(Author's Note: Sorry this update has take so long. It's hard to decide where to break for chapters when Maya is getting lost in her memories. This chapter is a bit long, and could've gone on longer, but then it really would've taken me forever to post something. Chapter 3 will pretty much pick up where this one left off. I know it's all in Maya's POV so far. Don't worry, Riley will have her chapters later on.)

MAYA

I indulged myself in reminiscing about our freshman year of high school.

Riley made me go with her to the extracurriculars fair. It might've been called something different, I can't remember, but thats essentially what it was. Riley and I wandered through tables set up in the gym, browsing through all the different clubs, teams, societies etc. Abigail Adams High School had a lot of options to choose from, but I had no intention of joining any. I wasn't a joiner. I remember thinking the amount of hours I spend at school is already more than I want to be here, so why make it any longer?

"Peaches! I just signed up for cheerleader tryouts!" Riley was beaming with excitement.

"Of course you did, honey. I just hope you don't hurt yourself this time," I responded.

"I also signed up for drama club, yearbook, and the FFA," she added.

"What's FFA?" I asked.

"Future Farmers of America." She looked so excited by the prospect of it.

"How is it possible that this school, in the middle of New York City, even has one of those?" I wondered out loud.

"Who knows? But my aptitude test told me to be I should be a bunny farmer, so I might as well explore my potential," she explained.

Farkle and Smackle approached us from across the gym.

"Did you guys sign up to join the genius club?" I joked.

"There's a genius club? Where?" Smackle asked, not getting that I was kidding.

"I signed up for the drama club, and we both signed up for the robotics team and debate team," Farkle replied. "How about you guys?"

Riley recounted her extracurriculars. Farkle then turned to me and awaited to hear mine.

"I'm not really into joining stuff." I said.

"You'll need some kind of extracurriculars to get into college," Smackle advised.

"I think art schools will care more about my portfolio." I said.

"I bet there's an art club," Farkle suggested.

"I don't need to join an art club." I resisted. "I already do art as an extracurricular. I painted the the friendship bench at our last school. I painted that mural at Christopher Park. Art is just a solitary thing for me, not a group activity," I explained.

"How about a community service organization?" Farkle asked.

"I already do that, with you. Your dad gave us a bunch of money when he started his foundation, and we did good with it," I answered him.

"Why don't we both join the Gay Straight Alliance?" Riley suggested.

I hesitated. "I don't know, Riles. I don't want to put targets on our backs," I said. Ever since she got harassed by Sheldon and Cisco on the subway, I became more protective of her, and worried about putting ourselves in situations where we might be vulnerable. I know the GSA is supposed to be a welcoming and safe environment, but we were just freshmen. I wasn't ready to put our relationship on blast like that here. Not yet.

Riley scanned the room for an alternative. Her eyes lit up when she found it. Riley grabbed my hand and pulled me over to a table she spotted. "This is it Peaches! I have found your extracurricular," she said as she gestured toward the sign up sheet for girls softball tryouts.

"Aww really, Riles? I'm already the cliche artsy lesbian . You want me to be the stereotypical softball lesbian too?" I asked her.

"Peaches, you have a great arm, and your hand-eye coordination is perfect," Riley reasoned.

Farkle chimed in, "Yeah, Maya. You were the best pitcher at John Quincy Adams. I used to be scared of your pitches back in seventh grade, remember? That's how good of a pitcher you are."

"Having an athletic extracurricular would really make you stand apart from all the typical art school applicants," Smackle pointed out.

They were all making really great arguments, so I decided to give it a shot. I picked up the pen and wrote my name on the sign up sheet. Tryouts were actually kind of easy for me. Riley, Farkle, and Zay came to cheer me on. I did the same for Riley at her cheerleader tryouts.

Farkle, Zay and Lucas were there as well. I wasn't sure if Lucas came to cheer on Riley or Haley, because Haley decided to tryout too. Lucas and Haley had been seeing each other all summer, but still hadn't made anything official. Lucas and Zay had both tried out for the football team and the baseball team. Lucas made both, and Zay made just the the baseball team. I guess Haley wanted to cheer at Lucas's games, because she never showed an interest in cheerleading before. However, she seemed to pick up the routines rather easily, and made it. Riley's tryout wasn't quite so easy, but she never gave up and the coach admired her persistence enough to make her an alternate.

Not only did I make the softball team, but I became one of the starting pitchers. I was the only freshman in the starting lineup.

I was actually really glad I let my friends talk me into this. I learned a lot by being part of a team. I never really felt like a part of anything, well aside from our group of friends. Art was too personal to me to do in a group setting. Music was something I did solo. Being on the softball team taught me teamwork and discipline and it forced me to do a lot more physical activity than I would've done on my own.

I actually would do workouts with Zay and Lucas sometimes. It was really good for me to be able to push myself and see what I was capable of. Sometimes we would go to the park and run laps, or play a friendly game of baseball on the diamond. Lucas helped me work on my swing. Pitchers aren't usually the best hitters or the fastest runners, so I could learn a lot from a shortstop like him. It was nice to have something new in common with the Lucas and Zay.

One day, after a workout, I asked Lucas about Haley as we stretched.

"So Huckleberry, what's up with you and Haley?" I asked.

Zay smiled and echoed me "Yeah, What IS up with you and Haley?"

Lucas smiled and shrugged, "We're hanging out, and getting to know each other, I guess."

"Are you interested in her?" I pressed for more. Haley and I had become friends, and I knew that she was really into him. I wanted to know if that was mutual, because if he was with Haley, I wouldn't have to worry about his old feelings for Riley. Not that I was really worried about it. Riley had made it clear to me that she wanted to be with me, not Lucas. But I guess I just wanted to know, to figure out if he had moved on from those feelings for Riley.

"Yeah, I think so. We're taking our time though. I'm not ready to ask her to be my girlfriend just yet." He looked up at me. "But don't tell her I said that," he added.

"No worries, Ranger Rick. It stays between us," I agreed.

Maybe I should've know something from that answer he gave me. Maybe it was a sign that I missed. He was always reluctant to commit to Haley. I should've know what that meant. Although it's really Haley who missed the signs the most. But I'm sure I missed some of my own from Riley. Love blinded us in a lot of ways.

I looked down at my empty glass. My drink is empty. I went to the kitchen and poured more Jameson into the glass, this time finishing what was left in the bottle. I added some more ice and topped it off with sparking water. As I put the sparkling water back into the fridge, I contemplated eating something. I know I probably shouldn't be drinking on an empty stomach, but it turns out there wasn't much to choose from. I'm not even sure how long it's been since I went to the grocery store. Well at least an empty stomach will get me feeling buzzed faster. I'm going to need that buzz if I fall into memories of Lucas and Haley and Riley-

No.

I pushed those thoughts away and let them float on. The only memories I want to fall into are of Riley. Of me and Riley together.

I pulled one of our best days off the shelf of my mind and let myself relive it. I could smell the grass of the Great Lawn in Central Park and feel the warmth of the sunshine on my skin. My team was playing a softball game against a school uptown who used the diamonds in the Great Lawn as their field. I was the starting pitcher. Riley came to watch. She wore her cheerleading uniform and cheered for our team by herself, since the cheerleaders don't usually cheer for the girl's softball team. She was so cute.

There's something about softball and baseball that is so unique from other sports. It's the only one where the defense is in control of the ball. This is why I grew to love pitching. It didn't start off being a passion of mine, it was just something I happened to be good at. But the more I pitched, the more I fell under it's spell. It gave me this wonderful feeling of control. I was the pitcher. This game was mine to win or lose, and as long as I kept control of the ball, then my team couldn't lose. I would visualize the ball whizzing over the plate, into the catcher's glove, and then I'd execute each pitch exactly how I envisioned it. It was like a high. Every strike I pitched gave me a high. It was addictive. I think the reason I pitched so well is because I became obsessed with it, this feeling that I had control over something in my life. I grew to need it, especially over the next few years of high school, when so many things in my life began spinning out of control.

I'm not sure if it was because I knew Riley was watching and I wanted to impress her, or if I was just having a really good game, but I pitched one of the best games I'd ever pitched. It was very close to being a no hitter, but we won regardless, and I got to stay in and pitch the whole game.

"Peaches!" Riley wrapped me in a congratulatory hug. "You were amazing out there! I'm so proud of you." I took my cap off, tossed it on the ground and pulled Riley in and kissed her. I didn't care if all of my teammates and the other team were watching. I wanted to share this victory with the beautiful cheerleader who was rooting for me the whole time.

Riley and I went for a walk through the park after the team dispersed. During the game, the clear sky became cloudier and more ominous looking. Seemed like a storm was rolling in. We weren't worried about it though. I took Riley by the hand and lead her into the Ramble. It's a section of the park where the landscape is left more undisturbed. It looks more like a forest than Central Park and trails all kind of wind into each other. If you don't remember the way you came in, it's pretty easy to get lost in.

"Wait, Maya. Do you know the way out of here?" Riley asked as we entered the Ramble from the west side.

"I know it's in that general direction," I said, pointing east. "If we just keep going that way, we will eventually run into either the boathouse or the lake, and we can follow the shoreline out."

She accepted this and we wandered through the trails admiring the trees, the flowers, the birds, and the squirrels. I was feeling pretty confident after pitching so well in that game. Definitely overconfident in my navigational abilities, but also bolder with Riley.

As she finished snapping a picture of a squirrel on her phone, I came up behind her and wrapped her in my arms, kissing the side of her neck. She giggled and turned around to kiss me on the lips. I gently pushed her up against a tree trunk and started making out with her passionately. I let my hands wander down her body and settle on her hips. I pulled away from the kissing for a moment just to look at her.

"What Peaches?" she asked, self-consciously.

"Do you have any idea how hot you look in this cheerleader outfit?" I asked, flirtatiously. It made her blush and smile real big. I love seeing her dimples come out.

"You look pretty hot in your uniform yourself, Peaches," she replied.

"Really? in my dirty softball uniform?" I asked.

She nodded and took my face in her hands so she could pull me in and captivate me with her lips again.

God, I miss her kisses.

I guess Riley has a type. Softball uniforms. Baseball uniforms. Blondes.