Maya looked up to find a girl a few years older than her standing a few paces back. She was pretty, with dark wavy hair with ombre highlights, and big eyes, and a knowing gaze that reminded Maya of Zay. She was wearing black ripped jeans and booties Maya immediately coveted, and a camisole over a burgundy leather jacket.

'Tough day, huh?' She asked.

Maya shrugged. 'What would make you think that?'

'You're crying,' The girl said, pointing at Maya's face. Maya brushed some tears away from her cheeks. Great, she thought, I am so not in control of my emotions, I can't even tell what they are anymore. 'Are you okay?'

'Yup. Why wouldn't I be?'

'Which brings us back to the crying,' the girl replied, smiling in as comforting a manner as anyone could. 'You want to talk about it? We are locker siblings after all,'

She didn't know what made her do it. Call it insanity, a moment of weakness, whatever it was, she closed her locker and leant her back against it. 'Me and my best friend like this guy-'

'Hey, Nikki,'

Nikki looked behind her. Maya followed her gaze to a very pretty blonde. Polished and wearing a preppy outfit, the blonde wore a smile that looked like it hurt.

'Hey, Fran,' Nikki said, mustering a smile that had very little warmth to it.

Fran stopped quite a way away from Maya and Nikki, shifting uncomfortably. 'Long time no see,'

'I've been busy,' Nikki said quickly.

'Yeah, of course. Me, too. AP classes, and college prep,'

'Yeah. I meant to call you back last week, but, you know, busy.' Nikki said, and then as a lull settled in she turned to Maya. 'This is...'

'Maya,' answered Maya, eyeing both girls with curiosity. They knew each other well, she could tell, at some point. She wondered what had gone so wrong.

'We're locker siblings,' Nikki explained, pointing to the locker block.

Fran smiled. 'Oh. Right. I had the locker right next to yours Freshman year, remember?'

Nikki thawed all of a sudden, and the light of memories seemed to return to her eyes. 'Yeah. You had all those pictures of cats taped inside,'

'Oh my gosh, yes!' Fran squealed, stepping closer to her old friend, 'and remember Thor would-' she stopped speaking abruptly, her eyes widening when she realized what she'd said. Both her and Nikki's gazes dropped to the ground, and an awkwardness set in. An awkwardness Maya knew all too well. It was like she'd stepped through the looking glass.

The chorus of nearing voices shattered the bubble of weirdness.

'It's just down here,' a gruff voice called.

'Thank you so much,' a familiar, but equally deep, voice said in response.

'We just got so turned around. I thought I knew my way around but we-' Riley stopped talking when she saw Maya.

Lucas and Riley were in the company of an older boy, who looked sort of like Lucas three years from now. And Future Lucas looked about as happy to see Nikki and Fran as Maya was to see Riley and Lucas.

'Thor,' Fran was the first to speak.

'Hey, Fran,' said Future Lucas/Thor. Then he looked at Nikki with a half smile and said, 'Nik.'

'Thor.' Nikki replied.

Riley and Lucas were apparently not as interested in this older dynamic as Maya was, because they came over to her without a backward glance, Riley in the lead.

'Maya,' Lucas said, as if something was going to come after that. But then Riley hugged her, and nothing did.

'Lucas.' Maya said in reply.

Riley raised her hand. 'Riley!'

'Okay,' said Nikki, loud enough for all five of the others to stop and look at her. 'Is anyone else choking on the deja vu right now?'

Maya raised her hand. 'Kinda.'

'What are you talking about?' Riley asked, raising an eyebrow at Nikki, and then at Maya. 'Who is that?'

'That's Nikki.' Maya told her. Then she looked at Fran, who looked a little green at that moment, and Thor, who looked like he was trying to will himself out of existence. 'And that's Fran, and Thor. They're...us.'

The moment she said it, Nikki's face confirmed it. She and Fran both liked Thor. But he wasn't dating either of them. At some point, they probably thought that was a way to stay friends, but one look at them could tell it was a three pronged wedge, keeping all of them apart. Maya had felt it just in the three months since graduation, she couldn't imagine what it would be like feeling it for three years. She felt sorry for them, but she also felt a burning desire to learn from the mistakes of her locker sister.

'What do you mean they're us?' Riley asked, glancing over at Nikki again. Her eyes swiveled to Fran, and then to Thor, and her eyes narrowed. Finally she had her epiphany. 'You guys both like him,' she said to the older girls.

When Nikki said nothing, Fran answered for both of them. 'Yeah, we do. Did, a long time ago.'

'And you liked them?' Lucas asked Thor, suddenly having found his voice.

Thor looked up, as if surprised someone was speaking to him, and flashed Lucas a rueful smile. 'Yeah, since Freshman year. I still do. They're the best people I know.'

'But you're not dating either of them,' Riley clarified.

'We thought it was best if we all stayed friends,' said Fran, glancing at the other two. Nikki was rubbing one of her arms, and Thor was watching Nikki like she wasn't going to be there two seconds later.

'But you're not really friends, are you?' Maya persisted, looking between them. They all looked up. 'This...whatever it is has driven a wedge between all of you. I can see it. You two used to be locker buddies, and now you barely even talk. And you,' she accused, pointing at Thor, 'when was the last time you had a real conversation with either of them? Being stuck in limbo for three years does not make you friends.'

Fran and Nikki looked away, but Thor kept looking at Maya, a smile forming on his lips. 'You got yourself a little mini me there, eh, Nik?'

Nikki looked at Thor, then at Maya, just beginning to smile. 'Looks like it.' She said. 'And she's right. We were best friends before all this happened. All of this liking each other messed it up.'

'I think nobody making a decision messed it all up.' Thor said. Even though he was looking at the floor, it sounded like a snipe.

'Say that a little louder for the people in the back, why don't you?' Nikki shot back, craning around Fran to glower at Thor.

'I said, we all agreed that you and Fran were going to talk it out, and three years later...never happened,' he said. Maya noticed he didn't seem to blame Fran at all.

'Does that make you the paradigm of innocence here?' Nikki snapped. 'Like you need someone else to tell you how you feel!'

'I agreed to it because I didn't want this to happen!'

'Uh, newsflash, it happened anyway!'

'Guys,' Fran interrupted, turning to look at them both. Both Thor and Nikki stopped arguing and turned away from one another.

Maya's temples were throbbing. Was this really them in three years? Unable to have even on conversation without arguing, avoiding each other, acting like strangers. If it was she would give up right now. This wasn't worth losing her friends.

'I have to go,' Fran said suddenly, glancing at Thor again. He wouldn't even look at her. 'Class starts in a few minutes, and I have to prep my apparatus. I'll see you guys around.'

She scurried down the hallways at a rate of naughts. Both Nikki and Thor looked after her, both seeming like they wanted to move, but neither did.

'Well, as you can see,' Nikki said to Maya, 'Something like this can really change your friendships,'

'You could fix it,' Riley chimed in, suddenly beside Maya, holding her hand. 'If you guys just talked-'

'I think it's a little late for that,' said Nikki, glancing back at Thor, who seemed like such a spare part in the wake of the argument. 'I think...too much time has passed for anything to change. Or maybe things have changed too much. I don't know. But what I do know, is that you guys aren't there yet. Don't let it get there, okay?' Nikki implored them, looking down at Maya and Riley's intertwined hands. 'See you later, locker sister. Bye, Riley. Lucas.'

When Nikki left the opposite direction to Fran, Thor watched her go. A moment later, he went in the same direction as Fran. Maya and Riley looked over at each other, and Maya knew they both understood the gravity of what they'd witnessed. A future without each other. It seemed unbearable, so unfair and unnecessary.

'Let's not fight,' Riley said, taking Maya's hand again. 'I won't push you guys to do anything anymore, okay?'

'Yeah, Riles,' Maya said, smiling at her friend. 'It's okay.

But it wasn't. When she and Riley hugged, she caught Lucas's eye over Riley's shoulder. She wondered if things would ever be okay again.


When Maya and Riley got to Topanga's after school, having patched things up as much as they could in the middle of a Math class, Farkle and Lucas were in what looked to be a very deep discussion. Zay was sitting on one of the big chairs, watching them with a slightly smug look.

'Hey, guys,' Riley said, waving.

Farkle immediately moved to a chair instead of the couch, and Lucas moved to let Riley sit down, just enough that there was space on the other side of him, as if he obnoxiously assumed that she would want to sit next to him too.

'Move,' Maya said to Zay, and Zay moved just enough on the chair for Maya to sit on it as well. Lucas eyed her curiously, and Maya ignored it. 'So, what are we talking about?'

'Nothing.' Lucas said quickly.

'Farkle?' Riley asked. She was so aware of the soft spot Farkle had for her. Something about that irked Maya, and it had been ever since New Year's, but she shoved it down with the rest of the irks.

'I was asking Lucas what's going on with you three,' Farkle admitted.

'Is it really any of your business, Farkle?' Maya snapped at him.

'Maya,' said Riley, pointedly. But Maya just ignored her.

The genius looked taken aback. 'I was only asking,' he said. 'I saw Riley and Lucas fighting-'

'He was fighting with Maya, too,' Riley added quickly.

'Wait,' Farkle said, holding up his hand. To Maya he said, 'You and Lucas are fighting?'

'No, Farkle, you and I are fighting right now.' Maya snapped at him, sitting forward.

'Well, at least nobody's fighting with me,' Zay said.

'Shut up, Zay.' Maya growled.

'Would everyone calm down?' Riley begged, sighing. 'Lucas is getting in fights, Maya, you're yelling at everyone, and Farkle, you're just making everything worse. It's like you've all gone down the rabbit hole,'

'You put us in this hole, Riley,'

Everyone went quiet when Farkle said that. It was perhaps the worst thing he could have said to Riley. Making her feel responsible for the disintegration of the group dynamic. It was cruel, and only partially fair, and so uncharacteristic of Farkle.

Riley's whole face crumbled when he said that. Maya saw it. Anyone could have. She looked like she was about to cry. Maya had never wanted to cook Farkle in Sludge more than she did in that moment. How freaking dare he.

'I thought this whole thing had hit rock bottom,' Zay started, glancing at Maya.

She caught the hint. 'And then Farkle goes and grabs a shovel.'


The next day, no one said a word during Cory's class. His lecture about the french proletariat was not once interrupted by his mouthiest pupils. More than once he stopped as if he was waiting for someone to talk, but no one said anything.

Farkle didn't have Farkle Time.

Zay didn't make a joke.

Riley didn't express her sympathy for the poor unfortunates.

Maya just doodled in her notebook.

By the time the bell rang, Cory had had enough.

'You, you, you, you, and you,' he said to the five, pointing at them, 'Stay.'

'I will wait outside for you, Farkle.' Smackle said, sliding her books into her bag and leaving the room with the other students.

'Right.' Cory said, sitting atop his desk. 'What's going on with you guys?'

'Nothin'.' Maya said, when no one else spoke.

'I gave a whole lecture today,' Cory said, shaking his head. 'And nobody said nothin'. Not one comment about your lives. Guys, I'm losing my teacher cred here,'

'It's not you, Mr. Matthews,' Farkle assured him. 'We're all just going through a hard time right now.'

'Maybe that's because some of us don't know when to keep their noses out,' Maya suggested pointedly.

'Or because some of us don't answer questions,' Riley said, turning around to glare at Lucas.

'Or because none of you will just have an honest conversation?' Farkle pointed out, looking to Cory for support.

Cory seemed to think on this for a moment, then he looked at Zay. 'What do you think about all this, Mr. Babineaux?'

'I think I wish I had some popcorn. 'Cause y'all are better than cable.' Zay said, looking around at his friends. 'I mean, dang. Y'all are supposed to be best friends but you're acting like you don't even wanna be around each other no more.' Zay. Always right somehow.

'I don't think that's really true,' Lucas piped up, earning himself a glare from Maya.

'Oh, now you got something to say, Yoko?'

'Okay, Maya. Make fun of my being from Texas as much as you want, but don't call me that. That's not fair and you know it.' Lucas growled. The look he was giving Maya was one that told her to back down, but screw him. She wasn't afraid of him. He couldn't pick up a bed with one arm.

'What, am I supposed to be scared of you?' Maya laughed sardonically. 'Big bad Lucas who breaks walls and gets in trouble. You couldn't even hurt that senior who bullied Zay. Sorry, Mad Dawg, I'm just not feeling it.'

Lucas didn't reply. He just looked at her. Kind of like he had in Texas. And just like then, Maya felt her heart hit her ribcage and something tighten around her throat. She didn't say anything, or move, or even breathe. She just sat there. She looked at him, and she let him look at her. He was asking how she knew he didn't do it. She was telling him because she knew him.

'Wait a minute,' Riley's voice shattered whatever had been around them, and Maya looked at Riley, who had now turned her body to face Lucas. 'You didn't hit Karl Heskins?'

'Of course he didn't,' Zay said, throwing his hands up in the air. 'Lucas dodged a punch and the guy fell and got a bloody nose. The only reason he hasn't been in school is probably because he's milking the injury for time off. Lucas didn't do anything to him. Sorry, buddy, but this has gone too far.'

'Couldn't.' Lucas said quietly, but everybody heard him.

'What was that, Mr. Friar?'

'Couldn't.' Lucas repeated with a sigh. His hands were clench into loose fists on the table, and that seemed to be all he could look at. 'I couldn't do anything to him. Part of me wanted to, but a bigger part of me wouldn't let myself. So, you were right, Mr. Matthews. People change people. I'm not that guy anymore, even if sometimes I want to be.' He looked up to glance at Maya, and then he looked to Riley. 'I'm sorry, Riley. I should have told you the second you asked, but I couldn't. Because I didn't want you to know.'

'Why?' Riley asked. 'Why would you not want me to know that you've changed?'

Maya could guess, but she didn't say anything. She glanced at Zay, only to find him looking back at her.

'Because,' Lucas said, taking a labored breath, 'I used to be able to protect you guys. I'm not so sure I can anymore,'

That was Lucas to a tee. Ready to give into his worst impulses, afraid of losing them, just so he could protect his friends. It reminded Maya of herself, and it reminded her why she liked him. And it made her feel guilty for bringing it up. Most of all it made her realize that that's what he'd been trying to do the whole time. Lucas wasn't protecting himself by not making a decision, he was protecting his friends. Or at least, he was trying to.

'Lucas,' Cory said. All five of the students looked at him, ready for him to give them an answer to a question they hadn't asked. One that hung in the air. Cory looked at them all like his heart was breaking. Then he shook his head. 'You can't protect them anymore.'


A/N: Okay so this was getting ridiculously long so I didn't get to add in the Maya/Ava stuff that I wanted to. I also couldn't fit in the resolution of the Nikki/Thor/Fran triangle, but I am planning to bring them back closer to Triangle (partly because I love the Nikki character that's in my head) and also because it'll be an interesting parallel, how theirs works out vs how the other one works out.

Okay, rant over. Comment and reviews welcome :)