The white sheer curtains in Maya's room blew slightly as she opened the window. She sat down at her very own bay window and sighed in content. She finally lived in a house. Her very own house! Well more of Shawn and Katy's house but it was still her's. Maya's room was her very own, completely hers. It practically screamed Maya. She had light blue walls, framed photos of her and Riley, and even one of her and Josh.
Maya looked over at the picture of her and Josh, picked it up and smiled at the thought of when the picture was taken.
It was a beautiful snowy January and school was closed for Maya and Riley. The two tenth graders had decided to meet their friends over at Topanga's before heading out to go play in the snow, like their inner children wanted.
They arrived at Topanga's and were instantly hugged by the warm air inside the shop. "Hey!" Lucas greeted as he hugged his brunette girlfriend. "Hey," Riley greeted as she hugged him back.
"That's some hey Ranger Rick," Maya teased as she took a seat. Lucas blushed and gave Riley a peck on the cheek. "So," Maya began as she put her feet up. "Are we heading straight to the park or are we grabbing a bite to eat first?"
Farkle, who had his arm around Smackle shrugged. "I don't care but Smackle told me she wanted to go to the park first."
"I want food," Zay said abruptly.
"So it's settled!" Maya added dramatically. She stood and pointed to Zay. "Zay and I will go get food and then we'll meet you guys at the park. Sound good?"
Everyone else nodded in agreement. "Great."
Maya and Zay walked into the fast food restaurant and sat down in a booth and began to look at the menu. "I just want some fries," Maya voiced.
"Same."
"Split the cost down the middle?" Maya proposed.
"Would there be any other way?"
They stared at each other for a moment, getting used to their usual rhythm before breaking out into laughter. "Oh look the waiter," Zay told Maya. The waiter came up and took their order before disappearing around the corner.
Zay and Maya were immersed in conversation when Maya's phone rang. "Probably Riley," Maya thought aloud.
Maya picked up her phone without looking at the caller ID. "Hey Riles me and Zay will be at the park soon. Just give us a minute. We just ordered. Trust me we will shove or food down our throats and be in your hair in a minute."
The deep voice on the other end of the line laughed and beamed into the phone. "I'm not Riley but good guess."
Maya sighed and became red with embarrassment. "Josh," she breathed.
"That's me," he answers cheekily. "I just wanted to say that I'm not gonna be in New York until next week."
Maya frowned and got up from the table with her phone pressed to her ear. "What? But you said," Maya walked off towards the back of the building, leaving Zay with the fresh food that was brought in front of him.
Zay looked down at the crisp fries in front of him and smiled. His smile got even bigger when he looked up and saw Joshua Matthews standing outside the restaurant with his camera hanging around his neck. Zay quickly got up and walked outside. "Man what's up?" They did their little bro handshake thing and pulled apart.
"Nothing. I'm just surprising Maya. So what park are you guys heading too. I'll just surprise her there but stall her since she won't stay on hold forever," Josh joked.
Zay nodded. "Alright you got it. We're over at the one closest to Topanga's but you might want to get Maya off of hold before she drives down to Philly and gets you for it."
Josh nodded and continued walking as Zay headed back inside. He sat down just in time, as Maya came back seconds later. "Food's here," Zay told her as she plopped down in the booth.
"Yeah yeah," Maya mocked him as she took the basket of fries. "I'm taking theses fries," she growled.
Zay raised his hands in surrender as she ate angrily.
Later on, Zay and Maya arrived at the park wrapped in layers of clothing as they stepped in the snow. "Maya!" Riley called out as the snow cascaded her newly cut brown hair.
Maya waved and smiled. She adjusted the scarf wrapped around her neck before taking a step forward. As Maya walked forward, she noticed that Riley was holding a camera in her hand while grinning. Maya stopped in her tracks and stared at Riley as the snow covered the ground. All of a sudden, Josh grabbed Maya by waist from behind and twirled her around in the snow. He set her down gently and stared into her blue eyes. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. "Surprise," he whispered.
Maya laughed and closed her eyes. "You know I hate you right?"
Josh laughed and pulled her close enough to kiss. "I love you too."
Throughout their intimate moment, Riley was standing by just snapping pictures for her uncle and best friend.
The picture Maya stared at was of her and Josh forehead to forehead in the snow. Maya smiled again and placed the frame back in its place on her nightstand as she heard a tap on her window. Maya suddenly felt a warm presence beside her, so she turned just to be met with a pair of lips on her own. "Well hello to you too," she said as she pulled away from the kiss. She pulled away and stared into Josh's eyes. "I see you took a page from my book with the window," Maya said as she grasped his hand.
Josh smiled. "Yeah, I did." Josh stood and walked over to Maya's sketch book and began to flip through it. "So," he began. "Have you finished that sketch that you started in Philly?" he asked.
Maya blushed as she thought of exactly what he meant. She stood and walked over to him with a smirk on her face. "Well, my model has just been so busy with school and its such an intimate sketch that I couldn't use another model. Besides, all I got to was your face and then you know we got a little distracted," Maya hinted as she got closer to Josh.
Josh laughed nervously. "Yeah well don't let anyone know that we did that instead of going to the baseball game. Especially Cory or Shawn. They'd have my head."
"Speaking of," she continued. "You should probably go. I have a physical to go to."
"Why?" Josh asked.
"Because your niece is trying out for cheer leading again and she wants me to go to her physical with her," Maya explained as she grabbed her bag.
"Really?"
Maya nodded. "Yep but she does get better every year. So this might be her year."
"Gotcha. You need me to take you to the physical?" Josh offered.
Maya shook her head and kissed him tenderly. "Nope. I got it besides I'm there for Riley. We'll head over together. I'll see you later."
Riley and Maya walked into Abigail Adams High School looking for their friends as they usually did every morning. Finding them in the hallway as they usually did, they talked and talked up until it was time to go to homeroom. They went about their days as they usually did, nothing ever changing. That is until one Tuesday during lunch. They all sat and chatted aimlessly until someone decided to stir up a bit of trouble. "Hey Maya," Missy Bradford greeted.
Maya rolled her eyes and put down her half eaten burger. "What do you want Missy?"
"Oh nothing just wanted to voice this little observation I had about you."
"She doesn't want to hear it," Lucas snapped.
"Yeah so you can back off," Zay added.
"No its fine guys," Maya told them. "Let's hear what bitchy Missy has to say," Maya said slyly.
Missy stiffened and crossed her arms over her chest. "Whatever. I just came to say that you might wanna lay off the burgers. You don't want people to think you're pregnant are you?"
Maya stiffened immediately and grabbed her bag. "Excuse me," she whispered as she left the table.
"Good job Missy," Farkle scoffed.
"Who are you to even say that?" Zay spat angrily. "Everyone knows that your daddy paid to get rid of a few slip ups in the past."
"Excuse you!" Missy screamed appalled.
"Just leave Missy. Maya's not pregnant. So don't assume stuff," Riley warned.
Missy walked away and Riley turned towards Zay. "You shouldn't have said that. That was mean," she chastised.
"What about Maya?" Smackle observed. "She seemed to have run away."
Riley shook her head. "She's been like this for a couple weeks now. Just giver her some time. She'll be fine. Trust me."
Blonde hair, blue eyes, that's what Maya sees when she looks into a mirror. Nothing more, nothing less. Although today she sees something slightly different. There are traces of guilt in her reflection. Its worried, and sad despite what her mind has been telling her. For a second, just for a second. Maya pretended like everything was okay. That she wasn't scared and worried that she might be pregnant. She imagined that it was snowing and she was dressed in all white. Her hair perfectly curled and skin as soft as a baby's.
Down in the distance stood Josh. In all white as well. He smiled and turned towards Maya. He walked towards her, picking up his pace as he went. Maya, holding out her arms for him embraced his warmth as he held her close. "I love you so much," he whispered. Maya didn't say anything since it was her own fantasy. He just held her and Maya enjoyed it because she felt like it would be her last time holding him, even if it was in her head.
Pulling her away from the mirror and escaping her mind, the beep of Maya's timer brought her back to reality. Suddenly Maya remembered that she was back at home. She left school right after lunch, making up some lame excuse to keep her friends occupied. She took a deep breath and looked at her timer. She was hoping that it wouldn't be at zero, but it was.
Have you ever felt like you couldn't breathe? Or like the ceiling just caved and everything is crashing down on you? Maya felt like that. "Maya!" Katy called outside the bathroom door.
Maya looked beyond her hands and at the beige tile in the bathroom. "I know you're in there!" Maya stared at herself in the mirror. "You have ten seconds to get your butt out of that bathroom and tell me why you skipped school today!"
Maya stared at the bathroom door and began to tear up. Katy sighed on the other side of the door. "Are you okay baby girl?"
Maya looked at her tear stained face in the mirror and choked back a sob. She took one last look at the test in her hand and finally lost it.
Positive.