Lucas' POV:

I always knew it was my job to keep the group of friends safe, healthy, and happy. I was their moral compass. But as the years went on, I adopted upon myself the responsibility of making extra sure that Maya was safe. High school is a confusing time and I knew that with her life, she was a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment….

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Freshman Year, October:

School had just started, all of us beginning to squeeze ourselves into the high school riff. Classes were much harder than middle school, a mental and physical shock to me. I had always been very good at school, but this was pushing me harder than I had ever worked. And Maya? Yeah she could barely pass in middle school. How was she going to handle this? At first I thought it would be ok. She would go home with Riley, same as always and get her homework done where Mr. Matthews could help her. But after a month, I noticed that she wasn't going home with Riley. In fact, she had been lying to us, saying she was going to the library, or going to help her mom. Unfortunately, we figured it out too soon.

And so when I found her behind the school, cigarette in hand, sitting next to a bunch of laughing kids with piercings and tattoos, it only seemed right to yank her up, rip the roll out of her mouth, throw it on the ground, stomp it out, then address the group.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked in a rage, also relieved that Riley and Farkle weren't here to see this.

"Having a smoke, chill dude, you could use one too." They all drawled.

"Yeah Huckleberry, relax. It was just one drag. I needed it after my crappy day." She sighed, totally understating the whole situation.

"Just one drag? Maya, your dad used to smoke! You said you learned your lesson! Do you want lung cancer?" I saw her eyes harden when I mentioned her dad.

"Leave my dad out of this, Lucas." She spat. "And speaking of my dad, you aren't him! So stop telling me what to do and go bother someone else!" she pushed me away. I was shocked. Maya had never been this cold to any of us. Well and she had never smoked, hung out with these people, or blown us off since I had known her. What was she doing? Was this like a teenage crisis or something? She began to sit back down and I saw one of the guys with tight pants and black hair offer her another. I lost it. I grabbed her bag up in my arms.

"Hey!" she cried and stood up to snatch it back. "Give me that!"

"Maya has to go now." I stated as calmly as I could to the group. Then I grabbed her arm and dragged her around to the front of the school and towards my car.

"Let go of me! This is illegal! I'll call the cops!" her fighting was no match for my strength and I easily shoved her into the car and shut the door. She began to fiddle with the handle to get out so I started the engine and began to drive before she could. "What do you think you're doing?!" she cried.

"Taking you to Riley's since that's where you should be right now instead of killing your body, blowing off your friends, and lying to us." I growled. "Where do you think I'm taking you?"

"Can you just chill!?" she shouted. "I'm not a baby! I can take care of myself!"

"Ok so that means I guess you can take care of the medical bill when they tell you your lungs are full of black acid!"

"Don't sass me! You don't understand a thing about me or my life so just stop the car!" she screamed. I was stunned. She had never talked to me like that. Never. Had eighth grade really only been a year ago?

"Maya, what's wrong? Why are you acting like this?" I asked quietly.

"Let me out. I'm walking home." She ordered.

"No. Talk to me."

"You can't force me." She challenged, still her usual stubborn self.

"I'm your friend. Tell me what's up right now! How else am I supposed to help you?"

"I don't want your help! Did you ever think of that?!" she cried. And even though my foot was still on the gas, she opened the door and tossed her bag out onto the sidewalk. I stomped on the break.

"Maya!" I cried. She took the moment to jump out of the car and ran back up the sidewalk to her bag and began to run down the street in the opposite direction. I couldn't just leave my car and run after her. I had a hunch that she wouldn't go to Riley's now that we knew her smoking secret. She'd probably head to her apartment. So I drove there, parked and ran up to her door. I knocked hard twice but there was no answer. I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. Just hoping for a stroke of luck, I tried the doorknob. It was open. I stepped into the living room and saw the usual mess that coated the Hart's apartment floor. I walked down the hall to Maya's room and saw through the window her blonde hair blowing in the wind. She was sitting on her fire escape. I knocked on the glass, but she didn't even turn.

"Hey." I opened the window and stepped out next to her.

"Hi." She croaked. I could tell she had been crying. I sat down next to her and waited silently for her to apologize. I knew she would. I knew that she couldn't stand yelling at her friends. And sure enough,

"I'm sorry." She sighed.

"I know you are." I responded gently.

"High school is awful." She sighed in misery.

"No it's not." I carefully swooped a piece of hair behind her ear. "It's just different."

"Riley immediately began to fit in. Everyone loves the nice, perky, cute one. And you have your athletics. The hot, new jock."

"Hot?" I smirked a little.

"Shut up." She hissed. I saw her slight blush and memorized it. "But Farkle has his brains and all his clubs, plus he has Smackle. And who do I have? No one. No one cares about the frumpy blonde outcast. Except other outcasts. With them….I can connect with them. They know how it feels to have a hard life and to be the loner."

"And does it look like they're taking good steps to making themselves feel better?" I challenged.

"No. And I knew what they were doing was wrong. I swear, Lucas, I only smoked today. Today was the first and only time. Never again. It was gross." She crinkled her nose and chuckled sadly. "I won't do it again."

"Can I trust you?" I asked gently. "Maya, we love you. Our group is still the same. High school won't change that. I know….it's just…sometimes it's hard to remember." We sat there the rest of the evening, until dark, quietly. We spoke a few times, but the rest was just her making the silent promises that she would try harder, do better, stay good. And that was the first time I saved Maya Hart.