I'm warning you, Maya has a major panic/anxiety attack (but mostly panic) in this chapter. I warned you. Oh and Cam finds out about her past too, but you guys unfortunately don't. Sorry.

There's huge surprise in this chapter. See if you can figure out what it is and tell me in your review! That would be awesome.

Luke's still an asshole. Or for lack of a better term, a dick. But it's not the end of him, just yet. You'll see more of him later on, count on that.

One question though, why have none of you silly punks asked where Katie was in this story? Or did you guys just assume she's the sister Maya had problems with in the past? Whatever your reason is, I'd love to hear them.

Anyway, enjoy. Read. Laugh. Cry. Hug a squirrel. Review. Whatever makes you guys happy.

I own nothing.

Cam looked up from his book to see Maya jump in front of him and then lean down so that she was adorably staring over the edge of the desk at him.

"What are you doing?" He asked her, laughing as she stood up and put her hands on his desk, looking at him.

She motioned for him to give her a piece of paper. He ripped out a piece and handed it to her. She took his pen (to which his mouth dropped open and she just smirked at in return), and wrote something down before giving it to him.

I have news for you and I'm super excited about it.

"I see. And what news may that be?"

Well, I sort of maybe told Zig, Tristan, and Tori about the song we wrote yesterday. They think we should perform it in the talent show coming up.

"The talent show? What talent show?" Cam was understandably confused.

She shrugged, looking over her shoulder at Zig and then back at him. He nodded.

"You're saying go ask Zig."

'Right.' She signed and then she grabbed his hand and pulled him up with her. He stood in front of her a bit close, and she looked up at him an adorable smile on her face. He sighed dramatically and then she pulled him with her to Zig, Tori, and Tristan.

"You're lucky you're you, you know. I wouldn't be getting up and taking a break from my school work for just anyone you know."

She giggled, pointed at him and then put her thumb to her chest, leaving her hand still for a moment she then brought it up again and spelled, 'F-I-N-E.'

"I'm fine?" She nodded and then realized what it meant and shook her head. He laughed, "It's okay if you think so, Maya. No one's judging you."

She rolled her eyes and playfully smacked him. They then stopped their what Tori later called "flirt session" and joined the others. She sat down and then waved her hand in Zig's face to get his attention.

'Tell Cam what you told me about the talent show.' She signed and he nodded, looking at Cam a moment later.

"So, there's a talent show coming up." He said and Cam nodded.

"I heard something about that. I also heard you guys think we should perform the song Maya and I wrote?"

Tori nodded, "Yeah. I mean, we haven't heard it yet, but I'm sure it's amazing. By her excitement about it earlier, I assumed as much."

"Well, it is pretty good." Cam mused, and then Maya tugged on his shirt. He looked down at her.

She turned to Zig to sign something and then he translated, "She asked if that meant you could do it. We'll even help you out," He said, gesturing toward Tristan, Tori and himself. "Whatever you need. I play the guitar and drums. Tristan can be back-up vocals and Tori could both play the piano and be back-up as well."

"Or lead singer." Cam said and Maya looked at him a smile growing on her face.

"Does that mean you guys will do it?"

He and Maya had a silent conversation going in between them for a moment, her giving him a look that said, go for it, and he mostly unsure until he looked at her eyes and noticed how child-like and innocent they looked before he realized what she was doing. Rolling his eyes at her silliness, he nodded his head. "Yeah, that means we'll do it."

Tori squealed, Tristan and Zig high-fived, and Maya jumped up and wrapped her arms around him hugging him close. He hugged her back and then after they realized how long they were hugging, they pulled apart and smiled at each other.

"This better be worth it, Maya. Or I'll come get ya." He teased and her eyes widened. "I'm joking, relax." He said and she nodded sitting down.

She pulled out her notebook and wrote something down.

It's our moment to stand out. I can't wait.

"Yeah." Cam nodded, leaning down to read what she wrote and looked at her, a small smile on his face, "I guess it is."

She smiled back and then leaned her head on his shoulder.

She really couldn't wait.

She was at her locker, when she saw someone waving their hand in her face. She looked up to see it was just KC and rolled her eyes, going back to what she was doing before. He waved his hand in her face again and she gave up, looking at him.

'What.'

'Just wanted to see what you were doing after school today. Mom said something about your dad finally coming back from his business trip tonight. Do you want to go with us to get him at the airport? And before that, you and I can go get something to eat or hang out or whatever.'

Maya's face visibly scrunched up in anger and sadness when he mentioned her father. But instead of getting upset about it, she just shook her head.

'I don't want to go with you to pick up my father at the airport, but I will hang out with you after school. I actually need to talk to you about something anyway.'

KC knew better than to push the subject of her father, so he just nodded. 'Fair enough. Is it about the boy you've been hanging out with a lot recently? Uh… Cam?'

Maya nodded. 'Good guess.' She shut her locker then and the bell rang. Still upset and not wanting KC to see it, she just started to walk down the hall, giving him a wave goodbye. He nodded and did the same, going the opposite direction.

Tears came to her eyes, and she bit her lip to keep from crying. She didn't want to in front of everyone. In fact, she'd rather cry later, in the privacy of her own bedroom. After a while though, the tears started to blind her vision and she stumbled into someone.

"What the hell?" She heard and looked up to see it was Luke.

Shit.

He turned toward her, causing her to take a step back. Without thinking it through, she signed 'sorry' and kept backing up, her back hitting the wall behind her.

"Wait, weren't you the girl who made me fall a few weeks or days ago or whatever?"

She nodded.

"What you don't talk?"

She didn't answer that.

"Talk to me!" He shouted at her, causing her to become scared. "Why can't you answer me? Are you deaf? Or just stupid?"

Tears streamed down her face once he'd said that, her dam breaking from earlier. She closed her eyes and hoped it would all end soon.

This wasn't who she was. Before she'd tell the person to fuck off, now that she couldn't, she just felt more vulnerable than ever.

He laughed, "Guess you're just an idiot then."

"Hey, Luke. Why don't you go pick on someone who gives a shit about what you think?" She heard a moment later, but didn't open her eyes to see who it was.

"It looks like she cares. Besides, what's it to you?"

"She doesn't deserve to be treated that way, no step away before I make you." The person threatened, and it was silent for a few minutes before Luke finally spoke.

"Whatever, you're both freaks anyways." After that, she heard nothing but silence and had assumed he and whoever it was that had rescued her had walked away. Literally a second later though, the person asked her if she was okay.

And that was when she opened her eyes.

In front of her was a boy with a beanie on his head. He had blue eyes and brown hair that was shaggy and sort of in his eyes. She noticed the LBGT pin on his backpack and smiled despite feeling overwhelmed with what had just happened.

She slowly nodded her head. Her hair had fallen a bit forward, so she quickly fixed it.

"I'm Adam." The boy said, and then studied her for a moment, before blinking his eyes and seemingly coming back to reality again. "Here, let me help you off the wall." He said and she nodded, gratefully taking his hand and allowing him to pull her off the wall, so she was steady again. They walked a few feet, before she fell and landed against the lockers, her hair falling forward again. "Whoa, are you alright? Do you want me to take you to the nurse?"

She shook her head.

"Can I tell you something then?" She nodded, but barely. "I wouldn't listen to what Luke says. He's nothing but an asshole-" Where had she heard that before? "-and I'm pretty sure he just wants attention in whatever fucked up way he wants it. Don't let him bother you."

He nodded again and Adam studied her for a moment. "I don't mean to be rude, but…" His eyes widened in realization, but soon after, narrowed. "You can't talk back can you?" She shook her head, sniffling, she wiped her nose. "You're deaf?" She shook her head. "You just don't speak?" She nodded. "Oh okay, well, there's no problem with that. But I see you have hearing aids, do they help you hear better?" She nodded, fixing her hair so that they were covered again. She looked down and played with her fingers. "Well obviously or we wouldn't be having this conversation." That made her laugh and it was silent in between them before Adam spoke again. "Hey, don't be embarrassed, okay? It's not your fault, I'm sure. People can be real assholes about it, but I wouldn't let it get to you, okay?"

Yeah, it wasn't her fault she was hard of hearing. It wasn't her fault her sister was dead. Or her mother. It wasn't her fault, she couldn't speak. Yeah all not her fault.

Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie.

She lifted her head up a moment later, and then mouthed, 'thank you'. He seemed to understand her and nodded, a smile on his face.

"No problem." He helped her steady herself again, but she still felt dizzy and lightheaded so she just leaned against the lockers for a minute, holding her head in her hands. "You sure you don't want me to take you to the nurse?" She nodded again.

"Hey, Adam. What's up? Why are you standing in front of my locker?"

"And since his locker is only one away from me, why in front of mine as well?"

Maya looked up to see two other people standing with Adam. A really pretty girl with curly hair, holding hands with a boy who's hair was shaggy like Adam's but much darker. He had a guitar pick necklace around his neck, and a skull ring around his thumb. She tilted her head in confusion at the couple in front of her as they didn't seem like a very likely couple to her.

"What? Oh, right. Uh, well, I was helping this girl." He said, and Maya realized he didn't know her name. "She was getting picked on by Luke."

The girl with the curly hair turned towards her, she seemed to notice how in a state of panic she was in, because he had her back pressed against the lockers, hair hands tangled in her hair, her eyes pink and puffy. Maya immediately wished she didn't see her like that, it was too embarrassing as her panic attacks were becoming more and more frequent now. Though she was able to not have them in school, just at home when she was alone with KC or her stepmother.

The girl leaned down in front of her, "Are you okay?" She asked her, her voice kind and sweet and immediately all Maya wanted to do was for the girl to hug her and allow her to cry until she couldn't anymore.

She looked up at Adam, silently communicating with him to tell her why she couldn't answer back.

"She doesn't speak." Adam said a moment later. "She hasn't exactly communicated much with me at all except for some nodding and head shaking."

"She must be really freaked out." The girl said, "I wish I knew why though."

"Yeah, I wish I did too." Adam answered.

"Hey." Maya stopped looking in between them and looked at the dark haired boy. Though his voice was gentle, it was still sort of stern as he had wanted her attention. "Do you think you can stand up?"

Maya's eyes widened and she shook her head. She tried to press herself against the lockers more (as if that was possible) and started to visibly shake. For whatever reason, what had happened earlier had caused a sort of trigger to a memory of what happened to her. She couldn't and wouldn't allow herself to go through it again.

Tears started to stream to down her cheeks and her shaking became more violent.

"Shit, Adam. She's having a panic attack." She heard someone say, but didn't see who it was. Since the voice was deep, she assumed it was the dark-haired boy's.

"Look at me, okay?" She heard the curly haired girl's voice, but shook her head. "It's okay." She spoke softly, gently taking her hand in hers. "I promise you, we're not here to hurt you. Okay? We're here to help you."

She briefly wondered if a crowd had formed around them then, but didn't think much of it.

All she wanted right then was Cam. He was her rock, he would protect her from whatever or whomever it was who was trying to hurt her.

"Maya! Maya!" She faintly heard and recognized it as KC's voice, though it sounded kind of muffled. "What happened to you, are you okay?"

"We were just trying to help her." The curly haired girl said. "She seems to be having a panic attack."

"Did anything happen?" KC asked.

"Yeah, Luke was bothering her, so I stepped in and got him to stop." Adam answered.

"Maya? Maya. It's me, it's KC. Come on, look at me, okay? I promise, it's just me."

She felt herself shake her head though it didn't seem like her head was really attached to her body, she felt so numb. She just wanted Cam. He would help her, she knew it.

She let out a whimper, and then felt herself calm down a teeny bit. She still didn't open her eyes.

"Maya, please, calm down. Okay? It's me. Your brother, KC." She shook her head and then opened her mouth.

"C-Cam." She felt herself whisper.

"I'm here, Maya. I'm here." She heard, and then felt him wrap his arms around her. Immediately, she felt protected and then fell against him, hugging him and crying so hard, she wasn't sure if she was going to stop anytime soon. Her body stopped shaking and she had calmed down. "We're going to take you to the nurse's office okay? Will you let me pick you up?" She nodded, and then opened her eyes. There she saw Cam's familiar face, and KC's right next to her. Adam and his two friends were still there and so were a huge crowd.

She felt herself being lifted and then carried somewhere, before she was placed gently on a bed, where she closed her eyes again and then everything went black.

She opened her eyes and looked up at the familiar white ceiling. Groggily, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, barely able to open them. Though once she did, she saw Cam with his head on his arm, his eyes closed, and KC sitting on a chair that was placed there, next to him. He looked at her.

"Are you okay?" He whispered and she made a so-so sign. "I hope you know I'm going to deal with the jerk who did this to you later."

She shook her head, silently begging him not to. It would just make things worse.

"You wanna know something?" KC asked and she just looked at him. "You spoke for the first time in almost a year, Maya, you said something. Isn't that crazy?" She tilted her head, confused as she didn't remember that at all. His eyes went to Cam who was still fast asleep. "You said his name. And Maya, that's pretty huge. I think you trust him enough, and by that logic, I think I should too. He's pretty special to you, I can see that. Think it's time you tell him what happened?"

Her eyes filled with tears, and he rushed over to her, hugging her lightly he calmed her down. "You care about him and he cares about you too… a lot. I think it's time, but it's up to you."

She nodded against his chest, and wiped away her tears.

'I will.'

KC leaned over and kissed her on top of her head. "Good." He whispered, "I'll give you guys some time alone," And with that, he left the room, leaving the two of them together.

The sound of the door closing must've woken Cam up, because he slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked at her and gave her a small smile, "There you are, I missed that." His words caused her to smile, she couldn't help it. "Are you feeling better?"

She made a so-so motion again, but then nodded, indicating that she felt a bit better than she had a moment before. Though he didn't know it, she was nervous about what she was going to tell him.

"You had a really intense panic attack." He said, "It was scary." That she knew. "But uh, your brother had texted me from your phone while I was at practice and told me to come over to where you were immediately, that's how I knew what was going on. Also the big crowd around the lockers was a huge indication."

She laughed, and then looked at him seriously for a moment. She knew she could do it. Tell Cam what happened to her and made her the way she was.

She signed phone and he nodded, handing her bag to her, she dug through it until she found it. She typed on it for a moment and then showed it to him.

I need to tell you something. And I'm kind of scared and not totally ready to, but I trust you and I want to tell you.

"Sounds serious." Cam noted, "What's it about?"

She took the phone again and then handed it back.

It's about what happened to me.

He didn't say anything, just nodded and she took a deep breath. To her surprise, he took her hand in his, and held it. Right then she knew she had the strength to do what she was about to.

So, with one hand still holding his, she took her phone and typed it all out. Told him everything and didn't leave a single detail out. After she was done, she handed it to him and watched as he read it over, his eyes even teared up, to her surprise. He read it over and over, and took what seemed like forever, until he finally handed he phone back to her.

"I understand now, it all makes sense." He said quietly, knowing that if he whispered, she might not have been able to hear him. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that Maya."

She made her hand into a 'y' formation and then moved it in between the both of them, nodding her head. Then spelled out what she had signed, 'S-A-M-E'.

And with that, he immediately wrapped her in his arms and hugged her, she hugged him back, and cried with him as they sat there together. All of there emotions went into that hug, and though she was feeling so drained from all of it, she couldn't help but feel a closeness with Cam she had never felt with anyone else before.

They broke apart, and Cam held her hand, tightly again, his fingers intertwined with hers, almost like he didn't want to let go, like he refused to.

She could more than live with that.

And there, they sat in complete silence. Not knowing what to say, and not wanting to leave the room or ruin the moment.

They didn't need any communication at all to know what the other felt, it was all just there. Out in the open, plain and obvious.

She went home later that day, expecting the worst, especially since she didn't go to the airport to pick up her father. But she knew he didn't really care about that anyways. She went up to her room, and threw her bag on the ground, tiredly laying on her bed, she closed her eyes and bit her lip to keep from crying.

She had told Cam the truth. About everything. He now knew everything that had happened to her and now it wasn't much a secret as long as everyone else didn't find out. She knew he wouldn't tell anyone though. He wasn't like that, and that was something she liked most about him. He could keep a secret.

After thinking it over more and more in her head, she decided that sleeping was what would be best. Though she wasn't sure how to go about it since her whole body was a little bit achy from her panic attack earlier. Her chest and head hurt her like crazy.

After she took out her hearing aids and closed her eyes, just about to drift off to sleep, she felt someone shake her, and looked up through blurry vision to see KC standing above her. Grabbing her glasses, she put them on to find that Jenna was with him as well.

She saw her speak, but signed that she wasn't able to hear her at all. Jenna nodded and started to sign to her.

'Hey are you feeling better?'

Maya nodded, 'my body is still sore though. And I have a terrible headache.'

'I bet you do. I was so worried for you. My friends told me all about what happened and I just want you to know that I'm here for you anytime you want to talk. Okay?'

Maya nodded and then signed 'thank you'. She smiled at her and she smiled back. She honestly didn't remember much of what happened that afternoon, it was all blurry to her.

Soon, Jenna's head was moved towards the door and Maya's head did the same. Her stepmother, Lisa stood there. She said something to KC and KC turned to Maya.

'There's someone here to see you. My mom said it was a detective?'

Why the hell would there be a detective at her house. Last time she spoke to one was... oh shit. She quickly stood up and ran out of the door, forgetting about her hearing aids. She rushed downstairs, and stopped to see the same detective that had spoken to her just a year before, standing in her living room. But someone else was with her as well.

The detective spoke to her, but Maya didn't answer. The detective tried again, but Maya still didn't say anything. She then watched as the detective spoke to someone behind her and she turned to see that KC and Jenna were there. KC said something to the detective and she nodded.

KC tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to face him.

'She said she has something to tell you.'

She motioned for him to continue.

'You know the case about your sister? How it went cold?' Oh my god. No. No fucking way. 'Well, they just reopened it. Olivia and her partner Kevin are here to speak with you about what happened, and if you remember anything.'

She shook her head. She really didn't remember much about what had happened that night. She chose not to, but flashbacks from what happened before and some (very little) of what happened during still haunted her even to that day. She didn't want to talk about it. Telling Cam earlier was hard enough.

Her eyes filled with tears and Jenna immediately went over to her, rubbing her shoulders, she hugged her and tried to get her to calm down. Maya easily felt comfort in that and did.

She read KC's lips and could see that he had told the detective's that she'd had a rough day already and just needed some rest. He also told them that she wasn't going to speak about it.

The detective then said something else, and KC signed it back to her.

'If you speak about what happened, it could really help find the person who did this. Did this to not only your sister, but to you too.' He could tell she didn't want to say anything though so he only repeated the words the detective was saying back to her. He knew not to push it.

She just hid herself in Jenna's chest, and refused to look at the detectives. She didn't know what happened next, because the next thing she knew was her body was being pressed against Jenna's and she looked up to see KC had sandwiched her in the hug.

After a while, she turned around and he gently touched his hand to her cheek or a moment before pulling it away and speaking to her, 'It's okay if you don't want to talk, you don't have to. I know how hard it is for you.'

She was grateful for that. She looked up at him, 'I told Cam today. That was enough for me for one day.'

He nodded, 'I understand. Right now though, I think that you should maybe get some rest, okay?'

She nodded and both KC and Jenna led her upstairs to her room where she just lay down on her bed and closed her eyes. She soon fell asleep the memories of that night flooding through her mind and creating a movie like appearance in her mind.

And when she woke up a few hours later, she wasn't surprised to find tears streaming down her cheeks, her hands shaking, and the fact that she remembered every single little detail of that night.

See how dependent Maya is on Cam already?

But lucky for you guys, because the next chapter is going to explain everything that happened to Maya. Why she is the way she is, what she told Cam and why Luke triggered some memories for her and caused her to remember everything later that day. The next chapter is gonna the big one, well one of them anyway. So be ready for it.