Spanking of minors. Don't like. Don't read.

Season 1 Episode 1 Part 6

The next morning, Maya woke up early to make sure that she didn't see Katy on the way out the door. She figured that Katy probably wouldn't wake up anyway. She walked into the Matthews apartment and put her game face on to be able to answer the questions she was sure were coming.

"Hey!" Topanga called, "Right on time." She set a plate with toast and jam down on the table. Maya went and sat down.

"How'd it go?" Cory asked, reluctant to know the answer.

"It went fine; I went home and went to bed." Maya told them.

Topanga tried not to look disbelieving. "No arguments?"

Maya wondered briefly if Katy had called and said something to them. Her eyes scanned her face or a moment, "Nope, just straight to bed."

Topanga walked around the table and hugged her, "Good job, Honey."

The kids left for school, and Maya was distracted throughout the day, trying to decide what her best course of action would be for after the bell rang. At first, she wanted to go to the Matthews, but she knew there would be too many questions to answer. Also, while she had been respectful to her teachers a few of them had called her out for being spacey, and she was sure that they would let at least Cory know, if not both of the Matthews. Her other option, of course, was to just not go home. She doubted that Katy would tell on her, but she wasn't sure of this new dynamic, though.

At the end of the day, she heard her name called out, "Maya, hang back." Riley gave her a searching look as she left with Farkle.

Maya sighed but waited for everyone to leave and then approached his desk. "Yes, sir?"

Cory looked at the top of the blonde head. "Maya, look up at me, please." Maya met his gaze, "What's the matter, honey?"

"Nothing, I need to go home and get a jump start on this homework." Maya told him.

"You were off at breakfast, and a couple of your teachers spoke to me today ..."

"I listened to all of them and did all my work!" She rushed. "I wasn't disrespectful, I promise!"

Cory held his hand up to stop her, "They just said you had a hard time focusing, Maya."

"I will apologize tomorrow." Maya said quickly.

Cory scooted his chair out from behind his desk, "Come here, Maya."

Maya was worried that he would spank her right here at school, but she reluctantly walked over to him. "Am I in trouble?"

Cory pulled the little girl into a hug, "It's okay to have an off day, honey, you aren't in trouble for that. I just want to know if there is anything that I can help you with."

"I'm fine, Mr. Matthews, I promise." Maya told him.

He sighed but didn't know what else to do, "Alright. I will see you at breakfast tomorrow."

Maya nodded and darted out the door. She decided that the best place for her to go would be home and that she shouldn't press her luck. As she opened the front door, she braced herself to be in an instant argument with her mom, but the apartment was empty. She looked in her moms room and the bathroom before going back into the kitchen. There was a note on the fridge telling her that her mom had picked up an extra shift and that the sandwich was still in the fridge. Maya thought about what to do with her phone but settled on leaving it on the microwave. She went to her room and pulled out her homework to do. She made a good dent on her science makeup and fell asleep at the table.

She heard the front door open and groggily looked up. "What happened to the 930 bedtime?" Katy slurred, and Maya instantly knew she had been drinking. Her eyes traveled to the microwave to see that it was a little after 2 AM.

"I was doing my homework, and I guess I fell asleep."

Katy looked the girl up and down with slight disgust. Maya remembered this. That this was her life, not the warm, comfortable bed in Rileys room or home cooked meals every night, with someone helping with her homework. Her life was her mother coming home late and drunk, being screamed at and then ignored. Katy was rarely violent, and Maya was always thankful for that, but her moms voice was growing that edge. She thought about how she slept in class because of the many nights she spent waiting up anxiously for Katy. "I'm surprised you aren't with your new parents."

Maya stood up, "I'm going to bed. Let me just clean this up." She started to gather the papers and put them into her backpack.

"No." Katy told her. "Come watch TV with me." She pulled a beer and the turkey sandwhich out of the fridge.

Maya looked again at the clock. She didn't need another day of her teachers complaining about her. On the other hand, her moms tone was on the dangerous side. She set her backpack by the door and went to join her mom on the couch. She worked hard not to nod off as she waited for Katy to fall asleep. When her mom finally did nod off, she laid a blanket gently over her mom, checked the clock, it was close to five, but any sleep was good sleep. She crawled into bed and noted that it would only be three more nights of this before she could sleep soundly at Rileys.

Her alarm went off too early for her taste, but she got out of bed and got ready for her day. She crept past her mom on the way out the door.

When she walked through the door to the Matthew's house, she was exhausted and not sure she was going to be able to handle a whole day of school. "Are you sick?" Riley asked right away.

"No, I'm fine." Maya said, putting her backpack down by the door.

"Come eat, maybe that will give you some energy." Cory suggested, looking worriedly from his wife to the girl.

Maya came and sat down at the table and chowed down. "Whoa..." Topanga said, jumping up to get the girl more eggs. "There's more, Maya. You can slow down, lovely."

Maya slowed down. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry! I eat a lot too! Mommy says I'm growing strong." He held his arms out to show his muscles.

Maya laughed, "Good point, those look like strong arms."

"Did you eat dinner last night, lovely?" Topanga asked gently.

"Uh yeah..." She said softly. "I had a turkey sandwhich."

"And everything went good last night?" Cory pressed.

"Yes. I think I will be able to finish my science work today." Maya said triumphantly.

"Great job!" Cory praised.

"What do you have left?" Topanga asked.

"Then tomorrow I can finish the last two English essays, and I will be all caught up!" Maya cheered, finding a bit of energy after her second plate of eggs.

"Hey, congrats!" Cory praised.

Maya smiled shyly, "You were right. Breakfast did help."

"Maybe you can take a nap after school." Topanga told her.

"Then I won't finish my school work on time." Maya said, slightly panicked.

"You don't have to Lovely, it was just a suggestion."

"Where is your phone?" Cory asked, realizing she didn't hand it over.

Maya looked panicked for a second, "I...I left it on the microwave! I promise!"

"Hey, we believe you! Just try to grab it next time. It's not safe to be walking around New York without it." Cory told her gently.

"Sorry," Maya tried to laugh off her extreme behavior. She was tired and on edge, but at least she wasn't hungry anymore. "We have to get going."

Riley jumped up with her friend, and they both took off. Maya worked hard to stay focused and not fall asleep in class that day. She stayed with Cory and did her school work, went home and did her chores, and true to her word, she finished her science homework. At 845, Katy came to pick her up. Instead of putting her to bed, though, she dropped Maya off and then left again. Too tired to fight it, Maya went in and fell asleep.

Around 130, Katy stumbled in and woke up Maya, who stayed up with her until she fell asleep around 4. Wednesday night ran the same, the Maya getting minimal sleep. She was starting to be too anxious in the mornings to fall back asleep, so she just laid in bed waiting for her alarm to go off.

Thursday night, her mother came home yelling and slamming doors. That was never a good sign. When Maya padded out to the living room, she saw her mom standing there holding a glass of water that Maya had left on the table before going to bed. Katy threw the glass, and it shattered on the wall behind Maya. Maya felt a piece of the glass cut her arm, she didnt flinch, though. "I pay for you to have this roof over your head and these things, but you can't even clean up after yourself!" She shouted. Maya booked it back to her room and locked herself in. She could hear Katy still shouting and did the only thing she knew to do and slipped out of her window. She had grabbed her backpack, and thankfully, she had left her phone in it. She knew texting Riley was a long shot, so when a response didn't come, she wasn't surprised. She crawled up to her window but was also unsurprised to find it locked at 2AM. She hesitated for a moment and then knocked. She watched Riley stir but not wake up, so she knocked again. Riley still didn't wake up. Maya figured she would knock one more time before thinking of something else. As she was knocking the third time, Rileys door opened, and soon Cory was opening the window and pulling her in. He gently shushed her and led her down the hall to his room, where Topanga was sitting up in bed, with a clearly worried Auggie.

"You did hear something, bubba, but it was just Maya." Cory told his son.

"Why is she here so late?" Auggie asked, standing up on the bed, to allow his father to carry him back to his own bed.

"I don't know yet." Cory told the boy as he carried him out.

Topanga got out of bed and pulled Maya in close to her, "What happened?" She withdrew her hand when it felt wet, "Why are you bleeding, Maya?"

Maya bit her lip, "I'm tired. Can we talk about it tomorrow?"

Topanga looked at the clearly exhausted girl in front of her and nodded. "Let's clean you up first." She took her into the bathroom and washed and bandaged the small cut. Cory came in a moment later with clean PJs for Maya and said he would sleep in Auggies room.

Topanga waited outside her bathroom door for Maya to change and then lead the girl back to her bed and crawled in with her. Wrapping her in her arms so that she knew that she was safe.