four. subways and honesty maya hart and lucas friar
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Triangles are a tricky shape to deal with: the differing angles, lengths in sides, and all the mathematical nonsense to solve one. It comes as no surprise to Maya Hart that, despite her best efforts, her stepping back again in their freshman year hadn't ended the triangle between herself, her best friend, and Lucas Friar. She watched as, for a few months, the two people who meant the most to her navigate a "relationship" and then failed. Their breakup didn't cause a big fracture within the friend group like many outsiders expected it would, their whispers overwhelming the blonde whenever she would walk down the halls during the time period where Riley and Lucas were together, since no one except them expected them to last past their freshman year of high school.
And then the second breakup came, separating Farkle and Smackle. But in true Smackle fashion, she presented the problem with their relationship to the whole group after the break up: they were too similar, he wanted to fix her, and they both had feelings for other people. Maya certainly didn't miss the look that Smackle sent to Zay at those words, as well as the one that Farkle gave Riley. She did, however, miss the look that Lucas had thrown her way in the midst of the talk of feelings, and no one else saw it either, so it went unnoticed and untalked about. So in their sophomore year, it was time for two relationships and two single people in a different pattern, though Maya was still one of them.
Since the ski lodge, Lucas and Maya had taken a few steps back within their friendship. Lucas because he knew that Riley wouldn't have been his choice, Maya because she honestly believed that Riley had been the right choice no matter how much it hurt her to see them together and happy. Both of them sincerely regretted their decision to do so, though they both got the chance to grow a little. He joined the baseball team while she joined art club, their social wings able to spread more to try to fill the void that was left by the other one. But in the wake of the two new couples and less "clique six" time, the two started hanging out more despite the other friends they had made over the course of their high school career so far.
At first it was just at Topanga's to do homework and talk about their days at school, but by the time senior year comes around, it's more than that. Study sessions happen in one of their rooms, sometimes turning into sleepovers, and they're attached at the hip. It's not unusual to catch the pair of them out at some obscure place in the city: a hole in the wall pizzeria, a pet store that sells primarily fish, an indoor glow in the dark mini golf place, the bowling alley that serves alcohol to teenagers. Come every Monday, they always have some story to share with their friend group at the lunch table, laughter and their bright smiles and the nudges as the other tries to tell the story better. It's easy for the rest of them to spot the bond that has woven and grown between the two, despite the teases that she still throws his way and the way he messes up her hair when they pass each other in the hallway in an effort to annoy her.
Another friendship that develops and grows is the one between Smackle and Maya. After the secret Santa gift that could have ruined their friendship, the two girls decided to reach out. Smackle in an effort to make sure that she wasn't just part of the group because she was with Farkle and Maya because she needed something that was less stressful than the friendship with Riley. It had hurt her when Riley had told her that she was becoming her and that the world only needed one Riley because that's not at all what was happening, but protecting Riley was more important than protecting her own feelings. Smackle understood parts of Maya that Riley didn't, like that she didn't need to be fixed. Together, they were flawed and that's what made them work as friends, somehow becoming closer than they had ever imagined. And every Friday, the two of them would end the night together, curled up in one of their rooms to discuss their weeks and have girl time away from the two Texan boys.
