Maya Hart walked into the Intro to Art classroom, feeling both nervous and excited. When her art teacher, Mr. Jackson, mentioned that some local universities were reserving spots in some of their entry level classes for high school juniors as part of a special program to promote post-secondary education, she jumped at the opportunity. A couple different schools offered art classes, but of course Maya picked New York University. Not just because a certain someone was a junior there, but because NYU was a great school for studying art and where she planned on applying next year. Luckily, the art teacher at the university liked the piece she submitted and picked her right back. It was like it was meant to be.
Maya glanced around the room that smelled like paint and clay and watched other students file in. They seemed to be picking seats at random and sitting down, so Maya shrugged and sat down in front of the nearest wooden easel in the middle of the room. She smiled as she traced her hand along the oak edges of the easel and smoothed out the large white canvas staring back at her, then Maya began to reorganize the paints that sat along the easel's ledge, undoing the ROYGBIV color palate it was preset in. She was moving the yellow to the far end when a voice interrupted her.
"Maya?" Questioned an all too familiar voice.
Despite the familiarity of the voice, Maya was still shocked to hear it. Obviously, she knew he went to this university, but she never thought she'd actually see him, especially in Intro to Art. So, turning her head in surprise, she simply and automatically repeated his sentiment.
"Josh?" She queried then added, "What are you doing here?"
He gave her one of his boyish grins then replied, "It's my university. What are you doing here?"
"I asked you first." Maya retorted cheekily as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"I have to take a certain number of art credits to graduate. I'm not much of an artist, but I already took Intro to Music, and this sounded less painful than Intro to Theatre." Josh explained, half-serious, half-joking.
"So, basically, you picked the lesser of two evils." Maya responded.
"Pretty much." Josh nodded, putting his hands inside his jean pockets. "Your turn. How did you wind up in this class?"
Maya quickly told him all about the program that her art teacher recommended and how she was accepted. Josh couldn't help but smile at how she beamed with pride and talked with such enthusiasm.
"Well, congratulations. I'm really happy for you." Josh answered truthfully.
Maya smiled back, but before she could respond, the teacher burst through the door. She was a tall, skinny woman with short, gray hair that poofed out from her purple headband. The professor, who had to at least be in her sixties, called out to the class, "Sorry, I'm late! Please, take your seats, take your seats."
Maya noticed the professor was wearing jeans and combat boots with her purple blouse. She smirked, immediately liking the woman. Maya couldn't wait to learn from her. Unfortunately, her smile didn't last long after hearing the chirp of another female voice.
"Hey, Josh, over here!" Called a pretty brunette from two rows up. Her hair was long, straight and absolutely perfect just like her outfit, which consisted of a sweater and mini-skirt. Maya thought the skirt was a weird choice for January, but it looked cute nonetheless, and the pale pink of her sweater looked great against her mocha colored skin tone. "I saved you a seat." She finished, patting the stool beside her.
Maya suddenly felt deflated. She was officially jealous of mystery girl's style, beauty, and access to Joshua Matthews. By the way she was talking to him, they clearly knew each other. Who knew how many classes they had had together before or even had together now or maybe... maybe they knew each other outside of class. Ugh... that was something Maya really didn't want to think about. She wasn't stupid, Maya new that he probably hung out with college girls, that there were tons of them that paid him lots of attention. She just hated being reminded of that fact, and now Maya got to be reminded of it every Thursday for two whole hours.
Maya was mid eye-roll when Josh replied, "Thanks, Bianca, but I'm good."
Bianca's face fell as her gaze followed Josh's and landed on Maya. Her eyes narrowed as she took in Maya's presence then she turned around with huff and waited for class to begin.
"This seat taken?" He continued, this time speaking to Maya, as he gestured to the seat next to hers.
"It's all yours." She smiled. Josh grinned back and took his seat.
"All right, class," The teacher spoke up just then. "My name is Dr. Lissio. Welcome to Intro to Art where you are going discover your true self and express that person through different mediums over the course of the semester. I'm looking forward to getting to know who each and every one of you are on the inside through what you do on the outside, and the first step in doing that is giving you a little freedom. So, I want you to take the paints and canvas in front of you and spend today's class showing me who you are and what you are feeling. And remember, when in doubt, just go with your gut and follow your instincts, wherever they may lead. After all, that is what being a true artist is all about."
If she liked the professor before, now Maya officially loved her. Free paint for two hours? Awesome. And that advice? Inspiring. She could wait to see what the rest of the semester held.
"And on that note," Dr. Lissio added. "You may begin."
Maya took a deep breath then dove into her assignment. She reached for a brush then stopped, deciding to follow her gut, like the professor instructed, and instead dip her fingers directly into the paint. The green gooey substance felt cool and slimy between her pointer and middle fingers as she grabbed some to use. Smearing the paint across the canvas, she let her instincts takeover and cleared her mind, not giving another thought to Bianca or even Josh.
Okay, that last part was a lie. Maya couldn't ignore Josh, even if she wanted to, and the same goes for Josh about Maya. That's why they only made it about 5 minutes before Josh couldn't help but playfully tease her on her finger painting skills. From there the conversation flowed on and off throughout the entire class period about anything and everything.
There was about five minutes left in the period when Dr. Lissio came over to check out Maya's piece.
"Wonderful, Maya, Just wonderful." She smiled as she moved in for a closer look at her abstract painting. "I'm getting the sense you have a wild spirit in you. Don't let that go, it's those kind of qualities that make artists great."
"Thank you, and I won't. I promise." Maya meant it too. She lost herself once before and after all the drama it caused, Maya swore she would never lose herself again.
Dr. Lissio smiled, then looked to Josh's piece. It was a some sort of landscape. "Not bad, Mr. Matthews, not bad."
As the professor moved along to the next row of students, Maya glanced at his work and was surprised. It was the view... the view they spent hours admiring together... the view from the ski lodge window. Before she could ask about it, the teacher's voice rang out across the room, gathering everyone's attention.
"Attention, class, that'll be all for tonight. Clean up your paints and brushes, and then you're dismissed."
"Here," Maya said as she extended a painted covered hand. "I'll wash out your brushes, if you cap my paints."
"Deal." Josh said, then handed her his brushes. She had just spun on her heels, when Josh grabbed her sweater clad arm and whirled her back around. "Wait, you got a little, uh, here, let me..." He trailed off, giving her a boyish grin, then wiped a smudge of blue paint from her cheek with his thumb. His hand lingered for just a moment before he pulled away.
Maya's face flushed from the contact of his hand and the embarrassment of the situation. She mumbled a quick thanks and headed toward the sink in the back of the room. How humiliating. Maya mentally scolded herself, but at least she thought to wear her hair pulled back into a ponytail so she didn't have to worry about paint being in her hair.
Once the brushes were rinsed, Maya put them on the drying rack, then proceeded to scrub her hands clean. After tossing the paper towel she used to dry her hands, Maya turned around as she smoothed out her cream-colored, wool, turtleneck sweater, coming face to face with Bianca.
Bianca rolled her eyes before she spoke, "You know, it doesn't matter how cute you try to make yourself look, you are still too young for him."
"What? I'm not-" Maya defended.
"Save it." Bianca told her. "I know Josh well enough to know that he has the power to make any girl fall head over heels for him, but, the thing is, he isn't going to fall for just any girl, especially a young thing like yourself. He needs someone who is not only his age, but someone who is in his league."
"And that would be you?" Maya questioned dryly as she tried to hold her own.
"Of course," Bianca stated matter-of-factly. "We've been friends for two years now, playing this little game of cat-and-mouse. It's only a matter of time before we make things official."
That fact made Maya swallow... hard. He hadn't mentioned anything about Bianca during class, dating her or otherwise, but maybe he just didn't want o jinx anything.
Suddenly, feeling very uncomfortable, Maya just stood there in silence.
"In the mean time," Bianca continued. "I don't need anyone getting in the way and messing up what me and Josh have. So, BACK. OFF." She added the last bit forcefully, emphasizing each word by flinging red paint across Maya's sweater and skinny jeans.
Maya arms flew up on instinct as her mouth popped open in disbelief.
"Oops, sorry." Bianca said with such a tone that indicated she was anything but, then pushed passed her to the sink.
Maya stormed back to her easel to grab her coat.
"Maya- what happened to you?" Josh questioned as he finished zipping up his fleece-lined, leather jacket.
"Nothing, just a little mishap with the brushes." Maya lied, not wanting to get into the details of her conversation with Bianca. "I better get home before this stains." She added, then turned to leave.
"Wait, just come to my apartment and use my washer. It's right here on campus, so it's much closer than your mom's place, giving you a better chance at saving your outfit from being permanently ruined." Josh said, hand still on her forearm as he waited for a response.
"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to cramp your college lifestyle." She teased.
"I'm sure. In fact, I insist." He assured, giving her that charming grin of his.
Maya bit her lip as she thought it over. She really didn't want to impose, but these jeans were her favorite. Besides, it wasn't like she was in a rush to get home otherwise. They were off school tomorrow for teacher in-service.
Taking a deep breath, Maya finally smiled and replied, "All right-y then. Let's go."
Returning her smile, Josh moved his hand from her arm to her back, then guided her out of the classroom.
It didn't hit Maya until she was standing in front of the washer at Josh's place, that she didn't have anything to wear while her clothes would be in the wash.
"What's wrong?" Josh queried. "Haven't you ever used a washing machine before?" He teased, quirking his brow.
"Of course I have. It's just... I have no extra clothes with me." Maya explained.
"Oh, no worries." Josh said, then disappeared into his room only to appear seconds later with a pile of folded clothes in hand. "Here, you can wear these."
"Thanks," Maya said. "Uh, bathroom?"
Josh pointed to the door across from his bedroom, and Maya headed off to change.
Once she was in the bathroom, Maya took off her clothes, careful to not get paint on any of his things, and set them in a pile on the tile floor. Next, she went for the clothes Josh had given her and slipped the blue Knicks tee-shirt on over her head. Glancing in the mirror, Maya couldn't help but chuckle. The tee all but swallowed her, making a better dress than shirt. Moving along, she picked up the pants and gave Josh a silent thanks for thinking to grab shorts. Now way his long pants would fit her short, little legs. Maya had to roll the waistband a couple times to get the fit manageable, but they worked. Unfortunately, the shorts rode up under the hem line of the shirt, making it seem like she wasn't wearing any pants at all. Oh well, at least she knew they were there and that her bottom wouldn't be exposed.
Shrugging away the concern about her shorts, Maya reached for her ponytail and took out her hair band, letting her long locks fall down her back. She sighed in relief as she rubbed her temples. Anytime Maya wore her thick hair up for too long, she would get a headache. Oh, the pain of having great hair.
Sliding her hair band onto her wrist, Maya picked up her clothes and headed back into Josh's living area, opened up the large closet the washer and dryer were stored in, and tossed in her outfit.
"I ordered some pizza." Josh informed her. "I thought we could eat and watch a movie while we wait on your clothes."
"Works for me." Maya responded as she closed up the laundry area and turned to face Josh.
At the sound of her voice, Josh looked up from his phone and took in her appearance. His eyes lit up and widened in surprise. He stuttered a moment until his mouth finally formed the words, "Didn't I give you pants?"
Maya smirked and said, "Yes, but the nightgown you gave me covers them up."
"Oh." He said simply. His mind kept wandering, thinking about how good she looked in his clothes, but he shook it off. She was still in high school and, therefore, off limits.
"You okay?" She wondered aloud after noting his odd expression.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Get it together, man. Josh scolded himself. "Just thinking about what movie to watch. You can pick." He babbled then gestured to his movie collection on the shelf next to the television.
As Maya scanned the collection of comedies and action flicks, she couldn't help but ask, "So, how do you know Bianca?"
"She's a friend. We've had a few classes together." Josh said, shrugging noncommittally. "I helped her pass calc 2 freshman year, while she totally saved my butt in physics."
"Oh." Maya replied, thinking to herself that Bianca probably set the whole tutoring thing up from the first day she laid eyes on Josh. I mean, what kind of person can pass physics but not calculus? Either way, Not wanting to come off as nosy or predatory, she decided to stop asking questions. Besides, she didn't know if she could stand hearing the answers.
So, after a moment of slightly awkward silence, Maya plucked the movie Anchorman from his shelf, turned around, and said, "This one."
Handing it to Josh, she moved to sit on his faux leather couch, while he proceeded to set it up in the DVD player before joining her. The rest of the night went by in a breeze until Maya and Josh fell asleep, her head on his shoulder, with their feet propped up on the coffee table and a half eaten pizza next to them.
A familiar, loud noise startled Josh awake: the garbage truck. It always made a big ruckus as it emptied out the apartment complex's dumpster. That commotion was his alarm every Friday morning at 8 o'clock . Wait a minute, it's Friday? Josh suddenly thought to himself as he took in a sleepy Maya who was cuddle up beside him. Trying to clear his head, he worked to put all the pieces together inside of his groggy mind: Maya coming over after class, watching a movie, then falling asleep. He remembered watching her fall asleep on his shoulder the night before. Not wanting to disturb her, Josh told himself that he would wait until the movie ended before waking her, but he must have passed out shortly after. Checking his phone, which still lay on the coffee table, he confirmed the date and cursed under his breath. If he didn't wake Maya up and get her out of here soon, then someone would notice her missing and they'd both be in big trouble. Not that they did anything wrong, perse, except maybe miss curfew, but still.
"Maya, wake up." Josh said sweetly, his morning voice a little husky. "We gotta get you home."
"Hmmm?" Maya replied, lifting her head off of Josh's shoulder.
"We accidently slept through the night." Josh told her.
"What?" She replied more coherently. Josh just smirked as he watched her open her eyes and process where she was and what he had just said. Maya then quickly added, "Oh, my god." and sat up straight as a pole.
"It's okay, just grab your clothes and go change. Then, I'll walk you down to the subway entrance. You'll be back before they realize you weren't even there."
"Wait..." Maya said, her brain coming out of her usual morning fog. "It's fine. Mom and Shawn think I slept over Riley's. That was the original game plan. I'll just shoot Riles a quick text to explain what happened, but since I have no missed texts, something tells me a certain Huckleberry probably showed up for a midnight rendezvous and distracted our little peach." Maya added, smiling knowingly at her phone.
After sending a text message to Riley, Maya's thoughts were confirmed, and she told Riley what really happened the previous night. Being the best friend that she is, Riley said she'd cover for her incase the 'rents asked any questions.
"In that case..." Josh began after Maya put her phone down. "How about we go grab some breakfast... and then I'll walk you home."
"I'd like that." Maya nodded happily, making Josh grin boyishly. Then, she grabbed her clothes from the dryer and went to the bathroom to change.
Left alone in the room, Josh waltzed over to the laundry closet and discarded the shirt he slept in, putting it in the hamper. Turning around, he headed toward his room, undoing his belt as he walked, a habit that naturally formed after many years of being the only kid in the house. As he approached the doorway, he heard a knock on the door, so he made his way back to the front door to answer it.
"My brotha!" His big brother, Cory, called out as the door swung open.
"From anotha motha!" Shawn , a family friend, added, not wanting to feel left out.
"Hey, guys." Josh said. "What's up?" He added, trying to calm his beating heart as he silently prayed that Maya would hear their voices and stay in the bathroom.
"You ready to go?" Cory asked excitedly.
"Go where?" Josh asked, feeling confused.
"Anywhere we want. It's guy's day, remember?"
"We get to hang out all day!" Cory cheered. "And we are starting with the breakfast buffet at Wilson's Waffle House... man, I love that Wilson!" He added, picturing that delectable breakfast he was about eat...and eat, and eat, and eat.
"Okay, just give me five minutes and -" Josh was about to say he'd meet them in the parking-lot, but before he could a certain girlish voice interrupted the conversation.
"Hey, Josh? Do you have an extra..." Maya rounded the corner on the other side of the living area, still scantily clad in Josh's clothes, and finished with wide eyes, "toothbrush?"
Maya stood there frozen in both embarrassment and disbelief, while Josh looked back at Cory and Shawn, trying to figure out a way to explain the situation.
"Maya?! What are you doing here- what are you wearing?" Shawn asked pointedly as anger quickly coated his face.
"I'll tell you what she's wearing, the Knicks shirt Riley got Josh this past Christmas." Cory answered sternly. "But I'm more concerned about what she's not wearing."
Over the shock of Maya in Josh's clothes, Shawn considered Cory's statement, got a better look at his daughter and practically shouted, "Maya Penelope, where are your pants?!"
"They're right here, would you relax." Maya told him as she lifted the shirt up to reveal the shorts that were hidden beneath."
"UNDERPANTS!" Cory yelled in response.
"No, they're shorts." Maya said with a huff as she dropped her shirt and crossed her arms.
"Look," Josh interjected. "If you just give us a minute, we can explain everything."
"Oh, really?" Shawn countered. "Please explain then. You can start by explaining why you are shirtless with your pants undone IN FRONT OF MY DAUGHTER!"
Josh and Maya's faces both turned beat red as they realized just how bad this looked.
"I know this looks bad." Josh admitted, verbalizing his thoughts. "But it's really not what you're thinking." He finished as he hurried to re-buckle his belt.
"Definitely not." Maya assured, then moved forward until she was standing next to Josh. "It's just a big misunderstanding. You see, Josh and I are taking the same Thursday night art class on campus and this girl got paint all over me, so-"
"So I offered her my washing machine." Josh finished, not missing the part about some girl being behind the paint mishap. He wanted to ask her about it but knew that now was not the time. "Then, we came back here to wash her clothes before the paint stains had a chance to set."
"Yeah," Maya confirmed then continued. "and Josh was nice enough to lend me some of his clothes to wear while mine were being cleaned, that's why I am dressed like this."
"And while her clothes washed and dried, we decided to watch a movie, but we ended up falling asleep half way through, and then it was morning." Josh explained, throwing a random shirt from the laundry room over his torso as he spoke.
"Well, there you go, Shawny. It really was just a big misunderstanding. Why don't we go have a big laugh over some even bigger waffles?" Cory tried to soothe his friend all while making his mouth water. He really was looking forward to his waffles.
"Not so fast." Shawn said, causing Cory to frown and whine. After Cory was done, he went on to add, "I'm still concerned here. Nobody has explained the pants." He finished gesturing toward Josh.
Josh sighed and ran a hand through his hair before answering, "Maya was changing in the bathroom, and I started changing out here. I'm used to being alone or hanging out with the guys, so when you knocked, I guess it just didn't occur to me to cover up."
"Really? Your telling me your half-nakedness is the norm around here? Come on..." Shawn trailed off not believing Josh's excuse.
"To be fair," Cory chimed in. "I didn't think anything of his appearance until Maya walked out here."
"Well, I guess I am more modest and conservative than you." Shawn told him.
"Shawn, you once went pants-less to the Pennbrook Student Union." Cory retorted.
"It was one time." Shawn defended. "Anyway this isn't about me, it's about them... and why are you not as concerned about this situation as I am?"
"Because, they explained it, and it makes sense." Cory patted his friend on the shoulder then paused to look at the two young adults in front of him before continuing, "Besides, I know them, I trust them. They're good kids, and if they say nothing happened, then nothing happened."
Josh and Maya smiled for the first time since the men arrived.
"Fine, you're right." Shawn said reluctantly. "They are good kids, and I trust them too." Suddenly angry that he couldn't be angry, he added, "Geez, Josh, why do you have to be one of those good guys, why can't you be one of those idiots I can happily threaten or beat to a pulp?"
"If he was, I would've already beaten you to it." Maya teased, causing the three guys to look at her and smile. As they stared at her, she felt awkward as she remember her attire, then commented, "Well, I should probably go change."
"Yes, both of you go change... in separate rooms." Shawn commanded, half-joking and half-serious.
"And then you both can meet us in the parking-lot and we'll all grab some breakfast."
"Let me guess," Maya said. "Wilson's?"
"The one and only!" Cory smiled a cheesy smile as he gave her the finger guns.
At that, Cory and Shawn turned to leave and the kids went to their areas to change.
Five minutes later, Maya and Josh were back in the living room fully dressed. Maya had just styled her hair into a quick messy bun and was slipping on her coat when Josh spoke up.
"Why did you lie to me?" He asked curiously, zipping up his leather jacket as he did so.
"What?" Maya replied, caught off guard by the question.
"About the paint. You told me yesterday that you had a mishap with the brushes, but a few minutes ago you told Shawn that some girl did it."
"Look, it's not a big deal, and technically it wasn't a lie, just a variation of the truth." She defended.
"Maya..." Josh said in a warning tone.
"Seriously, Josh, don't worry about it." Maya insisted, wanting to drop the subject, but unfortunately Josh was even more stubborn than she was.
"Was it Bianca?" He questioned, and, when Maya didn't respond, Josh probed further. "It was, wasn't it?"
"Yes." Maya finally answered.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Josh wondered aloud.
"Because... I may be a visitor here once a week for the next few months, but this is your world." She explained. "And the last thing I want to do is disrupt it."
"What are you talking about?" Josh asked, still feeling confused.
"Bianca told me you've been friends for a while and that you are getting ready to take the next step in your relationship, and I think that's great." She lied through her teeth.
"Maya-" Josh began but was cut off by Maya's rant.
"Because if you like her then you should date her, and you should be able to make that decision on based on your own experiences with Bianca, not based on whatever problems I may have with her." She finished, this time completely honest.
"Come here," He told Maya, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the sofa to sit down. Looking her directly in the eyes, Josh spoke again. "I want to make something perfectly clear. I do not now, nor have I ever, liked Bianca romantically."
"Really?" She inquired, sounding surprised.
"Really. We are different people, with different interests. It would never work."
"Oh." She said stupidly, not knowing what else to say.
"But even if I did like her, I could never date her, I could never date anyone who doesn't get along with my friends."
"Friends." Maya repeated with a small smirk. "Is that what we are, Boing?"
"Of course." Josh said, feeling surprised she'd even ask.
"It's just, friends don't really look at each other the way you looked at me last night, you know, when you saw me in that t-shirt of yours." Maya couldn't resist teasing.
When Josh just blushed in response, she added, "And then there is the fact that you're still holding my hand."
With a cheeky smile, she brought their conjoined hands upward into view then set them back down on the couch with a light squeeze.
"Maya, I know I send you some mixed messages sometimes, but I'm still-" He started but was interrupted.
"Too old for me. I know." Maya smiled. "I'm just saying that our relationship is different than other relationships. I mean, since we reconnected that one Christmas, I've always felt something more between us than friendship, but I also know that we are still far from the romance zone."
"You're right." Josh agreed. "I guess are relationship is special." He finished giving her hand a squeeze back.
"So, then... what does that make us? What are we, Josh?" Maya questioned, voice soft and serious.
"We're Josh and Maya. We're... Joshaya." He said simply, grinning boyishly.
"Joshaya..." She repeated, considering the idea for a moment. "I like that." She said finally.
"Joshaya it is then." Josh said with a nod. "But we should probably keep that term between us, so Cory and Shawn don't freak out again."
"Yeah, good idea." Maya nodded. "On that note, we should problem get going."
Neither said anything else as they rose from the couch, keeping a hold of each other's hands until they exited Josh's apartment.
As Maya led the way down the two flights of stairs, she grinned a little grin as she replayed their conversation in her head.
They weren't friends. They weren't dating. They were Joshaya.
And she was definitely on board with that.