one.

"Yes, thank you Ping," she said with a smile. "But no to the extra servings. I'm stuffed to the brim. You can bring the bill if you'd like. I'm just going to eat my cookie now."

She reached for it - once again - but Ping stopped her for the second time. "Sorry, Ma'am. You can't have that one. We have received special instructions from the fortune cookie specialist to give you this cookie."

Ping then proceeded to give her another fortune cookie wrapped exactly the same.

"Fortune cookie specialist?"

"Ah, yes Ma'am. We have a fortune cookie specialist that reviews all of the fortunes that go in the cookies. Also, he makes the fortunes. He's our specialist."

Really? she thought.

She cleared her throat. Was it poisoned? Maybe the fortune cookie specialist was one of her ex-boyfriends. Maybe her pile of ex-boyfriends formed a Chinese restaurant just to kill her.

Maybe.

"Thank you, Ping."

After Ping left, she figured it was time to open her cookie. It must be something special if people had to receive special instructions from their fortune cookie specialist. That must be a big deal.

The cookie opened with a crack, and some crumbs filed around the table. A small paper fell out. It read:

You were right, I did make a great fortune cookie. Multiple, actually.

Her eyes quickly filed over the menu, reading over the employees.

Fortune Cookie Specialist - Lucas Friar

THIS WAS REALLY WEIRD LMAO