a|n - thank you all for reviewing/following and favoriting, it means the world!

Maya refused to be pranked by Shawn again.

She proceeded into the kitchen with caution the next morning. If she saw the tiniest bit of her mother's legs or any other body part that would normally be covered up, she'd make a mad dash to her room.

When she opened her door to step out and scope the area, a mustard colored sticky note was on her door. It was sloppy handwritting and Maya guessed that it was Josh because Shawn was normally awake at this time and her mother's handwriting was impeccable.

She should know after all the times she's forged her mother's signature.

I don't flirt with other girls when I go out...

I'm already interested in someone

Her stomach plummeted, he was already interested in someone else.

There was no way Maya could compete with someone who was most likely Josh's age and not in high school. Why would he tell her that though? Did he want her to be jealous? Was he being an asshole?

She didn't know or care because she crumbled the paper and threw it in the garbage. Josh didn't need to rub it in her face that he was seeing someone, all he had to do was stop charming her and remain loyal to that lucky girl.

If only that were possible when it came to him.

"You look chipper." Farkle noted as Maya slammed the car door before the pulled away from her house.

Her eyes remained shut before she took a deep breath and looked at her best friend, "Sorry, it's just that Josh is so infuriating not to mention confusing."

"What did hubby do now?"

She scowled before continuing, "We were talking and I told him that he's really flirty and it must come in handy since he goes out all the time then suddenly he's like, 'you think i flirt with other girls when i go out' and i said, 'it doesn't matter what you do for me because it's not like i'm your girlfriend'. And he looked like he just realized we weren't a thing and just acted weird. He freakin' left me a note that said he's interested in someone already too. Why would I want to know that anyway?"

Farkle was glancing at her from the corner of his eye, smirking. He obviously failed to see the stress his best friend was going through, "You two are weird. Why don't you just kiss and get over it?"

"I do not want to kiss him! Besides he's interested in someone else, not some stupid high school girl. I feel so stupid." She muttered the last part under her breath, hoping Farkle wouldn't hear how pathetic she sounded.

Of course, he did anyway and it made his playful demeanor disappear. "Hey, Maya? You're not stupid and any guy would be lucky to date you no matter what grade level you're in. I'm sure Josh knows that too, guys just don't know how to deal with emotions."

"Speaking of guys and emotions, do you know what you're going to do about your mystery girl?" Maya asked, eager to change the subject.

"So, I'm thinking of starting the interviews today. You think I'll get in trouble?"

"I know you're going to get in trouble. And I already told you to drop it. If the girl wanted to be found, she probably would've come out of hiding already." Maya sighed deeply.

"Are you saying that she doesn't want to see me?" There was panic in his voice which was something that she didn't want. Farkle deserved to find someone that made him happy.

"No," She replied quickly, "Some girls don't like to think of one night stands especially when it's with some stranger."

Farkle seemed to consider it before grinning widely, "I'll do something so romantic, it'll be impossible for her to be embarrassed."

"Don't do anything stupid please."

"What makes you think I'm going to do something stupid?"

"Because it's you." Maya laughed.

"Riley? Riley?" The blonde waved her hand in front of the hypnotized girl's face before she finally snapped out of it. Her brown lovesick eyes would travel towards the back of the room where a certain southern boy was looking at her with the same level of bliss.

"Yes? I'm sorry, were you saying something?" It was obvious Maya still didn't have Riley's attention by the way her eyes flicked from Maya's face to Lucas.

"Actually, yes. You can stare at Lucas after school, we have to answer these questions."

Riley flushed, "How did you know I was looking at Lucas?"

"Because I have eyes." She replied like it was obvious before looking at the paper with their questions, "So, who do you miss most?"

"Who's yours?" Riley said and seemed to be having difficulty keeping her eyes on the blonde in front of her.

"Well, my grandma probably. I kind of miss doing old people stuff like play Scrabble when she was here. I never get a chance to visit her at her retirement home because of how far away it is."

Riley jot it down before sighing sadly, "Well, the person I miss most would be my Uncle Josh," Maya's heart leaped into her throat.

"Why's that?"

"After he enrolled in college, he was able to visit us whenever he wanted so he came over a lot. But now, apparently he ran away. My dad has been looking for him for a week now and things have been so tense and we got a call from his coll—"

If she were going to say anymore, it was cut off by the beep of the intercom turning on. Maya expected another type of drill from the principal but instead she heard the eccentric voice of her best friend, "Is this on? Testing? Testing."

"Oh my God." Maya facepalmed and felt secondary humiliation for what Farkle was about to do.

"Is that Farkle?" asked a curious Riley. All Maya did was nod as Farkle continued, satisfied that the whole school could hear him.

"Alright fellow classmates, I'm making this announcement to ask about a girl that I met on Saturday. It was at a party and I remember it being one of the best nights of my life. Mystery girl, if you're out there, just know that Farkle Minkus aka your prince charming is waiting for you with open arms. You can call me at this number 2-Mr. Minkus, get back to class!" A voice interrupted Farkle ignorantly saying his phone number out to the public for which Maya was grateful.

The class returned to its usual buzzing of talking and gossip but all Maya could think about was how horrible Farkle's speech was. There was no possible way that she was going to reveal herself now.

"That was...romantic." Riley said uncomfortably.

"And humiliating. My best friend is an idiot."

"I'm sure the girl found it entertaining, I know I would've," Riley giggled, "But, we should get back to the assignment."

That topic really didn't put her at ease, "Right, you said you miss your Uncle Josh. Do you know why he ran away?"

Riley shook her head, "Nope, my dad said that it was a long story and I wasn't really in the mood to listen. I just know that Josh running away was kind of a big deal."

"I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about, it's not like you're keeping him hidden away from us." It was meant to be a joke but it didn't make Maya laugh, it made her sick with the guilt she could bubbling up inside her.

She really needed to do laundry.

Her room looked like a tornado just passed through, there was no way that she would be able to distinguish the clean clothes from the dirty ones.

That was Maya Hart's dilemma at eight o'clock at night, she couldn't find her pajamas.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Oh hell no. No, no, no.

She wasn't even dressed and he was knocking on her window. And after the awkward thing yesterday, you would think the boy would want to some alone time and bring his keys when he left.

Hurriedly, she found some sweats and a baggy t-shirt and ran to open the window.

Josh's dark eyes analyzed her face before they dropped to Maya's shirt. His head hit the top of her window with a bang and he winced. He continued to climb in through the window, holding his head and groaning.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just got distracted." He dared to steal a glance at her shirt once more as it let her pale bare shoulders peek out.

"Distracted by what?"

It was probably the first time she's ever seen him blush and damn...it was adorable, "Your-uh shirt, Maya."

"My what?" Only when she looked down did she realize what had distracted him. The neckline of the shirt she had thrown on was large and didn't leave much to the imagination. Her arms immediately wrapped around her chest area, and her cheeks were burning with embarrassment.

"It was an accident, I swear. I didn't mean to look."

Even with his apology, Maya couldn't bare to look at him without feeling exposed, "Do you-uh need an ice pack or something?"

"If you don't mind."

Maya darted out of her room, thankful to be away from his intimidating eyes.

When she returned, she found Josh still standing around awkwardly and was slightly happy that she wasn't the only one that felt uncomfortable with everything. "You should probably be sitting. You hit your head pretty hard, you should relax."

He followed her instruction and sat on the bed while Maya set the ice wrapped in two layers of paper towel down beside him so she could find something to cover herself with. Something that resembled a hoodie was laying in front of her wardrobe, so she quickly threw it on before going to her bed where Josh was delicately tapping the ice against his head.

"Is that helping at all?" Maya asked though she knew the answer.

"Slowly but surely."

She rolled her eyes before sitting down beside him on the bed and taking the make-shift ice pack and pressing it against the side of his head, "You are such a baby. If you don't apply the ice right, it won't get better."

He hissed in pain before whispering, "I am sorry, you know."

"I know, Josh. You apologized when you came in."

"No," He looked determined and stern (a new look on him), "I'm not talking about your shirt anymore, I'm talking about last night. It was weird and I'm sorry if I crossed a line-"

"You didn't do anything, Josh," He was still frowning so she offered him a small smile, "Honest. I'm just confused as to what we are."

His eyes connected with hers and she suddenly realized how close they were getting. Her arm wasn't as extended to keep the ice against Josh's head and their fingers were slowly moving forward towards each other.

"I think," His eyes fell to her lips as he moved closer, "that you and I are..." Her eyes were closed now and her lips were waiting. Her heart was thumping like crazy and she couldn't stop her hands from shaking. She could feel his breath on her nose and it smelled weird (was it alcohol?) and then the ghost of his lips.

She pulled away slightly, before going forward to meet his welcoming lips.

The window slammed shut suddenly and made the two of them jump apart.

Damn the wind, Maya thought grumpily.

Josh rose from the bed before falling back down on the bed, "Josh!" Maya said, alarmed.

"Gorgeous? My head hurts." He whined.

"I know, Josh. I need you to come closer to me so I can put ice on it."

He shook his head, "I can't. I might do something bad."

"What are you going to do that's so bad?" She came closer to him despite his protests holding tightly to the paper towels.

"I might try to kiss you again." He whispered.

"And what's so bad about that?" Maya found herself whispering back. It was horrible of her to want him, she knew that. Josh was interested in another girl and here she was waiting for him to kiss her. She was leaning over him now and his eyes were starting to shut. Before he fell asleep though, he said,

"Not the right moment."