I think I'm going to put a little summary of the current chapter in the story's synopsis/summary. Please review and let me know what you might even want to see eventually!

Matters of the Hart: 2 AM Texts
In which an extremely jet-lagged Lucas Friar lets Maya know she doesn't have to grow up yet.

*Contains some friendship, little bit of romance?
**Takes place after Girl meets Tell-Tale-Tot
***Important formatting to know:
Emphasis on words.
'Thoughts'
"Lucas' texts"
"Maya's texts"

Bliss.

Pure bliss.

That is what Maya was in as she laid down on her bed, the red light from the bunny-mart down the street illuminating her warm room every so often. Her right hand was in her hair while a smile danced upon her pink lips, matching the rosy hue of her cheeks. She was a love-sick fool.

With a dreamy sigh and a giggle, she rolled over to stuff her face into her pillow to squeal in all her giddiness. It had been a couple of hours after her talk with Josh at Riley's window sill. Okay, well it wasn't just with Josh. Riley, Topanga, and Corey were there, too. But what mattered was that now, Josh saw her in a new light! And at the time, she seemed solemn. She was still bummed over the fact that she saw Josh flirting with some college girls. She was also feeling the weight maturity on her shoulders. She had to grow up. If she wanted Josh to notice her and take her crush on him seriously, a little bit of maturing was needed.

But right now?

By now she had analyzed the whole conversation, everything that happened between the two of them: every word he said, every expression he made. And after analyzing it all, she knew one thing: Joshua Matthews no longer saw her as "Riley's best friend" or "That girl that has this silly crush on me". He saw her as "Maya Hart, the mature 8th grader".

Suddenly, Maya felt her pillow vibrate. Lifting her head out of her pillow, she reached a hand underneath it to grab her cellphone. On the harsh bright screen read, "New Message. Lucas Friar." She looked at the time: 2:00 AM. What was Lucas doing texting her so late—early? Late-early. She went with that one.

The blonde rolled over onto her back, holding the phone above her head as she squinted to read the bright screen. She was barely able to read it.

"Shortstack! Sorry for texting super late. I just got off my flight. Riley's definitely asleep. Farkle won't answer my text and Zay is probably too busy playing CoD or something to look at his phone. What did I miss while I was gone?"

"Oh, that's right", she thought. She now remembered that Zay was the one who sat behind her the last couple of days in the week. No wonder class was harder to sit through. There was no Ranger Rick to banter back and forth with!

With a scowl, Maya began to text him back.

"Shut it with that Shortstack stuff Hopalong. Of course Riley's asleep. She likes to be in bed by 9:15. Where were you anyway?"

She sent the text and placed the phone on her chest, waiting for a text back.

Shortly after, her phone vibrated again.

"Texas. Cousin got married. It was great, on a ranch with the sunset behind them and everything. It's really great out there. Wish I coulda taken you."

What was that?

"All of you*"

Oh.

"There's more of you? Oh joy. Well, while you were gone Cory taught us about conscience. Some Tale-tell Heart thing. Tater tots. You know, all that mushy stuff?"

That's all that happened, right?

"Oh yeah, and Riley and I went to a college party to see Josh. He got accepted into NYU! :-D"

"Nice, Maya. Use that smiley face," she couldn't help how elated she was and being able to share it with someone—other than Riley and the Matthews— felt so good!

"WHAT?!1!?1!?"

There was a pause between the last text and the next. Why was he overreacting?

"You went to a COLLEGE party? With RILEY? You guys didn't get hurt or anything right? You guys didn't drink right? No one slipped anything into them, right?! Did Mr. and Mrs. Matthews know?!"

Maya raised a brow at her phone screen. She couldn't hide the small smirk that played on her lips.

"Awh, Ranger Rick. Nice to know you cared. But no. They didn't know. Riles and I snuck out. Don't get your panties in a bunch, nothing like that happened. Actually, you know what, Riley really enjoyed it. And I mean REALLY. We met up with Josh there and… well he was getting his flirt on with some college chick and blah blah blah got jealous yada yada. At the end of the day… well wait no. End of the next day. Which was today. Wait… yesterday? LOL! As in before 12 am, I told Cory and Topanga the truth. Riley was gonna cave and tell them anyway so I decided I'd beat her to it… And it was the grown up thing to do."

"Well I'm really proud of you Pancakes. :] There is good in you! lol"

"I'll ignore what you did there. :( But thanks! Josh thought it was really mature of me and I think this means he doesn't just see me as three years younger! I told myself that growing up was something that was necessary if I wanted Josh to take me seriously, you know?"

Maya sighed again, placing her phone down. She closed her eyes and replayed the whole scene again in her head. Her and Josh—she left out the rest of the Matthews in her version— at the bay window. He looked over at her with this sort of smile and she knew there was something different in his eyes. It was like he was seeing her in a new light. Literally. In her imagination, there was this light shining down on her, making her look ethereal. Cue the fans, blowing her hair back to give her that hollywood movie star appeal. And just like in the movies, Josh leaned closer to her. She leaned close to him as well and then—

Vrrrrr! Vrrrrr!

'Stupid phone,' Maya exhaled deeply, growling and cursing Lucas for interrupting her wonderful retelling/fantasy.

"You know, Maya. I'm really happy that you did the right thing. Mr. Matthews' teaching of conscience really hit you."

She was in the middle of typing something along the lines of "Yeah, I know" but he had texted back before she could even get passed the first word.

"… But you really shouldn't have to change for anyone to like you."

Maya raised a brow.

"I'm NOT changing for anyone. I have to grow up sometime."

"Yeah. I know, but…"

"I'm just saying. Don't feel like you need to grow up too fast. If you do, then you might not be the Maya we all know. Grow up on your own time and enjoy being a kid with the rest of us while we still can, you know? I mean, growing up means getting a job, paying taxes, going to jury duty. Who wants that?"

Maya's smile had previously faded, confused at first at what Lucas had meant. But as she read over his text, the smile came back. It wasn't as big as it was when she thought about Josh. It was a small smile, a genuine one. The kind you gave someone when you really couldn't help but want to let out an "Awwwwh."

Lucas did have a point. Taxes? Ew. Jury duty? Who wanted to go to some hot and cramped court house only to find out you're not needed—and if you are needed, you just sit around listening to some boring story about a traffic citation? Not Maya, that was for sure.

She guessed she took too long to reply, because Lucas had just sent his third text in a row.

"Uh. I don't know what I'm saying. I guess, it's like… You don't need to grow up Maya. I mean, not now. Not when this is supposed to be the time to learn about ourselves and each other. Uh, that's not it. Ummm. Chimney, this is hard…"

Maya couldn't help but laugh out loud. And, oh crap. He sent another. He didn't even give her enough time to respond!

"Look. Maybe you passed out. Maybe you're not going to read this until you wake up. Maybe you're asleep and your phone died! I don't know which one it is, but I'm trying to explain to you 1) don't grow up too fast. and 2) you don't have to change yourself for a guy. There's gonna be a guy that likes you for who you are and will grow up with you. Trust me. He's out there. "

She smiled. He wasn't very good at his words, but he was really trying.

And another one.

"I like you, Maya. Just the way you are."

'… What?'

"Yeah, you're definitely asleep. Haha, well I hope you read this in the morning when you wake up and it cheers you up! Let's not make this awkward when we see each other at school, yeah? Well… goodnight. :]"

No! She wasn't asleep! He just texted too fast and she was an over analyst—well, not usually, but tonight was a different story— and she needed to know what he meant!

"Screw the texting," Maya grumbled out. She hit the green button on her phone to call him. Lucas picked it up immediately.

"Hello…?" He sounded super sleepy.

"Hey uh.. what was that all about?" Maya bit on her lower lip, the phone pressed to her ear and her eyes trained on the ceiling above her.

"Just saying what was on my mind. I mean, I like Josh. He's a cool fella'. I don't know, I'm honestly not making any sense right now. My mind's goin' crazy cause I just came back from Texas and I'm supposed to be asleep but I can't but I'm so tired," Lucas just kept going on and on with no pauses in between, "I'm just… jet lagged. Sorry, haha. But hey, we should both try and get some sleep."

Maya smirked on her end. She found delirious Lucas quite enjoyable. "Alright, Bucky McBoingBoing. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

She hung up and rolled her eyes. What a doofus.

Vrrr! Vrrr!

"By the way. I do like you."

'Jet lag', she reminded herself.

"I mean it."

She stared at her phone, held in her hands, a smile dancing on her pink lips that matched the rosy hue of her cheeks.