Author's Note: This chapter is a little shorter than usual, so I apologize in advance. But, I'd really like to thank all of you who have followed, reviewed, and favorited my story. It's really amazing how many views I've gotten in this short time, and I can't express how excited and grateful I am! Also, I wanted to let you all know that I am going to try to update on a schedule now, so I will update every 5 days or so! This of course may change in the future, but we'll see how it goes... (Edited by Chereche!)

UPDATED: 11/5/16

Disclaimer: I don't own Girl Meets World, just the story!

Chapter Four: Losing Some Things

Maya hated the silent treatment. It wasn't exactly what Lucas was giving her, but his face was hard and he hadn't spoken a word since they had walked inside the school. At some point it started bugging her, and she couldn't stand it any longer.

"Well, Huckleberry. Looks like you and I won't be seeing each other for a while, so if you have any last rope tricks to show me, it better be quick," Maya teased.

Lucas sighed heavily, and continued his silent act as they waited for the nurse to finish up with Missy so that Maya could have her turn.

She bit her lip. "Or, maybe you could just catch up on my homework for me while I'm gone...Actually, that's a really good idea! Would you do that?"

"Maya, this isn't the time for jokes," he said quietly.

"You guys are being ridiculous. All we did was get in a small fight! Why-"

Lucas stopped Maya from continuing, and, facing her, she could see the disappointment all over his face; just like the rest of her friends'.

"That wasn't some small fight, Maya! Are you kidding me, right now?"

His anger was controlled, but she knew it was very close to erupting. Half of her had the undeniable urge to coax it out, though the other half of her was a little frightened by the prospect. But, she still had some of her adrenaline from the fight, and her head was muddled, so she went for the stupid thing and tried to anger Lucas.

"Well, you would know wouldn't you? After all, you got into plenty of fights yourself, Sundance."

Lucas studied the small blonde beside him. She couldn't possibly be that stupid, he wondered.

"This isn't about me." He counted to 5, and continued to try his best to be patient even as she continued to press him.

"Oh, but isn't it? You tried to stop me when I clearly had things handled. Maybe you're losing your edge, Ranger Rick." She cocked her head, and ignored the pain that sprouted from her face at the movement.

"I was trying to stop you from completely losing your mind," he said. His cheeks felt hot with anger.

"Aw, little Cowboy. Forget how to tussle with the snakes?" she cooed and stuck out her bottom lip in fake sympathy, congratulating herself on her accurate mimicry of Missy.

He grabbed her wrist forcefully, and pushed her against the wall they were standing by to guarantee that she was paying close attention to him. She was, but she had an annoying smirk on her face that he wanted to wipe off.

"I'm not necessarily upset about your attempts to turn me into 'Texas Lucas', but I am upset over your lack of thought and ridiculous behavior! Aren't you even a little embarrassed?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Nope." She popped her "p".

"Will you cut it out?!" Lucas demanded and shook her shoulders forcefully.

"Make me," she challenged haughtily.

He released her, a look of realization dawning. "I'm not going to fight you, Maya," he said decisively, and rolled his eyes when she all but pouted.

"Why not?" Maya straightened and pushed at his chest.

Lucas folded his arms and shook his head, ignoring her actions. "You're already in enough trouble as it is, Shortstack."

"Exactly, so hey, I can do whatever the heck I want to do as far as I'm concerned," she retorted.

As she walked towards him, he almost grinned at how short she was; even with the heels. It certainly wasn't his idea of intimidating, but obviously she felt that she had it in her. Maya narrowed his eyes at the tall boy, and wondered if she should really do something.

She would have, except she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the glass of a trophy case, and flinched at the sight. She looked like an extra on a horror movie set, and she hated herself for looking like a mess in front of the whole school. Okay, so maybe she was embarrassed about how she acted, but it wasn't for the reasons he would have expected her to be, and she certainly wasn't going to admit it to him. Besides, she wasn't sorry in the least for fighting, just for her stupid insecurity.

Lucas noticed the change in her behavior, and puzzlement filled his face as she stepped back from him.

"Let's just get this over and done with...You know what? Never mind. I can walk myself to the principal's office just fine when I'm done here. I practically have the route memorized. So leave," she said, and turned on her heel and entered the nurse's office.

He probably should have followed, except he was extremely confused by his friend's odd, conflicting behavior, and wasn't sure what to do. And, so, he went to his last class of the day, knowing he could always find out more later after school ended.

"You know what I have to do now, don't you?" Mr. Douglas asked unnecessarily.

Maya blew a strand of dirty hair out of her face, and nodded slightly.

"I don't understand your actions. I warned you just yesterday, and you completely disregarded my suggestion...I'm sorry, I take that back. It wasn't a suggestion; it was common sense, which you clearly lack any of."

Their conversation was cut off by the door opening, and Maya slumped low in her seat as she saw who entered.

"Hi, I'm Maya's mother." The woman walked forward and shook hands with the principal. "They said I could just come in."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Hart. I'm extremely sorry to have disturbed you, but this was very important." He gestured for her to sit in the seat next to her daughter.

"Naturally, and can I just apologize in advance for Maya's behavior? I really hate to cause trouble for you." She gave a pointed look in her direction.

"With all due respect, it's Maya's apology we're looking for." Mr. Douglas raised his eyebrows at the blonde.

Ms. Hart looked once again at her daughter, this time getting a good look at her, and noticing the black eye and split lip, furrowed her brow in concern.

"Baby Girl, why did this happen? Who did this to you?" She gingerly touched Maya's face, causing her to gasp in pain.

"We've confirmed that she started a fight with another girl," he said, clearing his throat. "And—"

"Why would you do something like this?" her mother interrupted, staring at her. "You've never gotten into a fight before. Mr. Douglas, I really have no idea what went through her head." Ms. Hart shook her head, looking from Maya to the principal.

"Neither do I. Ms. Hart, would you care to enlighten us?" He narrowed his eyes as he watched the teenager.

"Not really," Maya shrugged, much to her mother's chagrin, who elbowed her.

"Well, unfortunately that's no longer an option. So, I suggest you do what you know is the correct thing now. It may help your case in the slightest." Mr. Douglas pushed back his chair a little.

"She was insulting me." Maya said and slid deeper into her chair.

"And you thought that it could be solved by fighting her? Why didn't you just ask a teacher for help, Maya?" her mother asked.

"See, what adults don't seem to get is that it always makes things worse," Maya snapped, standing up, and crossing her arms.

"No, it doesn't. Ms. Hart, we don't just give out worthless advice for no reason. Everyone here is willing to help you if something is wrong. You just need to open yourself up to do so," Mr. Douglas said, apparently convincingly if the way her mother nodded was anything to go by.

She though rolled her eyes, and leaned against a bookshelf; ignoring her mother's disapproving stares.

"Can we just move on, please?"

"It's probably best if we do," he sighed, and straightened a paper on his desk. "We've already dealt with the other student involved. However, given Ms. Hart's history, and the number of warnings she's already received, I unfortunately have to assign suspension."

Her mother rubbed her forehead, and said weakly, "Suspension?"

"Sadly, yes." The principal looked equally as frustrated.

"Okay, well, maybe this will be good for her," she rationalized. "I'll make sure that home isn't an escape." Ms. Hart said; to Maya she seemed oddly calm for the news she had just received.

"Good." Mr. Douglas glanced at the scowling girl, before rising to shake her mother's hand once again. "It was nice to meet you Ms. Hart, I'm sorry to have to bring you away from your talent show."

"It wasn't a talent show," she answered, automatically becoming enthusiastic at the mention of her passion.

"Mom." Maya warned.

"Just a little audition!" She continued. "The director called me "moderately pleasing". I think it was one of my best performances."

"That's wonderful," Mr. Douglas said awkwardly. "Well, best of luck then."

"Thank you!"

Maya straightened from her leaning position.

"How long is the suspension?"

"Currently, due to your escalating behavior, I have to suspend you for the maximum period of 10 days. We will review after that time, and see how it goes." He answered.

The two Hart women gave their last acknowledgments, and disappeared into the vacant school hallway. Ms. Hart's face immediately grew hard and angry, as she walked furiously towards the front doors. Maya had to practically trot to keep up with her; much to her annoyance.

"Why can't you learn to think?!" her mother snapped, shaking her head. "That has to be the stupidest thing you've ever done."

"Well, I'm sorry if I was trying to make sure that jerk didn't get away with what she said," she retorted back boldly.

"What you need to make sure you do is control your temper! What you're doing is letting your temper control you."

"I'm not going to let people walk over me anymore, okay?" Maya huffed.

"What are you talking about? Who walks over you?" Ms. Hart asked, even though she, still sounded irritated.

Maya froze, and tried to regain her composure, covering her slip-up easily. "I just mean I don't want anybody to think they can insult me like that."

"There are much better ways to express that, Maya Penelope."

She scowled at the use of the hated name.

"What am I going to do with you? I have to work all day, and there's no way I'm letting you stay home alone," Ms. Hart sighed, pushing the school door open.

"What? I'm not some little kid!" Maya protested.

"Well, until you stop acting like an irresponsible "little kid", you get all the wonderful benefits of being treated like one," her mother said, smiling mockingly.

She kept walking towards the subway, but Maya stopped as she spotted her friends hovering by a group of trees, and she gestured for them to move on. There was no way she was seeing them today...or tomorrow...or the next couple of weeks, if her mother was super hard on the grounding time.

Maya ran to catch up with her, they exchanged annoyed expressions, and then they turned their attention to the sidewalk. No one talked the whole way home.

Maya bent over the sketchpad, causing her swollen eye to throb, but she ignored it. Plucking the golden yellow pencil from the box, she tactically shaded and cross hatched, things that seemed to be almost natural to her. It was 3 minutes later when she completed the shadows and coloring, and she leaned back to take in what she had drawn. Maya had no idea what it was, and yet she had created it. Lines waved and bobbed when they shouldn't, and the yellow was terribly used, clashing too much with the rest of the picture. Releasing a cry of frustration, she ripped the page out from the sketchbook, and crumpled it up into a tight ball, enjoying the satisfaction of seeing the colors smudge and wrinkle. Going to her open window, she threw the paper ball out into the wind, and watched as it bounced down the fire escape, and onto the dirty street below. It eventually tumbled out of sight, it's bright yellow coloring obvious even from all the way up in her room. Maya slid down her wall, bringing her knees to her chest, and resting her head on top of them. It started to rain, and the drops hit the back of her neck, coming in through the window above her head. She ignored it, not wanting to get up.

"Maya?" her mother called as she knocked on the door, and then opened it slowly.

She lifted her head. "Why do you even bother knocking, if you're just going to come in no matter what?"

"Hey, I'm trying to be somewhat civilized," Ms. Hart playfully said, ignoring her sarcasm in an attempt to make their exchanges lighthearted. She felt a little guilty for being so hard on her daughter earlier, even though it was highly appropriate.

She took in her daughter's position and the slowly growing wetness around the open window. Reaching above Maya, she closed it with a bang, shivering as a last blast of cold, wet air sprayed her. Ms. Hart snagged an old towel from the desk, and began to wipe up the water, starting with the windowsill and ending with her daughter's neck and back. When she finished, she lifted Maya's chin, and groaned slightly as she sat down on the floor across from her.

"It's times like these, I feel old," Ms. Hart smiled. "Maybe I should start auditioning for old lady roles, huh?"

"Mom, stop trying to be funny," Maya said quietly, unfazed by her jokes.

"Okay, sweetie." She nodded solemnly, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her daughter's ear.

"Hey, mom?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"Did you need something?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know I had someone else take my shift at the diner tonight, so I have the evening off...Do you want to watch something, or do you want to spend some time by yourself?"

"I thought I was grounded...from like everything."

She laughed. "Well, I think I can allow one movie tonight."

"Do you hate me? For causing this?" Maya asked hesitantly.

Her mother leaned forward and hugged her daughter tightly. "Baby girl, no matter what you do, I could never hate you...not even if you caused a thousand fights."

Maya sighed. "Do I get ice cream, too?"

"Don't push it." Ms. Hart shook a finger at her.

"Okay, I'll be out in a minute."

"Love you," she squeezed her arm gently. "And, I just wanted to let you know, that I decided to leave you here on your own during the day. I'm going to trust you, so please don't abuse that."

Maya nodded in agreement and relief.

Her mother gave her one last hug, then got up and left, closing the door gently behind her. Maya glanced once more at the spot where her mom had been sitting, before slumping against the wall once more.

It was obvious, her mom was disappointed in her. Just like her friends. Did it make sense? Yes, she supposed it did, she wasn't completely incompetent. It was still a harsh reality for her to face though. Maya realized deep down that she had hoped she would be able to live up to her friend's expectations, and do the right thing. For them, if for no other reason. And now she had earned their disapproval, her mom's, a suspension, and the fact that she couldn't just ignore whomever was bothering her.

The good news was that it was going to give her the momentum to do what she should have done a long time ago. All of this just went to show how much of a problem she was, and she couldn't even imagine how much her friends must secretly resent her for causing so much trouble.

So, if they didn't believe in her, which she knew had to be true, then she couldn't have the right to put faith in anything. Starting with her art.

Maya forced herself to rise, and crossed over to her art covered bed; pencils, erasers, and paper scattered across the surface. Looking around her room for a specific item, she spotted the big, blue bin by her dresser, and grabbing it, dumped out the few random pieces of junk that were inside. Then, sweeping all of the art supplies on her bed into the bin, she snapped the lid shut, and popping open the cap on a black sharpie, labeled clearly what the container was for. Maya stared at the words for a while; having them written made it all more powerful and meaningful. And then, she shoved the offending box underneath her bed, hating it and feeling a sense of loss at the same time.

Maya couldn't help but sneak a quick glance in the mirror, predictability hating what she saw. The battle wounds she had acquired made it all so much worse to her. Fighting the urge to crack the mirror, and throw the pieces outside like the paper ball, she switched off her lights and left.

But, her mind was fixed on the label on the bin under her bed. In the darkness, the writing was indecipherable, but of course it didn't matter because Maya had written the words. The bin was tattooed with "Hope is for suckers" and it never seemed truer to her now.