Maya's sprawled across the Bay Window, her legs on Riley's lap, and her feet on Farkle's. She presses her hands against her forehead and groans.
Riley pats Maya's knee. "It'll be alright, Maya."
"What if I crash the car and we die?"
"That probably won't happen," Riley assures her.
"But you don't know that," Maya points out, sitting up. Her hair falls over her face and she pushes it away. "Or even worse, what if I crash the car and Lucas uses it as a conversation starter on fatality and my own recklessness?"
"I don't see how that's worse than dying," Farkle comments. Maya glares at him, to which he holds up his hands in surrender.
Riley sighs. "Lucas wouldn't do that." Maya tilts her head and raises her eyebrows. "Okay, Lucas would do that-but the point is you're going to do fine."
"Ugh," Maya mutters. "I miss the optimistic, sunny-side-up Riley. This new mature Riley makes too much sense. Too logical."
Farkle shrugs. "Actually-"
"You ready Maya?"
Maya turns to see Lucas crouching by the window. "Son of a bitch. You could've, like, knocked or something."
He smiles all dopey-like. "Sorry, ma'am," he drawls.
"Gross. It's like you're fourteen again," she grumbles before climbing out the window.
"Drive safely!" Riley calls after her.
"Let's hope. Although I might crash the car on purpose."
"A Prius? Thought you had a truck, Friar," Maya says, as she walks around the silver car, looking at it from every angle.
"I do. I just thought you'd wanna drive the Prius instead. It's my mom's," he answers, joining her on the other side of the car.
"Think I can't handle driving a truck?"
"For your first time driving? No I don't."
Maya raises her eyebrows and bites her lip. Lucas stumbles in front of her before she can reach the passenger side door and opens it for her. "Okay…" she mumbles as she climbs into the car.
After he runs back around and sits in the driver's side, Maya turns to him. "What was that for?"
"Just being nice," he says, buckling his seatbelt.
Maya continues to stare at him, completely lost. "Well, thank you."
"You're welcome," he says quietly, so quietly that she almost doesn't hear him.
They don't speak much the rest of the way. Maya hates the silence. The car makes no noise as they glide down the highway, away from the city. It reminds her of their date-if it can even be called that-back in eighth grade. Maya leans her shoulder against the door.
Lucas drives comfortably, at least more comfortably than Riley. His shoulders are relaxed, but every once in awhile he'll look at Maya out of the corner of his eye and become tense. He probably gets a little too comfortable because he takes one hand of the wheel and rests it by the window.
"Both hands on the wheel, Huckleberry. Ten and two. My life's in your hands," she reminds him in a bored voice, her head falling against the window as he turns around a bend. "God, how much longer 'till we get to...wherever you're taking me?"
"You know," Lucas says, "this is technically illegal. I can't teach you how to drive. I'm only eighteen."
"No dip, I thought you were thirty."
"Wait, you knew that?" He whips his around to look at her before looking back at the road.
Maya pushes herself away from the door and leans her head back. "Yeah. Surprisingly, I'm not as dumb as I seem."
"I didn't-"
"I suppose Riley and Farkle didn't know, either. Or they just wanted to get rid of us." She leans her cheek into her left shoulder to smirk at him, but he's not paying attention.
But she sees his ears grow pink. "Not like that. Don't flatter yourself. I meant...so they could spend time together."
Lucas loosens his hands on the steering wheel a bit and lets out a shaky laugh. "Yeah...what's going on there?"
"Well, first of all, Farkle beat around the bush about his breakup with Smackle. They were in kind of a rough patch at the time. Smackle started hanging out with us less. I think he started going to Riley for advice. Mind you, she was already seeing him for relationship advice. After she declared my advice was shit," she says.
Lucas smiles knowingly. "What'd you tell her?"
"It was always something stupid. Like he didn't want to go to the movies, but he'd already skipped out on her for weeks. I told her to dump him." She heard Lucas inhale sharply. "Guess that's kind of expected, huh?"
He doesn't say anything. She thinks about a time during their love triangle feud. Riley hadn't called Maya over to the Bay Window that evening, which was strange, so she couldn't help but think she had Lucas over. She'd walked over to Riley's driven by pure, dirty jealousy only to see Riley and Farkle sitting criss-cross on Riley's bed while they embraced. Riley's back was to the window and her face was in Farkle's shoulder, but Farkle saw her. They never talked about it again. She never told Riley and she sure as hell would never tell Lucas.
She continues, "Anyway, it all came to a head when we were at Riley's sixteenth birthday party and we decided to play Spin the Bottle. Inevitably, it landed on Riley and Farkle. Although, to be honest, it was their fault. Smackle and Farkle sat next to each other. For geniuses, they can be quite stupid sometimes."
"Did they-?"
"Oh no. They furiously denied it. Smackle broke up with him for the mere idea. It just kind of pushed her over the edge. Maybe they sat next to each other for a reason."
Lucas nods slowly. And then be becomes fidgety, taking his hand off the wheel to scratch the back of his neck. Maya clears her throat, and he puts it back on the wheel. "So have you...been seeing anyone?"
"Nope. Not one. Kind of difficult when you have Riley as your best friend. She's kind of a full-time job." Maya crosses her legs and stares at him, eager to see his reaction. And she's disappointed when he doesn't give her one.
"Lucas this is too complicated. I'll just take the subway everywhere. It's fine. Public transportation is fine," Maya pleads.
The car hasn't even started yet. Lucas talks her through all the controls, but Maya only half-listens.
He reaches his arm across her to flick the control on the left side of the wheel. "Those are the headlights." He flicks them off.
Maya's heart is in her throat and it's not just because she's scared. His arm just barely touches her stomach and Maya already freezes, struck by teenage hormones. His arm is still touching her, his torso practically laying over the middle console, as he shows her how to adjust it to high-beams. "Only use that when no one's around you. It could blind them."
Maya just nods. He turns his head to look up at her and Maya stares down at him dumbly. "You okay?" he asks her.
He shifts back over to his side, hands now safely in his lap. "Maya?"
"Yeah!" she shouts suddenly. "I'm fine. Let's get this show on the road." She slaps her hands onto the wheel and pretends to twist it right and then left. "Start the car, Huckleberry."
Lucas shrugs and reaches across and presses the power button. "What? You don't turn the keys?"
"It's a Prius. You don't need to," Lucas tells her. "Acceleration pedal on the right. Brake's in the middle."
"I know. You think I didn't pay attention?" Maya teases, but Lucas just sits quietly, so she changes gear to drive and presses her foot down on the accelerator.
The car jolts forward, slamming both of them into their seat. It speeds forward across the empty school parking lot. Although the car was quiet before, Maya can feel it thrum and groan as it surges towards the curb.
"JESUS CHRIST, MAYA! EASE UP ON THE ACCELERATOR OR BRAKE OR SOMETHING!" Lucas yells.
"WHICH ONE DO I DO FIRST?" Maya yells back, turning her head to look at him. They start to swerve towards a light post until Lucas reaches across and grabs the steering wheel.
Maya throws her hands off the wheel, and pulls her foot off the accelerator.
"BRAKE, MAYA! BRAKE!" Lucas screams.
"Oh, sorry," Maya mumbles quietly. She slams the brakes. Their seat belts choke them before they push them back into their seats.
Lucas slowly releases his hands from the steering wheel and then switches the gear to park. "Maybe we should stop," he concludes.
"Giving up on me so quickly? You drove all the way out here." She puts her hands on the wheel and presses down on the accelerator. The engine just roars loudly.
"No, Maya-"
Maya presses down on the accelerator again, the engine interrupting him.
"Maya, please." He touches her hand lightly. As if by instinct, Maya immediately pulls it away. "Sorry. Maybe I can just drive around?"
Maya bites the inside of her cheek. "We could go home...if you want."
The sun is setting behind him, so it's difficult to see anything, but Maya thinks he's looking at her. "I'd like to just drive around," he insists.
The edge of Maya's mouth quirks up for a second. "Like a date?" She can feel her heart pounding against her chest and her knee starts to bounce.
"Whatever you'd like to call it, Miss Hart," he says, already reaching to open the door.
Maya stays put, mildly confused at the whole situation. The door opens to her left, the cold air rushing in, as Lucas sweeps out of her way, arm thrown out. "Unless you're planning to drive," he says.
"Thanks," Maya mumbles as she gets out. She dumbly walks around the front of the car, glancing over her shoulder at him, watching as he climbs into the driver's side.
He's still pushing the seat back when she slides into the passenger side. Maya draws her eyebrows together and just stares at him for a few seconds.
"Problem?" he wonders.
"No," she says, looking down at her lap. She pulls her sleeves over hands and leans back as Lucas pulls back out onto the highway.
"I knew it," he finally says.
"Knew what?"
"I knew you still liked me." He's smiling, the sun beating down on his tan face. "I mean I figured as much...the way you reacted when I came back. See, I didn't notice the first time, but now-now I know you like me."
Maya opens her mouth, speechless. "First of all, I don't still like you. Sorry to disappoint. Second, was this whole thing just a ploy to test out my feelings?"
Lucas stops smiling. "No. But I figured it wouldn't last long."
"Why? You predicted I would crash the car, leaving you for dead or something?"
"No, it's just you draw attention easily. Because inevitably, the cops would show up and we would both be in trouble."
"Please I'd sweet talk my way out of it. And, maybe, get you out of it, too," she says, and then adds, "But only after you spend a few hours behind bars."
Lucas nods. "Fair enough." He presses his lips together. "So, is this a date?"
Maya sighs, pulling her legs up onto the seat and against her chest. The sky's gotten darker since they left the school, a few stars shimmering in the distance. In the city, you don't see too many stars, so Maya paints them. Here, and now, she doesn't need to.
"Maya?"
She presses her forehead against the window and groans. "It's weird, is what it is."
Lucas adjusts his hands on the steering wheel. "So talk. If you don't start talking, I'll...turn on my country music."
Maya feigns shock, hand above her chest. "Wow, this newfound aggressiveness has got me feeling all kinds of scared. If Riley heard you say that, she'd have a fit." She laughs, throwing her head back. "Of course, Riley's changed a little since you left."
Lucas draws his eyebrows together. "What do you mean?"
"Haven't you noticed? She's a lot more mature. I think I almost called her Mrs. Matthews last week."
Lucas hits the steering wheel like an old man as he bursts out in laughter. He looks over at her quickly and shakes her head.
"What-? Keep your eyes on the road. What's so funny? It wasn't that funny," Maya says. "Why do you keep doing that?"
After Lucas controls himself he mumbles, "I don't know. You're funny."
"I'm always funny," she reminds him.
"I know, but...it's different when I'm not the butt of the joke," he admits.
Maya falls back into her seat. She bites her lip and plays with the pendant on her necklace. She'd never considered how she treated Lucas to be bad until Lucas and Riley started calling her out on it. It was out of habit, a way to keep him at arm's-length.
"I'm sorry," she murmurs, looking down, unable to even glance at him.
He sighs loudly. "It's-it's fine, Maya. Just, tell me about Riley."
It's not jealousy. That's what Maya tells herself. It's just her ears start to burn and she feels a drop in her stomach. But Maya just inhales, exhales, and says, "Riley started dating Charlie a few weeks after you left."
"So Zay told me. Riley was surprisingly quiet on the subject."
"Wonder why," Maya mutters. "Anyway, they dated for almost two years. They did pretty much everything together, even if it didn't include me. She did bring him to Topanga's sometimes with us. Towards the end of their relationship, it got a bit awkward. They were always fighting." She scoots closer to the window and rests her head against it. "I think they contributed to her maturity."
Lucas nods slowly.
"And then she dated Jared for a week. Brandon for a month," she continues. "And it's not like I'm jealous...not of her. I just feel that she's become so...distant. I think her being away from me is what made her more mature. It makes me feel like shit."
Lucas doesn't say anything for a few minutes. Maya's confession hangs in the air like smoke and Maya starts to regret saying anything. Regrets bringing up Riley. Regrets going driving with Lucas in the first place.
"It's not your fault, Maya. People grow and change."
"Like how Riley changed you?"
"It wasn't just Riley who changed me. It was...a little of everything. And...you." Maya swallows hard, crossing her arms over her chest. "Sometimes change needs to happen. Some things are just inevitable. Do you understand?"
Maya turns to look at him. How the headlights from the car in front of him seem to encompass him in some celestial glow. Or the way she notices him trying to gauge her reaction out of the corner of his eye. Maya understands inevitably.
Maybe it's out of her own bravery, or maybe the lack of gas fumes in the car has gone to her head, but she asks, "Do you want to go to my house?"
Lucas looks puzzled. "Maya-"
"I mean-sorry that came out wrong. I didn't mean it that way. I mean, Riley's already-with Charlie. She, uh, you know has had..." she stumbles over her words.
"Maya-"
"Sorry I'm rambling. I shouldn't have told you that. I meant, like, do you want to come over and just hang out? Not in a sexual way."
Maya sinks down, her face growing hot. She bunches her hands into her hair.
"Wow," Lucas says, "I've never seen you this flustered."
"Mhm," Maya mumbles. "I really shouldn't have-"
"Yes," he says firmly.
"What?"
"Yes, I'll go to your house."
"Remember that Halloween when you came to my window."
"Uh-huh."
"And Riley was scared to spend the night."
"It's nice here."
"Yeah it is. It's comforting. All the people just going about their days. I don't like being alone."
"Yeah?"
"It's something I can't even capture in my art."
"Hey, Maya?"
"Yeah?"
"I really want to kiss you right now."
"Well...don't. I don't want a sympathy kiss."