Maya's POV

First day of sophomore year. Ugh. I don't like school, but at least Riley makes it bearable…kinda. I stayed over at Riley's, so she could make sure I wouldn't sleep in.

"Wake up, Peaches," she said. "We can't be late for school!"

"Uhhhh," I moaned as I rolled over. Suddenly, she shoved me, and I rolled off the bed. I stood up. "Why?"

"We have school."

"Girls! Come down for breakfast," I heard Topanga called from downstairs.

"Get dressed, then come down for breakfast, okay Peaches?" Riley said with a smile.

"Okay, tell her I'll be down in a bit."

"Will do!"

When I walked into Matthews' class, I sat by Riles. Huckleberry sat directly behind her, and Zay behind him. Matthews' wrote Who Do You Really Know? On the board.

"Okay, Matthews', what's this about?"

"Well… miss Hunter," he said, starting to smile and giggle. "Hunter."

"Matthews'…," I said. "my question."

"Yeah." He's such a dork. "Well, exactly what it says."

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked, as puzzled as I was.

"How well do you know the people around you?"

"I know Riley, Mr. Matthews, and she knows me," I said, confidently.

"You mean you think you do." What? I know Riley, we tell each other everything! Don't we? What was he trying to pull? I was shocked he'd say something like that. He must've seen it on my face. "Everybody has a secret, ones that they don't tell anyone, sometimes even their best friend. And it's not always intentional." Just then a girl walked into the classroom.

"Hello," Matthews said.

"Hi," the girl said. "I'm a new student. My name's KC."

"Well, KC, go ahead and take the seat between Maya and Marley." He nodded to me. She sat next to me. Immediately, I noticed a ring on a chain around her neck.

Marley extended her hand to KC, "Hi, I'm Marley."

"As I was saying, what you think you may know about a person may not be all-" Matthews said.

"Why are you wearing a ring around your neck?" I said, not thinking about interrupting Matthews'.

"Maya," he said. "I'm teaching."

"Sorry, Matthews'. I'm just wondering," I said.

"Sir?" KC said.

"Do you want to answer, KC?" he asked.

She looked over to me. Well," she sighed. "If you must know. I was married."

"Married?" I asked. How old is she? I thought.

"Yes," KC said.

"How old are you," Marley asked her.

"I'm 17, almost 18."

"Then how old were you when you got married?" Riley chimed in.

"Guys don't bombard her with all kinds on questions. She's new here," Lucas said. I know he's a nice guy, but why is he defending her? Well maybe he's right. I mean, I wouldn't want to be thrown all kinds of questions.

"Sorry KC," I said.

"It's fine, Maya," KC said. "I'm new. Of course you all will have questions." She took a breath, "I was 14 when I got married." I, like everyone else, went silent. Our jaws dropped, all of us except Zay and Lucas. Why do they not seem surprised?

"If you knew my past, you'd understand," KC said. Now I felt bad. I just reacted. Did we push her to hard?

"Good point, KC," Matthews said. "And thank you for bringing us to our homework assignment."

"Uhhhh, Matthews," I groaned. "Why? It's the first day of school!"

"Well Maya," Matthew said with his stupid, stupid smirk. "As I was saying before, everyone keeps secrets. Until you know everything about a person, you will never truly understand them."

"But sir," Lucas said. "That's not possible."

"That's correct," Matthews said. "Well, for the most part. There will always be one secret that you keep from everyone, but everyone as individuals."

"You're making no sense," I said.

"I'm not?" Matthews said. "You don't keep the same secret from every single person. You keep a different secret from your mother than you would keep from your best friend, whether it's intentional or not."

"Ohhh, so you mean to tell me," Zay said, "is I keep a different secret from Lucas than I would, say, Blond beauty?"

I turned around to look at Zay. "You wanna bring that back," I said raising my eyebrows. "Don't."

"Correct Zay," Matthews said. "Now what I want you to do for homework is: tonight, think about your life. Think of everything. Tomorrow, come to class prepared to tell us about yourself. And make sure to tell us all something we don't know about you."

When we went to Topanga's, my mom got us some drinks. When she did she looked at me "Hey Maya, you need to go home after this. Cory said you need to think about your life on your own, without Riley's help," she said. "or mine."

Riley's POV

I got home after helping out at my mom's bakery. Maya can't come over tonight 'cause of my dad's homework assignment. Mom walked in after I plopped down on the couch.

'Hey Riley, you want to help with dinner?"

"Sure mom," I said. "When's Auggie getting home?"

"He's over at Ava's," mom said. "They both should get here a little before dinner."

"You really like her now, don't you?"

"Actually, yes," she looked up thinking about it. "She's grown up a lot since the first day I met her."

At dinner I decided to ask my dad about the assignment. "Dad, why are you having us do this assignment?"

"I think it's important," he said. "If you learn more about someone, you'll understand them more."

"Why did you say that if we knew everything about someone, then we'd understand them completely."

"Because it's true."

"What are you teaching them," mom asked. "That's impossible."

"Yes. It is impossible to know everything about someone." I was really confused. "Therefore, you'll never truly, completely understand someone. Sometimes, it can be unintentional. They may have forgotten things they've never told you."

Maya's POV

Me and Riles got to her dad's class. Here we go.

"Who would like to go first?" Matthews asked.

"I'll go," I said.

"Wow Maya," Matthews said.

"Yeah, yeah," I said. "Just wanna get it over with."

"There's Maya," Riley said. I'm just nervous, she doesn't know this.

"Well, I'm Maya Hunter, formally known as Maya Hart," I said. "My earliest memory is when I was about 5. My parents would fight a lot. My only escape was my room. One day I snuck out, and heard a girl singing. Her window was open. I climbed in and I freaked her out when I admitted I was a stranger. She yelled, and I asked her not to. I had enough of that at home. Well that girl I met was Riley Matthews, my best friend. One thing, no one except me and my mom know, is that I would constantly have panic attacks. She would always find me with my knees tucked. Through the years they slowed down and finally stopped. I haven't had them for years."

Yogi went next. He told us that he has always been really small for his age, and that he almost didn't survive his birth. Marley explained that she grew up with a dad that would drink a lot and that she was adopted after she was taken from his home by CYFD when she was 11. Sarah explained that her mom passed away when she was younger, in a car crash. She has grown to love film because of her dad's job.

Zay told us he met Lucas when they were 6. Lucas would pull Zay around in his little red wagon as a game when they were kids. His house had burnt down, which he never told anyone, not even Lucas. The reason was that he burnt it down while trying to cook when he was 7. Riley told us that she's more vulnerable than she lets on. She cries more than anyone has seen. I never knew this.

KC finally went up to the front of the class. "Hi I'm KC. My full name is Katy Carmela Friar," everyone looked back at Lucas. "I was born here in New York City. My parents moved here from Arkansas when they were 16 and 18, while my mom was pregnant. My father was abusive to my mom, physically and emotionally. From what he told me, or rather bragged about, he tried to make my mom lose me while she was pregnant.

"My mom left him after I was born. Somehow, he wound up getting custody of me when I was five. The last time I saw my mom was at a playdate with my little sister. My father had begun to hit me a year before this, and at this playdate, my three-year-old sister saw a bruise on my arm and ran to tell our mom. My father noticed and took me and drove us all the way to Texas. I started kindergarten there. One day I was in the hall way crying and two boys approached me. Their names were Jaxon and Lucas Friar." She nodded towards Lucas. "Jaxon was a year older than me, and Lucas was a year younger than me. They offered for me to go play with them at their house so that they could cheer me up.

"It worked and we all became best friends. When I got home, my father demanded to know where I was. I told him I made friends at school, and we were playing. He told me I wasn't allowed and didn't deserve friends because I was worthless 'like my mom'. My father hit me so much that I couldn't get out of bed the next day. I didn't stop hanging out with those boys. When I was seven, Lucas got a new friend, Isaiah. Jaxon and I got a lot closer. Jaxon, when I was 8, and he was 9, asked me to be his girlfriend. On my 11th birthday, my father was finally arrested for abuse after he dragged me out of the Friars house. That same night, I was diagnosed with Leukemia. When I was thirteen, I was told that I didn't have much of a chance anymore. They asked what I wanted for my last 'wish'. I wouldn't tell them, but Jaxon knew. That night, he proposed to me, and we got married when I was 14 with his parent's permission. I ended up going into remission and about three months later found out I was pregnant. The day I went into labor was the best and worst day of my life. When my husband, when Jaxon…" She looked like she was about to cry. Lucas got up and stood next to her.

"When KC went into labor, I was with her and I called Jaxon to go to the hospital and that we were on our way. Jaxon never…," he paused and took a breath. "He never showed up. I held her hand through it all. After the baby was born, the nurse called us out of the room. She informed us that he had gotten into an accident and didn't make it. I went back into KC's room and, through tears, gave her the news."

"I dropped out of school until now. I couldn't handle doing it while working to support my son and raising him."

"You never said what your maiden name was," Marley said.

KC reached into her backpack and pulled a paper out. "My maiden name is Katy Carmela Clutterbuckett." What?! She handed me the paper, it was her birth certificate. It said:

Katy Carmela Clutterbuckett.

And for the parents it said:

Parent 1/Father: Anthony Johnson Parent 2/Mother: Katy G. Clutterbuckett

"I'm your sister, Maya. Well, technically half-sister." I just continued to stare at the document with so many things going through my head. Suddenly a knock breaks me out of my chance.

"Katy Friar?" a woman standing at the door.

"Yes?" KC asks.

"May I speak to you out side?"

"Yeah sure," KC said as she followed the woman outside.

KC's POV

"Lucas isn't associating with other children. He wants you," Ms. Davis said. "Is there any way you can hold on to him for a week and we could try it again?"

"I'm not sure," I told her. "I would have to speak with my teachers."

"Will you take him now?"

"Sure." I took my son's hand and walked him back into class. "Hey everybody. I would like to introduce my son, Lucas Aaron Friar."

"Uncle Luke!" my son yelled as he ran to Lucas.

"Hey buddy!"

"Hey Aaron, I'd like you to meet someone," I said, taking his hand and walking him to Maya. "This is your Aunt Maya."

"Aunt," I heard Maya say under her breath as her nephew clung onto her.

"I know this is a lot to take in, but if we could talk after class, maybe we could talk it out."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Maya said as she got a huge smile as Lucas Aaron started babbling I Love You's to her.