"Hey, Pancakes," Lucas said, sitting down across from his girlfriend that same day at lunch.

Maya didn't even look up from her sketchbook. "Hey, Huckleberry," she replied, her pencil moving across the page with quick yet purposeful movements. "How was your morning?"

"Fine, I guess," Lucas replied. "What are you drawing?"

Maya stopped, staring at the page. She blinked twice, then tore the page out, crumpled it up, and shoved it deep into her bag. "Nothing," she muttered. "Messed up. Starting over."

Lucas stared at his girlfriend with mild concern. "Maya, are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Lucas," she snapped. When his eyes went wide, she back-tracked. "Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind. With college and stuff."

"I thought you'd already made a decision," Lucas said, raising an eyebrow.

"I thought I had too, but then I found out Riley got into Julliard this morning," Maya explained. "So I'm reconsidering. I haven't actually sent in any confirmations yet."

Lucas frowned. "I thought you wanted to go with me."

"I do, but Riley is my best friend, and Julliard has a great visual arts program," Maya said wistfully. "It would be a no-brainer for me if I could actually afford it."

"You'll make the right decision in the end," Lucas said, but inside, he was slightly taken aback by Maya's news. He'd thought for sure that she'd be coming to Columbia with him.

"Look, Lucas, I'll think about it. I just don't see how it'll be an easy decision," Maya said, not looking up from her sketchbook again.

"I understand," Lucas admitted. "I really do. I'll see you after school?" he asked, standing up from the table, realizing Maya wasn't in the mood to talk at the moment.

"Yeah, sounds good," Maya said, looking up to smile at him. "Sorry I couldn't be better company."

"It's fine," Lucas said. "See ya."

Once Lucas was gone, Maya set down her sketchbook and pencil and stared once more. When she drew, she didn't really have a plan in mind unless it was for a school project. But it was clear that her big decision was clouding her vision. She reached into her bag and pulled out the sheet of paper that she'd crumpled up earlier and looked at it again.

"What are you doing to me, Joshua Matthews?" she asked quietly to herself.

She'd drawn Josh's perfect facial features, right down to the beautiful eyes she'd always known he had, along with the hair that she desperately wanted to run her fingers through when she was younger. And of course, she hadn't ever forgotten the smile that could make her heart melt. As she glanced at the page still in her sketchbook, she realized she was again drawing the same thing. She just hadn't realized it.

"What am I doing?" she whispered.

-GMW-

"What's up, losers?" Maya asked, walking into Riley's apartment after school that day. "Hey, Auggie, Ava."

"Hi Maya," Auggie said, looking up from where he and Ava were sitting at the kitchen table. "Riley's in her room with Farkle."

"Great, thanks," Maya said, heading towards Riley's bedroom, when she ran straight into the last person she expected to see.

"Easy there, Maya," 21-year old Josh said, grinning down at her. "Long time no see."

Usually not one to be shy around boys, Maya opened her mouth to make a snippy remark when she realized she had no comeback. So instead, her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide with shock.

"Maya?" Josh asked, his smile fading. "What's going on?"

She pushed past him and ran for the safety of Riley's room, slamming the door shut when she got inside. Riley and Farkle stared at her. "Josh is here," Riley said.

"Not helping," she muttered. She dumped her book bag on the floor and sat down in the bay window. "What's going on here?" she asked. "Girl troubles?" she asked Farkle, who turned red.

"Smackle and I are going through a phase. Or at least, she's going through a phase and I'm trying to keep up," he grumbled.

Riley sighed. "Just ask her out already," she insisted. "And all your merry little troubles will go away!"

Farkle shook his head. "It's not that easy, Riley."

"Why not? You like her, she likes you. Seems like a win-win to me," Maya observed.

"Because dating Smackle seems so complicated," Farkle admitted.

"Farkle, dating is complicated. You have to work for it to work," Riley told him. "You really like her though, so why not just go for it?"

"Riley, senior year ends in four months," Farkle said. "I don't see a point in starting a relationship that will end as soon as we graduate."

Maya understood Farkle's point; he and Smackle were heading off to different schools, both Ivy League. Farkle was staying local at Yale, but Smackle had gotten into MIT and the distance was going to be hard for the two of them already. It would only become more complicated if they decided to maintain a long-distance relationship.

"I have a solution," Maya announced, and both Riley and Farkle turned to look at her. "Just ask her out on one date. If all goes well, ask her out on a second. Just take it day by day, Farkle. Definitely ask her to prom. When the end of the year rolls around, the two of you can figure out then what to do moving forward."

Farkle considered this. "Okay," he said finally.

"So Maya, why did you rush in here so fast?" Riley asked, changing the subject.

Maya shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."

Farkle raised an eyebrow. "Uh, weren't you supposed to meet Lucas at Topanga's this afternoon?"

Maya froze. "Crap, I forgot," she groaned, scrambling to find her phone in her book bag. She dug it out and saw that there were four new messages and a missed call. All from Lucas. "He's gonna be so mad. I already blew him off at lunch today."

"Lucas couldn't possibly stay mad at you though," Farkle tried.

"Wait, why did you blow him off today?" Riley asked, bewildered.

"I was drawing," Maya defended herself. "I didn't want to be disrupted."

"You'd better call him and fix things," Riley said.

Maya looked at the messages:

From: Ranger Rick

Where are you?

Maya, I thought we were meeting at Topanga's?

ARE YOU AVOIDING ME WHY AREN'T YOU PICKING UP

DID SOMETHING HAPPEN

Maya hit speed-dial and held the phone up to her ear.

"Look who finally decided to call," Lucas said sarcastically when he picked up.

Maya winced. "I'm sorry," she burst out. "I totally forgot we made plans. Do you still want me to come? I'm at Riley's."

"Don't bother, I'll come over," Lucas said. "See you in five."

"Bye," Maya said softly, hanging up. She looked at Riley and Farkle, who were staring at her with a mixture of sympathy and exasperation. "What?" she asked.

"You forgot a date with Lucas?" Farkle said, raising an eyebrow. "That's not exactly like you, Maya."

"So what?" Maya replied.

"So what's going on?" Riley finished Farkle's thought.

Maya knew better than to keep a secret from her friends, so she reached into her bag and pulled out the two crumpled drawings she'd drawn earlier. Tossing one to Riley and the other to Farkle, she waited as they opened the pages up. Riley's mouth dropped open. "Maya?" she asked uncertainly.

"I didn't even realize what I was drawing," Maya sighed, flopping down onto Riley's bed. "Then, when I ran into him earlier on the stairs, I didn't know what to say."

"You're dating Lucas," Farkle said.

"I thought you'd moved on," Riley added. Glancing at Farkle, she continued, "We all did."

Maya sighed again. "I thought I had too."