January 29th 2018

Chapter 29
Their Plans to Share

The next day, when Lucas arrived to pick her up for school, he found her with that glimmer in her eyes that told him she had an idea in her head, and a big one, too, one that had her very much motivated, which told him it was only a matter of time before she told him all about it. So when they were nearly at Riley's already and she hadn't said anything yet, he turned to her at a red light with a look of his own, asking what was going on.

"Later," was all she said, guaranteeing him a day of distraction and curiosity as he wondered what was going through her mind that was so exciting.

That was just what happened, too. One class, two classes, thinking about Maya and the look in her eyes. Then three classes, four classes, the two he had with her, and much as he tried not to he would steal glances toward her every so often in some half-made plea for her to tell him what was going on. Once in French class and twice in History he had been warned to focus on the lesson or the work, which earned him a few low chuckles from his girlfriend.

"Is it later yet?" he asked as they left class to go and have lunch.

"Well if we're being literal, yes, but if you mean about the other thing, then no, not yet," she replied.

"Why not?" he asked, and he cleared his throat, trying to expel the slightest whine he'd caught in his voice. Maya had given him a smile and a kiss, promising that she wasn't trying to tease him, only that she wanted to wait until the day was done, so they'd have more time, wouldn't be rushed. "Well I get that, but you could still tell me what it's about until then."

"I could, yes, but… well… the anxious thing, it's kind of cute," she admitted, with a glint in her eye which silenced him at once.

So, taking his patience up with both hands, he'd carried on through the day, through his afternoon classes, until finally they were free to go and he went to stand by the car and wait for Maya as they'd come to do in the last few weeks, on the afternoons where they were both leaving school at the same time, whether it was to drive her home, or to head to whoever's house they were hanging out at that day. When he saw her come through the doors, chatting with Riley, he wondered if this meant she'd be coming along, but then Riley went off toward the bus stops and Maya walked toward him, so he stood from his lean against the car to greet her.

"Your house or mine?" he asked. She thought for a moment before deciding they would go to his.

They arrived to find his mother getting ready to step out on an errand. She had asked the pair of them if they wanted a snack before she left, but they told her they'd be alright, so off she went. Almost as soon as the door had been shut, he'd turned to Maya, anxious as he'd been all day to find out what she wanted to talk to him about. She smiled, and finally she got to explaining.

"You know how when I came back from the trip with my parents last summer we were saying it would be great if we got to go on a trip like that, you, and me, and the others, after senior year?" He did remember, of course. He'd even discussed the plan with Farkle, so he and Smackle could join them, but then they hadn't really gotten back to the subject for a while, so he'd forgotten, just a bit, and that was where it had remained, up to now, when she brought it up again. "Well, things are good now, and I thought we should start really figuring things out, if we're going to do it. It's going to take time to plan it, to earn the money we'll need, and everyone else will, too."

Maybe for a while he hadn't believed it would really happen, that it would be one of those things where you wanted to do something, said you would, but never really followed through. But that wasn't going to be the case anymore, was it? He saw the look in her eyes now and he understood what it meant. She wanted to do this, wanted them all to do this, and whether or not all of them would actually go, she was going to go, that was for certain. And if she was going, well he knew where he wanted to be.

"Why didn't we get the others together to talk about it then?" he asked, which was as good as his confirming to her that he was in. She shrugged, casually sliding her arms around his waist with a smile.

"Because it was our plan first, you know? And I wanted it to be our plan again for a little while first," she explained, as he closed his arms around her, too. He could stay like this, holding her close, for so long, always feeling in his heart like it was right where he was meant to be.

"Technically, it's ours and Farkle's though, isn't it?" he pointed out.

"Yeah, but he's not here, is he? Do you want him to be here?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Right now? Not really, no," he admitted, and she grinned, laughing when he kissed her forehead. Now he knew why she'd wanted to wait, so it could be just them, their plan before it was everyone's plan, and he wanted it that way, too. "So, what's the plan?"

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners