"So, what is your primary reason for choosing NYU? Academics, location, or other?" Ellie, Josh's tour guide from NYU, asked as she wrote down Josh's responses.

"Uh, well, it was academics. But now it's other," Josh flirted, smiling at Ellie in the bakery booth.

He had to be the first to admit that she was stunning and he'd gotten incredibly lucky to have her as his guide around campus. Plus, ever since the winter formal debacle, Josh had been off his game. Sophie ended up finding another date to the winter formal last minute and they started going out not long after.

"I can't believe you'd let Farkle be your first date so Lucas can be mine," Riley said, hugging Maya as they walked into Svorski's. Maya truly was the best friend ever to be making that type of sacrifice for her.

"Riles, I'm not gonna look at it as a first date. We hang out with Farkle all the time. This is just more hanging out," Maya insisted. There was no way she was going to consider this little outing as her first date. Her first date would be with someone she actually had feelings for.

"But Farkle thinks it's date," Riley pointed out.

"Then this is just more Farkle thinking it's a date," Maya shrugged. There were multiple times where Farkle had misconstrued them hanging out as a date. This wouldn't be any different.

"Then does that mean that my first date with Lucas isn't actually a date?" Riley questioned, starting to get into her own head. If Maya wasn't on a date with Farkle, but it was supposed to be a double date with her and Lucas, did that mean hers was no longer a date?

"No, no, your date with Lucas is serious right-of-passage, coming-of-age, growing-up stuff," Maya assured her friend.

"Should I be scared?"

Maya laughed at the thought. "Of Ranger Rick? Sure, Honey you be scared as you like." Riley laughed along with Maya until she saw who was behind her best friend. She knew Josh was out with his tour guide for the day, but she hadn't realized how cozy and intimate the setting was. He even looked to be flirting with her. His tour guide was a pretty girl and Riley knew that if Maya saw this she would lose it. "Well, I don't think you need to be anywhere near that scared." Riley had gone pale and quiet, concerning Maya.

"We have to go." Riley grabbed Maya's hand urging her out of the bakery.

"Why? We just got here." Maya almost turned around to see what Riley was hiding. Riley took Maya by the shoulders to face her.

"Maya, please. Do you trust me?" Whenever Josh was with a girl, it broke Maya's heart. Riley didn't want her best friend to be heartbroken again. This was supposed to be a happy day and Riley wouldn't be able to enjoy herself if Maya couldn't.

"More than anyone in the world."

"Then don't turn around."

"Okay, if you say not to, I won't"

"Let's go."

Riley and Maya headed for the front door of the bakery. "Oh, wait, I forgot. I'm still me," Maya said, blatantly ignoring Riley out of her own curiosity. When she turned around and saw Josh with that college girl, Maya paused. She'd seen Josh out with girls more times than she'd like to admit. However, each time didn't seem to make the pain lessen. "You know what the best thing is about going out with Farkle?"

"What?" Riley asked.

"No matter what happens I won't get hurt."

"How do I look, mom?" Riley asked, twirling in her dress.

"Like your father won't let you out of the house," Topagna said, getting teary-eyed. She was absolutely beautiful.

"Good," Riley smiled. "Do you remember your first date with dad?"

Topanga gazed off into the distance as she recalled her entire relationship with Cory. "Oh, we were two years old and we played in the playground. No, we were eight and we caught fireflies. No, we were in sixth grade and we kissed against the lockers. No, we threw socks into the laundry basket. No, he fell into a llama pen at the zoo, No, that was his first date with Shawn."

"What about your first date with Uncle Shawn, Aunt Katy?" Riley asked Katy.

Katy and Maya had come over to help get ready for the girls double date. And while Riley was finishing up. Maya was hiding herself in Riley's walk-in-closet, so she could delay the double date as much as possible.

Katy paused and looked at Topanga for help. There were a few key details she would have to omit for Riley and possibly Maya. Maya and Riley were both aware that Katy and Shawn weren't married when Maya was born. The girls were in attendance at the wedding, but neither of the girls were aware of the fact that they hadn't started dating until after Maya was born. Shawn and Katy decided to wait until they were together to fully explain the situation to Maya in a year or two.

"We went out to dinner," Katy briefly said, omitting the fact that the dinner was supposed to be at a restaurant, but Maya had gotten a cold, so Shawn made dinner at home that night and they watched a movie instead.

"Well. I am really excited for my first date," Riley commented.

"Oh, what girl wouldn't be?" Topanga implored, straightening Riley's hair.

Maya opened Riley's closet door to reveal herself. She did not want anyone to see her get ready. They would ask her questions and Maya wasn't in the mood for that today. "All right, let's get this thing over with," Maya said.

"Baby girl," Katy said, covering her hands over her mouth. Maya was actually wearing a dress and she had even curled her hair. No wonder it took her so long to emerge from the closet. Katy honestly under the impression that Maya would come out in a t-shirt and jeans. "You look beautiful."

"For someone who does not care you do look pretty," Riley commented. Maya put in a lot more effort than Maya had led Riley to believe for this non-date.

"Yeah, I just figured even though I'm not counting this as a first date it seems like it's a pretty big deal for Farkle, so I wanted to give him at least eighty-four percent," Maya said.

"Good," Riley smiled. "So you're feeling better about Josh?"

"What happened with Josh?" Topanga asked, starting to get worried. Did something bad happen to her son? He was sick a couple weeks ago and had finally started to feel better last week. Did his cold come back? Topanga hadn't seen him all day since he went off to meet with his NYU tour guide. The not knowning what was going on was killing her.

"He was with a girl," Riley explained to her mom and Aunt Katy to relieve both of them. The two older women were aware of Maya's crush and though they knew Josh didn't feel the same way, it still made them feel bad because Maya was hurting.

"He's just another lump of coal I'll bury deep in my dungeon of sadness next to my ballerina dreams," Maya admitted without any feeling. After she saw Josh with the girl, something new happened. She just felt numb more than anything else.

"Maya, I didn't know that you dreamed of being a ballerina," Katy said. If she knew her daughter wanted to be a ballerina, she would have signed her up for classes when she was younger.

"I don't. I dream of ballerinas kicking me with their point toes while they're stabbing me in the face with their bun heads," Maya explained.

"Oh. Well, you look great," Topanga said. "Why don't we head downstairs so your fathers can see you girls dressed up?"

Shawn had brought his camera to mark the event and had instructed his wife and Topanga to make sure the girls didn't bail on them before they went out on their date.

Katy and Topanga came down the stairs as Cory and Shawn stood at the opposite side of the living room with Auggie and Ava waiting for the girls' arrival.

"Come on girls," Katy called as she walked towards her husband with Topanga.

Riley hopped into the living room first with the biggest smile on her face. Though Cory still wasn't pleased with the situation, the happiness on his daughter's face was irreplaceable. "What do you think, Dad?" Riley asked.

Cory could have gone off on a rant about how she was still too young to date, but he decided not to tonight. "I think you look just like your mother," Cory admitted. In his mind, getting compared to Topanga was a compliment since she was the perfect woman.

"Cory," Topanga gushed. Sometimes he just knew the right things to say.

"Okay, now where's my daughter at?" Shawn asked, trying to coax Maya out from her hiding spot in the stairwell.

"Can we just get this over with," Maya said, exasperatedly. Shawn, like his wife and Riley, had not expected Maya to go full out for her date with Farkle. She stood awkwardly with her arms crossed over her chest while she shuffled her feet. Shawn couldn't help but get teary-eyed at the sight of his daughter in a dress. She looked so grown-up. "Dad, are you crying?"

"No," Shawn lied, quickly dispelling any and all tears from his face. "I just had something in my eye."

"What? Tears?" Maya teased.

"Quiet you," Shawn ordered, raising his camera. "Now, shush and let me take a few pictures of you girls."

"What if I get nervous and I have nothing to say?" Farkle rambled on. He dreamed for years about taking either Riley or Maya out on a date, but never actually expected one of them to say yes. As he was getting ready that night, the possibility had dawned on him that he would make a complete fool out of himself. Though this was a double date, Farkle still wanted to impress Maya.

"Farkle, Riley and Maya are our friends, we've been together all year and you haven't run out of things to say yet. And if you do, I'll be right here to-" Lucas encouraged his friend. He had lost his train of thought when he caught the sight of the two girls walking into the subway station.

"What's the matter?" Farkle asked, turning around to see what had captivated Lucas' attention. And the sight most certainly captivated Farkle's as well. "Oh my gosh, look at Maya. She's giving me like eighty-four percent. I expected a cat t-shirt and sweatpants, but look at her." When Maya got closer he called out to her. "Hey Maya, let's run towards each other in slow motion." Farkle acted out his slow motion run towards her and slowly said her name like they were in a movie.

"No," Maya halted any further action of Farkle's

Farkle relaxed himself out of his slow motion state and tried to reason with Maya. "Come on, you know you want to."

"Farkle, Who else would-" Maya got sidetracked when see noticed Riley mimicking Farkle's movements, however they were directed at Lucas rather than her. She had to stop Riley before she made a fool out of herself like Farkle did. "Stop."

Lucas walked towards Riley to greet her. "Hi."

"Hi," Riley replied.

"I thought I was going to be too nervous to say anything, but I'm not. I'm talking really good. I'm a good day talker. I'm the best day talker there is," Farkle interjected as his voice started to speed up halfway through the conversation.

"Even though this just happened, there are some moments you know you're gonna remember forever. This is one of them," Lucas admitted to Riley. He knew he would never forget his first date with Riley. Riley Matthews was one of those people you just couldn't forget.

"I'm the second-best day talker there is," Farkle continued to ramble. "Oh, the train's coming." Farkle even mimicked the sound of the horn as the subway car went by.

Embarrassed and trying to protect the dignity of herself and Farkle, Maya urged everyone inside the train fast before Farkle could make a bigger fool of himself.

Once settled, the girls held onto one pole and the guys held onto the one across from them. Taking in the scenery, Maya and Riley couldn't help but spot who was sitting only a few feet over from where they stood.

"Well, this concludes our tour of the NYU area. I hope you'll enjoy the summer program," Ellie said, organizing her papers and handing some over to Josh.

"Yeah, and I hope we can enjoy some together," Josh flirted. He'd been flirting with her all day and he thought that she might have been into him.

"Well, I'm sure I'll see you around," Ellie chuckled. That wasn't the response Josh had been expecting. Did he miss something?

"Wait a minute, um, I thought-" Josh began.

"What?" Ellie asked.

"I thought we were kind of-"

"What?"

"Getting along. I mean, weren't you smiling a lot at me and stuff?"

"I'm a tour guide, Josh. It's my job to be nice to high school kids." Ellie stood up with her papers and bag in hand and tried to exit out the train, but Josh stopped her for a moment.

"Ellie, Ellie," Josh called. He had stood up to get her attention, but sat back down once he attained it. "Um, I thought we connected pretty well."

"I'm going to be a junior, Junior. I got a couple years on you don't I?" This wasn't the first time high school kids, who were touring the campus, had hit on her and she'd delivered them the same line over and over again.

"What's three years? You think three years matters at our age?" Josh couldn't believe he sounded so desperate once the words had left his mouth. He hadn't really found any girls interesting since Sophie and he was very much attracted to Ellie.

"Yeah, I do," Ellie said, leaving Josh in the train alone.

Maya, who had watched from afar the entire time, oddly enough felt bad for Josh. He just slumped down in his seat looking defeated. She should have been happy, right? The girl who was a threat to her had shot Josh down. Maya easily could have taunted this information in Josh's face, but more than anything it seemed like he needed a friend.

Getting the silent approval from Riley, Maya departed the group momentarily and walked towards Josh. "Maya?" Josh asked, looking up from his seat. He hadn't expected her to be there and truth be told, he didn't even recognize her at first. She was dressed so differently. Not bad, but different.

"She pulled the three-years-older thing on you, huh?" Maya asked.

Josh chuckled seeing the irony in the situation. Well karma had to catch up with him a some point. "Yeah, yeah. I really put myself out there," Josh admitted.

"Oh, I'm sure I couldn't possibly identify with your pain," Maya commented, taking the free seat next to Josh. "Cavemen? Footprints? Hold hands?"

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Josh asked. After being rejected by Ellie, he felt like he understood Maya more. Ellie only rejected him once over the age difference while Josh had been using it for years against Maya. He couldn't imagine how she felt after getting repeatedly shot down.

"A little bit, yeah," Maya admitted. She would never have told anyone that each rejection from Josh hurt like a knife in her heart, but over the years she learned how to cope and push those feelings deep down.

"How do you deal with it?"

"Well, me, I've got this dungeon of sadness."

"Oh yeah? You got me in there?"

"Oh yeah. You and a whole flock of ballerinas."

Josh genuinely laughed. Who would have guessed that it would be Maya who would be the one to cheer him up. "So what are you doing here anyway?" Josh asked.

"Double date," Maya explained. "It was your father's brilliant idea. The only way he would let Riley go out with Huckleberry was if Farkle and I tagged along."

Josh was not at all surprised by his father's plan. Cory Matthews was not the type to give up so easily without a compromise or a fight. "Well, if it counts for anything, I think you look gorgeous," Josh complimented.

Maya's heart skipped a beat, but tried to push away her excitement. "You're just saying that 'cause I made you feel all guilty and stuff," Maya reasoned.

"Maybe, but it's the truth," Josh said. Josh couldn't help but notice that Maya looked beautifully dressed up for her double date. He had chosen the word gorgeous to describe her because that was the first one that came to mind. Josh wasn't an idiot, Maya was a gorgeous girl. He was sure by the time she'd reach high school, guys would be lining down the block for a date. "Well, I gotta go. I'll see you later tonight."

Josh figured that Maya would be back at his place after her first date since Shawn and Katy were probably anxiously waiting for the girls' return with his parents. He'd talk to her later and ask how the date went, She was supposed to be out with his friends, not moping around with him.

Josh left the train and Maya sat for a moment taking it all in as she smiled to herself. Josh called her gorgeous. It was the first time he'd ever call her something along those lines. Maybe the times were a changing after all. Maybe someday, during the long game, Maya stood a fighting chance with Josh.

"Lucas?" Riley asked. She had a lovely time with Lucas thus far, but she could tell by the expression on Maya's face that she needed to be there for her.

Lucas looked between Riley and Maya. Even on a date, he still couldn't tear those two apart. "Go over there, Riley. Be with your best friend," Lucas encouraged.

"What about our date?" Riley asked. She felt guilty bailing on Lucas for Maya, since it was a long road just to get here.

"I had a good time," Lucas said. And honestly, he had a great time with her. They would just have to do this again some other time.

"I'm glad you were my first date," Riley admitted, before departing to meet with Maya.

"What happened to your date?" Maya questioned.

"We had a good time and then my best friend got all needy," Riley teased.

"Yeah, I know how that goes. Thanks for being there for me." She had wanted to tell Riley the revelation about Josh calling her gorgeous, but Maya thought that she could keep that one to herself for a little while longer.

"Hey, I'm sure you'll make it up to me someday."

"How about now?" Maya pulled Riley up to her feet and pushed her in the direction of Lucas like she had done many months prior.

"Again?" Riley smiled, losing her balance and once again falling into Lucas' lap. "Hi, I'm Riley. We were just talking about you."

Lucas laughed at the déjà vu. "I'm Lucas," he reintroduced himself.

"I love it," Riley complimented. "You know those moments that you were talking about that we're going to remember forever?"

"Yeah?"

Riley grabbed Lucas by the face and, pulling a page out of Maya's book of courage, she leaned in and kissed him. It wasn't a long kiss or a short one. It was perfect, just like Riley had envisioned. And the smile marked on Lucas' face when she had broke away only solidified that he'd felt the same.