Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed this story! Please don't forget to REVIEW, and enjoy! (Edited by Chereche!)

P.S. Yes, I'm one of those authors: cliffhangers are so fun to write... ;) You guys are awesome, thanks for sticking with it!

UPDATED: 12-31-16

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

Chapter Sixteen: Trying and Failing

Maya felt a hand grip her arm tightly, and it was reassuring. Lucas was still there with her, even when they were going to be arrested. "It was going to be okay," he had said. Now it wasn't, and it was all her fault. Why did she let him come with her? She should have stopped it when she had the chance...and now it was too late.

"Maya."

"What?" she whispered, her eyes involuntarily shut.

"Open your eyes."

"Why—oh."

She cracked them open to find the light gone, and in its place two retreating car headlights. They were standing right in front of a window, and the light had only come from the car as it had driven down the road.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked, looking a little worried as she stood there blankly.

"I'm fine, Huckleberry." She glanced at him then readjusted her bag strap. "But, we should probably go now, before they actually do catch us."

Lucas gave her a once over, then nodded in agreement, starting to head down the hallway. Maya was grateful when they finally reached what they hoped was a safe location. She was an artist not an athlete after all.

"I think my heart was literally about to explode," she groaned, resting her hands on her knees.

"Mine too," Lucas agreed, pacing his breath. "That was way too close."

"I'm so sorry I got you into this." Maya brushed a strand of blue hair behind her ear.

"It's okay, Shortstack. We didn't get caught."

"But, we could have been, and almost were."

"All part of the Maya Hart experience, right?" Lucas grinned.

She shook her head, and tossed her bag off of her shoulders. "Are you okay, Huckleberry?"

"What? Yah, I'm fine," he said, a little baffled. "That was random."

Maya looked up at him with something like remorse in her gaze.

"I'm checking because you just destroyed a painting...that's not exactly "Moral Compass" worthy."

"Oh, then yes, I'm fine," Lucas said, not really sounding fine at all.

"Gosh, Sundance! It's okay...you're acting like me; hiding and stuff." She threw up her hands.

He turned to her with interest. "So, you admit you hide from people."

"No! That's not what I was saying," Maya said defensively.

"Really? Because that's exactly what it sounded like."

"We're talking about you, Huckleberry," she said in annoyance.

"Hiding," Lucas taunted.

"Stalling," she retorted, sticking her face in his.

He sighed, and looked around the room they had entered. It looked like a completely different wing, but he wasn't sure. Walking to one, he stared at it, not really sure what made it significant to him.

Maya joined him, and stuck her hands in her pockets, while taking in the painting as well.

"Look, huckleberry pie," she smirked.

"It says it's blueberry."

"Nah, the artist didn't realize what it really was when he was painting it," Maya said stubbornly. "Those are obviously huckleberries."

"Well, doesn't matter, since we're destroying it," Lucas couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice.

She equally studied the boy and the painting, and came to a conclusion. "We don't have to ruin this one."

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought your goal was to destroy every single one."

"Yah, except we have this thing where we leave behind one painting each time...sort of leaves a message."

"Really. I wonder whose idea that was."

"Doesn't matter," she shrugged. "But, how about we keep this one? Jazz decided to let me choose which one we keep preserved, and I could do this one."

"Why this one, Shortstack?" he grinned.

"I like pie."

Maya nodded once more at the painting, then turned on her heel, and headed back towards the designated meeting spot. Lucas shook his head, and smiled as he followed the small girl. Yah, she was really something.

"No!" Maya put the pillow over her head.

"Yes!" Riley yanked it off, and leaned over her friend.

"I don't wanna!" she complained, blinking in the sudden sunlight.

"We have school, Peaches." The brunette put her hands on her hips.

"Go without me."

"Can't do that," she smiled, and walked over to the curtains to open them, causing more light to blind Maya.

"Will you stop?!" She sat up, and glared at her.

"I had to come all the way over here to collect you! That never happens," Riley exclaimed. "And if we don't leave right now, we're going to be late."

"Fine," she grumbled, and pushed the covers off.

"Why are you wearing the same clothes?"

"I was too lazy to take them off before bed last night," Maya lied, stooping down to put on her shoes, and hiding her face.

"Oh, Peaches," Riley said, oblivious as always. "You can't keep doing that."

"Why not? It saves me time."

"Ugh, here's your bag and your breakfast." She handed them both to Maya with a groan. "You can eat on the way, lets go!"

"I'm going, I'm going," she protested, sluggishly following her friend out the window.

They made their way to the subway, and reached their train just in time, though almost getting smashed in the process.

"Well, I hope you're happy," Riley grumbled, as a large man almost knocked her off her feet.

"Not really." Maya ran a hand through her tangled hair.

She obviously hadn't had anytime to brush her hair that morning. Or put on makeup...oh, crap! Maya fished for the compact mirror in her school bag, and studied her reflection, as it bobbed with the subway train. She looked like a zombie, literally.

"You look fine, Peaches," Riley reassured. "Plus it's nice to see your face without all that junk on it anyway."

"Gee, thanks for the sympathy," Maya answered sarcastically, putting the mirror away.

She hadn't actually gotten any sleep last night, so she felt dead on her feet. They had spent too much time at the museum, and the rest of the group didn't care because most of them were out of high school anyway. Then, Lucas's car ran out of gas, so they had to trudge to the nearest station to fill up a canister, and then walk back to push it. But, it all still took time. And so, Maya had found herself clumsily crawling through her window just as the sun was rising, and collapsing onto her bed for like 10 minutes. Then, Riley had come, and here they were. It was going to be a very long, and very interesting day.

"Ms. Hart."

She was drowning in a field of flowers. Why flowers? Oh, wait,there was Riley right next to her...now it made sense.

"Ms. Hart!"

Her friend handed her a handmade daisy crown, and Maya placed it on her head; giggling. Why was she doing that? She didn't giggle.

"MS. HART!"

Whoever was talking needed to shut up; it was getting really annoying. Riley nodded in agreement and picked a yellow dandelion from the long grasses.

"You have detention!"

Maya snapped out of her daze to find the whole class staring at her, and the teacher shooting daggers from his eyes.

"You know, I don't really like detention, but thanks for the gift anyway..." Maya smiled sweetly at him, blinking the sleep away. "Now, is there a gift receipt somewhere?"

"You have some lip, young lady," Mr. Miller crossed his arms.

"Thanks, but I'm not into older guys," she winced.

"I said lip, not lips, and you have detention for two weeks now." His eyes were practically bugging out of his head.

"I would recommend not talking," Farkle advised and leaned forward in his seat.

"Gee, thanks." Maya snapped.

The bell rang, and everyone thundered out of the room, with the exception of Maya and her friends.

"Ugh." The small girl banged her head on the desk, and sighed heavily.

"It's your own fault for sleeping in class," Riley scolded.

"Yah, whatever." She waved her off.

Actually the desk was kind of comfy...Maya felt her eyes closing and her limbs start to go limp.

"Nu-uh." Lucas yanked her head up.

"Leave me alone, Ranger Rick," she said crossly.

"We have class to go to, and we're going to be late," he reminded.

"I don't care." she whined.

Riley looked at her best friend in disbelief. "Why are you being so difficult today?"

"Shut up." Maya picked up her bag, and rose out of her seat.

"Don't be mean," she said, sounding hurt.

"I wasn't being mean; I was telling you to be quiet in a crude manner."

"Hey, nice vocabulary word!" Zay spoke up cheerily. "I saw it on my mom's word a day calendar today actually."

"Is that like a mom thing?" Maya mumbled.

"I don't know. Does your mom have that—"

Lucas rolled his eyes, and shot him a look telling him to shut up. He did.

"Look, we've got to go, so I guess I hope to see you in class," Farkle said, glancing at the clock anxiously.

"See ya." Maya gave them a small wave, and a false smile.

Riley looked at her with disappointment and confusion, and left with Zay and Farkle. Lucas stayed behind, and tried to get Maya to go out the door. "Come on, Clutterbucket." He nudged her forward. "Time to go, now."

"I'm tired," Maya protested.

"So am I, but you don't see me complaining," Lucas said, annoyance creeping into his voice.

"That's because you're "Mr. Perfect"," She taunted.

"Don't pick fights, Penelope."

"Says the guy who just called me Penelope," the girl sneered.

He took a deep breath. "Listen, I understand you're tired. We both are. But, that doesn't mean we get to quit life, okay? We still have school, friends, and teachers...so, let's just get this day over and done with."

"You don't have to pretend to be calm, Sundance," Maya rolled her eyes. "No one's judging you."

"The only reason you're upset right now is because you're tired, and want to pick a fight. I'm not going to fight, so move on."

"Yah, but I really want to." She cracked her knuckles.

"Oh, so now you're going to physically fight me?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know, Huckleberry." Maya considered him. "It's definitely an appealing option."

"Except for the fact that—" The bell rang, and Lucas smirked. "—we have class to go to."

"Yah, I don't really care."

She lunged at him suddenly, but he caught her easily, and slung her over his shoulder. Maya protested loudly, and tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but her captor was strong. Lucas walked calmly passed the baffled crowd of students by the door, and headed down the hallway.

"Deja vu, huh?" He grinned at the angry girl.

"Shut up!" she shrieked. "You can't contain me forever, Sundance."

"But, I can sure try."

"You're a pain in the butt," Maya grumbled.

"I know."

Maya didn't really know what she was doing there. After all, school was over and she was practically asleep on her feet. She could be at home sleeping, but something had drawn her to the room, and she had to follow her instinct. She wandered aimlessly across the floor, eventually reaching her usual seat, and sitting down on the hard, wooden stool. Maya let her bag drop to the floor, as she stared at the canvas in front of her.

Why couldn't she paint? She wanted to...she'd give anything to be able to draw a stick figure at this point, but she still couldn't. Letting her fingers meander over to a brush, she picked it up, and brought it to the blank white expanse. The color was green; Riley's new favorite color. Maya told herself to draw something, anything. A dot, a stripe, a square. She hesitantly touched the bristles to the canvas, and brought it back, almost expecting to see hope and promise. But, when she leaned back, all she saw was a blob.

Letting out a cry of frustration, she threw the paintbrush at the canvas, and watched with satisfaction as it left a good sized spot of green. But it wasn't enough. Maya grabbed the whole tin of paint and threw it on too. She had a thing with paint; she just couldn't keep her hands off of it, even when she was having a hard time using it productively. And so, she grabbed the blue. And the purple. Then some brushes.

"Why is it that you always end up in here?"

Maya didn't turn around; instead continuing her assault against the canvas.

"You know you're going to get in trouble, right? Because this is like the third time in the last couple of months that you've gotten in trouble in art alone."

She didn't respond.

"Maya!"

She sighed, and glared at the boy standing next to her easel.

"What do you want, Farkle?"

"I'm checking in on you," he explained.

"Great. I'm just great," she said, selecting a glistening bowl of pink.

"No, I don't think you are." Farkle carefully took the container out of her hands, and directed Maya away from the canvas.

She glared at him; her eyes dangerous and full of warning. He ignored them.

"Are you going to tell me why you're attacking a canvas?" Farkle smiled.

"It's mocking me," Maya muttered, realizing how Riley that sounded. "And it needs to be destroyed."

Farkle cocked his head. "That's not the first sign of an intelligent human being, you know?"

"And when have I ever been considered an intelligent human?" she challenged, raising an eyebrow.

He sighed. "I assume you're not going to talk to me about this."

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Because it's none of your business," she said flatly.

"I'm your friend...that makes it my business."

"You sound like Riley."

"Who sounds like me?" The aforementioned girl skipped into the room.

Maya groaned, and banged her head on the table.

"I do," Farkle spoke up from his spot.

"Oh." She furrowed her eyebrows. "How come you're here?"

"I came to make sure Maya was okay," Farkle answered.

"Me too," Riley nodded.

"I'm fine!" Maya cried, waving her hands wildly. "How did you even know I was here?"

"We know you got detention, and then we figured you would find your way into the art room at some point today...so, lucky guess?" the brunette explained.

"Wonderful, so now that you've found me, what's your plan of action?" Maya asked.

"What plan of action?"

"Oh, come on, you're obviously here to say something to me, make me do something, or try to get me to talk about stuff. So, which is it?"

"Are we that predictable?" Riley whispered to Farkle.

He grimaced. "I guess so."

Maya contemplated the two friends, before shaking her head and returning to the 'masterpiece' she had created. Great; she had started painting again...yay.

"In any case," Riley stepped forward, "we were kind of hoping we could get you to paint."

"As you can see, I've already accomplished that." The smaller girl gestured to the canvas.

"That's not a painting, Peaches," she said softly.

"How would you know? All you can draw are stupid purple cats!" Maya spat suddenly.

Her friend drew back in surprise and hurt, while Farkle'e eyes widened.

"Don't say things you don't mean to. You're going to regret it later," he warned.

"Whatever. The way my life is going, that will be the least of my problems."

"Where did all this come from? You were just fine a minute ago."

"I was fine until you guys started butting into my life," she growled. "I don't need you to nag."

"We're not!" Riley protested.

Maya rolled her eyes.

"Okay, maybe a little!" she admitted sheepishly. "But it's only because we want to help you!"

"I. Don't. Need. Help!" the small girl shouted. "Just leave me alone! I'm done with this."

"I don't understand," the brunette said, wounded. "The last couple of weeks, you've been just fine...what's different now?"

"Oh, so now you think I've been fine." She laughed bitterly. "Right. Because you haven't bugged me about how much you hate my appearance, and how I'm not acting correctly. Well, guess what? I'm not going to deal with it anymore."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Riley asked, worry replacing the hurt on her face.

Maya cocked her head, and pursed her lips tauntingly. Then, walking over to the table, picked up a can of paint and made her way to the big window.

"What are you doing, Maya?" Farkle asked, moving cautiously towards her.

Turning to her friends, she held up the paint can. "Getting suspended or even better expelled."

"Why?!" Riley cried.

"So, I don't have to deal with this anymore."

"Deal with us?"

"Congratulations, you are a genius, Farkle," Maya smirked, and faced the window again.

"And you are definitely not." A new voice said suddenly.

The small girl refused to turn around, and instead hoisted the heavy can in her hands.

"Don't care, Huckleberry. I already knew that." She squinted her eyes, calculating the distance.

Lucas strode over to her, and snatched the paint away from her easily. Today was full of Deja vu.

"I'm not going to let you do that," he said calmly.

Maya turned around, and punched him in the arm, fury filling every inch of her skin.

"Leave me alone! I can make my own decisions!"

"Obviously not."

"Stop treating me like this!" Maya screamed.

"Like what?" Farkle asked.

"I don't know...Riley?" she scowled, pushing Lucas away from her. "I don't need to be protected."

The taller girl straightened and stared at her friend.

"You know what, Maya? You got your wish; I'm leaving."

As Riley ran out of the room on the verge of tears, Farkle gave one last concerned glance towards Maya, then followed the other girl. Lucas crossed his arms, and prevented Maya from leaving as well as she tried to stomp past him.

"Lucas...leave me alone," she fumed. "I don't need you...and I'm sorry I ever let you know about the stupid art museum in the first place."

"What the heck is going on with you?!" He threw up his hands. "I just saw you earlier."

"Nothing! Nothing happened."

"There's something you're not telling me," Lucas accused, grabbing her wrists.

"Let. Go." Maya warned through gritted teeth.

"No. Not until you tell me what's going on."

"I already told you! There's nothing going on, Ranger Rick."

"I'm not an idiot," he said, his anger rising.

Maya stared him down, and refused to speak a word. No way was she breathing a single word about anything to him.

"Stop hiding!" Lucas exclaimed.

"I'm not."

He scoffed, and shook his head in disbelief. "Okay, you know what? If I can't get you to talk; paint it for me."

Maya's breath caught in her throat. "What?"

"Look, everyone has an outlet...some people use writing or music. Yours is painting. And I know it will make you feel better," Lucas explained, trying to get rid of the anger inside, and speaking softly.

"I don't think it will," Maya said, crossing her arms.

"Just give it a try, Shortstack."

He guided her reluctant form to a stool, and placed brushes and paint in front of her. She looked on as he straightened everything, and stood up to glance at her.

"Go ahead."

Maya shook her head. "I don't want to."

"Just try," he coaxed.

For a split second she thought maybe this time would be different. That she would actually be able to paint, and Lucas had been right. Except he wasn't and he didn't even know about her painting problem, or whatever the heck you called it.

But in that moment, before she thought it through, hope clung in the air. Maya reached for a paintbrush, dipped it in black, and brought it to the canvas. She had almost touched the black to the white, and then reality hit her again; her arm dropping to her side.

Lucas furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Forget this, Sundance." Maya slammed the brush down.

"Don't give up...just paint whatever you feel."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I don't feel anything."

"Really? Anger?"

She shook her head.

"Disappointment? Annoyance? Sadness?" He listed them off, getting more concerned with each word.

Maya rested her eyes on a hole in the floor. "No...numbness."

Lucas considered the girl in front of him, hoping he wasn't about to make things worse. Looking around the room, he found what he was look for, and grabbed it.

"Green." He held up Riley's painting of a dog.

"No, Lucas." Maya gave him an undecipherable look, then turned on her heel, and strode out into the hallway.

He stood frozen in his spot. Maya was losing things, including her friends, and including herself. She was dying slowly, he could see it now, and he didn't know how to heal her. Lucas couldn't fix that, but he sure was going to try. And it was going to be one heck of a ride...in fact, it already was.

"She's different now." Riley wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

"She's been different for awhile now," Farkle reminded.

"Yah, but now it's really bad." She looked down at her clasped hands. "And I hate that she's shutting us out when she needs us the most. Something is going on, and I really need to figure it out!"

"You can't do that by yourself; well, without Maya opening herself up."

"I know," Riley sighed. "But, it's serious. She won't paint, her appearance is completely different, and something is going on between her and Lucas. I hate that I don't know what's causing Maya to break, because I should know; I'm her best friend."

"Maybe she's not breaking; maybe she's just changing."

"Do those look like good changes, Farkle?" Riley turned to look at him with red rimmed eyes.

He shook his head. "So, what do we do now?"

"I don't know."

Maya clung to the subway pole with white knuckles, biting her now raw lip. Oh, she knew she had messed up; big time. Why had she exploded? Maybe it was because they had pointed out her failure; her art. The one thing she had been good at had been taken away...just like everything else in her life. Just like her friends would be, so it was better to pull the plug right now, rather than deal with a hug heartbreak now. That's why she had blown up.

She pulled out her phone, hating herself for doing so, and flipped to the message. Maya just couldn't help herself.

X: If you're so great, why are you failing at everything, huh? You can't do anything right, especially when it comes to your friends. But, maybe it's a good thing...that way they won't have to deal with you once you push them away, and then they'll be a lot happier. So, do whatever you want, you'll get the same result anyway. A life of loneliness and failure. Good luck.

It shouldn't bother her; but it did. Because every single thing that person said was true; and she hated herself more for that. It was all her fault she was messing up, doing stupid things, pushing people away...

The DNA of Maya Penelope Hart; a failure, a leaver, and a coward.