"Hey Riles" I greet her as soon as I climb through her bay window
"Peaches. Are you done with your shift at Topanga's? What are you doing here?"
"Well, last night we had our slumber party and I think I left one of my rings here" I can see her tensing up
"Stay clam. I haven't lost our friendship ring. See, it's here" I say with a chuckle as I show it to her but she's still tense
"I know that you could never loose it" I frown. Why us she acting like this?
"Then why do you look so worried?"
"You'll see in three, two, one-" The door opens, revealing Elliot and Josh
"I'll help you find the ring!" they say together and start causing a mess to find the ring.
What's up with them?
"Found it!" Elliot shouts after he comes out from under the bed. Josh pushes him away while stealing the ring from him
"Hey! Give it back!"
"With pleasure!" he runs up to me and slides it into my finger, making me blush.
"Thanks, Josh" he grins
"You're welcome, beautiful"
"Hey, I found it!" Elliot complains, making me laugh. He's so adorable.
"Yeah, you're right" I stand up and kiss his cheek
"Thanks" He just giggles in response while his face turns bright red.
"So, are you ready for tomorrow?" I nod at my best friend
"I think so"
"Well, I'm not. What if I forget a line in front of everyone?"
"Riles, relax and calm down, okay? You won't mess up anything? You have a wonderful memory" the boys stay silent, are they really not gonna comfort her?
"Right guys?"
"Yeah, absolutely"
"You've been ready for a month and a half already sis, you'll do just great" I look at the hour in my phone and sigh
"Well, I guess I have to go now. I have to paint"
"Maya..."
"Relax Riles, I'm not gonna stay up all night. I promise" she nods
"Then you're free to go" I hug her
"Bye Riley. Bye boys!" I wave at them and climb back into my room.
Time to paint now. The assignment is to draw darkness. Great, one of the things I hate the most since I have no idea of where to start. I could literally paint the whole canvas black and call it a day but I know I can't. I can't let Mr. Jackson down.
I keep looking at the canvas, blank. I have no idea on what to draw. Think Maya, think.
I place myself in front of the canvas, take a random brush, close my eyes and loose myself. Thinking was really the last thing I had to do, letting myself go was the correct thing. I don't know why I was stressing so much. I smile when I look at the sketch of what I'm going to draw: a curled up child inside a dark room. However, there's a ray of sun that can be seen through a little window. I get back to painting.
This painting accurately represents my childhood. I was trapped in the darkness of my dad leaving but had a little bit of light thanks to Riley and Elliot. They really helped me in my childhood but I still had to fight on my own to get out of that room. I'm not gonna lie, I still carry it with me that darkness. I'll never be able to get rid of it, never. I've been scarred for life. Anyways, it reminds me of where I came from and how far I've come, it keeps me grounded so I wouldn't trade it with anything in the world.
I step back to take a look at my finished work. Great, I'm finally done.
"I love it" I immediately turn around to see Josh sitting on my bed
"What the hell are you doing here?!" he simply shrugs
"I came to visit you"
"How did you get in? How long have you been here?" he chuckles
"Don't be so paranoid. I came here a couple of hours ago to say goodnight to you but I saw you concentrated into what you were doing that I didn't want to distract you. So I silently climbed in and sat in your bed to see what you were drawing. Let me just say that this is a masterpiece" I shyly blush. I'm still not used to people appreciating my work.
"Thanks" I reply in a whisper while I sit down next to him.
"Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" I laugh nervously when he wraps his arm around
"I mean it, Maya. You're stunning. Both inside and out"
"Thanks. You're pretty great by yourself too" he smirks and starts leaning in for a kiss. Should we kiss? Is it safe for both of us? Am I ready? I don't wanna mess another kiss with him. I can't. I move my face just so that he kisses my cheek.
"Maya?"
"Not yet, Boing" He frowns in confusion
"Why? We've been in countless dates, we hold hands. We basically are already a couple. Why don't you let yourself go?" I gulp
"Because I'm not ready yet. I'm afraid to hurt you"
"You won't"
"Trust me, I will. I'll kiss you when I'll feel ready"
"So, no kiss?" I shake my head
"No kiss" I can see him smirking
"Fine" he takes off his shirt, revealing his abs. What?
"J-Josh?" he climbs on top of me
"You said no kiss. You didn't say no sex" Oh lord. What am I supposed to do now?
"Uh, I-I" he slowly slides a hand under my shirt and I immediately shiver at the touch of his cold hands against my abdomen.
"Come on, Josh, think with your head"
"Oh, I am. Trust me"
"What we're about to do is much deeper and meaningful than a kiss"
"So you're saying that we're going to do it?" I stay quiet for a few seconds and then push him off me.
"No, sorry. I don't want to. Especially because mom and Shawn are here"
"But they won't hear us"
"Josh: no means no" he sighs
"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. I should respect your will" I look away
"I-I think you should leave now"
"Sure"
"See you tomorrow at the musical?" he nods
"Of course. I'll be there to support you. Goodnight, Maya. Get some sleep" he kisses me forehead and leaves. I wish I could sleep but I can't. I gotta prepare the next cheer routine. I wait a few minutes to be sure that he left and climb out of the window with my phone and go to the roof. This is the only place where I have a little bit of space to practice. I finally arrive on top and see Elliot. What is he doing here?
"Elliot?" he turns around
"Hey, Maya"
"What are you doing here?" I sit next to him near the edge. Most people would be scared but I'm not the kind of person who is scared of heights. I know scarier things than that.
"I could ask you the same question"
"Well, I asked you first" I snap while sticking my tongue at him before snuggling into his chest
"I couldn't sleep"
"Why?" he shrugs and stares at the ceiling
"I don't know. I just couldn't" I groan in frustration
"I'm tired of you hiding things from me, you know? I want you to be honest with me about yourself" he sighs
"Did we screw up our friendship?" I frown in confusion
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. We were besties until we started fake dating in middle school. It all went downhill from there. Things got awkward between us. Then I didn't pay much attention to you because I was too busy adapting to High School. At the end we agreed on staying friends but there were some kisses that left both of us skeptical about it..." he plays with his fingers in an attempt to keep his cool.
"After that you started dating Lucas but the triangle started after a while" I take his hands in mine
"You were the closest person to me in that moment. You helped me realize so many things that I couldn't even imagine. Our friendship was back to normal"
"Yeah, but do you remember what happened when mom got that job offer?" I look away in embarrassment as I remember the moment I discovered he saw me only in my bra when I got drunk for the first time.
"Exactly. Things never went back from that moment on. We only grew apart more and more"
"I get your point. But now we're getting close again, right?"
"No, Maya. We will never get to that point of our friendship again"
"Why not? We haven't even tried"
"You know that's not true"
"Then we haven't tried enough"
"Maya, I don't wanna be your friend anymore" I feel my heart shatter in a million pieces. Does he hate me?
"W-What?"
"Listen, I still like you, a lot" Did he just declare to me? I keep looking at him. No words manage to come out of my mouth. I'm speechless.
"You told me you wanted me to pour my heart out to you. Well, I just did" there's about a minute of silence before he speaks up again
"Listen, I wish I could keep hiding my feelings from you but I can't anymore. I like you, a lot. I really, really like you and it's fine if you don't. I can live with that constant pain. I just wanted you to know that. Maya?" I stay silent as I try to think? Do I like him back?

"Is everything okay? You look pretty upset" I sigh
"I disappointed mr. Matthews" he chuckles
"What did you do this time? Put glue on his seat again?" I shake my head
"I tried to prove a point but it ended with me setting on the fire alarm"
"So it was you!" I nod and he sighs
"Listen, dad might be pretty upset now but I'm sure he'll forgive you in no time"
"I highly doubt it, you should've seen his face, I've never seen him like this" A tear streams down my cheek. No! I can't cry! Especially in front of him!
"Hey, don't cry, everything is gonna be fine, I promise" he hugs me. This is the very first time we hug and it feels... weird? I don't know. The only thing I know is that I pull away after a while and walk away.

We slowly start leaning in until our lips touch. It's a soave and soft kiss that lasts for a good minute. I never intended for it to be this long. There's just something pushing me onto wanting more. He moves his hands over my face, cupping it.
"Okay, woah! I asked for a simple kiss! Not a make out scene!" We pull away in embarrassment.

"My moment will be my moment" I hear a familiar voice whisper in my ears
"What th-" I turn around to see Elliot
"My moment will be my moment" he repeats before kissing my forehead and fading away in the darkness...weird, but also romantic, kinda.

"I won't Elliot, I'm not ready yet" he sighs
"I just want you to feel confident enough to show your works"
"Thank you but..." I sit next to him on the couch and grab his hands
"This is a personal journey. I have to do it alone" he kisses my forehead, making me blush
"Just know that I'll be supporting you" I rest my head on his shoulder
"You know that tomorrow is career day?" I nod and he starts gently brushing my hair
"Is your mom gonna come?"
"I hope not"
"Don't be ashamed of her"
"It's hard when your mom tells people that she's an actress when in reality she's a waiter"
"Hey, my mom thinks she's Shakira" I frown
"What?" he chuckles
"Long story" I chuckle as well. It's incredible how he manages to make me smile almost every time we're together.
"I have enough time to hear it"

"I like you Elliot" he smiles and this just breaks my heart because we can't be together
"Really? I like you too" It takes all of my strength to not smile back
"But we can't be together. I push away people" he frowns
"But-"
"I know that you're gonna say that you're willing to break all of my walls down but you won't. Nobody saw my true self, not even Riley. I don't want to trap you in a relationship with me. I want you to be free and flirt with every single Missy Bradford you want" he sighs
"Can I have one last kiss?" I blush
"Yeah, I guess so" I whisper while our fingers interlock and we kiss for the last time. One last kiss. No more of them for a very long time. I pull away for a brief second but quickly realize that I want this moment to last forever so I keep kissing him.
"You guys are back!" A familiar voice form above shouts at us. It's Riley. We immediately pull away.

"Who hurt you like this?"
"The whole team. But it's fine. It's part of football" I cup his face
"Well, then it's part of Maya to tear all of their faces off for hurting you like this" he lays his forehead against mine
"Don't exaggerate. I'm fine. I'm here. You're here. We're here. I'm not dead and I got in as a quarterback. This is honestly one of the best days in my life"
"Please be more careful"
"I promise"
"You better" I can feel his breath on my lips and there's something hypnotizing in his eyes. Wait, no, Maya stop. We clarified everything last week, I can't mess this up- well, now he's the one who messed it up since he's kissing me but, I kiss back. The past, the future, they're gone, we're living in the present right now. Our kiss lasts for an eternity until we pull away, gasping for air
"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that" I look down. I don't wanna see his look when he notices that I'm blushing
"It's fine. We clarified everything, we're friends"

"You found a job?"
"I did" I take a deep breath
"Your job was to stay. Thank you for telling me your side. My teacher thinks if I forgive you, it'll bring me peace. And he's usually right about these things, but I don't see how he's right about this one. And I can't. Your job was to stay. You don't think I had it in me to allow my father to grow? I'm happy I wrote to you and heard what you had to say. And it makes me feel better knowing that I had nothing to do with what you did. I always thought that this was my fault somehow, but it's not. I didn't do anything" I get up from the chair
"I'm sorry I wasn't there. You- you turned out great" I sigh
"Wow"
What?"
"I've been angry for so long. I'm not angry anymore"
"You're very lucky to have a friend like Riley and a boyfriend like Elliot, I like him, h-"
"He's my friend"

I notice that Lucas looks at us with jealousy, well, he has to deal with it. Like he said: we're just friends.
"He's hella jealous"
"You think?"
"Yeah. Wanna have fun with it?"
"Sure. What's your plan?" he wraps an arm around me, making me blush. I notice straight away that he has muscles now, result of his football training.
"Is this okay?" he asks me when he notices that I'm nervous
"Yeah, it's fine"

"Elliot?" I sniff. He just stands up from the couch and hugs me
"What are you doing here?"
"I already know that you and Riley were having one of your talks. And I also know why you were having it. And, knowing you both I knew where this was going" he rubs my back
"I'm a teenager, I'm growing up. I change, why is it wrong?" he kisses my head
"It's not, Maya. It's not"

"When you told Riley and I your breakup you told us that you had feelings for the girl...is that girl me?"
"Maya-Yes. I liked you back then"
"What about now?"
"It doesn't matter, you're with Lucas now"

"Nobody move!" I order
"Why?" Elliot asks
"Cause I want things to stay like this. I won't let anything else bad happen to us" my boyfriend sighs
"Maya, you know-"
"Shut up, you heard her"
"Thanks, Elliot" he slightly smiles and winks at me
"You're welcome. I don't want that either"

"...Goodbye Lucas" I whisper to myself when he's out of sight. I feel Elliot patting my shoulders
"Don't spin out of control, okay?"

"I just broke up with my boyfriend! I loved him! We were together for a whole year and he left! You think I'm being selfish for finally doing something that makes me feel good?! Even for just a while?!" he steps closer to me
"During the parties you might feel better and forget about Lucas but in the morning reality always strikes you. He's gone, and you have to learn how to deal with it, 'cause this is not the right way. Got it?" he asks me in a whisper. I can still feel the rage on his tone. Right now our faces are just inches apart. I take a deep breath and connect our lips. Wow, I missed this feeling. He wraps his hands around my hips and starts kissing me back. We kiss for a while until he suddenly pulls away with a shocked expression.

"So, how did things go?" An unexpected voice asks, giving me a heart attack
"Elliot! Where were you?" he shrugs
"The bathroom. Come on, tell me"
"Well, we decided to take things slowly. Not as slowly as the 'long game' thing though" he only nods in response, his smile fading
"Is everything fine?" he furrows his eyebrows
"Yeah, just thinking"
"About what?"
"Stuff" I groan
"You know, it's not fair that I keep telling you everything but you never say anything to me" I pout at him and he just aw's at me
"Poor little child. I'm dealing with feelings that are far beyond your understanding"
"I can try"
"I don't think so"
"Of course I-"
"Yo! Elliot! Buddy!"

"You're playing Danny?"
"Yup"
"That's awesome!" we high-five and in the moment our hands touch I feel something, like electricity. I timidly put the same hand in my pocket and try to avoid eye contact with him.

I can't believe it. I do still like him. After all these years...
"I like you too Elliot..." I see a smile creeping out
"But I also like Josh"
"I know. I don't wanna force you to choose me, I could never do that. Just pick the one you're sure will treat you right"
"I will"
"So, this is a new triangle?" I sigh
"I guess so. Man they're super annoying" he chuckles
"I can only imagine" he grins
"You know, you still haven't told me why you're up here"
"Well, I finished painting and I came here to think about a new routine"
"Sorry if I wasted your time then"
"It's fine. You didn't waste it. I can't think of anything right now" I bite my lip
"I need to tell you something that happened earlier"
"Tell me. I'm listening" I really hope he doesn't hate me or Josh when I'll tell him
"While I was painting Josh snuck into my room. We talked for a while and then he tried to kiss me" I can see him tensing up
"And I told him 'not yet'. And then...uhm...he kinda took his shirt off"
"What did you two do?" he's definitely trying to keep his cool right now
"Nothing. I swear. He wanted to but I didn't. I told him I wasn't ready for that either and then he left"
"What? You rejected Uncle Boing? The hottie with a six pack? You were scared of losing your v card, Hunter?" he hisses sarcastically and I softly laugh
"I wasn't scared at all, I don't have a v card anymore..." I move my eyes to his face to look at his possible freak out
"Yeah, I was kidding. I know. The cowboy was pretty good at it too, right?" I frown when he smirks devilishly
"How do you-? Did Lucas tell you? I swear I'm-"
"Oh, he didn't have to. I heard you two the night before he left. So either he was good in beef or you liked to agree a lot with him" I start blushing, causing him to laugh loudly and wrap an arm around my shoulder.
"You're unique Maya. Very" we look at the horizon
"Is that the dawn?" I nod
"I think so. Shit. I broke the promise I did to Riley to not stay up all night"
"Well, she doesn't have to know. I'll go shower now. See you tonight?"
"Sure"

*At night, at the theatre*

Shit, Fuck, shit. I can't believe I messed up this bad. I switched a verse and stumbled a little during a dance break. Why do I suck this much? Not even Josh giving me the thumbs up helped me. I'm a mess!
Thankfully right now we're taking a break to allow the public to go to the bathroom and buy some more snacks.
I take advantage of this free time and look at the public, however, mom and dad