objective: try something new and do it with someone new
RULES:
1) cannot be someone you know well (you can be acquainted)
2) must be the opposite sex
3) don't get creepy, keep it cool
TIME: do one task each week, you have twelve weeks to knock off everything on the list (you don't have to go in order)
TASK LIST: (italics means need to be done, bold means completed)
1. hike somewhere neither one of you have hiked
2. listen to an entire album by an artist neither one of you have heard of
3. guys choice - it's his night for you to experience one of HIS hobbies
4. girls choice - it's her night for you to experience one of HER hobbies
5. game night - you each choose one game and one movie
6. 20 questions - get opinionated!
7. get creative! paint fight
8. friend swap! hang out with his friends while he hangs out with yours!
9. get out of your comfort zone and do something weird. keep it legal, or don't
10. picture scavenger hunt! have your friends come up with a list of 10 things to do, and take pictures, you don't have to keep it clean. you have 24 hours
11. try doing something neither one of you have ever done! be adventurous
12. BONFIRE! invite both groups of friends! (this one MUST be done last)
good luck. and maybe you'll find something you didn't before.
October 2nd - October 8th
October 1st
Maya felt her body shake harshly, She groaned loudly, flipping over to her back and squinting at the sight of light. Her hair spewed around her face messily and if she looked above herself, her brunette best friend was jumping on her bed. "Riley," Maya sighed loudly, turning back around on her stomach to shove her face into her pillow. "What the fuck are you doing?" she asked her, but her words came out muffled since her face was stuffed comfortably in her bed.
"Trying to get you up!" she screeched giddily, jumping around her bed aimlessly. "Your bed is like a trampoline, so bouncy."
"Duly noted," Maya groaned, flipping her body over to catch Riley's ankle as she was up in the air. Riley tumbled over dramatically and onto Maya, her arms flailing out everywhere. Riley and Maya laughed for a moment, as Riley lied on top of her, almost crushing her. "Why are you here?" She checked the clock on her nightstand. "It's 7:16 AM. On a Saturday. Why do you like to torture me?"
Riley shrugged, moving her body so she wasn't crushing her small best friend. She lied next to her, their heads touching. "Only because you let me," she muttered mirthfully. "Anyways," she said, getting up after a few moments and tumbling off of her bed. "I didn't come here to torture you, I came here to talk. About...the thing."
"The thing?" Maya asked her, clearly confused.
"Yes," Riley raised her eyebrows expectantly, moving her head. Her voice was in a whisper. "The thing!"
"What thing? There are plenty of things we could be talking about," Maya stated, moving her body up so her back was lying on her headboard. "Our Calc test next week, what I ate for dinner last night, why you woke me up at 7:16 AM on a weekend."
Riley rolled her eyed, grabbing Maya's elbow and yanking her out of her bed. Maya's head hit the floor harshly and she groaned loudly, lying there on her stomach. "The... twelve-week thing! Are you dumb?"
"Only around you," Maya added sarcastically, slowly getting up. She felt a thumping in her head but she ignored it, wiping off the dust that collected on her shoulder from the fall. "Why did you barge in my room unannounced? I have time before we have to do the hike thing."
"Keep in mind, the hike doesn't have to be first." Riley led Maya to her dresser and threw a few things around her room; she eventually pulled out a cute shirt and some shorts. She threw them Maya's way and fished around in her closet for some shoes. Once she was satisfied with how she was dressed, she began to speak again. "During English, Lucas and I exchanged phone numbers for collaboration on this twelve-week thing, so I called him up."
"I don't like calling this project a twelve-week thing. Can't we think of something else? It doesn't roll off the tongue," Maya stated.
"That's up to you and Lucas, whom I called today," Riley reminded her. "We're meeting at Topanga's. What time is it?" she checked the clock on Maya's nightstand which read 7:32 AM. "Ah, shit. We're already two minutes late. Which doesn't factor in the drive to Topanga's, plus getting you out of your apartment—"
Maya groaned loudly, shaking Riley's shoulders softly. "Can you be calm for a few minutes? It won't matter if we're fifteen minutes late meeting Lucas. I'm sure he hasn't even shown up himself."
"Right," Riley breathed out, shaking her head and hands. "Sorry, just this whole twelve-week thing is giving me the jitters. Which is weird, right? Since you should be getting the jitters because you're doing it."
The blonde rolled her eyes and took Riley's hand in hers, dragging her out of her bedroom. "Trust me," she muttered, "I've gotten weird feelings about this since you mentioned it the other day."
/
Riley pulled up to her mother's cafe and parked in one of the worker's spots, clicking off her seat belt and popping out of the car in a flash. Before Maya could even think about unbuckling her seatbelt, Riley was already by her side, yanking the door open and unbuckling it for her. She all but dragged her out of the car, while Maya stumbled by her side.
"Woah woah woah!" Maya gasped, yanking her elbow away from Riley's grip. "Calm down, jitterbug." She pulled out her phone to check the time; it was 7:46 AM. "See?" she said, shoving her phone to Riley. "We're only fifteen minutes late."
"Sixteen," Riley corrected with a point of her finger. "That's not even the point, what will Lucas think of a girl who isn't punctual? Will your relationship ever work?"
Maya growled in her throat, clearly annoyed. "Well, we'll never get to find out what Lucas thinks because you're wasting our time and making us even later!"
"Ahh!" Riley screamed softly. "You're right, sorry." At that, she fluffed her brown hair and straightened her clothes. She grabbed her best friend's hand and led her way into Topanga's cheerfully. Sitting at one of the far right tables was Lucas with a strawberry smoothie, on his phone.
Riley yanked Maya towards him. Once Lucas' eyes caught theirs he smiled, setting down his phone next to his drink. "Sorry we're seventeen minutes late," Riley laughed to herself awkwardly.
"It's alright," Lucas promised with an award winning smile. Lucas' eyes caught Maya's and he smiled widely at her, while she gave him a small lift of her lips. She didn't know what to say, or do, to diffuse the obvious awkwardness in the air. Thanks, Riley.
"Anyway," Maya muttered aimlessly, nearly picking up Riley and setting her down in the seat next to Lucas. Maya chose to sit right across from him, as it would be easier to communicate. "I'm aware Riley called you to talk about this twelve-week thing. She didn't tell me until this morning when she was jumping on my bed."
Riley shook her head, clearing all thoughts from her head. She then leaned over to reach in her bag, which was sitting next to her chair. She fished around for a minute until she finally found what she was looking for. Two packets, with at least ten pieces of paper. She lied the two packets on the table and fished around for a moment more, grabbing some pens, some more paper with text Maya couldn't read because the font was too small.
"What's this?" Maya asked curiously, picking up the packet between her thumb and her forefinger.
"Don't touch that!" Riley snapped harshly, hitting Maya's wrist so Maya would drop the paper.
"Jeez!" Maya yelped, grabbing her wrist in her other hand to rub it in circles. "Okay, crazy lady, I'll wait until you're done."
"Good girl," Riley muttered, shaking her head and throwing some random doo-littles on the table that were stuffed into her handbag. Once she was satisfied with everything, she kicked her purse under her chair and leaned her elbows on the oak table, clasping her hands together. "You may each grab a packet now."
Maya and Lucas both gave a look as if she were crazy. And, perhaps she was. So they each grabbed a packet from the table and they flipped through it aimlessly, reading the small words. Maya had to squint her eyes at some parts, she really wished she had her glasses.
"Those," Riley stated, using her fingers to point at the papers in their hands, "are contracts. Confidentiality agreements, and the like."
The blonde groaned loudly at the thought, and her body slumped back lazily, setting the packet back down on the table. "Do we gotta read the whole thing?" she whined.
"No, but I'll give you a brief overview." Riley inhaled sharply once and began to exhale loudly, her words stumbling out of her mouth. "Basically, what it says in the contracts is that you have to complete the whole ordeal, without bailing out. Except under extremely special circumstances, which I won't go into detail. But the point is, even if one of you guys hate each other halfway through, you gotta finish. If one of you suffer from a broken heart? Nada. It doesn't matter, complete this wholly and once you're done, you can hate each other as much as you want. As well as a confidentiality agreement, explaining that whatever happens between you two is up for you two to share on an agreement. If you guys have sex, which I'm sure might happen, it's up to you both to share what you will about the experience. One cannot go around sharing what happened without the other's permission. On another note—"
Maya cut her off with a swipe of her hand in the air. "Riley, take a breath."
So she did, inhaling once again sharply and continuing as if she hadn't been interrupted. "You guys will be doing activities that require spilling secrets, as well as doing inappropriate activities. Sometimes, pictures are involved and you may be getting freaky. Unless you have the other person's explicit permission to release a secret, which you probably won't since it's a secret or a picture, then don't. You also need a safe word, if someone feels uncomfortable. Do we have any suggestions?"
Lucas raised his eyebrows. "A safe word? Is this going to get... dangerous?"
Riley laughed, putting her hand over her mouth. "Well, no. Actually, I have no idea. This situation is completely out of my control, it's up to you for you to decide if it's dangerous or not."
"Completely out of your control?" Maya asked sarcastically. "I'm sure all of these papers prove that this is completely out of your control."
"Not now, of course. I'm just gently nudging you into doing it, and then once you don't need your training wheels, I'll let go of your hand. But clearly, you aren't ready for me to do that yet since I'm still basically chaperoning you when you talk to Lucas."
Maya's cheeks heated up in an embarrassed manner. She wasn't wrong, per se, more so.. blunt about it. "He is right here, you know?"
"I know," Riley shrugged. "Anyway, safe word?"
Lucas shook his head, clearing his jumbling thoughts. "I don't know..." Lucas muttered. "Around the horn?"
"What the fuck is an around the horn?" Maya asked him, leaning her body up to look at him. She saw a small glint play in his eyes.
"It's a baseball term, little miss artsy," he mocked her playfully, leaning over the table slightly to look at her as well.
"Artsy?" she raised her eyebrows. "Is that supposed to be an insult? I'll have you know that I could beat your ass with a paintbrush blindfolded and still make your butt look pretty."
"You'd do that?" he asked her jokingly. "For lil' ol' me?"
"Don't be flattered," she scoffed, suddenly leaning backward to slouch in her seat again. "We need something neutral. Obviously, I don't know baseball terms, nor do you know art terms. Like Picasso, that's a hard one for ya."
"I know Picasso," Lucas laughed at her, leaning back, mimicking her motions. "Then what do you suggest?"
"Orange juice."
"C'mon, there's gotta be something better! Chicken nuggets."
"Gross. A squared plus B squared equals C squared."
"That's too long."
Maya sat in her seat for a moment, thinking about it. Thinking of a neutral safe word was harder than she thought. "Huckleberry Bond," she finally said, nodding her head in a satisfied matter.
"Huckleberry Bond?" Lucas snorted loudly. "And around the horn is bad?"
"It sounds sexual," Riley added, crinkling her nose in disgust.
Maya shrugged and raised her eyebrows, expecting for Lucas to protest. Instead, he raised his hands in defeat and shrugged. "Huckleberry Bond it is."
"Great!" Riley yelled in an excited matter, breaking Lucas and Maya's gaze away from each other and towards her. "Huckleberry Bond is the safe word. It's only for extreme situations when one person steps over the line or makes someone feel uncomfortable or unsafe. Don't use it when you get in a fight and you're begging for the other one to shut up." She grabbed each of their packets and flipped to the seventh page. She grabbed a hi-lighter from the table and hi-lighted a few sentences on each page, then gave it back to them.
Maya's eyes glazed over the text and she mumbled it while she read it. "Don't use it when you get in a fight and you're begging for..." she stopped for a moment, turning to face Riley. "Did you memorize this whole thing?"
She chuckled uncomfortably and set her hi-lighter down. "Yes, but that's not the point. I'm giving you a brief overview."
"How long have you had this planned?" the blonde one asked the tall brunette.
"Ever since Josh broke up with you."
Maya's eyes widened in surprise, setting down the paper. "You've been planning this for eleven weeks?"
"Yes," Riley sighed, rolling her eyes. "Would you expect any less from me? That's not the point, and quite frankly, I'm getting sick of talking to you."
"That's certainly a first," Maya mumbled sarcastically.
"Stop being bitter for two minutes," Riley snapped at her, and then quickly regained her composure. "I may have been planning this for eleven weeks, but I do not intend to hold your hand this whole time." She grabbed an elastic from her wrist and threw her hair up messily. She then looked at Lucas, and then Maya, she stared at her for a moment. "I think I've made everything clear."
She grabbed the two black pens from the table and handed one to Lucas and the other to Maya. She flipped their packets to their final page and pointed at an x with an underline. "Please sign here. Also, print your name above it and put the date to the right."
The pair did just so and then Riley flipped to the third page and wrote the words "Huckleberry Bond" on a line on each of their packets. Once she was done, she stuffed them back into her purse. "I'll make copies for each of you, but I need the original copy for my own purposes." She gathered up everything she had lied out on the table and stuffed them in her purse, save the two pens and two pieces of blue paper with wording on it.
"And what's this?" Maya asked her, sliding the paper over to herself.
"Dates and times that you guys will be the best available. It's Saturday, so starting tomorrow is the first week. You have Sunday through Saturday to decide when you want to do the first activity and do it. And then the second week will be the next Sunday through Saturday. And then the third, and you get the gist."
Maya's hair fell in front of her face as she read the paper, and she tucked it behind her ear so it wouldn't stray. "So.. this week? That's October 2nd tomorrow through the eighth, right?"
"Right," Riley said with a nod of her head. She then threw her bag over her shoulder. "I've got to be places, you know. And I can't afford to be with you every step of the way."
"What?" Maya said suddenly, looking at her best friend curiously. "You don't have anything today."
"Well..." she rolled her bottom lip between her teeth in contemplation. "I could! And that's beside the point," Riley rolled her eyes. "Lucas will give you a ride home."
Before Maya could even think about protesting, Riley bound out the door. Maya groaned loudly, throwing her head back. "Why is she like this?" she coughed, shutting her eyes to drown out the light.
"Yeah," Lucas chuckled, sliding the blue paper towards him as he twirled the pen in his hand. "I have a friend like that. His name is Farkle, he's kind of crazy."
Maya lifted her head up and rubbed her temples, while she grabbed the pen in front of her. "Farkle? I've heard of him. Crazy smart, right?"
"That's the one," Lucas prompted, nodding his head. "Anyway..." he trailed off, looking for the correct words. "I guess we're really doing this thing, huh?"
"If we didn't, Riley would probably chop off your testicles," Maya said to herself and Lucas laughed. "I'm serious, though, she would seriously hurt you. Especially since she's been planning this for eleven weeks."
"So what times are you available?" Lucas asked her under his breath as he scribbled on his paper. Meanwhile, Maya was drawing an intricate flower on the margins.
"Anytime, really," she responded, circling the stem over a few of the words. "Except Thursday's."
"What's on Thursday?"
"None of your business," she responded in a snarky tone, looking up from her paper to look at him in the eyes. "What about you?"
"I'm not available anytime right after school for about three hours. So, like, at 5:30 I'm available after school. And if you don't want me to be stinky, then 6:00."
"That's good," Maya nodded her head. "No girl likes a man stinky."
Lucas smiled fondly at her. "And sometimes Saturday's because I'll be at tournaments, but it really depends on the week."
She nodded her head at him and thought for a moment. "So, no Thursday's or after school until six. And sometimes Saturday's. And I'm assuming our only whole free day is Sunday?"
"I guess so."
"Well, what day do you suggest this week?" she asked him. "And I can't do Wednesday either since my Calc test is on Thursday."
"How about Tuesday?"
Maya sat in her seat, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth in thought. The fact was, she seriously didn't want to do this in the first place. But, she agreed to it anyway due to some great persuading from Riley and her mother, and now there was no way out of it. Perhaps she should just see how the first day goes and she'll decide on what to do from there on out. "Alright," Maya nodded her head. "Tuesday sounds wonderful."
"Are you mocking me?" Lucas laughed.
"Only a little," she shrugged. "You'll pick me up at 6:00, right? Which is a great time, in the middle of New York traffic."
"Of course," he responded. "And what about the place to hike?"
"It's all about trial and error. We'll see when we get there."
Lucas raised his eyebrows in question. "I'm not sure that's how it works."
"Whatever, you big Huckleberry," she yawned loudly, obviously tired from being woken up four hours earlier than she was supposed to. "You gonna take me home or what?"
/
October 4th
Lucas approached Maya in the hallway, swiveling her around by her bicep. Her hair whipped wildly and almost slapped him in the face. A few stares were shot their way in confusion, but they merely ignored them.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," she responded with a small smile playing on her lips.
"So," he muttered, shaking his head to break the awkward silence that hung between them. He dropped his hand from her arm and she momentarily missed the warmth but she shook it off quickly. "How has your studying for your Calc test been?"
"As dreadful as ever," she joked. "Riley's got me on this rigorous daily plan that I have to study every day after school. It's a bore."
Lucas gave her a sympathetic look and she smiled. "Anyway, I've been searching up places to go hiking for the past few days." Lucas towered over her, he was a whole foot taller. Maya's neck almost hurt from looking up at him. At least she wasn't looking straight into a hall light since his head blocked the view. "I've come up with a few places to go, but the most promising would be Inwood Hill Park. It's about a forty-five-minute drive there."
Maya's eyebrows shot up surprisingly. She fished her phone out of her pants pocket and checked the time as well as the day. "It's Tuesday already?"
Lucas felt an odd feeling settle over his stomach. He couldn't quite place it, but he found it odd how Maya hadn't even known the day when he had been counting down the hours since he dropped her off at her house.
"Yeah," Lucas responded, nodding his head. He handed her a paper he had in his hand while he held another duplicate copy in his other hand. "I printed off something about Inwood Hill Park if you want to read about it."
Maya smiled, laughing to herself as she looked at the paper. "You're just like Riley," she muttered to herself, her eyes glazing over the paper. Once she finished it, she looked up at him to meet his eyes. "Sounds good. Same time?"
He nodded his head in response. "Six o'clock. See you then?"
She nodded her head and smiled cheekily. With that, she turned her head and walked away to a jittery Riley who was bounding around the halls, probably on a coffee caffeine high.
Lucas turned around as well, attempting to go to his English Lit class when Farkle and Zay both sidestepped so they were in front of him. Lucas jumped in surprised at their sudden appearance of faces but he quickly regained his sense and peered at the two boys curiously. "What's up?"
"Don't what's up us!" Farkle says promptly, stomping his foot near Lucas' foot; Lucas jumped at the sound.
Lucas shook his head in confusion, his eyebrows furrowed. "I'm sorry, what?"
"You're hooking up with Maya Hart?!" Zay asked him, raising his eyebrows in an expectation for an answer. "And you didn't think you should... you know, tell us?!"
Lucas choked on his words, surprised at the words tumbling out of Zay's mouth. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me!"
Lucas gulped down his saliva at the mere thought. She would never, he could never. "No!" Lucas gasped. "What, no! Where did you get that idea?"
Farkle scoffed and crosses his arms in front of his chest. "Everyone's been thinking it. We've seen you two talking in the hall. And we heard about a meeting at Topanga's, too. Why didn't you tell us?"
"First of all, there's nothing to tell," Lucas told the two promptly, giving them a stare. "Don't you think I'd tell you who I'm hooking up with? Actually, no, I wouldn't since it's none of your business. But what is happening is definitely not that."
Zay raised his eyebrows in disbelief and gave Lucas a look. "Then why are you two suddenly all buddy-buddy, hmmm?"
Lucas smiled and shook his head. "I'll ask you to refer to Riley Matthews about that."
"That weird-o brunette? Maya's best friend?" Zay asked.
"That's the one," Lucas answered. "It's hard to explain," Lucas began to start but was quickly cut off with the warning bell. "Ah, shit. I've gotta go." He slapped the backs of his best friends. "Talk to Riley about it and I'll see you two later, yeah?"
Zay and Farkle exchanged a curious glance as Lucas bounded down the hall in a dramatic fashion, heading for his class.
/
At promptly six o'clock, Maya heard a knock on her apartment door. She threw her hair up in a ponytail and tugged on her gym shorts, all the while tying her shoe. "Just a moment!" she yelled at the door, patting her shoe in satisfaction once she tied it with a double knot. She ambled down to her door and swung it open, revealing her tall, tan and brunette acquaintance. "When you said six o'clock, you weren't lying."
"Always punctual," Lucas responded. "May I come in?"
Maya nodded her head and opened the door, leaning to the side of her wall to make room for him. Lucas looked around at her apartment, taking everything in. His eyes scanned from the tattered up couch to the unpaid bills piling up on their wooden counter. She suddenly felt very self-conscious of her living space and needed to get Lucas out of there quick. Before she could even think of an idea, Lucas spoke up.
"Your apartment is..." Lucas thought for a moment, collecting the right words.
Maya filled in for him. "Dusty? Old? Messy?"
"Cute," Lucas finally said, turning his head to look at her. Maya had to snap her eyes away from his biceps, which were quite literally bulging. "Are you ready to go?" he said while spinning his keys on his finger.
"Yeah," Maya nodded her head, shaking away the thoughts of his biceps away. God, she was so dramatic. Her fingers threaded through her wispy ponytail nervously as she followed Lucas outside of her apartment door; she paid close attention to his back. "How'd you get my address anyway?"
"Riley," Lucas confirmed nonchalantly as if it were a normal occurrence. Which, it was, since Riley always seemed to meddle in any activity. The two walked in silence to his car, which was parked on the East side of her apartment parking lot. Lucas unlocked the car doors and opened up Maya's passenger side for her; she merely rolled her eyes. "Is this what I get for being a gentleman?" he joked.
A small smile found her way on her lips and she shook her head in an exasperated matter as she settled down in her seat. Lucas closed her door and walked over to his side, opening the door and joining her in his car. She noticed how it smelled like pine and cowboy. "It's a great time to drive, y'know, in the middle of rush hour in New York. This is a great idea."
"Hey!" Lucas said defensively, twisting his key in the ignition and the car sprung to life. "You said yourself that no girl likes a man stinky."
After turning out of her apartment complex, Lucas turned on the radio and Maya stared out the window of his car absentmindedly. She watched as the cars drove past her slowly, and sometimes fast, as the traffic built up on the opposite side of the road. She was suddenly thanking her lucky stars that they were going in the opposite direction of traffic.
After a few minutes of silence and music to fill up the void, Maya finally noticed the type of music Lucas chose to put on. Country. Of course.
"What is this?" Maya asked in disgust while she crinkled up her nose at the thought.
"This?" Lucas asked her incredulously. "Only the most classic, Tim McGraw. I didn't know you were so uncultured and uneducated."
Maya laughed to herself and whipped her head to look at Lucas who was staring intently at the road. "Uncultured? I would hardly call country music a culture."
"Well, now that's just rude," Lucas said seriously, although Maya could detect a hint of irony to his words. Surely, he couldn't be serious. "Only legends listen to country music," he said, his eyes crinkling at the thought as he drawled out the word legend. He spared a moment to look at Maya with a smile but quickly turned his attention back to the road. "Are you familiar with T-Swizzle?"
"T-Swizzle?" Maya snorted.
"See, only the countrymen know who T-Swizzle is. Code name for Taylor Swift, of course."
Maya rolled her eyes to the back of her head as Lucas teased her some more. She could see a slight smirk play on the corners of his lips, but his attention never faltered from the road. "I know who Taylor Swift is, you Neanderthal."
"Exactly. But you didn't know who T-Swizzle was. Which is my point, only countrymen know her codename. She was a country singer, originally, did you know that?"
"Really?" Maya asked, a faux tone in play. "Only the real countrymen know who she is."
"Exactly," Lucas responded cheekily. "Therefore, country music is the best music ever created."
"That makes no sense," Maya responded quickly. "But, whatever puts you to sleep at night, cowboy."
A silence quickly ensued between the two as Lucas turned up the volume slightly. Maya crinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue in his direction, all he did was chuckle softly. Afterward, Maya's face fell on her cheek as her forehead pressed against the window. She watched the people bustle by as she felt her thoughts all jumbled in her head.
This was the first time in awhile she had had the courage and the time to collect all of her thoughts since the breakup. She was either all jumbled up in her room, too sad to think, or Riley was doing something to keep her active. Plus, with all of the tests that had come up recently, she had been too occupied.
And, this idea she was doing with Lucas, was completely batshit crazy. She was going to be spending a lot of her time with a random stranger that she had seen in the hallway once or twice for the next twelve weeks. And that didn't even account all the planning in between, which surprisingly, took a lot of work. And that didn't even include all of the random shit she would be thrown into by Riley.
And, on top of that, there were all of the awkward conversations destined to ensue between the two. They were to play twenty questions, at one point, as well as some weird picture thing. And they were maybe going to do something illegal, Maya didn't dread on the details too much.
The whole thought and idea came pounding on Maya like a bunch of rocks as if she were getting stoned with her thoughts. And, perhaps she was too engrossed in her thoughts that her eyes didn't pay attention to the obvious change of scenery a whole thirty minutes later. The jolt came to her suddenly as Lucas turned and parked into a spot, turning off the engine and unbuckling his seatbelt.
"We're here already?" Maya asked in a surprised tone, looking up at the park. Her eyes scanned the area and she noticed a few people with dogs, a couple of families, and some couples as well. She didn't think anyone like her and Lucas were there as well, the roughly acquainted kind. She suddenly got the jitters.
"Yeah," Lucas said, running around the car to open her door. "I thought you were asleep since you neglected to answer any of my questions. Either that or you're just another one of those rude New Yorkers that only look out for themselves."
"That's sweet," Maya said haughtily, giving the country boy a glare. "But I am one of those New Yorkers, Hop-A-Long. And so is everyone else here, and soon enough, you'll be too."
"Riley's not," Lucas stated with a raised brow.
"Riley is special," Maya responded quickly. "Don't think you're let free from the New Yorker rudeness because you're a cowboy from the countryside. The harshness here can change anyone."
Lucas looked at her for a moment, but Maya couldn't read his thoughts. Instead, Maya unbuckled her seat belt and hopped out of the car, shutting the door behind her as she grabbed Lucas' wrist to drag him to the hiking course.
Once she finally dragged him to their destination, she peered deep into the trail and through the trees. It was dark, but a few spots of light shined through the canopy of the treetops. Maya whipped her head around to look at Lucas, her hair swiftly following her. "This the place?" she asked him.
"Yeah," he responded nodding his head, squinting slightly to look at the trail. "You ready?" he questioned her as he stepped onto the mushy brown leaves and led himself into the darkness of the trail.
Maya followed by his side instead of responding and her eyes widened slightly at the sight. The sun was starting to set and the air began to grow cold and Maya suddenly regretted not bring a slight sweater. She ignored the goosebumps and shivers, however, as she peered around her, noticing the birds flutter throughout the trees and the orange sky that peeked through the tops of the trees.
"Have you ever been on a hike?" Lucas asked Maya as he held her waist to help hoist her up a slight jump in the trail.
Maya shook her head at the thought, as Lucas released her and hoisted himself up by himself. "Never really had the thought, nor did I really care."
"Back in Texas—"
Maya snorted before Lucas could finish his sentence. He gave her a glare full of heat her way before continuing. "Back in Texas, I went on a hike every day if I could. The sights there are amazing and breathtaking. I'd take you some time if you'd like."
"To Texas?" Maya asked him, a small laugh in her breath. "Sure Huckleberry."
The sights were breathtaking, but they didn't capture her attention enough from the bitter cold. She forgot for a few moments that she lived in New York, which started snowing during November. Her cheeks turned a rosy red and she rubbed her arms as her teeth chattered. Lucas noticed this a few moments later when he looked at her and he rolled his eyes. "Tell me you didn't forget a jacket."
"Then I won't tell you."
Lucas sighed and pulled off his sweatshirt and gave it to the small chattering girl. "What're you doing?" she asked with a slight slur.
"This'll be no fun for the both of us if you're cold. Just take the sweater."
Maya rolled her eyes but took the sweatshirt anyway. She pulled it over her head and let the warm sweater entrap her body. It was still warm from his body heat and she almost breathed in the scent but she stopped herself. She was suddenly thankful Lucas was such a country gentleman, because if this were a normal date with any other boy in New York, they'd let her freeze on her ass. And if she were to go on a hike with Riley, she wouldn't even forget about it in the first place.
She suddenly wished that the New York harshness wouldn't affect Lucas. But it was bound to happen anyway, so Maya ignored the thought.
Lucas looked at her as she wrapped herself around in his jacket. The jacket was much too big for her small stature and height, so it nearly consumed her. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold and Lucas couldn't help but laugh at the sight.
"Hey!" Maya chastised him, hitting his jacket sleeve on him. Lucas laughed at her some more, under his breath, and she rolled her eyes. She pulled the hoodie over her eyes a bit more and continued next to him on the trail. Their body's bumped into each other occasionally, but she paid no mind to it. She was more invested in the colors of the sky and the mush of the floor. Once they reached a slight peak in the mountain, Lucas grabbed Maya's bicep and turned her to face him.
"Hmmm?" she asked absent-minded, looking around at the forest.
"Look," he said, pointing up to the horizon. The sun was delving deeply into the line of the trees and buildings and for that moment, Maya forgot that she lived in New York. The clouds shined a sparkling color of red and sky turned orange. Maya was completely entrapped in the sight, her arms slipped from her hold in front of her chest as she stared at the sky, her mouth agape. She couldn't even think of painting a sight so beautiful as her head turned, catching the colors and the clouds and the sun.
"I wonder what a Texas sunset looks like," she whispered to him, but more to herself. Just the thought of seeing something again like this had her giddy, and the next time she were to go out somewhere to see the sight, she'd want to bring her paints just in case she could try to capture it. "I never really paid attention to the sunset until now, I wish I would've."
Lucas turned his head away from the sky and looked at the small blonde girl, who was wrapped up in his too big sweatshirt. Her cheeks were heated and her eyes focused and her mouth open at the sight. Her hair poked out of her ponytail wildly and Lucas smiled. There she was, the Maya he would want to know.
After the sun finally set and the sky turned a bit darker, Maya's eyes were still grazing the horizon. "Are you ready to go back?"
Maya stayed in her spot for a moment before slowly nodding her head. She turned back to him slowly and smiled widely. "That was beautiful."
"Sure was," he said back to her, mirroring her smile in the same matter. And with that, she turned on her heel and led the way back to the beginning of the trail. Lucas caught up with her and she felt the heat of his side next to hers. "What about the next time? The next thing to do, I mean."
"Well," she said, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth in contemplation as she stared at the ground. "We can check this off, of course. And let's just think about the now, and not the next or later. If we focus on what's happening now, then you won't be worried about the future."
"We'll just wing it?" he asked incredulously.
She shrugged. "I suppose. The rest of the tasks don't require too much thought. What was it again?"
"Listen to an entire album neither one of us have heard of," he confirmed.
She raised her eyebrows and a slight smile played on her lips. She stopped in the middle of the trail and he followed, as they stared at each other to have a conversation. "You better not suggest country music."
"Of course not," he snorted. "I've listened to every country music album ever."
"You have?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "That's certainly an achievement."
"And you?" he asked her. "I'm assuming you've listened to every 80s band ever."
She smiled apologetically and shrugged her shoulders in a matter of defeat. She started to walk ahead on the trail again as Lucas caught up with her. "I guess we'll just have to find something new. Isn't that the whole point?"
"I guess so."
"And," Maya continued, squinting her eyes to stare through the dark trees. "Riley will probably suggest her teeny-bopper songs or something. She always has something planned." Maya turned to face him, her eyes caught off guard the trail for only a moment. She was about to spit out something witty before her foot caught under a tree root and she fell over dramatically, taking all of her weight with her. Her blonde wisps of hair fell behind her head and onto the wet leaves as she grunted. "God," she groaned.
"How did I not see this coming?" Lucas joked, squatting down to her size to become face level with her. "Are you hurt?"
She lifted her head slightly to look at her left ankle that was lying on its side. "I think only a little," she responded. "It all happened so fast," she muttered sarcastically. She turned her ankle slightly to the right and took in a sharp intake of breath, quickly indicating that her ankle was not fine in all types of ways. "Shit."
A frown etched on Lucas's face as his eyebrows furrowed. He moved his body so his eyes were inspecting over the area of injury. He lightly touched her already swollen ankle and she groaned loudly, her head moving to the side in pain. "Well, shit."
"I don't want to look if I don't have to," she grumbled, her eyes shut tightly as she bit her bottom lip to hold back a scream. "It would be bad if I cried, right? I'm not going to cry."
"You can cry," Lucas confirmed. "I would cry."
"Dear golly," she said in a deep country accent, in an attempt to wash the pain away. A few tears rolled down her cheeks as she sniffled. "God, that hurts. I don't even know why I'm crying. Why am I crying?"
Lucas picked up her foot without her permission and she grunted deeply, her cheeks flushed a deep red. He picked at the cloth of her sock and pulled it down slightly to inspect the injury. She screamed under her breath dug her nails into the palm of her hand. "Lucas," she groaned. "Lucas stop, that hurts."
"Sorry," Lucas said quickly and dropped her foot on the leafy ground. Maya yelped in pain at the impact and a few more tears rolled down her cheeks. "Sorry!" he said loudly, his eyebrows raised in surprised.
"You're so fucking dumb!" she groaned, waving him over with her hand. He carefully stepped over the roots of the trees and the stumps and walked over to her face with a cheeky smile. "Why are you smiling? This is a serious matter."
He bit back a small laugh at her current state, even though he knew it was a horrible thing to laugh at. But her hair was splayed out all over the mossy ground, her left ankle totally swollen and he had never seen a sight quite like her. He thought he could get used to it.
She grabbed his hand and he pulled herself up as she hobbled on her right foot. He turned over as she grunted to herself so she could jump on his back. On the third count, she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist; his hands reached under her thighs to hoist her up on him. Her rest rested on his shoulder as she yawned loudly.
"Take me away Cowboy."
