I got this chapter in less than a day, but I'm so excited for what's coming that I can't control myself.
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KING LUCAS
CHAPTER 13
After their breakfast together, things took a turn on Lucas and Maya's relationship. They, against all odds, actually got along. Although, to everyone outside seemed that they were at each other's throats all the time and if you had asked either one of them, they would've replied something along the lines of 'we barely know each other' or 'we have a friend in common'. The only one that seemed to notice the different air that settled between his friends was Zay Babineaux, he wasn't as smart as Farkle, but he knew people and the game these two were playing was not rivalry, it was something completely different. Maybe Lucas wasn't all knowing if he hadn't noticed that they were actually becoming friends, Zay thought one morning on their lunch break.
He saw them interact, he actually saw all of them interact, Riley would ask Lucas questions, then he would answer and Maya would tease him with a clever pun, Farkle would most of the time be reading a book, or finishing his most recent homework and in the rare occasions that he joined the conversation he couldn't stop glancing at Riley. Most of the times lunch ended up by being the same, Riley and Farkle discussing whatever was on their mind, Maya finishing Lucas' food as they talked about the things they had in common, always throwing a punch the second they got a chance. The thing that threw them off, that only Zay seem to notice, was the smirks they each tried to contain whenever they teased each other, that's when Zay realized that they actually enjoyed the teasing.
Lucas had noticed how Zay had been watching them more closely lately, he wasn't talking as much on their lunch break or when they were together at the hallway, but always observing. He wondered how much he actually said he knew, because Zay was a people person and he could read them almost as well as he did. As of now, Zay didn't know what Lucas was planning to do, he probably just thought that he actually liked Maya, it wouldn't hurt his plan if he thought that, as long as he didn't tell the wrong people, in this case, anyone. The world knowing that he "likes" Maya doesn't come but later in the plan.
Riley and Farkle were still clueless and Maya, well, she would never in a million years admit that she actually enjoyed spending time with Lucas.
But recently they were starting to share a lot of time of their days together:
He would pick her up every morning, he offered this service, of course, and she had agreed after a lot of denying, it was much easier for him to detour from his route, that for her to go up all the way to Riley's so she could leave with the Matthews. This had been the argument she had told Riley, to reassure her friend that nothing was happening between them.
One day as he stopped the car in front of her building and honked, she said goodbye to her grandmother, grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs. There was someone else in the front seat, a girl.
"Hey." He said, like he would say every day, completely ignoring the other issue, but he was doing it on purpose.
"Hi Maya." Teresa finally said, she was from their class, she remembered her sitting on the couch with Lucas at Gabbie's party, the same night she had kissed him to prove a point.
"Hi Teresa." Maya slowly said, from the back seat, she looked at the rearview mirror and found Lucas looking at her with a smirk on his face. "So... you had a sleepover?"
Lucas snickered and their companion shot him a look, but he didn't care, he never did. He would get one girl and then he would get bored of her, as if getting them had been the interesting part for him, so he would get another, that made him a dick.
She couldn't bring herself to tell Riley the truth, she had tried to tell her when they had just met him, but she wouldn't listen, because as Riley would she could only see the good in people. Now, after they had gotten to know each other and he behaved his best every time they were together, Riley had created this perfect image of him that no one could be able to change, not even Maya.
Every time they had an assignment in history they would work together, Mr. Matthews always made them partners, he probably thought that he could be a good influence on her. The thing he didn't know is that the would play Battleship on their phones or talk about the latest episode of Game of Thrones or she would draw a small figure and then he would try to mimic the same drawing and she would laugh out loud about how horrible it was.
"That is not a mockingbird." She whispered.
"What do you mean it isn't?" He replied. "Look, here are it's wings..." He circled a part of his drawing.
"Those are the wings?" She widened her eyes, comparing both of their drawings. "I thought that was the branch it was standing on."
"What?" He frowned. "What drawing are you looking at?" She started laughing.
"You two!" Mr. Matthews called on them, they shut up immediately. "What are you laughing about?"
They looked at each other and then back at their teacher, Riley aslo watched them from her sit.
"I'm sorry sir, we just can't decide who's better, Joan of Arc or Thomas Jefferson." Lucas quickly responded.
"Yeah, Matthews, we can't decide between the crazy lady or the fake inventor." She said smirking.
"He actually did invent some things." Lucas added, she frowned at him, wondering what he thought he was doing.
"Crazy lady it is!" She said, pretending to go back to their work.
Mr. Matthews narrowed his eyes but returned to his papers, as Maya and Lucas snickered. He looked at Riley and gave her a charming smile that made her blush, turning her gaze away.
They would finish their projects on his house, or rather wait for Farkle or Riley to send them the answers and copy them on their notebooks. They also shared the chemistry lab, so on Tuesdays they tried to finish the report, but they were so lazy and so easily distracted that it would take them most of their day to finish the two pages.
At least they had finished most of the campaign for Call of Duty, and Maya wouldn't shut up about having a better kills/assists/deaths score than he did. Other times he would read and she would lay on the floor drawing something, she started to carry her pencils every day because she didn't know if she would spend that day at Lucas' place.
Afterwards, his mom would call them for dinner, the nights she was off, otherwise they would argue about which restaurant they should call. On one night his mother had surprised them with homemade chili, it was the best bowl of chili she had ever tried. It was a nice change to have a homemade dinner, her mother was always working and Gammy Hart was too tired lately to stay up late to make them food.
And Elizabeth had finally showed her the photo album of baby Lucas, he had gone out to take the trash out and when he walked back in the two ladies were sitting on the couch with the scrapbook opened across Maya's legs. He couldn't fight it, he couldn't say no to his mother, so after a lot of complaining he finally sat next to them.
"Oh my God!" Maya's words brought him back from his thoughts. "Is that a sheep?" She asked open mouthed, she looked at him.
"Oh no." He said, throwing his head backwards.
"Yes, he was a Mutten Busting champion, back in Austin." His mom said all proud, as Maya looked at all of the pictures with the biggest smile on her face.
"Momma, please." He begged.
"Oh, Lukey don't be ridiculous, at least these aren't the pictures from Judy." She, said flipping through the pages, he closed his eyes.
"Who's Judy?" Maya asked, intrigued.
"The fiercest sheep there is." His mom responded, Maya snorted. "Do you remember, Lukey?"
"How could I forget?" He said, his lips pressed together, forming a straight line.
"He fell so fast." She tried to explain, but nothing about this made sense to the blonde girl. "But it was fine, you were just a kid."
"Try telling that to Pappy Joe." He replied.
"Oh, Lukey, you know your grandfather is too proud." He didn't say anything else, he simply nodded, Maya sensed the climate in the room change, so she pointed to the next picture of him, he was on a bathtub.
"Is that you naked?" She asked smirking, he closed the album quickly and they both complained.
Still as they walked their way to her apartment, she looked at him deviously and said. "Baaa." Imitating a sheep, he gently push her away as she laughed her ass off. "You know..." She began. "You don't have to walk me home every time."
"Do you really think my momma would let you go back alone?" He asked, seriously. She bit her lip and remained silent, because if she didn't he would see the smile forming on her lips.
They had become a well oiled machine, always aware of what the other meant or needed. By their third week of being "acquaintances", it seemed to Zay that they moved in one motion. In the hallway she would hand him her books before he even asked, unlike Riley who waited for his hand. At lunch his tray had become theirs, as Maya grabbed and opened his food as if it was hers.
Sometimes he would join them at Lucas' apartment to play Call of Duty and Lucas knew exactly when to pass the popcorn even before Maya asked.
But still, even with Maya around, Zay sometimes caught Lucas deep in his thoughts, looking straight forward, lost somewhere inside that head of his that seemed to never stop working. He wondered what he was thinking, he knew he was so much more than what he let people know.
He wanted to ask him what were his intentions with the girls, but before he could get him alone Riley called for Lucas on the hallway, he said goodbye to his best friend and returned to meet with the brunette, Zay walked out of school, disappointed.
"Hey Riles, what's up?" He said, smiling.
"Hi." She said, she did this when she was scared or nervous.
"Hey." He laughed at the quirky girl.
"Uh, I was wondering if you..." She paused, he lifted his brow. "If you could come to my house tomorrow after school to pick up some heavy materials for prom."
"Oh, sure." He said, without thinking about. "Is that all? Because I need to get to my practice." He pointed behind him with his thumb.
"Yeah, sure..." She swallowed hard as he smiled at her and turned back. "Wait!" She stopped him. "Actually I also wanted to know if you'd like to see a movie with me tomorrow night?" She looked to the floor shyly and bit her cheek.
He had to think about this very well, were would this put him on his relationship with Riley, he hasn't tried anything since Maya warned him not to. And even though he would enjoy watching the light leave Riley's eyes and it was right there just ready for him to take, he couldn't achieve Maya if her best friend hated him.
He could just pretend he was busy, but that would only keep her in check for a while and it was just a movie after all. He just had to behave properly for the entire afternoon and things would go back into motion.
"Sure, Riley, I would like that." He replied smiling, she blushed and hopped away, humming a song. What had he gotten himself into?