Piece by Piece

Piece by Piece

Piece by piece

"Piece by piece"

Quite some time had passed since the big road trip and the engagement of Shawn Patrick Hunter and Katy Grace Hart. The wedding preparations were in full swing and had everyone stressed out. Topanga had volunteered to help her best friend with the planning and Katy had gladly accepted the offer. And now the two women almost exclusively talked about flower arrangements, center pieces and color schemes. Nobody, least of all Katy herself, had expected the bride-to-be to be so into the whole wedding-planning-process, but the blonde was having the time of her life. Shawn made sure to be included in the important decisions but knew well enough to stay clear of his best friend's wife when she was on one of her power trips. Everybody else had been assigned their roles as well: Topanga and Cory would act as maid-of-honor and best man respectively; Maya and Riley would be bridesmaids; and Jack and Josh would be groomsmen.

But the upcoming wedding wasn't the only major occurrence since the road trip: while Riley, Maya and their friends had started high school, along with Cory as their teacher, Josh had started college, making him an even more regular guest in the Matthews household – especially when he wanted to escape from his annoying roommate. Maya and Josh continued to hang out and had grown even closer over the last few months, still waiting for their someday. This also led to Josh spending more time with Maya and Riley's friends who had welcomed the older boy into their tightly-knit group with open arms. All in all, things were running pretty smooth for the younger ones ... well, almost: the whole Riley/Farkle/Lucas-dilemma was still not resolved, but Maya had a feeling that it would resolve itself very soon. And if it didn't, the blonde was determined to help things along in whatever way possible.

In the midst of all the wedding havoc and adjustment to new schools, however, there was one little light at the end of the tunnel. A chance for our friends to find some relaxation and an escape from their current hectic lives. At least, that was the original plan. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. It all started, one faithful day, in one faithful high school classroom.

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"Nature!" Cory pointed to the word on the blackboard, a grim expression on his face. "Makes us sneeze, puts us in the infirmary." He looked sternly at his students before glaring at the board once again. "Nature!"

"What's he got against nature?" Maya asked, clearly amused by their teacher's actions. "Isn't he running the nature club?"

"He's only running the nature club because it was either that or the ski club," Riley explained matter-of-factly.

"So, why didn't he choose the ski club?" Lucas asked.

"He can't run the ski club because of what happened at the Mount Sun Lodge when they were our age," Riley told the class.

"Nature!" Cory interrupted, continuing his rant. "The only place a bear can kill you from. Nature!"

"What happened at the ski lodge?" Zay inquired.

"A mountain girl kissed him," Riley revealed to the shock of all of her classmates. Disbelieving gasps and outraged huffs could be heard all throughout the room - probably echoing through the entire school and beyond.

"I didn't kiss her back," Cory tried to soothe them.

"Nature!" Maya mocked him.

"How about I throw you back in the street where you came from, huh?" Cory glared at the blonde and Maya looked at him with a half-shocked, half-amused expression on her face.