01

When Maya got home that night, her grandmother was the first to know something was up. She, despite seeming frail and old, had her granddaughter spilling all that she had done that day. They had always been closer than Maya and her mother. When she neared the part where she rebelled, she remembered the note Matthews had given her.

What happened over the summer?

Maya wasn't sure how he knew. She wasn't sure what he knew if he knew much at all. He couldn't know about Lucas, she reasoned, it just wasn't possible. So — so — so he must be talking about something else, some other difference in Maya's life. Some abnormality. Though what really was normality when it came to Maya. Her home life was constantly changing, she supposed the only thing that defined who she was was her best friend. She supposed he was talking about her friendship with Riley, a change to their dynamic. Maya knew there was one. Like a gaping hole in their relationship, Maya was hiding a secret from her best friend. And Cory knew it too.

Maya didn't want it to cause more trouble than it already had. At least this note didn't demand an answer like the last one did. Riley had found that answer and let's just say she wasn't happy. Still, she couldn't help but think this would lead to something terrible whether she answered or not. It was a secret she didn't want her best friend to find out, and telling her father didn't seem the wisest of choice.

"Gammy, do you think I'm doing the right thing?" Maya asked her grandmother. They were laying on Gammy's bed, wrapped in her shawl. Maya always sought her grandmother's embrace when she was troubled.

"Penelope, dear, that's not just up to you to answer. What you have to ask yourself is, is he worth lying about?" She answered, stroking her granddaughter's hair. "Now, I know you know the answer to that, dear, just be careful around Ri-Ri, okay?" She had always had a soft spot for the blonde's best friend.

Maya knew the answer, but it didn't quite help her mind which was working a hundred miles a minute. She thought that maybe, after relaying the day's events to her grandmother, she'd have a bit of peace of mind. It wasn't until her breathing grew heavy that Maya removed herself from her grandmother's grip and pulled the duvet up to her neck. Maya, as she had done most nights, went around the apartment turning the lights off all except the small light by the front door. Her mother worked till the early hours almost every day, her daughter was used to taking care of the house without her. The blonde sighed as she walked to her room, she wanted to sleep, and soon.

"Howdy," Lucas called from his position at the end of her bed. She ignored him, turning away and pulling her shirt above her head to change into her night shirt.

"You're an idiot, you know that right?" She turned around, armed with her shirt. "You could have gotten yourself killed coming here!"

"But I didn't," he told her. He stood up as she approached the bed, capturing her small frame in his arms.

"But you could have!" she complained, although she didn't resist his arms. "I don't know what's going to happen anymore, and I don't want you getting hurt because of me."

"Penelope..." Lucas began, pulling back slightly to look at her.

"Don't call me that."

"It's not my family that's the dangerous one. And you have to realise that sooner or later they're all going to find out about us, Penelope," he said. Maya smiled when he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I know that Huckleberry, I do, but we've got two and a half years before that. Let us just be safe for now," she sighed. "I just want to be safe."

"Me too, short stack, me too."

"That's a lot of food you've got there, Miss Penelope. You not going to the dance?" Mr Babineaux asked Maya as he rang up the items.

"Just enjoying a quiet night in Sir," she replied, grabbing her bags of food and making for the door. She was just about to reach for the handle when it swung open and knocked her carefully balanced food bags out of her hands. "Watch it!"

"Hey, dad! Come help this girl!" Isaiah Babineaux shouted to his father as he walked into the back. Maya sighed; the food had spilled over the floor, some splitting open upon impact.

"It's okay, Mr Babineaux, I'll help her with these." Maya knew that voice. She looked up and saw the face of a huckleberry. "Sorry about Zay, he's - yeah - he's better once you get to know him."

"Thank you, Mr Friar. I've met Isaiah before, let's just say his reputation precedes him," she replied, standing up and taking one of the reassembled bags from Lucas.

"Anytime, ma'am. I'll walk you back." He followed her outside the shop and walked with her in silence until they reached her home. "Is Jemimah inside?"

"Samuel's taken her to some restaurant, they're not going to be back for another couple of hours," she told him, unlocking her front door. He grinned when she dropped the bags next to the kitchen door and dragged him into the living room.

"And that's supposed to mean something, Miss Clutterbucket?" He chuckled, letting her push him onto the couch.

"Well, that depends," she answered, straddling his hips. "Does a certain Huckleberry still remember what happened last time they were out?"

"I remember pancakes, but this doesn't feel like it's leading to a stack of pancakes."

She lowered her head until her lips were inches from his own. "Maybe later," she muttered before pressing her mouth against him.

They hadn't seen each other since last summer when Maya had visited. The summer was the only time that Maya actually spent with her relatives in Texas. Lucas had known her growing up, living in the neighbouring ranch and going to the same school as her.

However, their friendship did not come easy. Maya's grandparents were opposed to certain traditions in the Friar household and often separated the two when they saw them talking. Running from family members became commonplace with the duo.

Lucas was willing to continue to hide from Maya's family as long as he could see the smile on her face every now and again. Her happiness was the most important thing to him. Between secret horse rides and movie marathons in his room, Maya was her happiest when she was away from the pressures of her family.

They'd only been together for a year, and yet, Maya felt as though nothing had changed the dynamics of their relationship. Other than the kissing, of course.

"Did you want to stay for the night?" Maya called out into the bedroom down the hall as she brushed her teeth. Lucas moved to stand beside her.

"If I can." Maya jumped at the sound of his voice beside her.

"Stop scaring me like that!" She slapped his chest absentmindedly before spitting out her toothpaste.

"I'll stop when you do," he told her, accepting the toothbrush she held out to him to brush his own teeth.

"Yeah, I'm sure you would, Huckleberry." She grinned, waiting for him to finish up.

"So, explain to me the situation with our history class," Lucas said as they walked back to her room.

"Riley's dad is the teacher." Maya sighed, sitting with him on her bed. "He's always given us more freedom to talk than the other students."

"And the turtleneck?" he asked, pointing to a photo that rested on her bedside table.

"That's Farkle, the one that sits behind me. He has this strange quality to always knowing everything, so don't underestimate the Farkle. He's in most of my classes, probably in yours too. The rest of the class are quiet, but Sarah and Darby are nice enough once you make the effort to know them."

Lucas seemed satisfied with the answer and said goodnight to Maya before falling asleep with her in his arms.

01

"Aw, look at him looking for a place to sit," Maya grinned at Riley, nodding towards Lucas across the other side of the cafeteria.

"Do you think he'll sit with us?" the brunette asked her. Maya hadn't been concentrating on her as she moved over to give Lucas the seat between them because. Farkle had seen the seat and slid into it before Maya could tell Lucas to sit next to them. She sent an apologetic look to him as he wandered back over to the other side of the cafeteria to find a seat.

"Ladies."

"Farkle," the girls replied in unison.

"Interesting lunch dilemma," he began, looking between the two girls. "Sloppy joe, or chicken pot pie? Or sloppy joe, or chicken pot pie?" It wasn't hard to guess who he was referring to.

"Is that all you got?" Maya asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"That's it. Same time tomorrow," he said, leaving with his tray. Farkle was quite shy unless you really knew him, and she didn't know him as well as Riley did.

"There he is!" Maya told her best friend, noticing Lucas standing awkwardly by the table adjacent to them. Maya wanted Lucas to sit next to them. He would always sit with her at school when they were younger, yet Maya didn't want to seem as though she knew Lucas. "Invite him to sit down!"

"With words?" Riley asked, shyly sliding herself into the seat next to Maya.

"You're ready for this." The blonde patted her friend on the shoulder. Maya needed her to be ready for this.

"What do I say?"

"Hey Lucas, looking for somebody special?" Maya suggested, grinning when she saw Lucas was staring at her.

"I can't say that!" Right, this was Riley. She wouldn't do anything that forward.

"Hey Lucas, looking for somebody?" she tried again.

"Too forward."

"Hey Lucas," Maya gave in, surely Riley could handle that.

"Like we're on a first-name basis?" The brunette shook her head.

"Hey," Maya exclaimed. She didn't think Riley would ever get the courage to talk to him, so when she saw Lucas make his way over to them she started the conversation.

"Hey," Riley repeated, finally comfortable with the words. Maya was grateful when Lucas sat next to Riley.

"Hey, yourself," he replied. Riley turned to face him slowly. He smiled at her after Maya shifted her attention to her best friend.

"Hi, you're sitting there," she stated, awkwardly.

"Is that okay?" Ever the gentleman, Friar.

Riley gave an awkward thumbs up to him before telling him, "Can you excuse me for just one second?"

She turned to Maya and grabbed her hands in excitement. Lucas smirked at his girlfriend over the tween's shoulder. The three of them composed themselves when they turned round to see Cory hovering over Lucas' shoulder.

"How you doing?" Matthews asked them, but the grip he had on Lucas' shoulder told Maya he was being anything but friendly.

"Dad, you have a choice here. You can either understand that this is just a boy talking to me in the cafeteria..." she trailed off noticing her dad's expression.

"I'm going to do whatever you say next."

"But this is so innocent!" she told him. It was innocent, Maya would give her that, but the whole idea of boys was too much for the overprotective father that was Cory Matthews.

"Honey, fathers don't see anything as innocent. We see it as... What's the opposite of innocent?" he asked, leaning across Lucas. Matthews arm almost had him trapped to the chair, almost.

"Right here!" Maya knew she shouldn't have pushed her boundaries anymore, but she couldn't help raising her hand. Cory grimaced and Lucas grinned briefly, but his attention wasn't on her long.

"Please don't embarrass me," Riley pleaded with her father, shaking her head.

"I'm just going to talk to Mr. Friar about geography," he stated, grabbing Lucas' shoulder again. "You know; I've been to a lot of places. Never been to Texas, though. What part of Texas is the closest to Mexico?"

"That'd be El Paso, sir."

"Great! Let's go right now," Cory told him, grabbing the back of his chair and dragging him into the hallway. Lucas waved at the girls on his way out. Maya took advantage of his leftover sloppy joe and pulled his tray closer to her. Not soon enough to take a bite, however, had Riley chosen to drag the girl from the table.

"Hey!" Maya exclaimed, watching what could have been her dinner get spilled over the table. Sighing, she picked up Lucas' and her trays and gave them to the dinner lady on hand, muttering her thanks.

"So, did you do the homework?" Riley asked the blonde, handing her tray over.

"No I didn't do the homework," she replied, not that she could have tried. Lucas was too much of a distraction for homework on the first day back. "The question on everybody's kiwi lips is: did you do the homework?"

"No, I'm one of the founding members of the Homework Rebellion. You think I did my homework?" She was trying to sound tough.

Maya didn't want Riley to try to be her.

"I think you did mine too," she told her, turning to face her.

Riley crumbled as a smile broke out across her face, "I did, I did and I really liked it."

Of course, she had.

It wasn't as though she had asked her to do it, in fact, Maya was annoyed at her for her lack of trust in the blonde. She could have handled the homework had her mother been there with dinner on the table, or money to buy paper and pens. "Riley, don't save me." If Maya was going to do her homework it would be her work, not her friend's.

"What?" Riley asked her, confused.

"Let me be me," Maya told her. Riley stared at her until she grabbed the back of Farkle's shirt and he stopped on his way to the dinner lady to hand his own tray in too. "Oh, you got two desserts?" Maya was really missing her extra sloppy joe.

"Angel's food cake..." Riley noticed.

"And Devil's food cake," the shorter of the two caught on. "Let me guess who's who."

"Hey, Farkle's just hungry," he replied, shoving a piece of Devil's food cake in his mouth. Maya smirked at him. "Not everything is about you."

Riley raised her eyebrows at him. She didn't believe a word he'd just said. Sometimes Riley acted older than she was supposed to in Maya's eyes. Cory wouldn't like that.

01

Lucas walked into History class next period. Thankfully, Matthews hadn't scared him off too much.

Riley turned around in her chair to face him. "Hi, I'm glad you're back."

"Hi, me too," he smiled at her. Cory ran between their desks interrupting them.

"Hi," Cory mimicked him, obviously less than appreciative of Riley's apparent crush. "Apparently you have a better sense of direction than I anticipated."

He pointed between his daughter and Lucas, he sounded angry. Lucas was smiling though so Maya took it that their talk went well enough not to ruin anything. Cory drew a line across his neck with his finger as soon as Riley faced away from them. Lucas barely moved an inch.

"You're a really good looking guy," Matthews told him if only just to keep up appearances. Lucas narrowed his eyes out of annoyance and Matthews gave in starting class up again. "Okay, so, today we're going to find out if anybody here believes in something so strongly, they'd fight for it. Maya."

"Yes, sir," she answered, looking away from Lucas.

"Present your homework," he asked of her.

Oh.

"Can't do that, sir."

"Why not?"

"Didn't do my homework, sir."

"Why not?"

Because she was too distracted by a certain Huckleberry to remember that the pile on her desk was due in that day. She couldn't say that, of course.

"That's what I'm fighting against, sir," she replied with instead, smiling up at her tormentor.

"Oh, this could go on for a while," Farkle stated. Maya heard his feet come to rest on his desk behind her and she heard a faint mumbling of his name passing his lips, as though he was sleeping. Laughing, she turned to see him with a sleep mask over his head.

"I didn't do my homework either," Riley stated, looking at her father.

"Oh, really?" Matthews asked her. Maya couldn't tell whether he believed her or not and that spelled trouble for her.

"Yeah," Riley continued and Maya whipped her head round to face her. Her eyes showed panic, begging her not to do this. She wasn't looking at her, though. "We're the same now. I don't believe in homework."

"Guess what, Riley? That doesn't make you the same as Maya at all."

Maya sighed in relief when she heard the fatherly tone to his voice. He wouldn't blame her for this one. At least, she could continue with my façade for the time being. Raising her hand, Maya continued, "I have something to say."

Cory looked at her. "Wow, I don't know what to do. I've never seen this before. The floor's yours, Ms Hart." He gestured to the space beside him.

She stood, half tempted to leave the room, but the other half knew she needed to stay the Maya that Riley wouldn't want to be. The Maya that got into trouble. "Get up, Farkle." She pulled on his sleep mask, grinning as she felt him grab her hand and place a note into her palm. "You're going to want to be awake for this."

"Is it our honeymoon?" The genius joked, standing as well.

"No, you missed that, honey. Now, it's time to hand in our essays," she laughed, patting his cheek. He raised his hand as well and she knew he'd complain about her going first, he always did.

"Oh, Farkle goes first, Farkle always goes first!" he stated, a blush gracing his cheeks at Maya's actions, then he left the room.

After he'd left, she continued with her presentation. "Alright, everybody who did their homework, put it on your desk."

They all did as she'd asked. Maya nearly laughed at their naivety, but she'd already begun collecting them in and they had to trust her, for now at least.

"Careful there, Ms Hart," Cory told her, leaning back on his desk. He trusted her too, mostly.

Riley looked up at her as she passed her, "Are you sure about this?" Maya could tell she was feeling guilty about not getting out her homework. Though if her plan worked she'd be the only one not angry with her at the end of this.

"I got this," Maya reassured her, picking up Lucas' paper. She frowned when she saw the topic he'd chosen to comment on. Love. The idiot. Farkle came into the classroom with his elaborate project which distracted her from hearing Riley's reply. It was all out, coloured with the American red, white and blue, and complete with sparklers.

"The branding of Atlanta led to the end of the Civil War, and of peace. I believe that peace is worth fighting for," he began, interrupting my presentation. Maya needed to get rid of Lucas paper. He could write it for any other teacher. Just not Matthews. Grinning, she reached across Farkle and took a sparkler from his display. He protested which only caused her to take another. "And there goes Virginia."

Surprisingly, he'd actually put a lot of work into our first project of the semester. Maya, however, had not and she was paying for it. "The burning of the homework." She walked to the front of the classroom and stood on her empty seat. "Led to the end of the homework rebellion because there was no more homework."

Ever so slowly, Maya raised the sparkler to the homework, eyeing Matthews who she knew would jump to save them. He did, telling her he got what she was trying to say. He hadn't realised Maya wasn't fighting for her presentation anymore. She was getting rid of that paper. After lifting the sparkler over her head, she began her chanting again.

Then the sprinklers went off.

Everyone was soaked, Maya included. And suddenly she was regretting wearing a see-through top under her jacket.

"Okay, so those work," she shouted through the sounds of the alarm. Matthews glared at her, the ruined homework still in his hand now being crumpled by the fist he was making. Yup, he was going to kill her. She was a dead woman. Lucas wouldn't be dead though and maybe that was worth it. Riley was safe too. They could live their lives, maybe he'd even fall for her if Maya was gone. She'd move on too.

"Is this still part of your presentation? Or is this actually going on?" Farkle asked her, shaking her out of the shock she'd put herself under. Maya began to move, grabbing Lucas hoodie from the back of his chair and holding it above herself as a protection from the rain. Everybody moved at the same time and she felt Lucas huddle with her under his jacket. Riley was going to be soaked so Maya pulled her into her place, not that it'd help much anymore. Maya's own jacket couldn't be removed for fear of showing everyone her bra, so she did what everyone else had already done, bar Lucas and Riley, and ran.

Mr Babineaux heard this comment for use later.

01

A/N: Thank you, everyone, who read, and voted for this, it has been a real challenge for me to actually get up the nerve to publish something that has been brewing for so long actually. If anyone's got any ideas, everything helps. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments.

Did anyone expect the Lucaya backstory? Don't worry it's all planned out... how you find out all of it is a mystery... maybe.

*Edit, this chapter has been updated within the past 24 hours, please take the tie to read it again as a major plot point has been changed. Also, it is now in third person instead of first as I can write that easier.

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