Their World | Rilaya

54: Campfire or Stars?

[On the bus ride up to Mount Sun Lodge.]

"Josh doesn't know that you two are dating, does he?" Lucas asks.

"No, he doesn't," Maya mutters.

"But this is the weekend that he's going to find out," Riley happily explains.

"Oh yeah?" Lucas smiles.

"Yeah," Riley confirms. "Maya is going to tell him

"What? Why me? He's your uncle," Maya argues.

"Yes, but he thinks that you like him, so you get to tell him," Riley reasons.

Maya is silent for a minute. "Why did we have to make this stupid club?"

"Nature!" Lucas exclaims, mimicking Cory as best as he can.

"Ready for bed, Maya?" Riley asks, as she starts to head upstairs.

"Yeah," Maya responds, following closely behind the brunette.

"Maya, wait," Josh interjects. "Can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

"She'd love to," Riley responds, pushing the blonde towards Josh.

"What? No!" Maya whisper-yells at Riley.

"Yes! I'll be just upstairs if you need me." Riley whisper-yells back.

"Have fun, you two," Riley smiles, as she heads upstairs.

Josh awkwardly laughs. "Okay... I'm not sure what that was, but do you want to sit down?"

"Uh, sure," Maya says, putting on a fake smile.

"Couch or bay window?" Josh asks.

"I don't really care either one sounds fine."

"Okay, then how about this? Do you want to watch the fire from the couch or look at the stars from the bay window?"

"I hate nature," Maya whispers under her breath.

"What?"

"Whatever you want," Maya responds.

"Then how about the bay window?" Josh suggests.

"Yeah... Sure."

Maya and Josh go and sit down in the bay window together.

They spend a few minutes in silence. Josh spends the time looking out the window up at the sky, while Maya hardly blinks, as she stares at the ground.

"Wow, I never knew how pretty the stars could be at night," Josh exclaims. "Maya, look."

"Uh... I'm good... Never really been a fan of this whole nature thing," Maya responds, still intently focused on the ground as her hands start to shake.

"You joined the Nature Club though..."

"So?"

"That's just interesting..." Josh says with a smirk on his face.

The two sit in awkward silence for a few more minutes.

"So what happened to the whole triangle thing between you, Riley and Lucas? Did it finally die?" Josh asks.

"Yeah."

"You and Lucas?"

"Uh... No."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Josh consoles.

"I'm happy with the final outcome," Maya responds.

"That's good... So the reason I wanted to talk to you was to discuss things between you and me."

Maya lets out a nervous laugh. "What about us?"

"You don't seem as obsessed with me, as you used to be. I've spent the majority of the day with you, and you have yet to jump onto my back. I'd say that's quite some progress," Josh laughs.

"Yep," Maya responds, her eyes are still fixed on the floor.

"Something is different about you. You seem more mature. I like that," Josh smiles.

"That's... Great," Maya remarks.

"Three years... Why would three years matter if two people really had a chance together?"

"I-I don't know," Maya responds, as she starts to shake in fear even more.

"Me neither. Three years was just an excuse I made up. If we both like each other, then us being three years apart in age shouldn't stop us from dating."

"You like me?" Maya asks.

"I always have," Josh smiles.

Maya's eyes widen as she hears what Josh is saying. "Riley!" She shouts.