Summer rolls around, and the group of friends splits for 2 and a half months. Riley's off to Cheer camp then Philly for a few weeks, Farkle to Science camp, and Lucas and Zay home to Texas. Most of them lament not seeing each other for so long in between bouts of excitement for their activities, but Maya has to pretend not to be relieved. Without the expectation of being around the Matthews so much, and Katy now spending more time upstate with Shawn on her days off, Maya has 11 weeks of much-coveted freedom.

As soon as school lets out, she starts working full-time legally at Joey's, and she also takes up her illegal schedule at the Williamsburg diner from last summer too. Joey's is a popular dinner spot near a lot of music venues of varying size, and the summer concert schedules keep the place packed. Maya can only work until 9 pm, but that's ok, because that's around when doors typically open and it slows down anyway. Her hourly wage is a pittance, but she's pulling in upwards of $250 a night in tips on average. One of the daytime waiters at Williamsburg quits, and she just takes over his shifts, which gets her usually another $80-$150 depending on the day.

No longer needing to hide her income, she opens a bank account instead of keeping cash hidden in her room where a burglar could potentially find it if their place ever got broken into.

At the end of summer, the night before school starts, Maya's having dinner with her mom and Shawn at the Matthews', and she has a moment of wondering how much this group of people really knows her at all.

"Maya, did you save any of your paychecks from the summer?" Topanga asks casually at one point.

Maya has to think a moment. Paychecks? Servers' hourly wages are practically nothing. Before she can answer, Katy asks, "Did your servers tip you out at all? I know not all places make them, but the good servers do it anyway."

Oh. Did I never tell them I got bumped up to waitress? Do they still think I'm a busser? None of them have ever come into the place she works…. Well, no need to make them start asking real questions now…. "Oh, yeah, I got a nice little rainy day fund going for myself." she answers, thinking of the more than 20k sitting in her bank account at that moment.

"Oh, you saving up for somethin'?" Cory asks, probably not realizing he sounds just a little condescending.

Looking down at her plate, Maya, shifts some broccoli around as she says, "Not really. It's just nice to have a little put back. Just… in case." Everyone's aware that Katy still takes shifts at Jerry's for them to be mostly comfortable, so it's an abrupt reminder that having any savings at all is probably a novel idea for Maya, and there's a slightly awkward pause. Maya feels somewhat bad playing them like that, but her instinct is to not let them know how much exactly she has, or what is really going on with her, even if she doesn't know why.

Then, suddenly, she's a freshman in high school, Smackle's with them full-time, Riley and Lucas finally start dating, and Maya's the only person in their friend group that's adjusting remotely well to most of it.

They're at Topanga's one afternoon at the end of September, complaining for what Maya swears is the 1,000th time about not having almost every class together. Unable to hear it again, she cuts in. "Guys!" they all stop and look at her, startled at how genuinely mad she sounds. "I get it. WE ALL GET IT. We aren't together all day every day any more. The thing is, there's nothing any of us can do about it. And if all you guys are going to do is sit here and complain about it instead of making the most out of the time that we DO have to spend together, then I'm NOT going to sit here and listen to it." With this, she grabs her bag and storms out of the cafe as they all stare after her.

Maya loves her friends, but all the drama and bullshit in high school just seems so…. Petty. And trivial. So, once her birthday rolls around, she starts seriously looking into what can be done come that time next year. Once she turns 16. She only has to go to school until them, but no way are the Matthews just letting her drop out of school, so she has to get her equivalency diploma.

Her first step is buying herself a laptop. Nothing fancy, just a plain refurbished thing off of Amazon, but she's overdue for it anyway - she has had to borrow Riley's in increasing amounts over the last couple years to get homework done. That done, she sits in a coffee shop one Sunday that she is off work and finds out that there is a practice test she can do online. It's…. Surprisingly easy. She doesn't know everything, couldn't pass the test if she took it for real that day, but nearly half of it looks familiar from work she's done or is doing in class that year.

Maya, tentatively hopeful, downloads the study guides and begins working through them in the evenings that she isn't at work.

Late that spring, Cory finds out that Shawn and Katy have been dating (Maya had given Cory a pitying look and said only "REALLY, Matthews? It's been like a year and a half."). With the cat out of the bag, Shawn moves in with Katy and Maya, allowing Katy to work only at Topanga's with a second income contributing.

Things get awkward at home fast. Maya and Shawn have always gotten along fine, but in a distant sort of way. They probably would've connected better if left to their own devices, but with the Matthews trying to force it, they'd felt obligated, which made it weird. Being the two adopted bad kids, they'd had an immediate, unspoken understanding that they would put on a good show in front of the family, but they had never really spent much time with each other beyond that.

Being a freelance writer, Shawn works from home. His desk gets set up in the living room, and he's frequently at it when Maya is coming or going. Not being stupid, it doesn't take him long to realize she's working more than 40 hours a week once school lets out for the summer.

Shawn confronts her about it when she's on her way out the door on Thursday of the second week. "I know you aren't spending any time over at Cory's or with Minkus. No hickies showing; wearing makeup, but none specifically covering hickies, so probably no boyfriend either. Guessing you have at least one under the table job in addition to your legal one?"

Knowing there's no point in arguing, Maya sighs in defeat. Splaying her hands out a little she asks. "And?"

The man looks a little dumbfounded at her blase attitude. "Child labor laws exist for a reason."

The teenager laughs bitterly and grabs the strap of the messenger bag that's slung across her body, relaxing her stance so her hip cocks out a bit. "Shawn. When Topanga hired my mom, just before you met her, it's the first time my mom had worked less than 90 hours a week since I was 4." She pauses for a moment to let him absorb that before going on. "That was all JUST to pay bills. Nothing left over for childcare. Yeah, I spent SOME time over with the Matthews, but, well, you were a kid like me. You know what THAT'S like." Here, Shawn nods, beginning to realize what she's getting at. "I appreciate that you're concerned, or whatever this little intervention is about, but I've been taking care of myself for almost as long as I can remember."

He actually seems understanding, which is a rarity with adults. "I just hope you know that you don't HAVE to work so much."

Shaking her head and resuming her walk toward the door, Maya says, "You gonna rat me out, Hunter?"

It's Shawn's turn to laugh without humor. "Nah. Like you said, kid. I know what it's like."

Shawn kept his word, not ratting on her having multiple jobs illegally.

Maya made even more money that summer, not working at the Williamsburg Diner, instead maneuvering her way into 4 breakfast shifts a week at a different diner just outside the Navy yard, and boy are those sailors some good tippers when she flashes them a pretty smile.

It becomes obvious, once Maya is back in school, that the apartment is simply too small for 2 adults and a teenager who is basically an adult, and Katy and Shawn start talking about finding a bigger place for the family. Having made a decision about what she's going to do once she's 16, Maya does some fast talking convincing them to wait until next summer, save for a deposit on somewhere nice, shop around. In the meantime, she keeps herself in her room or out of the house as much as possible to make it seem less crowded. Shawn gives her a look while she's talking Katy into waiting a few months like he knows she's up to something, but doesn't call her out, so she thanks him by buying a pack of is favorite mint Oreos and leaves them on the counter the next day.

Near the end of October, Shawn is away on a trip for work, and Maya knows the time is now. She prints out the forms she needs at school on Monday. She waits until the next morning, timing things so there won't be time for Katy to ask questions - not that she does much anyway.

She waits, listening for her mom to slide on her coat. "Oh, mom!"

"Yeah, baby?" Katy calls back.

"I need you to sign something for school!" Maya says, rushing out with the papers, already flipped to the last page, pen in hand.

"What is it?" Katy asks, flustered. Since she's only working one job, she has become somewhat complacent about timekeeping, and has a tendency to run late, particularly on Tuesdays, which are her first day back after a day off.

"Oh, it's some test thing. They called it TASC or something like that. I think it's one of those standardized exams that they use to give different districts more funding or something." It's a bald-faced lie, and Maya even feels a little bad about it.

Katy sighs, but buys it, barely glancing at the page before scrawling her signature and looking at her phone to confirm the date before quickly writing that too. "God, it seems like they have you doing one of these things every year." Done, she hands it back to Maya and pecks a kiss onto her daughter's cheek before throwing her phone into her purse and making for the door. "I'm running late. Have a good day, sweetie."

The next day, Wednesday, is an in-service day, so Maya doesn't have school. She could hang out with Riley, but, instead, she claims to have to work, instead heading to a testing center. The website had said it would take about 9 hours, but she's done in closer to 7, feeling like she'd done alright. Not great, not horrible, just hoping she'd passed by enough in each section to not have to do it again. She isn't sure she can away with having her mother sign off again, and she'd forgotten to ask if the consent form would need to be signed a second time if she ends up having to re-test a section.

Shawn, Katy, Cory, and Topanga are out having dinner together one evening, blissfully free of any children.

In the course of conversation, Topanga mentions to Cory to keep an eye out for a package that she's expecting in the mail in the next couple days, which prompts Shawn to turn to Katy and say, "Speaking of mail, Maya got an interesting-looking package from the New York Department of Education the other day. What was that about?"

Katy thinks for a moment before going, "Ooooh, that must have been the results of that standardized test thing she took awhile back. It was while you were down in New Orleans. I had to sign a consent form for her to take it. I'll have to ask her how she did when we get home."

"Standardized test?" Cory asks, confused. "The sophmores haven't taken anything."

Katy pauses in cutting her chicken breast. "Excuse me?"

Cory rests his own fork and knife. "The girls shouldn't have any out-of-course testing until the SAT and ACTs next fall to prepare for apply for college. Do you remember what it was called?"

Hands going to her temples, Katy sighs and tries to remember more than a month ago. "Ummm, TESS, TASS, TISC…."

"TASC!?" Cory prompts.

"That's it!" Katy says, lifting her head with a smile, hand coming down to point at him. Her smile fades at his expression of alarm. "What? What's wrong?"

When no response is immediately forthcoming, Topanga asks, "Cory, what is the TASC test? Why is it a big deal that Maya took it?"

Sighing, he finally explains, "It's the test to get your High School Equivalency Diploma. If she passed, then Maya has a pretty good case for not attending school anymore after winter break."

"So, if she passed, she essentially has already graduated - why would she still be attending now, before winter break?" Shawn questions.

"Legally, persons under the age of 16 in New York without special circumstances must attend school. She's not 16 until January 1st." Topanga explains, idly spinning some noodles onto her fork.

"She lied to me." Katy says quietly. "She told me it was standardized testing that the state uses to distribute funds to different districts."

There's a few minutes of silence, and Shawn debates telling Katy about the multiple jobs over summer. He had told Maya he wouldn't, but seeing Katy hurting so much at finding out Maya lied to her… well, maybe it would be better to not add to it anyway. He catches Topanga's eye and she clearly knows something is stewing with him, and he firmly shakes his head, telling her to leave it alone. Thankfully, she backs down, at least for the moment.

When they get home, there's still a light shining from under Maya's bedroom door. Katy pauses only to set her takeout box on the side table by the couch and fling her coat and purse down onto the couch before stomping over and opening Maya's door without bothering to knock.

Maya's sitting on her bed, drawing. She looks up from her sketchbook to find her mother standing in her door with her arms crossed over her chest. "Heeey...moommm…" she say, cautiously. She can hear Shawn in the living room and kitchen, hanging up coats and opening the fridge, presumably to put away whatever leftovers they'd brought home from dinner.

"You lied to me." Katy bites out. Maya just blinks at her, not about to open her mouth and incriminate herself, not knowing about what lie Katy is referring. She doesn't have to wait long to find out. "I asked Cory about that 'standardized test' you took." Oh. That lie. Shit. "When, exactly, were you planning on telling me? When you just didn't go back to school in January? Or did you not pass and you have to take it again? What the hell is going on, Maya Penelope?" Katy demands, her accent coming out with her anger.

"Oh, no, I passed," Maya says. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she keeps talking. "I didn't want you to be upset through the holidays. I was going to tell you after Christmas. And also ask you to consent to the emancipation I am petitioning for instead of fighting it."

"Why would I be upset that basically graduated ear-" Maya sees the exact moment Katy catches up to everything Maya said. "Emancipation?"

Maya makes a hand motion that seems to indicate 'Yeah, THAT's why.' and she can't hear Shawn moving around anymore. He's probably standing nearby in case he needs to intervene.

After a few minutes of them silently staring at each other, Shawn does intervene, wrapping an arm gently around Katy and pulling her back towards their bedroom, saying, "Maya, maybe you should go stay with Riley for a couple nights?"

Maya nods and says. "Okay." softly, watching as he pulls Katy away before she gets up and packs a few days of clothes and her work stuff into a gym bag that she doesn't even remember where she got it. Stuffing her sketchbook and a box of pencils into her messenger bag with her spare phone charger, she's out the door in less than 10 minutes.

When she arrives at the Matthews apartment 45 minutes later, she knows the seriousness of the situation, and goes to the front door instead of Riley's window, even knocking to be let in instead of using the spare key she'd been given years ago.

Cory answers the door, wondering who's knocking at nearly 11. Surprised, he says, "Maya!" loudly enough to get his wife's attention from where she's sitting doing paperwork at the kitchen table.

Surprised he hadn't called or texted ahead of her to warn them, she tells him, "Shawn told me to come stay here for a couple nights…. Is that ok?" It's actually been a long time since she's slept over regularly, and she sounds uncertain.

Cory pulls himself out of his shock, moving back to let her in and saying, "Of course, Maya, you're always welcome here."

Inside, Cory takes her bags and sets them down next to the couch, while Topanga, now in the living room, settles Maya on the couch, ending up with the girl between them. "Honey, what happened?" she asks.

Maya leans into Topanga, resting her head on the woman's shoulder while Topanga strokes her hair. "Mom asked why I lied about the test for the equivalency diploma, and when I was planning on telling her."

"And you said…" Topanga prompts.

"That I was gonna tell her after Christmas because I didn't want to ruin her holidays." Maya answers.

Knowing her work level, Cory says, "I'm assuming you passed. Why would that ruin her holidays? I get that she might be upset that you kept it from her, or that you are growing up a little fast, but…." he trails off, not getting it.

Suddenly understanding, Topanga freezes momentarily before gently pushing Maya to sit up and looking her in the eye. "You were going to ask her to consent to emancipation at the same time, weren't you?"

Maya sighs and nods. "Before you hired her, she worked between 90 and 100 hours a week. I raised myself. It's great that she doesn't have to work so hard anymore, but she just doesn't get that I'm not a kid! For more than a decade, I was responsible for getting myself fed, dressed, to school, home, fed again, bathed, to bed. I cleaned the house, and paid the bills - even if it was with her checkbook - , and did the grocery shopping. Then, all of a sudden, she's around more and it's like none of that ever happened and I am magically supposed to be some kid who doesn't worry about anything but going to school and hanging out with my friends." Maya slumps back into the couch, suddenly exhausted. "I just want to be able to live my life on my terms."

"Not to be nitpicky," Cory starts delicately, "But the paying bills bit, the fact that it was with her checkbook was kind of a key factor." Not saying anything, Maya shifts slightly to pull her phone from her pocket, unlocking it, tapping her banking app, and swiping her password before handing the device to him. Cory's eyebrows raise somewhat comically. "That's….. More than I make in a year."

Curious, Topanga grabs his wrist and turns the phone towards her. Her own eyebrows raise. "You make THAT bussing dishes?!"

Maya shrugs a little, actually looking sheepish this time. "I actually got bumped up to server within like 3 weeks of getting the job. I make really good tips. That's 2 summers of full-time work plus 2 school years of part-time. Even if I'm not granted emancipation, I have my HSE, so I can start working up to 48 hours a week starting next month… but, I'll probably get the emancipation. It's just a matter of whether mom will fight me on it or not."

Cory and Topanga exchange a look as Cory hands the phone back to Maya and she fiddles with it for a moment. Topanga asks. "Maya, do you really think you're going to get this if your mother doesn't consent?"

Maya looks up at her evaluatingly for a minute before speaking. "Well, you're the lawyer. Let's look at the evidence. I'd like to call Topanga Matthews as a witness for my case. How did you first meet Maya Hart?"

"She crawled in through my daughter's bedroom window when she was 5." Topanga answers.

"Did Maya live in the neighborhood? Did she have any reason to be there at all?" Maya questions further.

"Maya and her mother have always lived in Brooklyn. I think Maya was just wandering that day." Topanga says, understanding the line of questioning.

"Wandering the city at age 5. I see. What about your continued relationship with Maya? I understand you are the legal power of attorney for Katy Hart. I see that it was you who has signed, oh, every single form for Maya's schooling ever, except the consent for Maya to take the TASC test this past October. I also see that it's your signature on all of the forms to make sure Maya has the state medical insurance, and, 5 years ago, it was you who filed a suit against one Mr. Kermit Hart for unpaid child support. Can you discuss the events leading up to that incident?"

Topanga smiles sadly. "Point made." Katy had, in point of fact, completely forgotten that Maya had needed to get enrolled in school, and it had taken no small amount of wrangling on Topanga's part to make Katy sign the Power of Attorney so that Topanga could take care of Maya's legal needs.

Sighing again, Maya sits back up. "I love her, and I know that she loves me. But she wants to parent 4-year-old Maya. About-to-turn-16-year-old Maya…. I won't say I don't need a parent anymore, because, here I am talking to you guys, but I don't need someone questioning the details of my day-to-day like I don't know what I'm doing. Because I DO, and I've been doing it just fine on my own for a long time."

Cory rubs her back briefly. "Well, we're here for you, no matter what."

They get Maya settled on the futon in the office soon after that, then go to bed themselves with a mutual feeling that it's going to be a long few weeks.

Between Shawn and Topanga, it takes only a few days for Katy to sign the paperwork, though they aren't sure if she's doing it because she agrees that Maya is ready, if she does it out of spite for Maya hurting her, or if it's just to get them to shut up. Regardless, a larger suitcase of Maya's things is moved to the Matthew's until the paperwork is pushed through the system in January and she can legally get her own apartment and move the rest out of Katy's. Cory goes to the school office with Maya the last day before winter break so she can withdraw, backing her up as she explains the situation to the administrators.

Shawn decides it's probably best if he and Katy go to visit her mother in Arkansas for Christmas that year.

'Hey your building is rent controlled right?' Maya texts Max one day in mid-January as she sits on the train, heading out to Brooklyn anyway.

'Yeah, they can't squeeze any more money outta the cockroaches, so they stopped trying.' is Max's reply.

'Is that hostage apartment still empty?' Maya sends back. She loves the Matthews, but she can't live on their futon for much longer. The whole point of getting emancipated was to live on her own.

'No, some Syrian refugees moved in there pretty much as soon as the crime scene tape came down, but the old lady across the hall from us got moved to a home yesterday, so her place might be empty. Why? You running away from home?'

Maya walks off the train and up to street level tapping out a reply. 'Kinda long story but I got kicked out and need my own place because Riley's fam is great but driving me nuts.'

'Come over, I'll introduce you to my guy and get you hooked up. He's over there cleaning the place out now.'

'Already on my way.' Maya replies, snapping a pic of the cross streets she's at 6 blocks from Max's apartment to send with it.

Maya goes in the back, patting Chestnut on the shoulder in greeting and dodging piles of horse poop on her way to the back door before just walking in. "Hey, losers. And Max."

"Hey." Max says. She's pulling a couple trays of cupcakes out of the oven. Not trusting Caroline to remember to pull the next batch out when the timer goes off, she doesn't bother putting the next ones in, just leaving those to cool and slipping off her oven mitts after closing the door. "Short version?" Max asks, leading Maya out toward the hall.

"Tricked mom into letting me test for my high school equivalency, she found out sooner than intended, so I had to tell her I was petitioning for emancipation sooner than I wanted to. Lots of drama. She signed all the paperwork, but kicked me out. I'm sleeping on the futon in Riley's parents' home office." Maya abbreviates.

Max pauses to absorb that as she pulls the door open. "Yeah, definitely going to need the longer story of that later." Stepping across the hall she taps on the door before pushing it open and walking in. "Hey, Dandre, I gotchu your next tennant."

"I already got a couple prospects." The voice comes from the bedroom. The layout is a mirror image of Max's place, but there's boxes stacked all over the place around some mostly broken-looking furniture. A moment later, a slightly dusty and sweaty black guy wanders out, pausing and smiling when he sees Maya standing next to Max. "But you know I'm a sucker for helping out a damsel in distress."

"This is Maya." Max motions to her with a smile, while Maya waves and tries to look both pathetic and capable of taking care of herself. "She's 16. She just got emancipated and graduated early, and she needs her own place."

Dandre sighs. "Yeah, that's definitely better than the college students that just gotta live in the new hot spot in the city and the rich kid that wants to piss off his daddy but slummin' it in Brooklyn. Place is yours, blondie. You got a job?"

"Two. One of which is even legal!" Maya quips.

Dandre laughs. "Cool. Ain't much here worth keeping, but some of the stuff from the kitchen's okay, you want me to leave it?" When she nods, so does he. "This is a little different than my other places, I actually got the old lady on the lease to sign a real sublease, so you don't gotta really hide that you're here. Rent is $1650 a month, I come around to collect on the 5th, if you can't be here, just leave it with Max or in an envelope taped to the door or somethin'."

"Cash only?" Maya asks.

"Yeah. That a problem?" Danre asks.

Maya shakes her head. "Nah, just gotta remember not to deposit all my tips for a week before rent is due."

"That's what you make in a WEEK?!" Max exclaims indignantly.

"I TOLD YOU you could make bank if you left that shitty diner and went to a good restaurant." Maya says. Turning back to Dandre she asks "Anything else?"

He nods. "No yappy dogs. Pay ya own utilities. You'll have to pay for any repairs, too."

When he doesn't seem to have anything else, she says, "Sweet. Do I need to sign anything, and when can I move in?"

"Nah, no papers. I should be done clearing this shit out today. Cool if I leave keys with Max? You can pick 'em up from her whenever." Danre says.

"Cool with me, man." Maya goes in for a hand shake only to awkwardly turn it into a fist bump at his prompting, them follow his lead in blowing it up. She shrugs it off and follows an amused Max back across the hall, settling on the couch to tell Max the whole drama of the last several weeks while Max bakes and Maya scrolls through Amazon on her phone, ordering some basics.

After Maya's done with the story, Caroline, doing something on the laptop she and Max share, asks, "Maya, do you REALLY make enough waitressing to pay for your own one bedroom apartment?"

Maya looks to Max, who meets her eyes and sighs. "Just tell her. She was bound to find out one day anyways."

"Tell me what? Find out what?" Caroline asks somewhat frantically.

In her 'telling Riley something upsetting' voice, Maya explains. "Even a waitress as bad as you would make twice as much money at most other restaurants."

"WHAT?" Caroline starts freaking out.

Before she can work up into a froth, Max cuts in. "Calm down. You had to know something was up. It took you until this year to start being able to pay toward both rent AND utilities. Whats-his-face barely paid anything before you moved in, I was doing it on my own okayish until I lost my gig babysitting for Peach. You accepted the fact that Maya's a better waitress than you years ago, and she also works at a way better restaurant in Manhattan."

"And at a diner down by the Navy yard." Maya interjects.

"And people tip better at places where the food tastes good and doesn't make you sick half the time, and the silverware is guaranteed to be clean, and your order is at least USUALLY, MOSTLY right." Max finishes.

Caroline looks between them with her mouth hanging open for a minute. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS YEARS AGO?!" she eventually screeches.

"You used to be rich, right?" Maya asks, as if it's obvious.

"Yeah." Caroline answers.

Maya continues, "And I assume that means you went out to eat at restaurants a lot?"

Caroline shrugs, "I guess."

Maya half-shrugs herself as if Caroline's missing the point. "So, what made you leave big tips for servers?" she asks before going back to scrolling through her Amazon app, now looking for a couch.

After a minute to collect herself, Caroline eventually gets around to asking, "Wait, so, how much do you guys make, exactly?"

"It depends." Max answers non-commitally.

When she doesn't seems to be continuing, Caroline prompts, "Oooonnn…."

Sighing, Max says, "Well, I don't make much more than you, since I only work at the diner and am just a better waitress than you. Most nights, I am walking out the door with around 70 or 80 bucks."

"It's be more if she didn't take so much pity on you and tip out Earl, Oleg, and the dishwasher for you." Maya butts in.

"What?" Caroline asks.

Max gives Maya an evil look, which Maya ignores. Instead, she explains to Caroline, who somehow still doesn't know these things after 5 years. "You're supposed to tip the staff that helps you do your job; about half your tips should generally go back out to cooks, hosts or hostesses, dishwashers, bussers or bartenders if there are any. Since you're so bad at your job and make so little, Max has always bumped her tip-outs to them on your behalf so you don't have to do that." Caroline is staring with a mix of hurt and confusion at Max as Maya continues. "Anyway. As far as what I make, it depends on the restaurant, and what day and shift and time of year it is. My boss at Joey's in the Lower East Side really likes me, and I have been there for 2 years, so I have some seniority, so I get good shifts. Now that I can work later, I am getting the dinner to almost-close shifts Thursday-Sunday, with one floating shift wherever Joey needs some coverage. This time of year, after tip-outs, I am usually going home with about $180 a night."

"WHAT?!" are the dual exclamations from Max and Caroline.

Maya shrugs. "It's a REALLY popular, but not-too-big or *too*-pricey spot, around a lot of music venues, owned by a punk rocker; the food's good, and I am damn good at my job. During the summer it's closer to $250 a night. North of $300 when there's bigger bands playing nearby." Seeing their stunned expressions, she goes on. "Anyway, I also work at a diner down by the Navy yard. Usually just breakfast/lunch shifts a few days a week. A shift there is usually good for about $100-$125 depending on how busy it is."

"Wait." Caroline blinks hard, obvious struggling to grasp something. "You're seriously telling me that you, at 16 years old, bring home, conservatively, in the SLOW SEASON - because apparently THAT'S a thing for waitresses - $1200 a WEEK, which is what I make in a *good* MONTH?!"

Smiling prettily, Maya turns to face Caroline, and Max raises a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, knowing she is going to have to deal with the fallout of whatever's about to come out of Maya's mouth. "Caroline? You remember that first summer I worked at the diner?"

Confused, Caroline says, "Yeah?"

"I turned down the opportunity to go to whatever camp I wanted and a vacation on the French Riviera to work there, and still made more money than you that summer." Maya pats the older woman's knee before standing and making her way to the door, calling over her shoulder, "Max, I'll pick up those keys from you at the diner after I get off work tonight."

Max calls a frustrated. "'Kay." after her, looking at Caroline, who appears to be shutting down completely at all the information that had just been thrown at her.

Shawn had helped her move the next morning, loading her stuff into his car and driving it to her new building instead of making her lug it in multiple trips, even if it was only a block away.

"I'm surprised you're staying so close." He says, looking around her mostly-empty apartment.

Maya shrugs. "Mom's the one that kicked me out so soon. It's not like I was hostile, Shawn, I just wanted to take care of myself. Besides, I like this area. I grew up here. Plus, it's rent-controlled, and I have a friend right across the hall, and it's close to the train across the bridge."

He stuff his hands in his pockets and nods, understanding. "It's nice." He looks at her for a moment before saying, "I know we've never exactly been close, but you know you can call me if you need anything, right?"

The girl smiles warmly. "I know. It's not like I'm hurrying to hand you my key to yours' and mom's apartment, here, either." This makes Shawn smile too before he turns to make his way out, leaving her to unpack what little she can with no furniture yet in the place.

One of the first things she does is stop at the hardware store and get a copy of the key made and give it to Max, which she is happy she does as her furniture starts arriving the next day. Most of it is in flat-pack boxes, even her mattress being compressed, folded and rolled up memory foam, but the couch needs someone there to unlock the door for the delivery men, and it arrives after Maya leaves for work on Friday. Working at both the diner by the Navy yard and at Joey's all weekend, Maya just sleeps on the couch, not having the time, energy, or tools to put together any furniture.

Monday rolls around Maya has a blessed day off. She had at least had the foresight to order an electric drill set over the weekend, which had arrived yesterday, but, as she looks at all the boxes littering her apartment, she realizes this is more than her unskilled self can handle. Pulling out her phone she decides it's time to be a stereotypical girl and try and kill multiple birds with one stone.

'Hey, can you blow off your classes today and help me put together my furniture?' this is accompanied by a picture of all the boxes, with the half-unpacked drill sitting next to a wall outlet, charging, but she isn't too forward. Any other dude, she'd also suggest helping her break in her new bed, but this one is a special breed. She'll have to work up to that.

OK, admittedly, she's only actually had sex with three dudes so far, but there's been plenty of girls, so she likes to think she knows basically what's up.

The reply comes a few minutes later, when she's pouring her second cup of coffee and making a mental grocery list. 'LOL. I can't ditch, but my last class today is done at like 12:30 and I can come over after. Send me your address.'

Sending him her address and looking at the time, Maya factors in his travel time from NYU and finds she has about 3 hours to kill. In short order, her coffee is transferred to the travel mug that has lived faithfully in her messenger bag for years, and she swaps her sweats for jeans and is out the door.

2 and a half hours later, she's stumbling back into her apartment, bogged down with bags from the grocery and thrift stores. Her furniture is new, but she'd kept almost all of it pretty cheap, the couch and chair set being the only thing she'd really splurged on. Everything else, she intends to stick to her thrifty ways and get as much as possible second-hand.

Awhile later, the groceries have been put away and she's moved the boxes to the approximate spot where the furniture within them will be going once it's assembled and has begun sorting out the haul from the Goodwill when there's a knock on the door. Maya hops up and opens it to find Josh on the other side, and she immediately moves back to let him in.

"Thanks. I'm kinda useless with things like drills and putting stuff together." Maya greets as she shuts the door behind him, watching as he sheds his coat and lays it over the arm of the couch. He's in his first year at NYU now, and they'd been talking more since he moved to New York. About to turn 19, puberty has only continued to be more and more kind to him.

"No problem," he replies with a light laugh. "Nice place you got here. I'm sharing an 8-by-10 shoe box with another dude. This is practically the Taj Mahal."

Brushing closer behind him than she needs to, Maya decides to be a little more forward than she typically would be with him. "Well, you're welcome to stay here, but you'll have to share a bed with me."

She's pretty sure he's holding back a smile as he asks, "So, I see the drill, you got any other tools around here to help me out?" while she moves back to sorting through her bags.

Motioning to the little breakfast bar, Maya replies, "There's a pocket knife over there that I've been using to open boxes, and there a hammer and a couple regular screwdrivers…. I think I left them under the sink in the bathroom? Which reminds me, I need a wrench. And to learn how to use a wrench. And figure out what's wrong with the water heater."

Josh's brow furrows. "What's with the hot water?"

"It's just tepid for the first part of the shower, then gets cold. There isn't really any hot at all." Maya explains.

"Tank in your closet?" he asks, already moving towards the bedroom, and Maya makes a noise of confirmation. It's only a couple minutes before he calls her in, motioning for her to join him on the floor of the open closet. "This is actually an easy fix, so I am going to show you in case it happens again. You see that light?" he says, pointing at a little red piece of plastic. "It's called the pilot light. It should be lit up, meaning that the heating element is on inside the tank to heat up the water. There was probably a surge or something that tripped the safety and turned it off. To fix it…." Josh pulls Maya around the tank a little, tight to his chest in the little space wedged into the corner of her closet, and pointing at a red and yellow toggle switch. "We should just need to hit that switch to reset it."

Maya twists her head up to look at him uncertainly, and Josh nods encouragingly. Hesitantly, Maya reaches out and pushes on the switch, which is harder to move than she imagines, but when she pushes harder, it gives, and there's a slight electric hum, and the little red plastic dot that he'd called the pilot light lights up, and so does Maya's face. She feels Josh chuckle behind her before they extract themselves.

"So, I have hot water now?" Maya asks excitedly.

Still chuckling a little, Josh says, "Eh, I'd give it like an hour to actually heat up the water that's in the tank, but yeah, you should be good." He looks around and decides to start with the big ticket item, grabbing the knife from her kitchen quickly before cutting open the boxes for her bed, including the mattress, so it can start decompressing. Maya retrieves the drill and other tools while Josh looks over the instructions and sorts pieces and different types of screws and bolts.

"Anything I can help with?" Maya asks tentatively.

Josh looks at everything in front of him. Shaking his head, he says, "Not right now. I might need your help later to put the bigger pieces together, but that'll be a little while."

"Okay," Maya says, looking a little relieved. "I'm going to be putting pictures in frames and stuff. Holler when you need me." she tells him before almost fleeing back to the living room to do exactly that.

It's less than an hour before she's called back in and Josh is having her balance and hold various pieces in place while he bolts them together, and Maya soon has a simple pedestal bed with a slatted headboard, and the still-decompressing foam mattress is put into place. Josh stops only to grab himself a glass of water before starting immediately on her dresser.

By dinnertime, Josh has put together a bookcase, a desk, a desk chair, a coffee table, two end tables, and two night stands, while Maya has hung up most of her photos, unpacked her books into the case and art supplies into the desk, and hung up the bright bolts of fabric she'd gotten at the thrift store to function as curtains over the windows -she is on the first floor, after all, even if it is raised up a bit from street level. She just doesn't trust the cheap plastic slatted blinds that came with the place on their own to protect her privacy.

As Josh drops the last empty boxes on the now-massive pile next to the couch, Maya sets two plates of food on the coffee table, where mismatched cutlery and two cans of soda are already waiting.

"That smells delicious," he says, almost jogging off to the bathroom to wash his hands before coming back to dig in to the pork chops, mashed potatoes, and mixed veggies.

Maya shakes her head at the ingrained manners. Only a Matthews. "Well, thanks, but I barely did anything. I had to thank you for doing all this SOMEHOW, and you're too damn polite to accept sexual favors, so I settled for making you dinner." she teases between bites.

Josh coughs slightly as he tries not to choke on his food. She has, of course, never hidden the fact that she's attracted to him, but, now that they are becoming actual friends instead of casual acquaintances, only connected by his niece, he's still trying to get used to her casually flirting. And how much he likes it. And… her.

Taking some pity on the boy, Maya changes the topic. "How are classes so far this quarter?"

"Alright." he shrugs. "Still mostly on pre-reqs. I might actually need your help with one. We're required to take a specific series of drawing classes. I'm great at building stuff." he motions around them with his fork "Not so much with putting the concept on paper by hand."

Maya smiles over at him. "Yeah, sure. Just let me know. I'm typically free at least a couple afternoons and evenings during the week. Almost always Mondays, then Tuesday and Wednesday are variable." She fights down a blush as Josh smiles back at her, going back to eating.