The Preview: A Joshaya Story

Chapter 7

Maya's POV
The next day, Tuesday that is, I got home after school feeling just as happy as I had all week. Everything was perfect. Riley and Lucas were being all couple-y at Topanga's Bakery, Smackle and Farkle were at the Minkus Mansion training for an academic decathlon, and Zay was probably somewhere wishing he had one of his Grandma's special cookies.

Riley had called and said that Josh had a surprise planned. The only thing she was allowed to tell me was that she couldn't tell me anything. How helpful. She then proceeded to burst into giggles. At this point I hung up the phone.

I walked upstairs to my bedroom and immediately noticed the draft. My window was wide open. Left in the seat was a single red rose petal and a note. Now some might consider this creepy, but I didn't. If this was a sneaky, romantic gesture from Josh, Riley probably helped arrange it. (As a pair, we're very good at sneaking into windows.) Before I retrieved the rose petal from the window seat, I noticed a note. DaVinci Creek. That's all it said. Being a typically impulsive person, I scribbled a note for my mother to see when she got home from the bakery, and I headed for DaVinci Creek.

*****

Now you're probably wondering where you'd gonna find a creek in the middle of New York City. But if you know your way around the woods of Central Park, which I do, DaVinci Creek is a lovely place to be. The way the sun hits the water, the elegant trees, the animals...it's like living in a painting. I've drawn a piece or two while I was there.

When I got there, (I took the subway if you were curious), I stopped worrying about finding Josh, or finding a clue for his little treasure hunt. I slowed my pace, and took in the beauty of the place as I made my way to my usual drawing/thinking/napping spot. It wasn't anything fancy; just a big, smooth rock under a tree. It was close enough to the creek to see the shading in the ripples, but far enough to see the sun reflect against the water in long rays. It was perfect. Once I reached the spot, I found another note. It read, "Your Park". This was too easy. When I started to find myself after my long time of identity problems, I ran into a tough crowd at this cute little mini-park in Central Park. After I drove out the bad kids, I spent a lot of time there. What else could Josh mean?

*****

When I reached "my park", which didn't take long, I expected to find another note. Instead, as I proceeded to the ivory bench next to the old park keeper's sculptures, I found resting there a large bouquet of red roses. I couldn't breathe. They were so beautiful. I reached to pick up the bouquet and felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. When I turned around, I had just enough time to realize who it was...before Joshua Matthews kissed me full on the lips.

A/N: Bam! I hit you with a dramatic ending! Betcha weren't expecting that! 😂 Okay, now on to more important things. Number one, I'm sorry that I took so long to update and that this chapter was so short. I'm very busy with school, *cries. Number two, congratulations to @Katelyn_Is_Trash!!! She was the first to correctly answer my question at the end of the last chapter! This chapter's question is....how old do you think I am? (My friends are not allowed to guess lol). I'm just curious to find out. Comment your guess below, or leave a review as usual. See you next week!