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Hey, guys...I'm really bad at updates, I'm sorry. *To the guest who told me to keep updating, I wish I could respond to you! ;) I'm trying, don't worry! My skills of procrastination are amazing, but I'm working on it. Here's your chapter!*

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

Chapter Thirty: From a Mountain To Another Valley

"I think I have a plan," Lucas announced, startling his friends who were currently doing homework.

"A plan for what?" Farkle asked suspiciously.

"To help Maya."

Riley pushed herself up from her casual position on the floor, and faced Lucas with obvious interest. "Let's hear it."

"You all remember Pappy Joe, right?" he began.

Zay laughed. "Y'all notice how he tries not to say 'y'all'?"

"So do you," Lucas pointed out. "You only said it this time to bug me."

"I concede," Zay mumbled through a mouthful of chips.

"Anyway," he said as he rolled his eyes. "When Zay and I were little, Pappy Joe was always the one to get us to fix our fights and arguments. He has a way with words, always has."

"Where is this going?" Riley prodded.

"I think he can help Maya."

The brunette pursed her lips, and propped her pointed chin on her fist. "Are you sure that would work? I mean, unlike Zay, we've only met him once, and that includes Maya."

"Like I said, he's good at reading people, and I mean what do we have to lose?"

"He has a point," Farkle nodded. "Maya's not getting any better."

"Okay, so how do you suggest we get Pappy Joe to talk to Maya? I don't think she's just going to happily pick up the phone and chat about her life," Zay asked.

"Well, it's currently the middle of February, but I was thinking we should take a trip to Texas in March," Lucas explained.

"March? That's too far away," Riley groaned, sinking back onto the floor in defeat. After two seconds however, she perked back up and cocked her head inquisitively at Lucas. "Wait, why March?"

"There's this huge fair thing," Zay mused. "That could work. We could go for the festival, and then Maya could talk to Pappy Joe, too."

Farkle and Riley slowly nodded as their brains worked out the proposition before them.

"Well, what have we got to lose?" the former asked.

"Nothing at all," Riley answered quietly, then continued even softer, "I miss Maya."

"So do I." Lucas looked down at his hands, his mind fixed on the hope that he could get her to Texas. If he could, everything would be fine.

It had to be.

Maya had it all set up - the whole she-bang. It was actually kind of nice to see it all again: the tarps, the easel and canvas, the beautiful new paintbrushes still not used.

Unfortunately it was ruined by her. Yes, it was her own fault, her own stupid heart. She desperately wanted to paint again, especially since she had made the decision to talk to Lucas, but it wasn't going too well.

Maya contemplated the limp flower in front of her, and tried to make it better by adding shading.

As she worked, her mind was whirling with thoughts and contemplations about her actions. She sincerely needed to talk to Lucas, but she was afraid it wasn't going to work out, and she just knew that she couldn't handle something like that right now.

That didn't work…the shading was awful. She picked up the white, and tried to add some highlights to its petals and leaves.

And then, the age old problem crept up again; she wasn't completely sure how she felt. Yes, it had gotten a lot better since the breakdown, but it was still an issue that her head was trying to drill out of her. What was it about her head and heart? How was her own body at war with itself? It was so confusing, and yet so—nothing. There was something about the feeling of not knowing what you want or feel...a lot of people had told her it was not that complicated to let your emotions run wild—except it is. And you can't possibly understand until you've felt it yourself; until you've been through it. Maya understood now; and she felt numb...why? Because that was what life was: empty, lonely, and surreal.

The everyday monotony of life was more than enough to deal with; but it was like looking through a cracked mirror where everything is clear but you can't see...all she could feel was emptiness—like no matter what she did, it would all just fall and die. Maya couldn't even describe it any other way. Whenever she looked at her life, at her goals, and the things she knew that lay ahead, it all just felt so unimportant. So who cared if she graduated? Everyone else did, everyone got married, had kids, and got a job. Life was just meaningless. How did Riley do it? How did she see hope, an important, exciting future? There seemed to be no meaning to anything—not even the good things. It all ended at some point, anyway. What do you do with that, huh? Everyone went through life like it was just a movie; where they knew what their obligation was, and how to complete it. Maya would know too, someday...she would grow up and make a life for herself. But, it was all so empty and—numb. She didn't feel anything; just lost...so lost. Not knowing what to do, or why life even mattered at this point. Maya Hart was a wanderer, a lost soul—just waiting for life to push her through its trials and joys. And she couldn't make herself feel any different...she had tried. But, every morning she'd look in the mirror, and wonder what she had to offer. Maya wanted to do something with her life, yes; but what? She didn't want to just be the cookie cutter human, with their life already planned out for them; and stretching out like a dismal, straight road...she wanted to do something—Maya wanted to be important. Yes, everyone said that no matter how small the things you do in life, you're still important. Crap, lies, fake, illusions...that's all it was. Because how could she possibly be satisfied with what life offered her? How did everyone else seem to be? Why did they just go along, not taking any action to make something of themselves or leave their mark on the world? Maya needed to be somebody, to do something important. Well, maybe that was why every kid wanted to be an actress, or a NBA basketball player; because deep in their hearts and sub-conscious, they wanted to be something other than a lump of meaningless life...but then they grew up, and let themselves conform to the to the world and became people that were really just sheep following a repetitive pattern of live and die. That was it.

She didn't want to get through life; she wanted to live. Her mom had told her that...and she had insisted that it was better to get it over and done with. She was right, but Maya also knew that you didn't just get options handed to you conveniently...which was why she still had to choose the cookie cutter version. what that? To live or just get through life? Because as much as she believed in be something special, she knew it was another unattainable feat, and one that was unrealistic. It's always possible; everything's possible. Maya remembered when she was little, and she would pretend that her closet was a portal to another world—a world where she could do whatever she wanted. She wished on that dream so hard, it was on her mind daily, and she dreamed about it sub-consciously...it was like that. Something that was so amazing and lovely— something that was a dream. Something that was unreachable in any respect or form. In any way you looked at it.

So, that was her reasoning. Maya wasn't going to achieve greatness or even the world's standard of greatness...what the world believed in was something she didn't want to be a part of. Because she already knew she couldn't possibly amount to anything. There was very little chance of her succeeding, let alone figure out how she could be different than everyone else. But, did she have a choice? To get through the tedious, monotony she had to—she had to believe in what the world said. What the sheep and liars and fakes did. Because if she had any chance of surviving this cookie cutter society, she had to think like them, she had to act like them...otherwise she would be worse off than before. She couldn't achieve greatness, and even if she did, it would still be empty. Because what did it really mean? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And she didn't know how to get to something—or how to make something out of nothing. She wasn't even sure if Riley did...she couldn't tell if she was happy with the world's standards, or she was really figuring it out.

Glancing at her picture, she had the sudden inspiration to do something else. Maya pulled out her phone, flipped to a new page in her one remaining sketchbook, and began to sketch a beautiful picture of the ocean she had taken on her trip. As soon as paintbrush hit paper, she knew something was different about this picture. She barely noticed the sun setting slowly behind her as she worked, but before too long, it was completely gone, and her room was almost bathed completely in inky darkness.

And that's when she took a moment to notice her art. Barely breathing, she took in the curves, lines, and edges in the artwork, and found that it was actually gorgeous. Was it perfect? No, of course not. But it was art, her art.

So, maybe all it took was time. Time to realize she needed to change, time to get back to how she was before, time to repair damaged friendships. Maya smiled, and carefully set the piece of paper on her desk. She could do this.

"Hey, kiddo." Shawn knocked on the closed door, completely startling her, and causing her to drop her glass of water.

"Crap," she muttered under her breath, as she dove to the ground, and began mopping it up with the first thing she could find. "Come in, Shawn."

He opened the door to find her on her hands and knees, and winced.

"Sorry...did I scare you?"

"No. I'm just clumsy."

"And stubborn," he said with a grin.

Maya leaned back on her heels. "What did you want?"

"Well, I was curious how your trip went," Shawn said as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Fine."

"That's it? Nothing exciting happened?"

"Nope." She went back to her cleaning. Maya didn't want to tell anyone about her fight with her dad, or her newfound sense of hope.

"I find that hard to believe," Shawn snorted. "But, I'm not going to fight with Ms. Stubborn today, so I'll just move on."

"Gee, thanks." Maya finished her drying, and then sat back on her heels, looking expectantly at Shawn.

"I guess I should tell you what I really came here for."

"Which is?" Maya looked up curiously.

"I wanted to make sure you and I were okay...I want to help you, but I also don't want to push you away and I'm a little concerned that I've done that."

"How?"

"I don't know…every time we meet, we end up in an argument or something," Shawn said awkwardly, obviously not comfortable. "Like on Thanksgiving, and then last month."

"Yes, I remember."

He cleared his throat. "Well, I also wanted to bring up your mother and I."

The blonde looked up.

"I understand that you don't want her to get hurt, but I don't believe that's necessary...I have no intention of leaving, and I am very fond of both of you." He chuckled a bit. "So, I'm asking if you'll give me a chance."

"I already have. From the moment you entered my life, I've given you a chance...I didn't mean to—and in hindsight I should have been more careful with putting my trust in you—but, I believed in you. Still do, even though I don't like it."

Shawn smiled, and noticeably relaxed. "Thanks, kiddo. That means a lot."

"But, that doesn't mean you can slack off!" she warned. "If you hurt her in anyway, things will get ugly fast."

"I'm not going to do that," he said softly. "And you aren't concerned about yourself?"

"No. I know I can deal with it."

Okay, that was a lie too. If Shawn ever hurt her or left, she knew she would be crushed...but she wasn't about to admit that; she'd already said more than she liked.

He gazed at her, calculating her actions and watching her face.

"Maya?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm here for you. If you ever want to talk."

"I know," she answered grimly.

And she would, just not now.

"Calm down, Riles. It wasn't even that good of a dare anyway...you guys all suck at this!"

"Hey!" Zay protested. "That was my idea!"

"I don't retract my former statement." Maya smirked.

They were all in the kitchen gathered around a smeared plate of bananas and mayo, with Maya being the one who held it. She tried not to show her disgust at the sandwich she had just eaten, and she appeared to be doing a good job, but now her stomach threatened to make her vomit.

"Okay, fine. Show us what a "good" dare is," Lucas challenged, as they all headed back to the living room.

"Well, Huckleberry since you were the one to suggest it, I'll ask you." Maya smiled with fake innocence. "Dare or dare?"

"What about me—" Zay started; not pleased that he hadn't been asked yet, especially since they had been playing for a half-hour now.

She held up a hand, without even looking at the boy. "Sundance?"

"Don't I get a choice?"

"Yes, dare...or if you're feeling adventurous, dare," she said sarcastically.

"Gee, I don't know. How about dare?" Lucas answered in a similar tone.

"Great!" the blonde grinned. "I dare you to let someone draw whatever they want on your face."

"How is that a good dare?" Zay asked.

"Then I guess I pick you." Lucas looked at her.

"Oh." The darker skinned boy realized, and then chuckled a little bit. He was thinking of cowboys and cactuses dotting his friend's face.

Maya on the other hand was nervous, though not noticeably so. She had managed to sketch that ocean landscape earlier, but could she do it again? Riley was wondering how Maya would accomplish the feat as well, although she didn't have the fortunate knowledge of knowing that her friend had managed to sketch something recently. Lucas didn't know did he? Well, obviously not...but why would Maya suggest that anyway?

"Nah, let someone else do it, Ranger Rick," she piped up.

"You're the artist," the boy said slowly, very puzzled by the girl's hesitation.

She was stuck. And there was no way to get out of it, so Maya did what she had to do. She got up, grabbed a sharpie from who knows where, and walked over to Lucas.

"Continue the game," she said, kneeling in front of him.

"You don't actually have to sit down, you know," he smirked.

"Shut up, I don't want to stand the whole time." She uncapped the pen. "And stop with all the short jokes."

"Okay. I choose Zay."

"Finally." He threw up his hands.

"Truth or dare?"

"Um, truth."

"You guys are all cowards," Maya sing songed, as she drew above Lucas's eyebrow.

"Whatever," Zay scowled.

"Hey, Maya." Lucas looked up at her, trying not to move his head.

"Hmm?"

"Be nice, please."

"You mean with my drawings? Oh, Huckleberry you can't put a boundary on art!" she smiled.

He scoffed, and turned his attention back to Zay.

"How about…have you ever kept a secret about someone in this room?"

The boy's face grew smug, and his grin was just a little too wide and knowing for Maya.

"Yes, I have."

"Really?" Lucas's cocked his head, much to the artist's annoyance. "Did you eventually tell everyone?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I haven't known it for that long." Zay drummed his fingers. "Well, one of them at least."

Lucas's face turned to one of realization—though not about what everyone else knew. He had just come to the conclusion that he had asked a stupid question; he had given Zay the leniency to hint at his liking Maya. What had happened to think before you speak, again?

Farkle and Riley were exchanging looks of their own, and then looking between Lucas and Zay. They were curious to see what the latter would reveal and how much. No one bothered to check on Maya's facial expressions though, which she was just fine with. She drew a circle underneath Lucas's hairline, not even really paying attention to what she was drawing, and instead thinking about Zay's answer. Did Zay know? Did everyone know; was she that obvious? To her knowledge only Farkle knew, and she planned to keep it that way—but, Zay had seemed so sly and smug about the question, that she really wondered if he had any idea about her feelings.

"Okay, that's great. Your turn to ask someone." Lucas hoped that would be enough to move the conversation along and avoid the subject he had so stupidly brought up.

"No, no, no." He waggled a finger. "You asked, and so obviously you want to know my answer."

"You already did. Next?"

Maya tried to tune them out, but it didn't work. Stop talking Zay, stop talking, stop—oh, who was she kidding? That boy never shut his mouth! Focusing on her drawing, she bit her lip, and leaned back briefly to inspect it. Luckily no one was paying attention yet, and so she had time to adjust or cover up what she could to make it somewhat presentable.

But, it wasn't needed. Maya blinked as if her eyes were deceiving her, but the art remained in front of her. It was good...not to be said it was amazing, but—it could be classified as actual art. It appeared the game had changed for her.

"...c'mon don't you want to know more?" Zay asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Guys, can we just move on?" Farkle spoke up, a little tired of the relentless back and forth.

"Yah, he answered the question, so it's time to keep going," Riley agreed, hoping the change in topic would avoid the awkwardness that was sure to follow if Zay was allowed to keep going. As much as she wanted her friends to be happy, she had a feeling they wouldn't appreciate their secrets being blurted out in front of one another.

Speaking of which, how was Maya doing? Riley turned to look at her friend, and caught her staring at Lucas's forehead. She glanced at it too, and—oh.

"Peaches?" She breathed.

Maya snapped out of her daze. "Hmm?"

"That's amazing."

"Thanks." She swallowed, and capped the sharpie.

"...and Zay I don't care if you think you should tell "whoever" you're talking about—" Lucas noticed everyone staring at his forehead. "What?"

"Get him a mirror," Farkle suggested.

"Oh, no. How bad is it?" Lucas groaned.

"Why don't you just look at it?" Riley handed him a small hand mirror.

Lucas held it up to his face, and fell silent. Okay, so he wasn't expecting that. Instead of Texas themed icons; gorgeous mandalas, vines, and dots graced his skin. The art spread all across his forehead, down the bridge of his nose, and across his cheeks. How had she drawn all that so quickly?

"A little girly, but I like it." He grinned teasingly at the small girl next to him.

"So it fits," she smiled back sweetly.

"How were you able to do that, Maya?" Riley asked quietly.

Her grin faded, and she shook her head. "I don't know, honey. I've just had a bit more luck lately, I guess."

"Well, she is an artist, guys." Lucas shrugged. "They have skills, you know, and they can draw fast."

"That's not what we're talking about," Farkle sighed.

Zay and Lucas gave each other confused glances, and tried to decipher their other friend's words. What did they all know that they didn't, and why did it seem to be a silent secret between those three?

"Would you care to elaborate?" Zay cleared his throat.

"Oh, um..." Riley glanced at Maya who shrugged. "Our little artist here has been having some trouble being able to paint."

The blonde snorted. "That's an understatement, I haven't been able to paint for the last 3 months." she bit her lip before deciding to divulge her fortune at artwork earlier that day. "Well, except for the thing I was able to—"

Lucas looked at her, interrupting her sentence. "Is that why you got upset that day in art class? And why you destroyed all your paintings?"

"What?" Riley exclaimed, leaning forward as if not trusting her ears the first time.

Maya shot Lucas a look. "Great job, Huckleberry."

"You didn't tell her?" He scrunched his face in confusion.

"Obviously not." The brunette's face portrayed her hurt. "She doesn't tell me much of anything anymore."

"I thought you two made up." Zay pointed at the girls.

"We did. Don't you remember our discussion?" Riley let out a sigh of exasperation.

"What discussion?" Maya asked suspiciously.

"The one we had while you were gone," she answered without thinking.

Everyone grew still and froze in anticipation. What had she just done?

"Are you kidding me?" The small girl got up, clearly understanding everyone's silence. "You all went behind my back to talk about me? To figure out how to fix me? You know what, that's it. I'm leaving."

She didn't even try to hide her anger; she just stalked out the door, slamming it behind her. So much for talking to Lucas.

The aforementioned boy clenched his fists, his mind torn between two obligations. How was he supposed to choose between his friends and Maya, right now? Then the door creaked open, and everyone whipped their heads around. The blonde seethed as she stomped to the bedroom, grabbed her bag, and then made her way to the front door again. Lucas had to make a decision right then and there, here was his second chance…but was she right, though? Did she have a right to be mad, or was she just overreacting? Should he go after her, or stay with his other friends to figure out to fix it, fix her? Oh, no.

That decided his choice.

And as he left, everyone else remained in their statue like positions...because everyone recognized it, even if not to the full extent. They all knew in their hearts that Lucas's small decision had started something...and no one knew what it was. Only that it wasn't good.