Author's Note: Thank you to those who have already followed, reviewed, and favorited. Please don't forget to REVIEW, and enjoy! (Edited by Chereche!)

Chapter 3 is up, guys! It's pretty different from the original, so I'd recommend checking it out. (The post fight scene is changed, at least). I'm currently working on Chapter 4, so some of the small details in Chapter 3 will not completely match, just so you know...

Disclaimer: I don't own Girl Meets World, just the story!

Chapter Twenty-Five: In With the Old, and Out With the New

"Did I mention I really like your hair?" Riley asked as she reached up her hand and smoothed the blonde curls.

"Ugh, yes honey. About 50 times today, actually," Maya grumbled. She took her fingers off, but her friend continued to stroke her head regardless.

"It makes me happy, Peaches!"

"That's great...can we go to class now?"

"Since when do you want to go to class?" The brunette wrinkled her nose.

"Since you won't stop touching my hair," Maya snapped. She grabbed her friend's wrist, and tugged her toward the door.

"But it means you're getting better!"

"I don't want to talk about that," she said firmly.

"Why?"

"Because, Riles, I don't...and I'm going in with or without you," she finished, releasing her hand and walking into the classroom.

Riley reluctantly followed the blonde, then made her way to her seat though still staring at her best friend. She was so happy that Maya seemed to be getting better, but it sure was a hard journey. She knew that she had to remember it wasn't going to get better all of a sudden, and that she had to be patient. But, boy, was this one of the hardest things to be patient for.

Maya sighed, dropped her books on her desk, and plopped into her seat. Automatically resting her elbow on Lucas's, she then noticed the edge of something white underneath the pile of books. Tugging it out, she saw that it was an envelope. Looking around, she slipped the paper out of it, then opened it quietly below her desk. It was a letter...surprise, surprise. There was something else inside the envelope too, but she chose to read the note first.

X: That's cute… you think you can just go back to being "the Maya Hart" again. The one who doesn't care about anybody else…the cool one. But, the truth? That was never you and it never will be. So why pretend? Here's a reminder of who you really are.

She raised an eyebrow, and lifted the object out of the envelope discreetly. Oh.

"Peaches?"

Maya jerked her head up, startled. She gave her friend a small smile.

"Are you okay?" Riley asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," she lied brusquely.

"Then why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"

Maya shrugged, and tried to move the object further out of view, but Riley picked up on the movement.

"What's that?"

"Nothing," The blonde hedged, and donned an indifferent expression.

"Yah, right. Let me see it." She leaned forward, and tried to grab it from her hand.

"Stop that!" Maya shrieked, and shrank away. There was absolutely no way she could let Riley see it, but it didn't really help as she persisted.

Lucas walked into the scene with a confused face, and a cautious approach. He sat down behind the blonde, then carefully asked his questions.

"Uh, what are you guys doing?"

"Maya has something, and I need to see it," Riley answered, straining to reach her hand.

"Isn't that her business?" he reminded gently.

"Yes, it is. Listen to Huckleberry," Maya grunted, as she leaned even further away from her friend.

"No!" Riley lunged forward suddenly, actually rising out of her chair. The blonde yelped and flinched, losing her balance and falling off her seat in the process.

Maya hit her head hard, and lay in a daze for a minute watching the interesting constellations on the school ceiling. She vaguely heard Riley's triumphant voice intermixed with the sound of a chair scrapping before she saw Lucas's concerned face leaning over her own.

"Maya, are you okay?" he asked, his tone a mix of worry and mild amusement as if he hadn't realized she had hit her head.

"Fine," she whispered, still trying to blink the stars out of her vision.

"You need some help?" Lucas asked, holding out a hand.

Maya shook her head, and pain sprouted from the back of her head.

"So...are you going to get up now?"

No, she thought, it was really nice down there, and moving more would probably cause the pain to increase.

"Maya?"

A nap would be nice...maybe the pain would just go away if she fell asleep.

"Um, you need to get up now. Mr. Matthews is here." Lucas glanced up at their curious teacher, then back down at the girl on the floor.

He offered her his hand again, and pulling herself out of her drifting thoughts, she made the conscious effort to grab it and lift herself up. Maya stumbled a little bit, and she managed to stand, but immediately she grew dizzy. She would have fallen over, except Lucas was able to grab her around the waist.

"Mr. Friar?" Mr. Matthews asked, walking over to the two.

"I don't know, sir." Lucas said, answering the unvoiced question as he looked at her. He was now worried, taking in her slow blinks and the way she was slumping slightly against him. He tried to steady her. "I think I should take her to the nurse, if that's okay with you."

"Peaches?" Riley intoned, her eyes widened. She started to get up as well, finally realizing that Maya had not been just playing around.

Maya shook her head, ignoring the wave of dizziness it caused, and waved them off in what was more of a flapping gesture.

"I'm fine. Just hit my head a little."

"It seems like a lot more than a little," Lucas said grimly. "We need to take you to the nurse."

"No."

"Yes," he countered and sighed. "I'll be back, sir."

Mr. Matthews furrowed his brow, and nodded his consent. Riley tried to follow, but was stopped by a stern shake of her father's head.

Lucas held Maya close to his side, and half-walked, half-carried her out the door and into the hallway. She muttered in protest, but didn't make any actions to stop it. They eventually reached the office with little resistance, and she slumped into a chair.

"I hate you," Maya reminded, closing her eyes.

"I know."

One of the workers came up, and asked a few questions; Lucas did all the talking while Maya sat in silence. At some point the nurse came over, and she was transported to a smaller room.

"I'll to check for swelling," she said and smiled at Maya. "But if you just fell off a chair like your friend said, a concussion seems a little unlikely."

"She had a hard time getting up, and she was wasn't responding normally, ma'am." Lucas pointed out. "How is it unlikely?"

"Don't worry. She probably just hit her head pretty hard, and it takes a little while for the brain to recuperate. It's not that big of a fall," Mrs. Parks explained, checking Maya's vision, "so, she may just end up with a nasty knot on her head."

"Yah, Sundance. It was just a little fall," Maya repeated. She tried to smile, but it came out as more of a wince.

"Yes, but you hurt your head," Lucas reminded patiently.

"I'm aware," she said wryly.

"Okay, so I'm going to see if I can find the bump...if there is one." The nurse winked at her. "Can you tell me where it hurts?."

Maya glanced at Lucas, and then reluctantly pointed to a spot on the back of her head. The nurse gently probed it, and the blonde grunted in pain.

"Found it!" She chuckled a little. "It's not too bad, so we can just put some ice on it, and I would suggest laying down for a little bit. I'll let your teacher know...young man, do you need a note?"

"No. Is it okay if I stay?" Lucas asked.

"You don't have to, Huckleberry. I'm not going anywhere," Maya sighed, resting her sore head on the crinkly paper of the bed. "You really need to stop doing this."

"Doing what? Being there for you?"

"No, being clingy."

Mrs. Parks interrupted with a knowing grin. "Just let him be, Ms. Hart. Good friends are a rarity."

"Hear that, Clutterbucket?" Lucas smirked. "I'm a rarity."

"Oh, gosh. Shut up, Ranger Rick." The corners of her mouth turned up involuntarily though.

"Alright, I'll be back in a little while with the ice pack. Let her rest if she's feeling dizzy or tired again, okay?" The nurse instructed as she turned to Lucas, one hand on the doorknob.

"Okay."

"Great." She smiled, then closed the door gently behind her.

Lucas leaned back in the hard, plastic seat and watched the small girl shift to gaze at him as well.

"What?" Maya asked crossly.

"Nothing..." He shrugged.

"No, really. What?"

The boy fidgeted briefly before deciding to clasp his hands together casually.

"What was it?" he asked carefully.

"What was what?"

"The thing Riley wanted to see."

Maya rubbed her head, and left her fingers lingering on the developing knot. "Nothing important."

"That's a big, fat lie."

"It wasn't!" she protested.

"Then what was it? Even if it wasn't important, it was still something," he insisted.

"Fine." The blonde girl rolled her eyes. "It was a report card."

"Okay..." Lucas raised an eyebrow. "What's the big deal?"

"Nothing. Weren't you just listening?"

"I mean, why did you make such a big deal about hiding it from Riley?"

Maya stared at him with contemplative blue eyes, while she pursed her lips, and moved to fiddle with her friendship ring.

"Do you really care, or—"

"No," Lucas interrupted. "I don't want to hear that. You know I do, so stop with that."

"You're not making a very convincing argument, Ranger Rick."

He contained his impatience. "Answer the question, Shortstack."

"Because I'm stupid," Maya blurted out.

"What?" He drew back, baffled by her sudden bluntness.

"You heard me," she grated out. The dizziness was returning with the emotions coursing through her veins and she closed her eyes tightly. "I'm stupid."

"Maya, you're not stupid."

The pain in her head was starting to make itself known stronger once again.

"Why do you think that?" the boy asked.

"Because of my grades. Because I fail every class. Because teachers hate me, and students laugh. Because—"

"You're not dumb," Lucas said firmly. He got up from the chair, and crouched next to her. "I know you're not."

"How could you possibly know something like that, huh?" she asked, opening her eyes to look at him. "Don't you think I'd know myself?"

"Not right now, Shortstack."

She attempted a glare.

"What?"

"You don't know who you are right now, because you lost yourself when you stopped being Maya. Now, your job is to fix that...because you're ready to start fresh again."

"Okay, Moral Compass, what's your point?"

"I know what you're capable of. You're not stupid; you just aren't trying hard enough."

"Well, maybe I'm just incompetent in math, ever think of that? 'Cause who needs to know y=3x+0.8? Oh, that's right - no one."

"Not exactly the point, but tell you what; we can study together if you want. That way I can help you if you need it, and maybe I can prove to you that you're not stupid," Lucas suggested.

"Ugh, but only if you buy me a smoothie whenever we do." Maya bargained.

"I'm the one who's helping you."

"And...?"

"Wow. Fine, whatever you want." Lucas threw up his hands, and walked back to his seat.

"Good," the small girl said smugly. "Now, I want to do something because I'm bored."

"Unbelievable! You're here because you hurt yourself. You're supposed to be resting."

"So?"

"Doesn't your head hurt?" he prodded.

"No."

"Liar."

"Stop calling me that!" Maya scowled.

"Then stop saying things like that. Admit right now that your head hurts."

"You know what? I'm just fine, and I'm going to prove it to you."

She sat up, ignoring the wave of dizziness that clouded her vision, and slid off of the bed. She attempted crossing over to the door; she made it about 3 steps before she faltered, and had to brace herself against a shelf.

"You're beyond ridiculous," Lucas said as he shook his head, and guided her back to where she had been.

"Shut up."

"Whatever, Clutterbucket." He helped her lay down on her side, then perched on the edge of the bed. He leaned down to look her straight in the face. "Now, tell me. Does it hurt?"

Maya narrowed her eyes, and made an odd growling noise in the back of her throat. "Yes. Happy?"

"No, but I hope this was a lesson to you."

"How was this a lesson?" the blonde groaned.

Lucas grew solemn. "I need you to know you don't have to hide everything."

"It's not that easy, Sundance," she admitted, blinking slowly.

"I'm not saying it is...I'm saying you need to stop."

She rolled onto her back, and stared up at the ceiling. Lucas waited for her to decide how she was feeling; he sat there for a good 10 minutes, just watching her twiddle her thumbs. Finally, she broke the silence, and cleared her throat.

"I'm bored again."

"And what are you going to do about it?" He gave her a small smile.

Maya breathed heavily. "Green."

"Where?"

"Over there, beside the filing cabinets." She pointed to a miniature figurine of the Statue of Liberty.

"Do you want me to go first this time?"

"Sure."

He fixed his gaze on the figurine. "Okay...so, this one is about the forest. I was about 10 years old, and I was a boy scout—I don't want to hear anything about it, Ms. Hart—and we were going on our annual camping trip. I don't even remember how, but somehow I got lost on our hike, and wandered off to look at something."

"Probably an interesting cow," Maya cut in, smirking a little.

"And I was out there for a couple of hours, obviously panicking because I had absolutely no idea where I was." Lucas continued, naturally ignoring her. "But, I stopped by this cliff, and found another kid my age sitting down. I walked over to him, and he told me he was watching the river down below...it was Zay. I asked him if he was lost, and he told me he wasn't completely lost."

"And there's Zay for you...not lost, but oh so lost," Maya laughed.

"Anyway, I asked him to explain, and he ended up telling me he had wanted to be alone so, he purposefully got lost, and ended up here. Zay was still weird back then... After that, I guess you know the rest. He ended up finding the way back to camp and we became friends."

"How?" the blonde asked curiously.

"He was the only 5th grader with a cell phone," Lucas chuckled. "But, I'm sure glad he had one."

Maya rolled her eyes; much to her head's dismay.

"Cute story, Huckleberry."

"Thanks, your turn."

Maya glanced at the statue once more as if to confirm its color, before returning her gaze to the ceiling. "I was 5 years old...can you guess what day that was?"

"The day your dad left," Lucas said automatically, already knowing that face she got when she mentioned her father.

"Yah..." She nodded, her eyes moving restlessly. "Anyway, my mom was crying that night, and I remember climbing into bed with her and trying to stop it—although of course I couldn't—but she tried to stop for me. And that night she told me we were going to be fine, and we didn't need anybody else besides each other. I have a love-hate relationship with that memory..."

"Why?"

"Because it's a sad one, but it was a bonding experience for me and my mom. Sure, it didn't seem to last long, but she's getting better...and at least she stayed." Maya glanced at Lucas's thoughtful green eyes.

"And the color?"

"The blanket...she used to have this beautiful green one, and whenever I think about that memory, I immediately picture that in the scene."

He nodded, and contemplated the new information he had just been given. He wasn't going to lie, her life sucked, but she could still pull out of that trap. Maya had always been so fierce, and she had reached her breaking point but he knew she was going to bounce back just like she always did. And if he could help her in any way, he would.

But he understood it was going to take some time, because life had handed her a whole heap of trouble, and it was going to take a while to clear it out. Maya could do it though, he had no doubt; the struggle was going to be getting her to believe in herself and her abilities.

Lucas glanced over at her small frame, and smiled as her chest rose evenly, her breath soft. Her eyelashes fluttered, and she had tucked herself into a tiny ball. Why was it that short people always curled up when they were the ones who could use the most space? It didn't matter to him though, because it sure was cute...

She was cute.

It was true, naturally. She was trying to go back to being Maya again, and failing miserably. But how did that person know exactly what notes to send when she was feeling the worst?

Maya surveyed her appearance in the hated mirror, and ran her fingers over the rough fabric of her ripped jeans. Then her hands moved to her worn t-shirt, the casual jacket, and choker.

Was this her? Was this Maya Penelope Hart? The person didn't think so...and to be honest, neither did she. This was what she had worn today, and Riley had been thrilled; but obviously there had been mixed reactions. And she didn't know what to do now... It was an interesting crossroads she was at, but an important and potentially deadly one.

"Baby girl?" Her mother knocked, and poked her head in.

"What did I tell you about the barging in thing, mom?" Maya sighed, and turned away from her confused reflection.

"I'm sorry, honey," She said, not really sounding apologetic at all. "But, on a happy note, we're going out for dinner tonight!"

"That's weird." Her daughter raised an eyebrow, and picked up a stray notebook on the ground.

"How come?"

"Um, maybe because the last time we did that was almost a year ago, and it's expensive."

"Well, I have some exciting news to tell you!" Her mother smiled eagerly.

"Why can't you just tell me now?" Maya sighed, and plopped onto her bed.

"You're telling me you don't want pasta?" she asked with a slight smirk.

"Noooo..." the blonde said hesitantly. "I'm saying it's unusual."

"Nothing wrong with that...ready to go?"

"I guess."

"So are you going to tell me, or just discuss homework until I literally pass out from boredom right here?" Maya asked, and dunked her straw in and out of the water.

"You're eager," her mother smiled between bites of spaghetti.

"Yes. Eager to end the conversation about chemistry."

"Okay fine, but I still think it's an interesting subject. Now, I hope you won't take this news negatively, but here goes." She leaned back, her eyes sparkling.

"Not exactly a great convincing point, mom—"

"...I got a new job."

Maya raised an eyebrow. "That was abrupt."

"Abrupt? Who cares? I got a better job, Baby girl!" her mother beamed.

"That's great," she admitted. "What is it?"

"You're looking at the new manager of the Nighthawk Diner!"

"So...does that pay better?" Maya asked cautiously, obviously not pleased with the news that her mother was still working at the same place.

"Yes, and better hours too!" She reached across the table and tucked a strand of Maya's hair behind her ear. "That means I get to spend more time with you, Baby girl."

"That's nice," she said slowly.

"M-hmm. And we get to do stuff like this more often!"

"Mom, don't waste your money on me and treating us. We've gotten along just fine for 9 years, and it doesn't need to change now."

"I know, Wise One," She teased. "I just want to make sure you get a treat every once in a while."

"I don't need that," Maya affirmed and shook her head.

"I know...but I want to." Her mother winked at her. "Don't worry about it though, okay? Money isn't something I want you to be concerned about."

"I'll try," Maya conceded.

"Good, now how does clothes shopping sound after this?" The older woman asked, changing the subject deftly.

"Unbelievable." She put her head in her hands. "Mom, I don't need any more clothes."

"I know, but you seem to be going back to your old style, and I want to support that."

"Mom, will you just stop—"

"No, and that's final. You, me, clothes shopping after dinner."

Maya sighed, and stuffed a mouthful of noodles into her mouth. She loved her mom, and wanted to spend time with her, but she didn't want to be a burden and make her mom spend money just for her. She had to convince herself that this was a good idea, and even then an odd feeling of doubt and concern crept into her mind. This was great news; so why was she skeptical? Oh, wait, she knew. It was because she had a bad feeling that it wasn't going to turn out well, and her mother was going to end up crushed. And who was going to be left to pick up the pieces? That's right; Maya Hart, her daughter. Because nothing good could last right? That was her inner struggle right now, even if she didn't quite grasp the whole part herself. Her mind told her it was okay to see hope, while her heart wallowed in doubt and fear.

But, she was done thinking about that...better to leave it for later, right? Right, she was always right. Maya took a bite of her cheesecake, and imagined her thoughts disappearing along with it down her throat.

If only it was that easy.