"Nature" Mr. Matthews hits the board with a stick
"Makes us sneeze, puts us in the infirmary. Nature" he hits it again.
"What's he got against nature?"
"Isn't he running the Nature Club?" Riley smiles
"He's only running the Nature Club because it was either that or the Ski Club"
"So why didn't he choose the Ski Club?"
"He can't run the Ski Club because of what happened and the Mount Sun Lodge when they were our age" Mr. Matthews repeats his action
"Nature. The only place a bear can kill ya from. Nature"
"Well, what happened at the ski lodge?" Zay asks
"A mountain girl kissed him" Mr. Matthews replies, clearly irritated
"I didn't kiss her back"
"Nature!" I say, trying to imitate him while slamming my hands on the desk
"How 'bout I throw you back in the street where ya came from, you waif?" Woah, very offensive, especially from him. I know he didn't mean those words but they still hurt
"Those were very bad times for Cory and Topanga, but everything's fine now, except we can't ski ever or say 'ski' or walk downhill"
"So why is he all upset with nature?"
"Guess where the hike is" Smakle raises her hand
"The Mount Sun Lodge"
"Nature!" This time the stick breaks
"What are you doing, Dad?"
"The ski lodge was almost the end of Cory and Topanga, America's sweethearts. And now, I know something's gonna happen there for you. So, I am preparing ya... for nature!" he throws the remaining part of his stick away
"We're just going up to see the leaves change color"
"Nature puts on a great show when it wants to"
"Indeed, Zay"
"The leaves seem to scream out... 'Hey, look at me!' 'You think I'm pretty!'
"But I'm actually dead"
"The preceding was brought to you by the Smarkle Corporation"
"Explaining big concepts with little words for you" Well, thank you for explaining to me how nature works: you live, you die
"All right, before we get on the bus, I want to talk to you guys about the other kind of nature. The human kind" please tell me he won't give us 'the talk'
"Here it comes"
"Ohh, I've been on these kind of trips before. We made our plans, we had our blueprints. Well, you know what's gonna happen to all your little teenage plans? Nothin'!"
"Why not?!"
"Because I am gonna be your chaperone, and I will be doggin' you every step like a dog" I raise my eyebrows
"What makes you think we're like that, Matthews?" he points at Yobi
"Get a load of Yogi and Darby over here"
"Uh, they go by Yoby now"
"Yeah. Didn't you see their ad in the school newspaper?" they show him the article
"Well..." he chuckles
"It's not Yoby I'm worried about anyway. Yoby's forever. It's this three-headed, creeping triangle that won't die that concerns me" I sigh
"Why do you have to..." I continue
"Bring that up..." Lucas finishes
"For?"
"Because the triangle is going to the great outdoors. So, we are gonna need some great chaperons" I look up at him
"We got this completely under control, Matthews. My human nature is completely under control and there's nothin' or nobody who could ever change that" After I finish my sentence Elliot, Josh and Ms. Matthews come in
"Hey, kiddies" the two boys say in unison, making me giggle nervously
"I'm wrong" Riley sighs, she already knows what's going on
"Here we go" I chuckle, okay Maya, play it cool
"You're my chaperone"
"I invited them" Ms. Matthews say enthusiastically and I smile at her
"I love you!"
"I'm coming too"
"I invited her. I'm smart. We'll be watching over you"
"As you may know, my name is Elliot and I'm the captain of the school's football team
"And my name's Josh, we'll be with you all day and all night" Elliot points at all of us
"So no monkey business" I softly laugh before starting to imitate a monkey, yeah, I can't help it.

*During the buss ride*

"We're here, Maya! Look!" Riley points outside her window and I smile when I look at the cottage. This is gonna be awesome!
"Yeah" I stand up get our bags
"Can you believe it, Maya? A ski lodge!" I chuckle as we start going off the bus
"Be careful to the stair, Riley" her brother warns her
"Thank you, I didn't notice it"
"You're welcome" he walks past us with his bag, which crashes against me, making me fall off the bus.
Ouch! That hurt!
"Oh my gosh Maya, are you okay?" I nod even though my ankle hurts like hell
"Yeah Huckleberry, I'm fine"
"Let me help you" Lucas and Elliot say in unison and glare at each other
"Don't you think you've done enough?"
"I wanna help"
"Guys, I'm fine, look..." I stand up but immediately regret it. My left ankle hurts too much. I can't handle the weight so I stumble and trip over myself. Luckily they catch me on time
"I've got you" I smile
"Thanks"
"Let's get you inside and figure out what happened" they help me walk inside the cottage. Great, now I won't be able to do anything I planned to. I notice a bay window on the and smile instantly
"Bay window! Bay window right now" I nod at Riley's request
"Can you guys get me over there?" they nod and help me sit down
"Thank you"
"No problem. Now I have to find someone to help you. See ya" I wave at Elliot while Lucas sits next me
"Hey, did anyone else feel like Mr. Matthews' nature lecture was completely pointed at us?"
"Isn't everything?"
"Hey, we put the brakes on the whole triangle thing so that Maya could find herself"
"Yes. I needed to find myself, you Cactus Pete Huckleberry horseback-ridin' Ranger Rick. Huh hugghhrr, huh hugghhrr, huh hugghhrr-hugghhrr!" he nods
"And she's back"
"And we're back on"
"Yeah, except for one other thing" he looks at our chaperones. Oh no, I already know there's no way I'm gonna end up with one of them, it's impossible. I grab him his hoodie
"Hey, Boing has nothing to do with this, okay? He's just a fantasy. You don't go out with a fantasy. You only think about him all the time. What's the matter with you? And Mr. Football and I decided to be just friends. Got it?"
"Yeah, I'm real messed up" I sigh and let go of him.
"Okay, while Elliot, Cory and Topanga are checking us in, let me welcome you all to Mount Sun Lodge, where we are here to turn our thoughts away from our indoor relationships and towards our relationships with the outdoors" has Josh realized that the room is filled by couples?
"Yeah, I don't think so, Cub Scout" Topanga sighs when she reads the signboard
"You brought them here on Couples Weekend?!"
"Of course I did" Zay starts reading it out loud
"Nature Sez: Tree's A crowd"
"Huh"
"Moonlight Walk: Triangle Trail" I nod
"Huh"
"Riley, Maya, Lucas: Enough Already!" Farkle laughs at himself
"Huh"

*After the first hike, Maya remained inside*

I'm so bored, someone please save me. I've been alone for so long, I need someone to talk to! I'm just watching the leaves die! I can't even imagine how much fun the others are having right now! The only thing that I've done is being visited by a doctor who put a stupid boot on my foot, apparently I sprained my ankle just because of that stupid fall. The front door opens, revealing Ms. Matthews, meaning that the hike is over, finally!
"I'm sorry you had to miss the first hike, Maya" I smile
"It's fine Ms. Matthews, I just watched the leaves die"
"I'm sure you'll find something entertaining to do"
"I hope so" she smiles sympathetically at me and walks away
"You two stay away from each other!" Elliot and Josh shout at Yogi and Darby while trying to separate them. Everyone knows that they're like glue, they can't be separated. I see my friends coming in and stand up
"How was it?" Lucas sighs
"It went well until Elliot decided to went after Farkle after he wandered off the trail, almost killing himself" my heart stops beating for a split second.
"Hey guys! Maya, is everything okay?" I nod and walk up to him
"Yes, Elliot, I'm fine. Are you okay?" he frowns when I start checking him
"Yeah, why?"
"We were telling her what you did earlier"
"You could've been killed!" he sighs
"Farkle"
"He saved my life"
"What happened exactly?" I take a few steps back after making sure that he's okay
"I was chasing a rare Achemon Sphinx Moth for my collection. I have one. He was flying around like he was taunting me, and no one taunts Farkle! I grabbed him out of the air, looked him in the eye, and said, 'Achemon? Ache-mine!'" Isadora chuckles
"Now tell them what really happened, honey"
"He tricked me. He flew over there, and I went after him and slipped off the edge of the trail. I was hanging on by a tree branch. I was hanging by my fingertips. Elliot tears off, jumps up, and saves me" I look at Lucas
"What were you doing?"
"I was saving Smackle" I frown
"What happened to you?"
"I was all, 'Help, Lucas. Help'"
"All while Farkle was hanging from a tree?!" Okay Maya, don't freak out
"No, every chance I get"
"What about you?" I ask my best friend
"I-I panicked. I didn't know what to do"
"Well, at the end of the day we're all okay" Elliot pats Riley's and my back and I cup his face
"No, Elliot. You could've gotten seriously injured"
"Come on, Maya, I'm fine, okay? Gotta go now. Bye" he kisses my head and hugs his sister before walking away and Smakle, Farkle and Zay follow him.
"Are you okay?" Lucas asks me when we sit on the bay window with Riley
"I'm always okay"
"Maya-"
"I'm serious. I just sat here and watched the leaves die. It was... entertaining, somehow"
"This triangle has to die right now" Riley blurts out
"What? Why?"
"How? We've tried before"
"Yeah. But this time, there's something stronger. Seasons change. It's nature. And nature knows that it's time for the triangle to die" we stand up to join the others at the fire place
lOkay, triangle over. Our mothers told us that you made a choice"
"Yeah, I did, but this shouldn't be my choice. It should be a decision that we all make" I roll my eyes
"I got no pride. Just flip a coin. Let's get a pizza" at this point I'd rather get hurt than continue with this
"Movie night!"
"Movie night!" Lucas repeats after Josh
"Coward!"
"I know"
"All right, we got a bunch to pick from, so let's see what we got here"
"I want a spy thriller. Two spies in love with lots of danger"
"Why does it always gotta be danger with you" Riley gasps
"Romance! I want to cry my eyes out! Boy meets girl, boy stays with girl, nothing bad happens. The end"
"Okay, so dangerous life with you and crying my eyes out with you. That's what we got here? No other choices?" Elliot slightly laughs
"Oh, believe me, the story of your lives is better than whatever we got here"
"Okay, well, if we're actually gonna decide this, then we should imagine what our lives would be like together" I nod
"Okay" I start imagining our lives. Two spies. Action! Purple cat! ....purple cat?
"I got a little something to say. This isn't how it would be!" I roll my eyes at Riley
"You're just jealous that our lives together would be action and adventure and Lucas and I would save the world
"You'd... you'd tear each other into pieces" I notice that everything is looking at us
"What are y'all looking at?"
"You. We've been watching this thing for the past two years"
"Wanna see how it ends"
"You think we'd tear each other to pieces?"
"Yeah, I can see it" Lucas replies instead of her and I grab him by his hoodie again
"Stop helping her"
"This doesn't need any help. I know you two. I know how this ends" she smirks.
Seriously? We'd destroy the world? Oh, please
"Maya, we'd rather argue with each other than save the world" I sigh cause I don't really feel like arguing
"Wah-wah"
"Well, there's a new world now. My world. And it's fabulous"
"Yeah? What's it look like?" I start imagining their lives together. A nightmare. They'd be happy for sure, but too dependent on each other, making their relationship toxic. So I come up with a plan and Riley groans
"What could you have possibly come up with?" I grin
"Oh, nothing. Except everybody's gonna be dead"
"Why does everybody always have to be dead?"
"I will show you" I smile at what I'm thinking about: everyone is dead and all I have to do to get Boing's attention is get rid of everybody else in real life
"Wait, no, stop. None of that is what's going to happen. We care about each other too much to let anything like that happen, right?"
"I hope so"
"We do"
"So, I hope you guys aren't looking for some big fight... 'Cause there isn't gonna be one" everyone whimpers and Zay stands up from the couch
"But we wanted one!" Farkle stands up too
"They already said there isn't gonna be one"
"But I wanted one!"
"You wanna have one?!"
"Yeah!"
"No" Farkle leaves and Zay chuckles
"Boy, that was a quick one"
"Maybe my dad was right. Maybe we can't decide this. Maybe only nature can, because nature is what's stronger than us"
"So our lives are just gonna depend on whatever nature decides to do with us?"
"Or what we do with our human nature. Aren't we smart enough to know what to do?
"I believe we are"
"You know what? She's right. No matter what we decide, this is our world and it's only the right decision if we stay friends" I bite my lip
"We can control that, right?" Mr. Matthews smirks
"Actually, this brings up an interesting question. Who is in control of your life?"
"I am! Now go to bed. Lesson over" We follow Ms. Matthews order and stand up
"Maya, you want help up the stairs?" Elliot asks me and I shake my head in denial
"Not really tired. Ms. Matthews?"
"Yes, Maya?"
"Is it okay if I stay awake for a bit?"
"Just a bit" she hugs me and leaves
"Goodnight Peaches"
"Goodnight Riles" we hug and she goes upstairs
"Call me if you need anything" I nod at Elliot
"Will do"
"See you tomorrow" he gives me a quick hug and now I'm all alone. Why did I decide to stay up? I sit on the bay window and look outside: now I remember. I wanted to stay here because of the sky, the stars, they remind me so much of Texas. Those were good days. I miss them.
A stranger walks up to me with two mugs of hot chocolate
"Thought you could use this" I look at him and study his face for a while: blue hypnotic eyes and brown curly eyes, good combination. I remember that I have to reply to him
"Oh, thanks, but I was just looking at the sky a while"
"Okay, but could you take one of these anyway? Because hot" I softly laugh and take it
"You here with the New York group?" I nod
"Yeah"
"That's why you like the sky" I tilt my head
"Why?"
"Well, because you can't really see it in New York"
"Why not?"
"Too much ambient light" I take a sip of the hot chocolate, delicious. I've never had one like this before.
"This is where they keep all the stars, huh?"
"Yeah. I'll tell you a secret. When everyone else has gone upstairs, I sit right where you are and I'll watch this sky too" I start looking outside again
"It's amazing, isn't it?"
"Yeah. And it goes all night" why am I talking to a stranger right now? I don't even know his name.