That morning, like usual, Riley was waiting for her as Maya climbed through the window.

"On a scale from one to ten, how upset are you about Josh having a girlfriend?" Riley asked without preamble.

"Like...six and a half," Maya said as she sat next to her.

"Wow, that's a lot lower than I thought it would be."

"Yeah well. I did some thinking over the weekend, you know, and I decided that since Josh is eighteen the idea of me and him is just weird now. In three years maybe it won't be but I can't expect him to just wait around for me to get older. And I can't wait around for him because that'd be pathetic."

"So, you're okay? About Josh and...other things?"

"Yes, Riley."

"Great! So you can tell me all about what happened on your date with Lucas."

Maya groaned but Riley pushed on.

"Because you never told me what happened on your date. You just said that you realized you still liked Josh."

"Riley, can't we just drop this?"

"Not until you tell me what happened."

"I don't like Lucas, okay! I realized that and that's what happened. He's our friend and I like our little group and I don't want to ruin it over a boy that neither of us can actually talk to on a date."

"You couldn't talk to him? But you're always able to talk to people. You have something to say about everything. Why couldn't you talk to him?"

"Because all I could think about was the entire thing felt like a betrayal to you. And I know you said you love him like a brother but I know that you're lying about that because I know you. I can't tell you how you feel but you like Lucas more than you're saying you do and I know it. So the whole time all I could think about was you."

"Oh" was all Riley could think to say. She was trying to process everything that Maya did and didn't say. It was a lot.

"Can we please just go to school now?" Maya asked, sounding desperate.

"Yeah."

Riley followed Maya out the window and down the fire escape, and they made their familiar journey to John Quincy Adams Middle School in an unfamiliar silence.

Geometry was the only class that Riley had with Lucas but without Maya, and the last fifteen minutes of class were always dedicated to group work. This was the perfect time for her to broach the Maya topic with him.

As soon as the teacher gave them their assignment, Riley turned to Lucas.

"Why do you let Maya make fun of you?" She asked, nonchalantly.

"We're gonna do this right now?"

"My Uncle Eric asked you that but you never answered. So tell me, why do you let Maya make fun of you."

"I don't know."

"She never hurts your feeling?"

"Not really. It's just, you know, like a game between us."

Riley studied his face and then the answer dawned on her.

"You like the attention. You like it when she's paying attention to you even if it's just to make fun of you. And she makes fun of you because she likes you but she doesn't want to act like she likes you, so she acts like she doesn't like you. Wow."

"I like it when you pay attention to me, too."

"Yeah because I'm nice to you. Everyone likes it when people are nice to them."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"It does, actually. I think you like Maya a lot more than you think you do."

"But I like you too."

"You like us differently."

"Yeah, well, you're very different people."

"We are. But our friendship comes first for both of us."

"Where does all of this leave me?"

"I think you have to figure that out for yourself."

Riley turned back around, resolved that she couldn't control whatever happened next. It was all up to Maya and Lucas now.

Maya sat in the library, at the table farthest from the entrance, waiting for Riley to finish cheerleading practice. She was hoping no one would find her there, but she wasn't that lucky.

"You're avoiding me," Lucas said, standing in front of her.

"No, I'm not."

"What are you doing right now?"

"My homework." Maya paused. "Okay, I see your point."

"You haven't talked to me all day."

"So?"

"I've given you like a hundred openings to make fun of me and you haven't said anything. Aren't things supposed to be back to normal now? Normally, you would have called me a name by now."

"Get out of my face, Ranger Rick. Happy?"

"Not really."

"Seriously, go away."

"Fine." Lucas turned away before quickly changing his mind. "No, you know what, I'm not going away." He sat down in the chair across from her. "I'm going to sit here until we work this out."

They sat in silence. Maya could feel Lucas' eyes on her while she tried to focus on her algebra homework. After about thirty seconds Lucas broke first.

"You know, I'm getting a lot of mixed signals here. You both like me but neither of you want to actually date me but you keep telling me to date the other one. It's very confusing for me."

"Not everything's about you, Huckleberry. Riley likes you, so we're not happening. It's girl code."

"Do I have a say in all of this?"

"Nope."

"Fine."

Maya expected him to leave after that, but Lucas just kept sitting there, annoyingly tapping his fingers on the tabletop.

"You still haven't left yet."

"I'm not leaving until you talk to me."

"Okay, fine. I'll talk to you. You know why I never said anything to anybody about liking you? Because Riley's my best friend and I will never do anything that could ruin that. Even though she says that nothing I could ever do would tear us apart, everyone has a breaking point and I never want to find out what that is."

"You think I'm the breaking point?"

"I don't know, but you might be and I don't want to take the chance if you are."

When Lucas didn't say anything Maya continued.

"I'm not mad at you, Lucas. Everything's going to be fine between us."

"Everything's going to be fine between all of us," Riley said, showing up seemingly out of nowhere. She was still in her cheerleading uniform, looking kind of sweaty, and she had a hopeful smile on her face.

And Maya believed her. Things weren't going back to how they were before, everything was changing, but they were all going to be fine.