Night 18: April 16th of senior year
At three A.M, Maya was awoken by three hard knocks on her window. The blonde grumbled, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes. She stood up and unlocked the window, letting her friend in without giving him a glance. It could have been a murderer or a burglar, but she figured that creepy people don't knock on windows before killing or stealing things. Riley had given her a speech on being more careful, but she honestly hadn't listened to a word her best friend had said.
Maya let herself flop onto her bed. She was too tired to talk, and if Lucas came over this late, it was always because he had nightmares. He would just slip in her covers and go to bed.
But he didn't.
Lucas was mumbling to himself, kicking his shoes off and throwing his coat on the floor, making a hell lot of noise, and Maya knew that if her mother hadn't been working a night-shift at the Nighthawk Diner to help out her friend, she would have woken up.
"What's wrong?" Maya said, her voice muffled. Her face was buried in one of her pillows, and she didn't want to move. She just wanted to sleep.
"My dad's here." He answered flatly. Maya did find it a bit strange that Lucas showed up to her house. Since he had left her room the last time, he hadn't been exactly friendly towards her. She knew what he wanted. She knew that she wasn't being fair to him, but it was a lot for her. She had managed to screw up the first time around, and she didn't want to do that once more to lose him forever.
There was also the fact that they were going to college soon. Riley had been accepted in multiple universities, all for their photography programs. Yale University, the Rhode Island School of Design and the School of Visual Arts, in New York. Farkle had been accepted into Harvard and Stanford to study medicine. He had found his calling after joining a non-profit organism once his parents had forced him to "get out there". Lucas had followed his dream of becoming a veterinarian and had applied to as many schools as possible. He was accepted by the majority, but he narrowed it down to two colleges: Cornell and the Colorado State University. As for Maya, she was heading to Yale - yes, the rest of the gang were as surprised as she was, to go into visual arts. She had gotten her grades up during high school, and her SAT scores were through the roof.
Lucas and Maya were headed into two very different directions.
Maya snapped out of her thoughts when she felt Lucas push her gently on the right side of her bed so he could lie next to her. The blonde knew that Lucas hated speaking about his father, so she didn't push. She waited to see if he would add anything, but he didn't.
He was angry for many reasons. She didn't know them all, but she knew that his father didn't let him go back to Texas anymore during the week-ends. He had gotten over that one, but he knew he missed his friends. His father brought out the worst in Lucas, making Texas Lucas come back around every time he was mentioned. Maya thought it was because of his hatred for his father that he had anger issues. She never talked about it, because she knew that it brought out the worst in him. And she hated seeing the cold look in his eyes, the blank expressions and the snapping towards anyone who said anything that could tick him off.
She felt him wrap his arms around her waist. Maya rested her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. She knew Lucas had closed his eyes by now, trying to get some sleep. But she knew what was coming for him for the next few nights: his nightmares always came back around when his dad was around.
"Hey. How about I go get us some coffees and we stay up, tonight? We can eat snacks and watch Friends. We're almost done with season 5." Maya suggested. She felt him nod his head, and she got up, making her way to the kitchen. Five minutes later, she came into her room to find the TV turned on and the beginning of the episode on pause. She handed Lucas his coffee mug (Because yes, he had his own mug at her place. All of her friends did.) and sat next to him. He wrapped part of the blanket he had around his shoulders around Maya, and she snuggled into his side. Lucas hit play, and they watched the show.
Four episodes later, they had finished season 5 and two coffees each. Lucas got up to go fill their mugs once again. The blank look hadn't left his eyes, but he seemed a lot more relaxed. His mind didn't seem as preoccupied as before, and she was thankful he was relaxing.
When he came back up, she was drawing. He sat in front of her, sipping his coffee. "What are you drawing?" He asked. It was the second time he had spoken that night, and she couldn't help but smile a bit. She turned the pad towards him: it was a drawing of the two of them, wrapped in a blanket, sitting on her bed and drinking hot coffee. He smiled at the sight, and it seemed like all of his worries washed away.
"I'm glad you're going into visual arts." He started. "You have real talent, Maya. You could be an even greater artist, a great teacher." He stated. Maya blushed a bit at his comment. She was used to hearing people compliment her art, but never Lucas. Back in middle school, he had helped her a lot to make sure the creative arts were kept in school. For her.
It didn't take her long to realize that that was the moment where her mind had shifted and had decided that maybe, just maybe, Lucas could become more than a friend.
She shook her head, letting the memory go.
"Thanks. I'm sure whichever school you go to will be lucky to have you." She replied, the blush never leaving her cheeks. She was usually very good at keeping her emotions in check, but it seemed harder and harder whenever she was around Lucas.
"I've been thinking about it a lot. It's going to be weird, being away from you." Lucas said. Maya raised an eyebrow at him. "All of you. Not just you, but Farkle, Riley and Zay." He said, stuttering. He was caught off-guard by Maya's puzzled look. She chuckled and ripped the sheet from her sketchpad.
"Here. Keep it with you. It's not as good as a picture, but it's something to remember me by." She said, pushing a blonde strand of hair away from her face. He smiled and took the drawing, the blank look finally gone completely from his eyes.
"I could never forget you, Maya."
Maya leaned back against the headboard of her bed, glad that the rising sun didn't hit her face from that angle, because she didn't want Lucas to catch her blushing once more.
And that was the eighteenth night Lucas Friar knocked on Maya Hart's window.
