I Write Sins, Not Tragedies
A Girl Meets World Fan Fiction
Chapter 21: A Pretty Perfect Day

A/N: You guys are going to love the first part of this chapter. It's sort of a filler after that, though, to piece together what's to come. There's plenty of drama still in store, but not any for our favorite blondes anytime soon.

"Lucas!"

Maya had finally spotted the tall, muscular boy at school that morning and she would be damned if she didn't talk to him right then and there. He had called her and cancelled giving her a ride to school that morning and he hadn't been in their usual spot to meet up in the morning. So, she had gone searching through the hallways to find him, shocked when he wasn't at his locker.

Riley had stuck right by her side as she had searched and they had found Zay along the way who had given them a gentle reminder as to where he would be. Smackle had joined them as well when she had found the trio and the four of them had practically raced through the hallways trying to find their fifth friend.

It shouldn't have surprised her that he was sitting on the floor, in the corner of The Hole.

Maybe it would shock some people that he was in the place that had almost ruined their high school experience, but Maya knew that whenever Lucas started to get stressed out, he sat in The Hole and contemplated everything going on in his life. It was what he did.

Which was why it wasn't strange at all to find Lucas Friar sitting with his back tucked into the space where the two walls met with his knees pulled up towards his chest and his forehead resting against his legs, arms thrown over his knees, dangling there uselessly. He looked hopeless and miserable.

"I don't need you to break it to my gently, Maya," Lucas said without bothering to look up at her. "I get that you picked Josh," his tone was bitter and harsh.

"What are you talking about?" Maya frowned, hoping down from the steps into The Hole. "I didn't pick Josh."

"Don't lie to me, Maya. I heard him last night when you called me. Why else would you have him come over and call me up to tell me you didn't want me to sleepover? You picked Josh and there's no reason to lie to me about it. That just hurts more," Lucas looked up at now, his eyes rimmed with red that showed he'd been crying and probably hadn't slept the night before.

"I'm not lying," Maya snapped. "I called Josh to come over so that I could tell him that I picked you. I wanted to let him down in person. And I told you not to come over because I wanted to tell Josh without him finding out about our sleepovers because I figured that would just hurt him more. I was trying to let him down gently, because I'm not picking Josh. I'm picking you," She explained, staring at him with hard, cold blue eyes.

"What?" He furrowed his eyebrows together.

"I'm picking you," She giggled.

"Don't joke with me about this!" He jumped to his feet and beamed at her, his green eyes lighting up like she had never seen them before.

"I picked you, Lucas Friar. I'm in love with you and I'm not hiding it anymore," she confirmed, unable to fight the smile that was threatening to take over her entire face. "I talked to Riley about it and I talked to Zay about it and I talked to Josh and everybody's okay with it and I'm picking you," she could feel her smile widening as she spoke.

"What did you just say?" Lucas asked, staring at her in shock and disbelief.

She froze, taking a loud swallow as she comprehended what she had just confessed to him. There words that she had never dared speak aloud to him before. She had never stated to him that she may have feelings that went deeper than a desire for a relationship. He had mentioned that he loved her, but neither of them had ever discussed the possible concept that Maya may love him as well.

"Nothing-just that I pick you," She whispered, taking a step back.

"No, no, no-you said that you love me," he beamed at her, those two perfect dimples cutting right into his cheeks, causing him to look so adorable that Maya almost wanted to just admit to her feelings right then and there. But she wasn't going to, because that wasn't the type of girl that Maya was. She never gave into the demands that other people had of her, and she wasn't going to start now, because of some boy.

He knew that he shouldn't play with her like that, especially when they had such an audience, because it would only frustrate her and embarrass her, which would make her angry, but he couldn't help it. He loved Maya and he had finally heard her utter the words that she loved him as well.

"No," She shook her head, making a face at him as though he were absolutely crazy for thinking such a thing.

"Maya…just admit it," Lucas said, taking a small step towards her.

"No," She said adamantly. "Lucas, stop it," She gulped, taking another step backwards.

"I'm gonna do it," Lucas shook his head. "You wanna run or you want it straight in the face?" He smirked down at her, his green eyes mischievously locked on her terrified blue orbs.

"Well…"Maya said softly. "I wanna run, but how would that look?" she flashed him a small smile, hoping he would just leave it be.

Lucas shook his head, slowly moving in closer towards her.

"You guys wouldn't judge me if I run, right?" Maya asked, poking her head out to the side and staring at her friends around Lucas's shoulder.

Lucas grabbed onto her shoulders, adjusting her so that she was standing up straight against the wall. She gulped again, staring up at him in confusion, trying to figure out what he was trying to do.

"Come on, man! There's always another option," she pleaded.

Lucas leaned in closer to her, his forehead pressed against hers.

"I love you! You okay now?" She asked, wincing at his proximity.

Lucas just shook his head, laughing at the tiny blonde's antics. And then he moved his face close up to hers and kissed her right on the lips, his hands shooting up to cup her face, one sliding down to rest on her waist, pulling her into him. Her hands shot up, cupping his shoulders as she pulled herself even closer to him, deepening the kiss as soon as she was able to comprehend what was happening.

"You okay now?" She whispered breathlessly as they pulled apart, resting their foreheads against one another.

"One more thing," Lucas whispered.

"Yeah?" She smiled.

"How would you feel about being a Huckleberry's girlfriend?" He smirked.

"Maya's got a boyfriend," Riley sing-songed as she hooked her arm through the blonde's after their classes that Wednesday.

"You act like that's a new thing," Maya rolled her eyes.

"But you're in love," she sing-songed once again, smile taking over her face.

"Yes, I'm in love with Lucas. Now, how about we focus on you," Maya insisted, longing for any conversation that didn't focus on herself.

"What about me?" Riley made a panicked face as she stopped walking.

"Riley, you're a relationship magnet. You don't do single," Maya reminded her.

"What does that mean? I've been in less relationships than you!"

"From the second you met Lucas, he was your unofficial boyfriend. After Texas, you were going out on dates with Charlie. And then it was back to Lucas. You have never been single or unattached to a boy," Maya stated drily.

"So? What are you trying to get at?"

"I'm saying that you clearly have feelings for somebody right now."

"That's not true!"

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much."

"I do not have feelings for somebody. I just got out of a relationship with Lucas. I just got over him. How would I have found the time or the emotional capacity to fall for somebody else after only a couple of days? I'm not fickle, Maya and I'm absolutely appalled that you would accuse me-your best friend-of such a-"

"OH, get off your high horse. I never said you got over Lucas and immediately moved onto somebody new. I think you've been in love with the same guy for years and now you're finally realizing it," Maya stated, cutting Riley off immediately.

"And who, pray tell, do you think this guy is?"

"Farkle," Maya shrugged her shoulders, removing her arm from Riley's and cheerfully skipping off to meet up with Lucas.

"Farkle?" Riley gasped, jaw dropping and eyes growing wide as she watched her best friend disappear, eager to go greet her boyfriend. "Farkle?" She asked again in shock, making a face as she tried to figure out how the blonde's brain could possibly be working. "FARKLE?" She shouted, before taking off running after the tiny blonde, ready to demand answers and trying to shake off the idea.

"So, what are you doing after practice tonight?" Lucas asked, swinging an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders as soon as she approached him.

"Is that an invitation to the Friar's weekly family dinner? Because I would kill for some of Mamma Friar's burritos," Maya grinned.

"Sorry to disappoint you, ma'am, but that was not what that was," Lucas admitted, playfully tipping an imaginary cowboy hat at her with a sly wink. "It was, instead, an invitation to a one-on-one date with yours truly," He flashed her a grin.

"Really?" Maya asked, furrowing her eyebrows together. "On family dinner night? Is your mom gonna be okay with that?" She wondered.

"She'll love the idea, especially when I throw in the fact that it's because you're officially my girlfriend. She's been waiting for that announcement since the day that she met you," Lucas reminded her.

"So….no burritos?" Maya pouted, sticking out her bottom lip.

"I'm trying to be all sweet and spontaneous and you're sort of wrecking the mood," Lucas frowned.

"I'm sorry….it's not that I don't want to go it's just….our last date? It didn't go so well…."Maya frowned, trailing off as she looked away from him.

"Hey," Lucas placed his other hand on her shoulder and turned her around so that she was facing him full on. "This isn't like last time, okay? It's all about you, just like it always should have been, understand?"

"What are you planning on doing tonight?"

"Uh…"

"Exactly," Maya rolled her eyes.

"Okay, new plan," Lucas smiled at her, ignoring her hostility. "We're going to go to my house for dinner just like we do every Wednesday night. And tomorrow night? I'm taking you out on a perfectly planned date that's going to blow you away," He promised her, staring directly into her blue eyes.

"Oh yeah?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. "I'm not that easy to impress," She reminded him.

"Oh, believe me, Maya Hart, I know exactly how hard you are to impress," He grinned at her, sneaking in a quick peck on her lips before Riley managed to fight her way through the crowded hallways and reach the happy, newly formed couple.

"Maya Penelope Hart, you can not just spring something like that on me and then run off as if nothing happened! That's not nice," Riley whined, stomping her foot on the ground.

Lucas groaned at the interruption, pulling back from Maya and tugging her closer into his side, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. He wasn't going to flaunt his relationship with Maya in her face, but he wasn't going to try to hide the fact that he was dating the most amazing girl in the world either. Besides, Riley seemed so worked up about whatever was bothering her that there was no way she could be bothered by Lucas's affection towards the blonde.

"Spring something like what on you?" Lucas asked curiously.

"She said that I'm in love with Farkle!" Riley whined.

"Is that all?" Lucas asked, raising his eyebrows. "I thought we all already knew that," He shrugged.

"What?" Riley gasped. "You dated me! You thought I was in love with Farkle and you dated me? That doesn't even make any sense, Lucas!"

"Are you forgetting that I was in love with Maya?" Lucas reminded her.

"Okay, fair enough. But, if you knew that I was in love with Farkle and that he was in love with me, why didn't you guys ever do anything about it? You guys were all just going to let us be with other people when we really wanted to be together? I don't think so. I don't know why you're trying to pull this joke on me, because it's not funny, but I'm not going to buy it," Riley told them, crossing her arms over her chest.

"We're not messing with you, Riles," Maya rolled her eyes.

"And we didn't keep it from you. We just figured you guys didn't want to act on your feelings. They're your feelings, after all," Lucas pointed out.

"I'm not in love with Farkle," Riley protested.

"You told him you loved him long before you ever said it to me," Lucas reminded her.

"It was a friendly gesture!"

"Whatever you say," Maya giggled, snuggling up closer to Lucas.

"Name one time where I acted like I was in love with Farkle!" Riley demanded.

"You promised to save him a dance at the seventh grade dance, despite the fact that all you really wanted was to go with Lucas," Maya stated quickly, without a second thought.

"You actually cheered for him when he was up to bat during the Halloween baseball game, despite the fact that he didn't even want to be playing and we all know that he sucks at sports and doesn't deserve to be cheered on," Lucas rolled his eyes.

"You went searching for him when he skipped classes during the Billy incident and flipped out when you found out he was being bulled. You got angrier than anybody else did about it and you were the one who was trying to comfort him the most, while Lucas and I tried just to make whoever said it all pay," Maya said cheerfully.

"Farkle asked who needed you and you put your arm around him and batted your eyelashes and flirted back with him by telling him that he knew that he needed you," Lucas said, shooting her a pointed look.

"That stuffed hippo is your favorite thing in the word. You love that hippo more than you ever loved that stupid bear," Maya added.

"You wore his orange turtleneck," Lucas cocked an eyebrow.

"Your creepy, gothic version of yourself was literally in love with Donnie Barnes," Maya said helpfully.

"You were willing to ditch Charlie and me to dance with Farkle at the semi-formal," Lucas reminded her.

"You comforted him when he thought that he had Aspergers and the two of you got fake-married when you thought Farkle was gonna get sent to a different school," Maya stated.

"You bought him ice cream!" Lucas shouted.

"You swore to him that you loved him exactly as he was," Maya replied, ignoring Lucas's outburst.

"It bothered you that he didn't seem to believe in your ability to be a scientist," Lucas added, trying to get back to his usual calm, okay-with-everything demeanor.

"You were there to comfort him when he was worried about his family's money," Maya chimed in.

"You referred to him as your hero because he "saved" you from drowning when you were bobbing for apples. And you told him that he turned into a handsome young man," Lucas recalled the story he had been told about when the girls had first met Farkle.

"You cried…you cried and you told me that you hoped that he always remembered that science wouldn't be able to replace love for him. You wanted to make sure that he always kept himself open to love…you know, that's when I first realized that you loved him," Maya admitted, speaking mostly to herself when it came to this particular memory.

"Okay, okay," Riley threw her hands up in front of her as a sign of surrender. "I only asked for one, you guys," She said, shooting the happy couple a glare.

"We couldn't pick just one," Lucas said, shrugging the shoulder that wasn't extended to wrap Maya tightly in his arms. "They're just all so adorable, right, Short-stack?" He flashed a smile down at the blonde beauty in his arms.

"I'm not in love with Farkle!" Riley whined. "And he's not in love with me," She pouted.

"That you trying to be tough?" Maya asked, raising her eyebrows.

Riley just lowered her head, staring at the ground as though ashamed of her actions. Maya knew it was really because she was just lost in thought, trying to figure out if what she and Lucas were saying was true.

"Awe," Maya and Lucas cooed together, the way they did whenever they thought Riley was being extra adorable.

"Stop," Riley whined.

"Listen," Maya rolled her eyes.

This ordeal was taking too long and she had to get to practice. And Lucas had to get to practice. And Riley should be in the journalism room to work on the copy of the school paper that would be coming out the following Monday. They needed to end everything and they needed to end it fast.

"You're in love with Farkle, and you can choose to accept it or not. He's in love with you and you can choose to accept that or not. I'm not going to stand here and say that you only get one chance at love, because that's ridiculous and foolish, and coming from me, it just seems even more ridiculous. So, you don't want to be in love with Farkle? Suppress your feelings and find somebody else. But, if by some off handed chance you want to give this thing a try? You better figure it out and figure it out soon, because I can forgive him for what he said to me if he's going to make my best friend happy. But Lucas won't forgive him for what he did to Smackle until Smackle forgives him, and Zay is gonna need a lot of convincing to forgive him. And who knows if Smackle ever will," Maya told Riley, every word coming out sharp and distinct.

She wasn't usually that hard on Riley, but this was something serious. It needed to be discussed and it had needed to be said. Riley had to know what choices were and what the consequences were if she chose to wait.

Riley stared back at Maya, with confusion, hurt, and annoyance filling her brown eyes. She needed Maya and she needed her immediately. She just needed a little bit of time with her best friend, in their secret place, to talk about everything. She needed Maya to listen and to give her advice.

But, even if Maya had the time to do that for her friend, she wasn't going to be able to give her what she wanted. She wouldn't tell her the same things that Riley wanted to hear. She wasn't going to miraculously change her mind and swear that Riley wasn't really in love with Farkle and that Farkle didn't really love Riley. That wasn't what was going to happen. The only things that were going to happen was the truth being revealed and Riley wouldn't want to hear that. She wanted anything but the truth.

"I just…I need some time to think," Riley shook her head, pushing past the couple and storming off down the hallways towards the journalism room.

"She's not mad at us, is she?" Lucas asked, starting to guide Maya towards the locker rooms so that they could get ready for practice.

"Of course not," Maya shook her head. "She's just confused and she wants somebody to tell her exactly what to do. But, she's not going to get that from me. I had to pick between you and Josh on my own and she has to figure out her feelings for Farkle on her own," Maya smirked up at her boyfriend, wrinkling her nose and scrunching her eyes.

"You know, you're lucky you're so adorable, or I would take offense to that comment," Lucas told her with a smile.

"Oh, don't be such a Huckleberry," Maya rolled her eyes.

"You're the one dating a Huckleberry," Lucas teased.

"And a Sundance, and a Hop-a-Long, too," Maya nodded her head in agreement.

"Being my girlfriend isn't going to make these nicknames stop anytime soon, is it?"

"You fell in love with me because of those nicknames," Maya reminded him. "I wouldn't be the she-devil you fell in love with if I stopped calling you them."

"Ain't that the truth," Lucas said, playing up his southern twang for her.

"Will you just tell me the truth?" Smackle asked Zay as the boy walked her towards the science lab, since she had practice for the Scholastic Decathlon team that afternoon. "Please, just tell me why this whole mess with Farkle bugs you so much? Because he's supposed to be one of your best friends and I don't want to be the reason you two stop being friends, so please make me feel better?" She pleaded.

Sometimes, Zay couldn't get over the change that had occurred in the beautiful, glossy haired genius girl. When he had first met her, he had found her to be one of the strangest girls he had ever seen.

She babbled on with big words that he couldn't understand. She refused to make any type of personal connections and physical contact was a definitive no, which was a hard concept to grasp for a hugger like him. She knew everything and anything and she didn't find any shame in that, the way Farkle sometimes did.

Isadora Smackle wasn't shy when it came to her comments about people. She refused to hide what she thought and she wasn't one to spare another person's feelings.

Brutally honest and harshly blunt-that was the best way to describe her, he was sure.

When Farkle had brought Smackle into their tight knit group and albeit forced her upon them, begging them to make sure that the gang welcomed her with open arms, it had been Maya who had been able to make the largest breakthroughs with her. While Riley went out of her way to help the girl feel accepted and find a place where she belonged, a lot of the time she seemed to be trying to change who Smackle really was.

Maya, however, had encouraged Smackle to continue to be her honest self, but had taught her ways to do so without coming off as a tactless bitch. She had taught her the wonders of sarcasm and worked with the brunette to hone into her deeper emotions.

Now, just a few short years later, Smackle acted like any other teenage girl who was overcome by her emotions. She was clingy with her boyfriend, often coming off as possessive. She was flirtatious with Zay and Lucas. She teased Riley right along with Maya and she comforted Maya whenever it was needed. She was aware of the feelings of others and she knew how to be sympathetic towards others. Sometimes her weird and awkward self came out, but it wasn't any stranger than when Riley became extra quirky.

And somewhere along the way, while Smackle had undergone her transformation, Zay had started to fall for her.

It wasn't the same as his crush on Maya.

His feelings for Maya were stemmed from the fact that she was the first person to truly attempt to talk to him when he moved to New York. She was like a female version of him and she had helped his best friend when he hadn't been able to.

He found Maya to be the most beautiful girl in the school had had given her the nickname of Hot Blonde Number 1.

But he also felt protective of her and loved his friendship with her. If she made a move on him-and if he wasn't terrified of Lucas, who had no idea about his feelings-he wouldn't turn her down. But he was pretty sure it would be awkward for them both, because overtime their relationship had turned into a sibling type of bond.

What he felt for Smackle went deeper and sometimes he wondered if maybe it was even love.

That was why it bothered him so much whenever he was reminded of Farkle's feelings for Riley.

He dealt with the fact that Farkle got Smackle, because at least the girl was happy. He could watch them without wanting to kill his buddy every time he touched the girl. He was able to accept it, because they were good together and it was what Smackle wanted. Who was he to tear her away from a guy that made her happy when she had no real interest in Zay himself?

But, he couldn't accept watching Farkle lead her on. Every reminder that Farkle wasn't over his feelings for Riley was another push in the wrong direction for Zay and eventually he was going to snap.

The previous night had been his finally breaking point, because Farkle had dared to mess with both of the girls that Zay cared about more than anybody else in the world. He had pushed Maya over the edge and made the strong blonde cry, something she rarely ever did. And he was leading on Smackle despite the fact that his feelings for Riley seemed to be growing stronger.

"Because I can't stand the fact that he's been doing this to you for years. I let it go when Riley was with Lucas, because I think he really did like you and maybe he could have loved you eventually. Riley had Lucas and that seemed to be a forever kind of thing. Farkle had feelings for you and I wanted to believe that he was with you because he was getting over Riley and starting to feel that for you. But he would never say things like to Maya if he wasn't still in love with Riley. And knowing that he was still going to play with your feelings? I couldn't let him hurt two of my favorite girls," Zay explained sheepishly, stuffing his hands in his pockets and raising his shoulders up to his ears as he walked.

He couldn't admit to Smackle that he loved her. She didn't feel the same way and he couldn't put that type of pressure on her. It just wasn't right.

"She's a lucky girl," Smackle said, flashing Zay a smile.

"What?"

"Maya," She said simply. "She's got Lucas, and that's what she's always wanted. And she had Josh and he's a catch by anybody's standards. But…she has you, and she doesn't even know it. She doesn't even know how lucky she is, because she has you to always be on the sidelines, silently looking out for her," Smackle said softly.

"What are you talking about?" Zay wondered, stopping outside of the chemistry lab and leaning against the doorframe with a frown.

"I'm talking about the fact that you're in love with Maya," Smackle laughed, running a hand through her long, beautifully glossy, dark hair.

"I'm not in love with Maya," Zay laughed right back, appalled by the idea.

"Whatever you need to keep telling yourself," Smackle shook her head, rolling her eyes with an amused smile on her face. "Still up for your tutoring tonight? I should be done around the same time as you today because we have a big competition Saturday, so maybe you could come over to my house for dinner and we'll study there?" She wondered.

"Yeah, that would be great," Zay smiled, choosing to let her believe whatever she wanted to believe.

Sometimes it amazed him. The fact that Smackle could know so much about everything, yet she didn't seem to understand anything about emotions or people. She was a genius when it came to science and math. She could memorize entire history books. But, she had no idea how to comprehend a person's feelings or piece together their thoughts.

It sort of made him feel smart, because that was the one thing that Zay always got right. He was more than capable of understanding people. It was what he was the best at.

"Perfect! Meet me here after your practice? I get sort of caught up in my experiments sometimes," She admitted sheepishly.

You're such a little nerd," Zay shook his head.