A/N: All right, I've got a long one for you! This chapter is one of my favorite chapters I've written, and I hope you guys will love it as much as I do.

Before we get to the actual chapter, I have decided on a ship name for Andrew and Jasmine, and the best I came up with is "Jandrew." If you guys can come up with something much better than that, let me know. And they also have an official theme song, it's called "Give Me Hope" by New Politics. Listen to it, read the lyrics, and I'm telling you, it's got Jasmine and Andrew written all over it!

Anyway, here's Chapter 6. Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Withering Intentions

Hiking her purse higher up her shoulder, Maya arrived at Topanga's to find Josh lingering outside the establishment. He paced back and forth as he clicked on his phone to check the time.

"Hey, you. You're ten minutes early for our meeting—"

Josh spun on his heels the second he heard Maya's voice. "Oh, good, you're here," he said as he grabbed her by the wrist. "We gotta go, we're gonna be late!"

"Hold on—we?" Maya questioned.

Josh eyed an oncoming taxi and flagged it. The moment the yellow vehicle pulled over in front of them, Josh opened the passenger door and ushered Maya inside. He followed after her and immediately informed the driver of their destination.

"Why are we going to NYU?" Maya asked. She sat back on her seat when the taxi started moving.

"I promised Sophie's younger brother, Donnie, that I would watch his play tonight," Josh explained. "He's the main lead and he directed the whole thing. Everyone in his family has already seen the play on its opening night—well, maybe except for Sophie. We weren't able to come with them because of work, so we promised we'd watch him some other time."

Maya pursed her lips. "I don't want to come off as anything, but I don't think I was invited," she said. Her eyes gazed out the window and caught sight of the familiar establishments that lined the vicinity of New York University. She saw the cafés that she and Riley frequented when they pulled all-nighters, as well as the university flags that decorated every lamppost.

Josh reached into his coat's pocket and produced two tickets. He handed one to Maya. "Now, you are," he said. When the nonplussed expression on Maya's face didn't change, he added, "Sophie was supposed to watch it with me tonight, but you and I both know she's busy over at Los Angeles."

Maya took the ticket from Josh's hand. "If that's the case, thanks for taking me. I probably wasn't your first choice, but I'd be happy to accompany you."

Josh grinned at her as the taxi stopped in front of NYU's performing arts center. Ignoring Maya's suggestion to split the fare money, Josh handed a couple of bills to the driver and hopped off the vehicle. He circled the taxi and opened Maya's door for her, thanking the driver as she slipped out.

The pair strolled inside the performing arts center, but they abruptly stopped in their tracks upon noticing that the lobby was empty. Confused, Josh peered through the small rectangular window on the auditorium door and discovered that no one was inside.

"Uh, Josh, are you sure there's a showing tonight?" Maya interrogated as she searched for any sign of a staff member.

"Let me check," Josh responded. He pulled out his ticket and cursed when he took note of the time. "Oh god, I completely got the time wrong. The play doesn't start for another two hours."

"Oh."

"I probably got my schedule mixed up. I'm so sorry about that," Josh apologized.

Maya shook her head with a smile. "No, it's all right," she told him with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I don't mind waiting. Besides, I kind of miss being here at NYU. It brings back great memories."

Josh glanced at his surroundings, his eyes glinting with reminiscence. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed as he set his gaze back on Maya. "We should walk around and see what's changed."

"That's a terrific idea. Let's go."

After Josh revisited his college days while exploring the English building, and Maya had given Josh the tour of the fine arts building, the pair found themselves trudging toward the science center. They decided to visit the science fair after realizing they still had an hour and a half before Donnie's play begins.

Josh and Maya entered the science center and went straight to one of the activity halls were the science fair was.

"Oh, wow," Maya muttered.

The vociferous chatters of students and professors were the first thing Maya heard as she and Josh walked through the augmenting crowd of fair attendees. Multiple booths dedicated to every branch and sub-branch of science lined the whole activity hall: chemistry and biochemistry, physics and biophysics, biology and microbiology; geology, meteorology, zoology, botany, and et cetera. Some booths had poster boards that contained information about its branch of science, while others attempted to teach their material through various mini-games.

Josh and Maya continued walking with no specific destination in mind. Neither spoke a single word as both their heads turned from left to right, taking in everything as much as they could. They passed by the oceanology and the astronomy booth. The pair breezed through the Earth Science section but found themselves lingering much longer on the chemistry booths. A group of organic chemistry students captivated Josh's interests as they lectured him about the olefin metathesis reaction mechanism, while Maya demonstrated her fascination with peptide bonds in the biochemistry booth from across the aisle.

"Hey," Josh called as he nudged Maya's elbow. His short lesson with the organic chemistry students had finished and he crossed the aisle to see what Maya was up to. "I was thinking we should probably grab something to eat after we're done checking out the rest of the fair. I can't remember if we're allowed to bring snacks in the auditorium, but in case we're not allowed, at least we'd be full."

Maya jounced her head. "Yeah, sure," she answered before she thanked the biochemistry students for giving her their time.

The pair reached the end of the chemistry aisle and decided to view the numerous booths dedicated to physics. With a brief glance at the biophysics and quantum mechanics booth, they continued strolling leisurely down the aisle. Although they didn't stop by any specific booths, Josh and Maya collected physics related trinkets and stickers from the students.

As they were about to turn to the biology aisle, two physics students from a nearby booth waved Josh and Maya over.

"Let's see what they've got," Josh whispered to Maya.

The two physics students beamed at the pair while they presented each a set of three darts.

"Would you like to try our game?" one of the students asked.

"Color Me Popped," Maya read. "What's the game's objective?"

"The primary goal of the game is to try to hit three paint-filled balloons," the other student who hadn't spoken before explained. "The catch, however, is that the wall where the balloons are pinned to will be shaking the whole time. It may sound easy, but considering the fact that the wall will be moving the entire time at different intensity levels per stage, it's going to be a challenge trying to nail all the required number of paint-filled balloons. It's a game of physics, after all. You've got to think about trajectory."

"Ugh, I sucked at physics," Maya declared, then she turned to Josh. "Why don't you take the reins on this one?"

Josh shrugged. "Sure, why not?" he responded as he gestured at one of the students to hand him a set of three darts. "This should be fun."

The student handed Josh three pointy darts and reminded, "Three chances are all you have."

"What? No wildcard dart?" Josh teased.

One of the students shrugged, an apologetic grin on his face.

"Good luck!" the other student remarked as she pushed a button and the wall began to rattle vehemently.

Josh shook his hands before he positioned his first dart in its best angle. Squinting his eyes, he hurled the dart toward his chosen target. The shot was a near miss, like a fleeting touch, but Josh scored it. Triumphant, Josh looked smugly at one of the students. He glanced at Maya next and his smile grew wider when he spotted a satisfied grin on her face.

"All right," the student spoke. "Stage Two."

Narrowing his eyes, Josh aligned the dart with his chosen paint-filled balloon. The wall shook for the second time with the intensity upped to another level. After finding the perfect moment, he took the shot. It was another near miss, but the dart hit the target, causing the balloon to pop and spurt a stream of yellow paint.

"Impressive," one of the students commented as the other smiled proudly.

Josh had one dart left and one paint-filled balloon to pop. If he succeeded on the third and final stage, he'd win the game. More determined than ever, Josh took the same position he was in when he effectively hit the first two balloons and got ready to throw the dart at any given time. One of the students intensified the shaking to another level, and the whole game became more taxing. Josh found it difficult to anticipate when his chosen balloon would pass the point where his angle was. He licked his lips, heart throbbing, as he threw the last dart.

Josh averted his eyes from the wall the moment he heard a loud thud. Turning to see one of the students smirking at him, Josh assumed he'd hit the jackpot. However, one look at Maya signified that he thought wrong.

"Better luck next time," one of the students said as he gathered all the things necessary to clean the mess Josh created from playing the game.

"You did amazing, though," the other student complimented with a soft smile.

With a defeated expression on his face, Josh led Maya away from the physics booth.

"Well, that was fun," Josh noted, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Maya nodded. "I'm sorry you didn't win. They did tell you the game would eventually become challenging."

"Yeah."

The two of them hadn't walked that far yet when they both heard the students calling them, waving their arms in the air. "Wait, get back here!" they screamed in unison.

Josh and Maya looked at one another in utter confusion, but resolved to follow the students' instruction anyway. They headed back, and the second they arrived at the physics booth, a balloon started leaking with purple paint. No one else tried the game after them, so Josh and Maya were certain the balloon was still from their session.

"You're one lucky man," one of the students noted. "Congratulations."

"You should be proud of your boyfriend, he's got quite an eye," said the other student.

"Oh, no—" Maya denied.

"We're not—" Josh interjected.

"He's not my boyfriend."

"We're just business partners," Josh supplied.

"Yeah, business partners."

The students nodded in understanding, apologizing afterward for the incorrect assumption. After congratulating Josh once again on his win, the students turned their backs to Josh and Maya and prepared another set of balloons for the next person who would attempt to play the game.

After that incident with the physics students, Josh and Maya decided it was time to head back to the performing arts center. They agreed to grab something to eat first, purchasing tacos and little cups of frozen yogurts from the small restaurants in the Student Union building.

The pair scored an empty lobby bench in a secluded area near the auditorium where Donnie's play would be taking place. Josh handed Maya her taco as she passed him his cup of frozen yogurt.

"This is really nice," Josh remarked while he worked on the wrapping of his taco.

"What is?" Maya asked. She drew out her laptop from her backpack and booted it up.

"This." Josh gestured to the two of them. "It's a . . . little something new for me."

"Are you telling me you haven't gone to a science fair and ate a taco and frozen yogurt with someone before?"

Josh swayed his head. "Oh, I've definitely done this before. It's just that my days normally involve waking up early, going to the office, working for hours, and then coming home—usually to an empty apartment. Working for People's Verse is time consuming, so I barely ever have time for myself. Even on the weekends."

"You have time now," Maya noted.

"Right now I do because I made time."

Maya kept quiet after that and ate her food. Once her laptop booted up, she typed in her password and her cluttered desktop appeared in front of her. She opened a document entitled, "J&S_Proposal," and scrolled to the bottom of the page, where she last left off with her notes. Maya opened her mouth to tell Josh that they should work on his proposal plan while they still have time, but had to shut it close when he spoke up.

"Why didn't I see you around before?" Josh wondered with furrowed brows.

"Didn't see me around where?"

"If we both went to NYU at the same time, why didn't I see you around campus back then?" Josh elaborated.

Maya chuckled, amused that they were talking about their college days again. "Does it keep you up at night?" she inquired.

"What?"

Maya rolled her eyes. She put down her taco and worked on her frozen yogurt instead. "Does the fact that you didn't see me around campus keep you up at night?" she explicated, a mocking smile on her lips.

"No."

"Then, it's not important." Maya turned back to her notes. "Now, let's get to work before we have to go inside the auditorium."

Josh's eyebrows remained creased. "I'm serious. It doesn't keep me up at night, but it bothers me now. I feel like we should've at least seen each other at some point or passed one another in the hallways."

"There were thousands of students that went to NYU the same year we did. You couldn't possibly know every single one of us," Maya stated

"Hey, if you think I'm friendly now, you should see me back when I was in college," Josh defended. The same as Maya, he cast aside his taco and began digging into his half-melted frozen yogurt. "You can ask Sophie. She used to always complain—well, jokingly complain—how many new faces I introduce to her on the daily."

"I don't know what secret hallways you slipped through back then because I walked the entire campus almost every day," Maya said. "I had to constantly look for inspiration for my projects."

Maya scooped a spoonful of her frozen yogurt and shoved the cold treat in her mouth.

"You know, now that I'm thinking about it, I was most probably cooped up in my and Sophie's apartment," Josh ventured.

Maya pointed her small plastic spoon at him. "Look at you answering your own questions!"

Josh still wasn't convinced, despite his own input. He refused to let the topic drop unless he had the clearest response to his inquiry. "No, that couldn't be it—hold on, I think I figured it out," he pressed on.

Maya laughed. The notes in front of her forgotten. "I think I do, too."

As her absentminded response to the new information she and Josh uncovered individually, Maya leaned forward and said it along with him, their own versions of the explanation overlapping one another. "The English building and the fine arts building are located on the opposite ends of the campus," Josh declared as Maya uttered, "Our buildings are literally a continent away from each other!"

The two of them burst into their own fits of laughter, both humored by their new discovery. It all died down eventually when they realized their frozen yogurts had turned into colorful puddles inside their small cups. The atmosphere within the performing arts center was warm, hence why it didn't take long for the frozen treats to melt.

Losing her appetite due to her deformed frozen yogurt, Maya set her treat aside and turned back to her laptop. "All right, we've ignored this since we got here. Your proposal plan desperately needs some attention. Let's get down to business, Mr. Matthews!"

Ignoring Maya's attempt to get him to cooperate, Josh scooped the last of his frozen yogurt and asked, "So, what's your story?"

Maya's eyebrows creased, bemused by Josh's query. She wasn't sure whether she asked her previous question a little softly that he didn't hear it or he chose not to acknowledge it on purpose. Either way, she turned to him and replied, "What do you mean?"

Josh shrugged as he leaned against the wall. Maya sat next to him with her legs tucked underneath her and her back hunched a little. Her pastel-blue-cased laptop was resting on her lap, the glowing backlights of the keyboard seemingly mocking him.

"You're an event coordinator, but you're a fine arts graduate," Josh uttered.

Maya put her laptop aside, the initial intention to work on Josh's marriage proposal was beginning to wither. "I'm actually a substitute event coordinator, but I'm primarily a struggling artist," Maya corrected with a grin. "What's wrong with that, though? At least I'm making proper use of my time."

"I didn't say that it was bad, I'm just curious."

Maya bit her lower lip as her brain went into overdrive, thinking of ways she could answer Josh without having to reveal much. He was, after all, a stranger to her regardless of their newfound collaboration. Given that she was mindful of Sophie's importance in his life, Maya still didn't know Josh as his own individual. She didn't know who he was if he was without that connection to his girlfriend.

"You know that thing people say about the art industry? How it's the hardest industry in the world to make a living out of? I'd hate to give in to the stereotype, but it's true," Maya narrated, adjusting the way her legs tucked underneath her. "I've been a freelance artist since my freshman year of college. It got me through those four years—well, my mom obviously helped with the tuition money—but definitely, some of the money spent was my own hard work. Now that I'm done with school, freelancing still keeps me warm and well-fed. As tough as it might be to find a client, I will never give up on being an artist because that's my dream. I look for every art gallery exhibition being held in New York and I try to get my artwork recognized as much as possible. I'm looking to venture out to other states, but I have to put that on hold for now."

Josh jounced his head in understanding. "What about Katy and the Tan House Events?"

In that instant, Maya's eyes flickered downward. Josh attempted to meet her eyes by dipping his head to her level, but she kept it trained everywhere but on him. It was at that moment he realized he hit something within her that he probably shouldn't have. He was about to tell Maya that she didn't have to answer him when she started speaking.

"Katy went away for a while," Maya stated. "She had to, uh, leave New York for personal reasons. She didn't trust anyone else to take over the CEO position, so she asked me to do it temporarily. The job's fun; it's all right—not really something that I would choose as my lifelong career—but, all in all, not a terrible experience. Besides, it's not like it's hard. Why would it be when I've got a best friend who's got connections all throughout New York? His little black contact book has been extremely helpful so far."

Josh took that time to tend back to his half-eaten taco. "How do you do it?" he demanded.

Maya chuckled, which Josh took as a good sign because that meant they were lightening up again. The palpable tension was beginning to diminish, making way for the easy atmosphere they normally had between them. "Funny you asked that," she articulated, "because my best friend said something similar to me the other day."

Josh smiled in response, and Maya carried on.

"Before I became a temporary event coordinator, I was a full-time artist. There had been days when I didn't leave my studio at all. Then, I got that job and I had to learn how to manage my time. Usually I work with three to four clients at the same time, so I categorize them as either my morning clients or my afternoon clients. It depends on the clients' schedule, of course. From morning to late afternoon, I just try to get as many things done as possible, like confirming venues or caterers. By evening, that's when I become who I really want to be. I mostly spend the remainder of my night in my studio just creating pieces after pieces. I could never know when's the next gallery exhibition, so I really try to make as many new pieces as possible."

"How many do you average nightly?" Josh queried.

Maya squinted her eyes in thought. "I used to average about three pieces a week, but I haven't really made any new stuff lately. I'm a little out of it, I guess you could say."

"No one's worth the inspiration?" Josh teased with a raise of his brow.

Maya released a leg from underneath her and prodded Josh's knee with her foot. The nudge elicited a laugh from Josh, who crumpled his taco wrapper and tossed it inside the paper bag that once held their tacos and frozen yogurts.

"No, it's just that I've created so many pieces already that I feel like I've done just about everything," Maya elucidated, her face morphing into something earnest. "Or maybe I've just seen too much of New York that I desperately need to get out of the city."

Josh nodded, taking Maya's cup of frozen yogurt and tossing it in the paper bag. "Maybe you should go with Zay and Jasmine on their next business trip," he suggested jokingly. "Don't tell them I said this to you, but I overheard Filomeno say something about them the other day—"

"Oh, no. They're getting the boot, aren't they?" Maya assumed with wide, worried eyes.

"No, Zay and Jasmine's fine. I don't think they're even on Filomeno's list of employees to remove from the payroll."

Maya exhaled in relief.

"Anyway, Filomeno is planning to do a story about a family in Brazil and he's considering Zay and Jasmine as the chief photographers for the project," Josh informed.

"That sounds like a big deal."

"It really is," Josh agreed. "I've always had the hunch that they're Filomeno's favorite duo."

Maya laughed. "Zay wouldn't take me to Brazil with him. Childhood friend or not, he despises traveling with me because, apparently, I complain a lot. Besides, even if he agrees to let me tag along, I wouldn't go. There's too much work to do here in New York. I can't leave you knowing you're so desperate to plan a marriage proposal for Sophie."

Josh playfully rolled his eyes as he stood up to scrap their garbage. Maya got up to her feet as well, just in time for the auditorium doors to open to the public.

"I was hoping we could catch Donnie before the play starts, but I guess we'll just have to—"

A shout coming from behind him interrupted Josh.

"Hey, Matthews!"

Both Josh and Maya turned to face the owner of the voice. Sophie's younger brother, Donnie, jogged toward them with a huge smile plastered across his features.

"Josh, I'm so glad you could come!" Donnie declared as he caged Josh in a quick embrace.

"Finally, right?"

Donnie laughed. "Yeah, tomorrow's our last run, so I was worried you wouldn't be able to see the play at all."

"I won't be able to forgive myself if I did," Josh responded. "I mean, this is your directorial debut! That's huge!"

Donnie's smile grew wider. "Yeah, I thought I'd lose my sanity at first, but it turned out to be a pretty great experience. I'm actually starting to lean toward directing rather than acting."

"That's great!" Josh remarked, then his eyes darted to Maya. "Oh, yeah. Donnie, this is Maya. She's a friend of mine."

"It's nice to meet you, Donnie," Maya said as she shook Donnie's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, too," Donnie replied. "My sister told me she wouldn't be able to come, so I'm really happy that you're here. I don't mind, though; Sophie has seen me act countless times before. I could definitely use a fresh pair of eyes to give me constructive criticism."

"Oh, well, I'd be more than willing to provide an honest feedback after the play," Maya stated.

Donnie's smile widened. "Awesome! So, I'll see you guys after the show? I have to get backstage. Someone has to tell the actors to get in their places," he said as he began backtracking toward the door where he came from earlier.

Josh and Maya waved him goodbye. When Donnie was out of sight, the pair made their way to the entrance of the auditorium. They presented their tickets to the usher, who then led them down the aisle to their seats.

"Hey, Maya," Josh called the moment he and Maya settled in their seats.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for doing this. You know you didn't have to agree to go with me when I gave you Sophie's ticket."

Maya shook her head. "Don't sweat it," she replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Besides, how many times can you say you've made an acquaintance with the director of the play you've just seen?"

Josh laughed. "If you're going to offer him constructive criticism at the end of the show, I would advise you start calling him a friend. Donnie appreciates people who help him progress into someone better without having to sugarcoat anything."

"He sounds like a nice guy," Maya commented.

"He really is."

Soon enough, the lights in the auditorium dimmed and Donnie took center stage.

There you have it! I introduced a new character again, which is Sophie's younger brother, Donnie. With my stories, I never introduce new characters unless they're going to make a reappearance in the future, so I hope you liked Donnie because he'll be back. And I also apologize for geeking out for a moment during the story. I'm a chemistry minor in college right now, and I just had to incorporate some scientifc stuff for you guys and make Maya interested with biochemistry.

Thanks for reading, and like always, let me know what you think!