Author's Note: Thank you to those who have already followed, reviewed, and favorited! Please don't forget to REVIEW, and enjoy! (Edited by Chereche!)

Honestly, I don't NEED reviews, but I'd love to hear your guy's opinions as it IS my first "published story"...so, if you have any time, it would be much appreciated! Do you think we can make it to 100 reviews before Chapter 30? ;)

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

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Life Won't Ever Be a Sweet Ride

"You really don't have to do this, hop a' long." Maya leaned forward, and changed the radio station.

"First of all, don't touch that. You can never actually decide on what to listen to and it's annoying." Lucas briefly glanced over, and swatted her hand away. "And second, I told you I wanted to, and I have no problem teaching you."

"I don't want you to feel obligated to help me," she sighed, relenting on her decision to switch stations.

"I don't, Shortstack. Now let me teach you and accept a gift."

She smirked, and leaned her blonde head against the window. "Okay, will you tell me where we're going?"

"Yes, and actually we happen to already be there." Lucas turned left, and drove into an empty lot.

"So, this is in case I ram into things? At least it won't be people and their cars, right?" Maya laughed, looking over at the boy next to her.

"Exactly," he said solemnly.

"Lighten up, Huckleberry! I won't kill you—yet."

"Oh, yah. That's very comforting," Lucas muttered.

"Okay, let's do some damage!" the blonde exclaimed.

"And—stop. You're not getting off on the right foot, Clutterbucket...let's just review really quick. So, we already went over the manual, and I made you pay attention to my driving. How do you feel so far?"

"Fine," she answered a little impatiently.

"Good. So, can you tell me why we park to the best of our ability no matter what?"

"Unbelievable," Maya groaned, and hit her head on the dashboard.

"Well, can you?"

"No, and I have no desire to."

"Hmm, well that's odd...because I explicitly remember telling you all about that."

"Ugh...fine, it was because "it's a safe practice, and will get you in the habit of doing it when you really need it"," she mocked visibly.

"So you do remember." Lucas leaned back satisfied.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, now can we actually do something or are we going to talk about nonsense all day?"

"Wow, if I knew you'd be a stubborn pill to teach, I wouldn't have done it," he teased. "What happened to being all shy about letting me teach you? All of a sudden, you turn back into Maya."

"And I wasn't before?"

"Not really...you were too considerate."

"Shut up, Ranger Rick!" She pushed him.

"I'm serious! You were so set on not letting me teach you, and insisting that you didn't care, and now you want to do nothing else but drive!"

"What can I say? Your teaching has appealed to me, and convinced me that I have my heart set on it!" Maya burst out laughing.

"Okay, Ms. Sarcastic. If it's all right with you, I'd like to continue seriously now." Lucas couldn't hide his small smile.

"By all means, Sundance...that's all I wanted to do anyway."

He shook his head. "So, we're going to go over the basic rules and stuff..."

Lucas began to turn the car on and off, adjust the mirrors, release the brake, and all the while narrating as he went along. Surprisingly, Maya listened intently and actually took the whole thing seriously. She wanted to make sure Lucas knew how much she appreciated the thought and that he went out of his way to help her...it didn't happen very often, so she cherished whatever she got. And she really did want to learn how to drive; no matter what it looked like from the outside.

Maya was also hoping this would be practice for later - trying not to be affected by Lucas at all - because she couldn't and she'd obviously have to spend a lot of time with him in the future. Even if she wasn't allowed to like him, he was still her friend, and she wasn't going to give that friendship up. So, as Lucas reviewed the controls for the headlights, she tried not to get distracted by the way his forehead crinkled like it always did when he was talking about something serious. Or the way the light caught his beautiful green eyes as he leaned forward...honestly, she'd never seen that shade of green before. Who else had that unique coloring? Someone out there had to have it too, right? Or maybe Huckleberry was just unique—

She told herself to stop and pay attention again. She was acting like one of those obnoxious girls who obsessed over boys, and that was certainly not her at all...even if she wasn't completely sure who Maya Hart was, she knew that much. And even if she liked Lucas, she was going to keep denying it until it became truth. In her heart, and in her mind.

"Are you even listening?" Lucas sighed, and snapped his fingers in front of her face.

"Yes," she scowled, and pushed his hand away. "I just dazed off for a minute, sorry."

"Okay, if you were paying attention, what did I just say?"

"I told you I dazed off...I don't actually know what you just said," she reluctantly admitted, still annoyed.

"I was talking about the different gears. Do you understand any of that?"

"I'm not sure what you're referring to."

Lucas pointed to the clutch. "Explain gears to me."

"Um..." Maya racked her sub-conscious to see if it had picked anything up in her daze. "I know that there's the reverse gear."

"Okay, Shortstack. I need you to pay attention." He smiled, and tapped her chin.

"I'm trying."

"Do you want to take a break? Or do you just want to end it for today?"

"No...I mean, maybe," the blonde shrugged. "Or yes. I don't know...I guess we—"

"What's up, Maya?"

"Huh?" She was surprised by the sudden change in topic. "Nothing, Heehaw."

"That's a lie, and you know it. I can tell when something is bothering you, so let's just skip the fake smiles, and actually talk." Lucas turned the music off, and faced Maya.

The small girl sighed; he knew her too well.

"Do you remember when I told you about going to my dad's house?"

He nodded.

"Well, I've been hanging out with them for the last couple of weeks; and things haven't actually been that bad." She played with the ends of her blonde hair. "But they're going on vacation next month, and well...they invited me to go with them."

"Really?"

"M-hmm."

"So, what do you think about it?"

"That's the thing," Maya looked at him. "I don't know. I mean my dad and I haven't had any problems, but I don't exactly want to hang out with him."

"I get that," Lucas agreed. "But, did you consider giving them—giving him—a chance? It might end up being fun."

"I realize that...I really do. But you can't promise that, and I've dealt with enough crap in my life, Sundance."

"Which is completely understandable."

"But..." She prompted.

"But things can turn out way better than we think, Clutterbucket. Just take Shawn for example; it didn't look good in the beginning, but now he's dating your mom and he stuck around. If you had been against it from the start, Shawn probably still wouldn't be here."

"And that all makes sense."

"So..."

"So, it doesn't really mean anything. I mean yes, you're right, but aren't words just words?"

"No, I don't believe that," Lucas shook his head. "Why else would you be talking to me? If words didn't mean anything, you wouldn't be opening up to me."

"I'm not opening up to you," Maya scoffed.

"Hate to break it to you, but you are."

Shoot. Well, that plan didn't last long...she needed to up her game. Why was she opening up to him of all people? Boy was this frustrating! She didn't even realize when she was doing it; which made it a whole lot worse, and a problem.

"And there's nothing wrong with that," he noted her frustration. "What you need to learn is that it's okay to let people know about you...which is something we've already discussed. It's a concept you can't seem to grasp."

"Well I'm very sorry I'm so utterly stupid." She started to get out of the car.

"You are so ridiculous, Maya." He shot out an arm, and grabbed her from behind. "You know that's not what I was saying...I wish you'd stop overreacting."

Maya paused and evaluated the situation. Right now, was her heart or her head winning the war inside herself?

"...and you've talked to me before, so why is each time a new battle?"

Right now her head was wrestling for dominance, and it was causing her to speak out. On the other hand, her heart was screaming for her to hide; to not let them know what was really going on in her innermost thoughts.

"...I just don't get it. We've been through so much, and yet you're so hesitant, even with Riley..." Lucas continued.

Her head was going to win, there was no doubt about it; but her heart had always been the ruler and it wasn't going to allow her mask to come off. The breaking point was a huge factor in her mind's strength, but it didn't mean her heart was completely forgotten...not by a long shot.

"I talked to you about my dad's vacation offer, didn't I?" Maya interrupted, brushing off the rambling he had just displayed a moment ago.

"Yes, but then you shut down again," he retorted.

"How?"

"When I mentioned that you were opening up to me!" Lucas threw his hands up. "I want you to do that, Shortstack!"

"Yes, that's what everyone seems to want, isn't it?" she mumbled.

"For good reason..." The tall boy studied her face. "This isn't just about what we want though."

"I know."

That was a lie...and there was going to be a lot of them in the future too.

"Don't be afraid—"

"Whatever you're going to say, stop please. I'm not afraid to do or say anything, and I wish people would stop assuming that," Maya interrupted irritably.

"You mean more than one person has said that to you?"

She nodded.

"Good!" He exclaimed, surprising her a bit. "Maybe it'll knock some sense into your head."

"I have plenty of that, and can we just move on now?" She was growing tired of this relentless back and forth. Usually she didn't have a problem with their banter, but that was different than what they were doing right now.

"Yes, let's move on," Lucas agreed. "Now, here's what we're going to do; you're going to think over both sides of the offer before making a decision, and then you're going to be fair with your choice. We can work on your opening up skills later."

"Gee, thanks for planning my life Huckleberry," Maya said sarcastically, buckling herself up as Lucas did the same.

"I'm not planning your life," he replied as he started the ignition. "Just helping the best I can, ma'am."

She shook her head. "Okay, Sundance."

"Now," he sat back, and looked at her expectantly. "What's the next step?"

"Ugh," she groaned and put her head in her hands.

"Hey, Mrs. Matthews."

"Hey, Maya. How's school going?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow, and plopped herself down on the couch casually.

"You do realize that's the most dreaded question of all time, right?"

She laughed. "I suppose you're right. Well, Riley's not here right now honey, but she should be back soon."

"I know."

The older woman looked up in surprise, but continued to sort through the box on the table.

"Oh?"

"I was kind of wondering if I could ask you something." Maya suddenly grew awkward, and fiddled with whatever her hands found. That had become a habit of hers lately; whenever she felt anxious she would play with things sub-consciously.

"Sure, sweetheart. What's on your mind?" Mrs. Matthews stopped her organizing, and walked over to sit next to the younger girl.

"So, I'm sure you know I don't like to open up to people or talk about my problems..." She smiled at the pillow on her lap. "But, this is just one question, so I hope you know I'm not going to spill my guts."

"Of course not," she said understandably. "I'm just glad you came to me at all."

"Well, you'd be the first," Maya laughed bitterly.

"Is that what this is about?"

"Not really, and this is kind of a silly question. Actually I don't even know why I'm here right now."

"It's okay, Maya. Shoot."

"How do you know whether or not you're doing what you're supposed to?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, are you doing something for yourself or for others?" Maya explained. "And whichever one it is, is it the right one?"

"I can't answer that for you, sweetie; only you can do that. What is your heart telling you?"

"Something different than my head...but, aren't you supposed to listen to both your head and your heart?"

"Yes...so, what you have to learn is how to do that. It's a really hard lesson, and takes practice, but it's what's going to get you through life the right way," Mrs. Matthews said.

"But I don't know how do that," the blonde added honestly.

"Nobody knows how do that in the beginning. That's why we have to learn, and why we make so many mistakes...because we are teaching ourselves how to do it. In fact, you never really learn completely; I'm still trying myself."

"That's comforting."

She laughed. "You'll be just fine, Maya. You're pretty fierce, and I know you have the capabilities to do it! You just have to believe that you can, and you're already halfway there."

"It's a lot easier said than done, isn't it?"

"You mean the head versus heart thing, or believing you can?"

"The second one...but both, of course."

Mrs. Matthews observed Maya's gestures and facial expressions carefully.

"Who's ruling your body?"

"Huh?"

"Which one is in charge, honey?"

"You mean my head or my heart?" She sighed as she considered it. "I'm pretty sure my head, which is unusual to be honest. I've always relied on feelings and emotions."

"So why do you think it's different now?"

"Like I would know," Maya shrugged. "I don't even know which clothing style is really me."

"Clothing style?" Mrs. Matthews asked, a little lost.

"You know how I kinda went through that phase where I tried out different clothes?"

She nodded.

"Yah, well everyone's convinced that it was something that needed to be fixed...but, I kind of liked it," Maya explained. "And now I don't know which is the actual thing I like."

"Are you telling me the whole root of this is that you're not sure who Maya Hart really is?" Mrs. Matthews guessed.

"Maybe."

"Well, again I can't help you on that one, but my advice to you is to not lie to yourself. Even if everyone else around you says something completely different, listen to what you think feels best. Because otherwise you're going to end up in a deeper hole."

"Yah, see there's the other thing; everyone has such different advice. Which one am I supposed to listen to?" The younger girl's baby blue eyes caused her heart to ache, as they met her own.

And then the conversation was frustratingly cut short by the entrance of one ecstatic best friend.

"Peaches!" Riley cried, as she flung the door open, and rushed to her best friend.

"Hey, Riles." Maya reached up to give her friend a hug. "How did your date with Charlie go?"

"Really, really good!" The brunette beamed, and grabbed the blonde's wrist; tugging her up from the couch. "Come on, bay window time!"

"Okay, I'm coming," she laughed, and let herself be dragged by the energetic teen.

"Hey, sweetie?" Mrs. Matthews called out.

"Mm?" Maya said, waving for Riley to go ahead.

"If you need to talk, I'll always be here. Don't hesitate to come over and chat anytime, okay?"

"I know...thank you." Maya smiled, then headed after the impatient Riley.

The mother sat on the couch for a little longer contemplating on the small girl that she considered another daughter. She was beyond happy that Maya had come to her, but she couldn't help but feel even more concerned for her. What she had said even in that small amount of time had told her volumes; especially since she was trained to read between the lines. Riley had been right, something really serious was going on, and maybe even Maya didn't see it all herself. That was probably what scared her the most.