Chapter 13: Maya Meets Weekend Class Two

Maya walked into class early Friday evening. She wasn't exactly excited about another weekend class, but she knew she'd get to see Josh for the next two and a half days, and that she was excited about. She sat at her regular desk and pulled out her sketch pad, staring intently at the blank page in front of her. She tapped her pen, nervously, her foot bouncing beneath her. Maya was still stuck in drawing rut. And while that sucked for her personally, this block she was battling was hurting her academically as well. This weekend was the practical application of last semester's weekend class. The class was going to be focused around using the students' preferred choice of artistic expression, and for Maya, that was always drawing. She sighed heavily and buried her hands in her hair.

"Class hasn't even started yet…" Josh said half-teasing Maya as he saw the distress written across her face as he took a seat.

Maya looked up, Josh was a seat in front of where he usually sits, and her brows knitted in confusion. "What are you doing?" She asked.

Josh looked at the back row, students from different programs were also taking this class and the chairs were in chaos. "I… there's already…" He said motioning to the crowded back row.

"Get back here," Maya demanded as she scooted her desk to the left, making room for Josh.

Josh laughed and maneuvered his chair next to Maya's.

"Thanks, Josh!" Anna threw her hands up as Josh moved away from her.

Josh laughed, "Sorry," he said with a shrug.

"Thank you," Maya said with a bit of classic Maya-sass in her voice. "Phh, sitting a row away from me on a weekend class." She rolled her eyes playfully.

"I'm sorrrrrry," Josh pouted to Maya.

Maya raised her eyebrows, her eyes wide looking right at the brunette inches away from her. "Yeah, you should be." She said with a nod.

Josh laughed and pulled out his moleskin to take notes. He glanced over at Maya's desk and noticed her blank sketchpad in front of her. "Still stuck?" He asked with a nod in her direction.

"Egh," Maya groaned. "I just… nothing feels right. I can't even start anything."

Josh's brows furrowed, "Why do you think that is?" He asked.

Maya shrugged, "Dunno."

"Have you not thought about it?"

Maya sighed, turning toward Josh, propping her head in her hand. "I mean I have, and all I keep coming back to is that I'm just stuck."

"I wonder when that started…" Josh had a pretty good guess of when he thought it started, but he wanted to see if Maya could make those connections herself.

"Feels like forever…" Maya said with a sad smile. She turned her attention back to her book, flipping through the front dozen of pages, admiring her previous work, longing to be wrapped up in what she loved again.

Class quickly started and Josh and Maya's attention was redirected to their professor. There was a group project that was going to take the entirety of the two weekends, and the groups were going to be created randomly. Maya's stomach churned; the semester was almost over, and this was her and Josh's last time to be together like this until… She didn't know when. Maya sank in her seat as their professor drew numbers, going up and down the rows assigning pairs.

"Josh… group 3" Maya's ear perked up, no one else had been assigned group 3 yet… "Anthony, group 12. Taylor… group 6. Rae, group 13. Sam… group 12. Maya…"

Maya's heart was racing. There was only one person she wanted to be paired with, and as much as she loved her other classmates, she would have been disappointed to be paired with them.

"Group 3."

Maya tried to hold back her smile. Did that really just happen? After a moment, she looked over at Josh. "Are you three?" She asked.

Josh nodded, also trying to hold back a smile.

Maya narrowed her eyes and with a slight nod whispered, "Nice."

"Alright. We're going to break for dinner, and then when we come back you'll have the rest of the class to brainstorm some ideas. Then, tomorrow is going to be a work day."

Josh stood up, grabbed his bag and looked over at Maya. "Topanga's?" He asked without even questioning if Maya wanted to go with him for dinner; he knew her, he knew she would -hell, he knew she probably even wanted to.

Maya looked up at Josh and nodded. She grabbed her purse and sketchpad, leaving the rest of her things behind and the two headed out.

"Wait a second…" Maya said with a raised eyebrow, a fry in her hand. "You don't even have to take this class?"

Josh laughed shaking his head, "No."

"Why are you, then?" Maya asked as she took a bite of her french fry.

Josh shrugged, his eyes downcast. "I don't know…" He knew.

"Don't you have to, I don't know, pay for these classes?"

Josh looked up, Maya was still casually eating her french fries; he couldn't take his eyes off of her. That's why he thought to himself; Maya was why he was taking the class.

"I don't know," Maya shrugged after the silence, finally looking up. She tilted her head slightly, catching Josh's eyes glued to her. She smiled slightly, "What?" she asked.

"You look happy, Maya." Josh admitted. And she did. There wasn't this heaviness hanging over her right now, her smile reached her eyes, and Josh couldn't help but give into his undeniable attraction to her, even if he wanted to.

Maya pulled her eyebrows together, thinking momentarily. "I am." She said. "I'm trying to be…"

Now Josh smiled from ear to ear. He'd missed this Maya. "So, this project…"

"Nope." Maya said holding up her hand. "Not while I'm enjoying my french fries."

Josh laughed, "Alright,"

Maya placed her elbow on the table, pointing a fry at Josh, "We have all weekend to work on it."

Josh nodded, "That's true. It is going to… ya know… require you to draw something though…"

Maya's eyes widened a little and she placed the fry she was holding back on her plate, wiping her hands slightly. "I know."

Josh shrugged, "I just… wanted to make sure you were…"

Maya sighed, "I'm trying." She repeated her phrase from earlier.

"I believe you." Josh told her genuinely. "Have you drawn anything lately…?"

Maya pressed her lips together in a thin line, "Mmm… not in a while?" Maya's voice dropped at the mention of the day she would much rather never think about again.

Josh's heart panged for her, he could see sadness sweep across her face, the memory of that day clearly coming to the forefront of her mind. Josh decided to speak his mind on the topic. "I don't know how - - or why, you were with him, Maya."

Maya flinched at Josh's words. "I…"

"You know you deserve better."

Maya, once again, pressed her lips together and shrugged slightly.

"Maya."

"I know, Josh."

"I'm not trying to tell you what to do." Josh said shaking his head.

"I know, Josh…" Maya repeated, her head still low, her eyes downcast.

"It makes me so mad that he's done this to you."

Maya looked up, her brows pulled together. "He didn't do anything to me…"

"Maya," Josh said with a bit of an accusatory tone in his voice. He reached for her closed sketchpad that was sitting in her bag - - not even on the table like it used to be. He held the pad in his hand, "When did you stop drawing… when did you stop drawing every day?" He asked pointedly, his eyes glued to Maya's.

Maya breathed heavily, her chest visibly rising and falling.

"Come on, Maya…"

"When I started dating Austin…" She finally admitted through clenched teeth.

"You're too smart to think that's just a coincidence."

"I know, Josh." Maya said shaking her head. "I get it…"

"So what are you doing about it?" Josh pressed.

Maya held Josh's gaze, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Josh shook his head, "You know how I feel about it, Maya. You know how Riley feels about it…"

"I do," Maya nodded. "And I'm working on it…" She said with a shrug. And she was. Maya was close; she was so close. Josh's little push helped her realize just how close she was.

"I want you to draw again… I want to see you light up and express yourself like no one else that I know can. I want you to see your own talent and value again, that's what he's taken from you, and that breaks my heart."

Josh and Maya returned to class where they actually had to focus on their upcoming project. Maya decided to use drawing as her medium, while Josh opted for his camera as his instrument of choice. The assignment was for them to explore and detail what they had learned throughout the class. Reflecting on theory and light and perspective. Maya took her work seriously, and she was wracking her brain to come up with ideas.

"Take the night, decide on your topic, then tomorrow, work on bringing each of your individual topics together in one cohesive idea."

Maya's eyes were wide. This was going to be difficult, and while a challenge never scared her… this one felt daunting. She needed to get her mind in the right place. She looked up and noticed the class had all but cleared while she was lost in her own thoughts. She gathered her things and made her way to the door.

Josh was waiting outside of the classroom for Maya. "You good?" He asked when the blonde finally made her way into the hall. "You looked a little spooked in there…"

Maya's eyes were still glazed with concern about this assignment as she nodded. She looked up at Josh, "You're not worried about it at all, are you?"

Josh laughed a little, "I mean…"

"Dammit." Maya cursed nearly under her breath.

"Hey!" Josh feigned offense.

"No, no… I mean, that's good. I think it's just… six pieces that all go together, and then somehow my six and your six have to come together… I…" Maya ran her hand through her hair. "And I literally have no ideas…"

"Well. Go home, get some rest, and we can work on it all day tomorrow." Josh said patting Maya's back.

She looked up at him, a little confused.

"I'm still walking you home," Josh smiled, understanding Maya's look. It was an hour later than their weekly classes got out; of course he was walking her home. "You want to get breakfast before class in the morning?" Josh asked as he and Maya headed toward her apartment.

"Before class?" Maya asked, her voice cracking.

"Oh, come on, 7AM isn't that bad." Josh laughed.

"Well, unlike some people," Maya started pointing at Josh, "I don't just roll out of bed and look this good."

A smile crept up the side of his face. "You think I look good?" His voice was soft yet laced with a slight air of cockiness.

Maya playfully slapped Josh's chest, "Stop it."

Josh let his smile spread across his whole face now, "You think I'm good looking." He said in almost a sing-song tone.

Maya rolled her eyes, her cheeks flushing, "Oh my God."

"It's weekend class, there's nobody to impress. Come on. I'll even meet you at your place and we can walk there together." Josh said throwing his arm around Maya's shoulder.

"Fine," She whined, giving in to Josh's request, though she didn't really mind too much.

Josh continued to walk with his arm around Maya's shoulders; being close to her felt natural, and just the thought of pulling away made him feel cold and oddly incomplete. Josh tried not to think about it and just enjoy the moment with Maya; she was finally seeming like herself again and he didn't want this to end.

A huge yawn swept across Maya's face, her eyes closed and she instinctively rested her head against Josh's chest. "So. Tired."

Josh laughed, pulling Maya just the slightest bit closer to him. "It's only the first day."

Maya turned her head into Josh's side even more, burying her face. "Stop reminding me,"

Josh let out another laugh, his head falling back. "Okay," He smiled down at the blonde still curled into him.

Maya inhaled deeply, breathing in Josh's scent. She knew she should pull away, she knew she shouldn't be leaning into him like this, she knew he had a girlfriend. She knew all of this, and yet, she couldn't pull herself away, and Josh wasn't pulling away either.

Josh and Maya stopped when they reached her apartment, both lingering, neither wanting to walk away.

Josh eyed up Maya's apartment building, "Austin there?"

Maya shrugged, "I don't know. I would say probably not." with a slight eye roll.

Josh noticed a difference in Maya's voice when she talked about Austin now. Her words used to be laced with sadness and hurt; Josh could barely stand to listen to her talk about Austin. But now, Maya sounded more pissed off than anything when she talked about him. Josh wasn't crazy that Austin was still around, but he would take this change in attitude toward him.

"Alright, well get on inside, I'll be here a quarter til seven tomorrow."

Maya closed her eyes and dropped her jaw, making a face of feigned distress.

Josh laughed, "You'll be fine." He said and pulled Maya into a hug. "Get some sleep."

Maya wrapped her arms around Josh's back, hugging him tightly, breathing him in deeply once more.

"I'll see you in the morning." Josh said with a smile as they pulled away.

Six o'clock came way too quickly as Maya drug herself out of bed. She was no longer surprised when Austin wasn't there in the mornings -in fact, she was beginning to get used to sleeping alone, and she kind of loved it. Maya walked to her bathroom to begin getting ready for another long day. Josh's comment about not needing to impress anyone stuck with her; he was right, the only one she cared about was Josh, and he'd seen her literally throwing up. She quickly threw her hair in a loose fishtail braid and pulled on a pair of jeans. Before she knew it, her phone was buzzing.

Incoming Call
Josh Matthews

"Hello."

"You up?" Josh asked, a smile evident in his voice.

"Yes," Maya whined.

"Alright, grab a coat, I'm outside."

"On my way." Maya chirped as she zipped up her boot. Josh knew her well, and she grabbed her coat just before she headed out the door.

"Good morning." Josh smiled as Maya walked out of the front door.

Maya yawned, "Morning,"

Josh laughed, "Come on, time to wake up," He said and once again put his arm around Maya's shoulders.

Maya glanced up at the brunette, who, as she predicted, looked amazing. He looked so causally perfect, and wore a genuine smile naturally across his face. Maya couldn't help the smile that made its way to her face as well.

Josh ordered a large black coffee, Maya still scrunched her nose at the smell as it elicited memories of the awful taste of Josh's coffee from their first weekend class together. Maya also got a large coffee, but hers was much lighter, and had a way better flavor to it. Josh continued to challenge her on that last part, however.

"Did you really spend $8 on yogurt?" Josh asked as Maya joined him at the table after picking her order up at the window.

"And granola!" Maya chirped back.

Josh shook his head, "That's not even breakfast…" He said and took a bite of his biscuits and eggs, "This… mmm, this is a real breakfast." He finished with closed eyes.

Maya raised an eyebrow at Josh practically moaning over his food. Her heart sped up thinking about it.

"I'm going to get a coffee to go, take it to class, you want one?" Josh asked as he finished his breakfast.

Maya nodded, "Good idea."

"Alright, get your stuff, we gotta get going,"

"We gotta boogie," Maya teased.

Josh rolled his eyes. "Still holding on to that one?"

"Oh, that's a forever thing, Boing," Maya said patting Josh on the shoulder.

He glanced down at her with a side smile at the old nickname. He knew what it meant.

"Alright, you guys can go wherever you want, there's classrooms, the student lounge, you can go outside, just please use your time wisely and actually work on the assignment."

Josh looked at Maya, raising an eyebrow, "Where ya wanna go, Hart?"

"Outside?!" Maya's eyes practically lit up at the thought. The sun was warming up the cool air, and the thought of being stuck inside all day was particularly exhausting.

Josh nodded, "Outside it is then."

The two gathered their things and headed for their usual space outside of the building.

"So… did you decide on anything?" Josh asked with an amused, yet questioning look.

Maya pulled out her sketchpad and flipped to a page, holding it up to show Josh.

"Maya!" Josh exclaimed, grabbing the book out of Maya's hands; she started drawing again. He flipped the page, another drawing, and another and another. "Maya," Josh repeated with a smile on his face. His eyes locked onto Maya's blue one's, her eyes wide, and waiting for his reaction. "I'm so proud of you. These are amazing," He said honestly, his eyes narrowing with sincerity.

A smile spread across Maya's face immediately stretching from ear to ear and reaching up to her eyes. "Thank you." She said, pride finally evident in her voice once again as she took her book back from Josh.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Josh asked, not wanting to interrupt this surge of creativity Maya was having.

Maya tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, looking down at her book. "Well," She started.

Josh's eyes were glued to Maya, she was completely wrapped up in her art once again and Josh's attraction to her only intensified seeing this passion reignite in her.

"So, if I draw the emotions, then maybe we can spend some time going around trying to find ways for you to capture those same emotions."

Josh nodded, "Okay, I'm in. What were you thinking?"

Maya flipped the page in her sketch book where she had done quick, rough drawings of nine different potential emotions. "So I came up with a few, and we obviously don't have to use them…"

"Let's see," Josh said scooting closer to Maya, leaning in to look at her book as she held it in her hands.

"So there's fear, anger, sadness, joy, disgust, trust, worry, surprise, peace… I mean, there's obviously more… and these aren't necessarily final drawings either…" Maya was starting to talk in circles, uncertainty creeping into her words.

"No, no," Josh shook his head, "No I like these."

Maya looked up at Josh, "Okay," She breathed.

"So we need to pick six?"

Maya nodded, "I think so. I think that would be best."

"Okay, you pick first…" Josh suggested.

"Um… I like trust."

"Okay, me too. And let's see… I think we could capture anger pretty well, or disgust, those are kind of similar."

"Mmm… yeah, I think I like disgust more than anger."

"Okay, so trust, disgust, what else?"

"Peace." Maya said definitively.

"Strength," Josh added.

"Okay, two more."

"Love. And the last one…" Josh said pausing.

"Fear." Both Maya and Josh said at the same time.

"Alright," Maya said and pulled out her larger drawing pad out of her bag, I'm gonna start on some of these then… they might take a while…" She said biting her bottom lip.

"No you're fine." Josh said shaking his head. "I probably need to start one some of these too, get some options, do some editing,"

Maya nodded, her attention focused on the paper in front of her.

Josh pulled out his camera and began taking pictures, getting familiar to the medium again. "I'll be back," He told Maya.

"Mhmm," Maya nodded, almost too distracted to notice Josh's comment.

Josh walked around the campus for about half an hour, taking pictures of people and things he saw that he thought might represent their topic. He was heading back to Maya to check on her, when he rounded the corner and immediately came to a halt, his breath nearly taken right from him. Maya. His heart raced seeing the beautiful blonde sitting on the ground, her knees bent, her sketch pad leaning up against them. The sun was nearly directly overhead, noon approaching quickly, and the sunlight was hitting Maya with an almost poetic glow. Josh quickly pulled his camera to his eye, adjusting the focus just right and began snapping picture after picture. He didn't want to lose this moment; Maya was completely herself again, and he wanted to capture it forever.

Maya finally looked up, pausing from her drawing momentarily.

"How's it going?" Josh asked, taking the brief moment to check in.

Maya nodded. "You?"

Josh shrugged. "Can I see what you're working on?"

Maya pressed her lips together, shaking her head slightly.

"Come on…" Josh tried to look at the notebook Maya was now holding against her chest.

"No," She insisted. "Not until it's done."

"Fine, fine." Josh smiled sitting down next to her on the ground. He brought his camera to his eye once again.

"I never see you taking pictures…" Maya observed. "How did you end up in this program?" She asked.

Josh looked over at Maya, a little taken aback by her question. He shrugged, "I needed a change… I was tired of the 9-5, suit and tie, cubicle life. I did that, I hated that." That was partially true.

Maya tilted her head, intrigued by Josh's story. "And the camera?"

Josh ran his hand through his hair. "I talked to my brother about everything last year, right before… right before I moved back to the city. He told me to…" Josh paused, looking at Maya before he continued. "Go talk to Shawn."

Maya's eyes widened; her Shawn? "My Shawn?!" She asked, her voice high.

Josh laughed, "I mean… he was Cory's Shawn first…"

Maya waved her hand in the air.

Josh was still laughing, "But sure. Yes, your Shawn."

Maya's eyes were narrowed as she was intrigued by where the rest of this story was going. She looked at Josh waiting for him to continue, but he seemed to be done talking. "And then…" Maya pressed.

Josh shrugged, keeping his lips tight.

"And then…" Maya repeated with a little more force, her head tilting in Josh's direction.

Josh sighed, rolling his eyes slightly. "And then he gave me one of his old cameras and told me about this program."

Maya's eyes widened, her jaw dropping slightly. "Shawn told you about this program…?"

"He did." Josh said cautiously.

"Did he…"

Josh held Maya's gaze, knowing what she was going to ask next.

"Did he tell you I was in this program…?"

Josh didn't say anything right away, instead, he held onto Maya's eyes intently, trying to read her expression.

"Josh…"

Josh nodded slightly, "Yeah. He did."

Maya's brows pulled together as her eyes stayed locked on Josh's. She didn't know how she felt about this… she didn't know if she should be upset or if this new information should make her heart race.

Josh finally broke eye contact, glancing down, letting Maya process everything.

"Josh…" Maya said grabbing his attention again.

Josh looked up, "What?" He asked, his voice deep.

Maya didn't want to be presumptuous, but she had to know… "Is that why you joined the program?" she finally asked.

Josh's eyes were once again locked on Maya's, his brows pulled together. "I don't know," he replied honestly, a slight shake in his head.

And there you have Weekend Class Two! Joshaya is so much more fun to write than anything else! I feel like their relationship has a new depth now after everything they have been through. And Maya finally found herself again! There's even more of that to come in our next chapter as well!

I know a lot of you guys were a little thrown by Josh being the one who talked to Maya in the last chapter, as opposed to Riley. I hear you. I totally understand your logic. For me, personally, it took one of my guy friends to say "Amanda, this isn't how guys treat girls" to finally open my eyes, versus my girlfriends who were so used to just supporting me, they never really breached the topic. (This story isn't about me, so i've done my best not to share those kinds of things throughout MMW, but I thought this one needed to be explained)

I truly love hearing from you guys, and I continue to adjust and edit after hearing from you guys. So thank you so much! I know I say it every UD, but they really do mean the world to me.
Thank you, every single one of ya for reading, reviewing, adding this story to your faves and story alerts! It makes my heart so incredibly full!

Don't forget: I drop teases and spam Joshaya vines/pics/posts on twitter all the time! Come connect with me, my Twitter handle is MandaLou52. Hit me up, tell me you came from MMW and i'll follow you right back because i freaking LOVE you guys!

Until next time my favorites...
xoxo
Manders

Coming up next! Chapter 14: Maya Meets Strength (the back half of the weekend class with a flashback to something I know each of you have been waiting 8 chapters for!)