A Hart

In Texas

Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here and this is essentially Tumblr inspired.

Summary: A little into her seventh grade year, Maya winds up moving away to Texas.

If Maya was being honest, and she really was, coming here to Austin, Texas pretty much sucked. As it was the last thing she ever even wanted to do since her life was back in New York with Riley, her family, and Farkle. Their mutual best friend and seriously smart guy. But lo and behold, her mother had wound up getting a job offer she couldn't refuse as it meant better pay and better hours. Which would allow them to start repairing their relationship as mother and daughter that had unintentionally been hurt due to how much Katy had had to work in order to support them. Riley's tears had brought her to tears and she hated crying since it made her feel weak. But the friendship ring her best friend had gotten her was a great gift as it would always help them to remember the other if they never saw one another again.

The new job her mom had gotten even included a nice house that had enough space for her, her mom, and Gammy Hart and was about a mile outside of Austin, Texas and near a few other houses in the area. Of course she was never letting Ginger outside as no telling what would happen to the little guy who was already thankfully inside the house with Gammy. As she went about taking boxes out of the U-Haul, footsteps could be heard from behind her but she didn't pay much mind to it as she was too focused on the task at hand. "Hello there lil lady and welcome to the neighborhood!"

The voice spooked Maya as she turned around quickly, only to see an older man with a white beard, what amounted to a cowboy outfit in her view, and a gut. "Jeez! Way to give somebody a heart attack!"

Laughter erupted from the old man after that. "My apologies then!"

"No offense, but you're kinda what I pictured in my head after I learned we were moving here."

Instead of taking offense, he just laughed and smiled at her. "Happy to help with the image, and if you don't mind my askin', what might your name be? Folks 'round here call me Pappy Joe."

"Maya Hart, folks back home call me Peaches. Well, Riley did anyway."

"Pleasure to meet ya Maya." Said the man as he hat tipped her and were he not so old, she probably would have rolled her eyes at the gesture but that would have been a little disrespectful. Bugging Matthews was one thing, but the older types was another.

Then again, were she ever around Matthews when he's an old man, she'd probably bug him just to rile him up like always cause he'd be like an exception to the whole thing. Pappy Joe took a look around before coming to a decision. "Y'all need some help with those boxes?"

Maya wasn't expecting that but she wasn't sure how to respond in a way that wouldn't seem rude since some of the boxes were pretty heavy and all. "Umm.. No offense but some of these are heavy and I don't want you um, you know… Hurting yourself."

Laughter erupted from the man over that and she guessed that must have been a good thing. After he finally stopped laughing, Pappy Joe told her that while he may look old, he could still do some heavy lifting from time to time when needed. The blonde was still a little unsure but she wouldn't be able to say anything as her mom showed up wondering what she was up to. "Oh! Helllo! I um, I didn't realize we had company!" Katy said in surprise.

"My apologies for keepin' your youngin' ma'am. Jest wanted to introduce muhself and even offer a little help with the boxes."

"Oh, well if you're sure as I don't want to keep you from anything." Katy was impressed by the kindness the old man was giving them as she wasn't quite expecting it since they were new to the area.

Pappy Joe smiled at her and told her he wasn't being kept from anything but sitting in his rocking chair. He then looked towards the road and let out a loud whistle. Several seconds later saw four boys on horses ride up. Three of them white and one being African American and they were all wearing blue jeans and boots while having different colored shirts on. "What's up Pappy Joe?" Asked the short haired blonde boy.

"These lil ladies are movin' in and could use a little help in doin' so Lucas."

"Oh, alright. Dylan, Asher, you two mind takin' the horses back over to the ranch real quick?"

"Yeah man, sure. We'll be back in a few." Spoke up the long black haired boy.

Lucas and the African American boy got off their horses and the other two boys grabbed the reins of the riderless horses and took them on over to the Friar Ranch. Coming up to the two girls, Lucas introduced himself and Maya would learn the other kid's name to be Isaiah or Zay as he liked to be called instead of his full name. "Well its great to meet you boys!" Called out Katy cheerfully.

"Y'know, you don't look like a Lucas to me." Maya said thoughtfully as she looked at him with a small smirk.

Something about him just made her think that way. Lucas stepped up to her curiously as the other three watched on in interest. Though an interesting thing happened once he got right in front of her as the two locked eyes and couldn't quite seem to look away. Zay being Zay couldn't help but make remarks about it, something Katy and Pappy Joe got a kick out of. Not that eithr of the two teenagers really paid it any attention. And after what seemed like a really long time of staring, Lucas snapped himself out of it and asked the girl what he seemed like to her then.

His question snapped her out of her trance as well. "Huh? Oh! Hmm.. Well, in my view of things. You… Look like a Huckleberry." Maya told him with a satisfied smirk that had the teenager gaping while Zay and Pappy Joe started laughing while Katy felt embarrassed by what her daughter had just said!

"Maya!"

"What? Its true! He looks like one!"

"Well ma'am, we all have our crosses to bear and if that's one fer me ta bear. Then I'll jest hafta bear it." Lucas told her with a grin as she frowned at him in annoyance.

Pointing a finger at him, she remarked that he wasn't playing it right and that she would break him. If anything, Lucas' grin got bigger. "Well if it makes ya happy, I look forward to seein' ya try. Ma'am." Replied the boy with a tip of his imaginary hat.

Maya let out a shudder that got even more laughter. "Okay you two, we've got work to do so yer flirtin' wiill have to wait a bit."

The two blushed over that and Lucas stepped away as they both denied that remark. Not that any of the three believed them of course. Afterwards, things got busy though there was plenty of banter to be heard and seen from Maya and Lucas as boxes were brought in and things slowly being set up so it wouldn't look so cluttered or at least given a start on for the days ahead. Eventually, it was time to stop for the day and Pappy Joe gave them some money to use at Chubbie's. Where Maya would meet Vanessa and learn of Zay's thing for her that unfortunately him was one sided but he kept trying regardless. By the time they got back, the girl from New York wasn't feeling as sad anymore about having to leave New York.

As it seemed she wound up finding herself some new friends to hang around with. Well, she wouldn't claim the Huckleberry as a friend, but more of a project in the works that she wanted to eventually succeed in breaking. Heck, it helped that Vanessa was pretty cool herself as well. And as they hung out in Pappy Joe's living room watching some old movie, Maya couldn't help but have one thought. Ya know… This might not be so bad after all.

A thought that would prove itself right in the days to come as she got closer to her new friends and in particular a certain Huckleberry. Who she would learn had something of a temper and they all learned nicely enough that she seemed to have a knack for talking him out of doing things he'd be likely to regret. Riley and Farkle would always be pretty captivated by the stories as well when she was able to call them from time to time.

Author's Notes: May there be much enjoyment of this! Reviews and prompts are always welcomed and encouraged as well! Took me awhile to write out this one but I think it came out nicely enough. Which is always good. And are we seriously getting another break between episodes again?