My one and only Love

Chapter 4

“No, I’m serious! It’s got an actual town square with a gazebo in it and a big sign that says Home of the Rockets.” Maya mocked the town she now lived in with Riley. She’d been waiting in Riley’s room to surprise her when she got home from school. Riley had nearly screamed but Maya had the foresight to cover her best friend’s mouth until she promised not to shout.

When Topanga called Riley’s name from the kitchen, Maya’s eyes went wide and she jumped up. “I’m not here.” She whispered and then hid herself in Riley’s closet, even going as far as to hide behind the clothes.

“Riley…” Topanga pushed open her daughter’s bedroom door. “Have you spoken to Maya lately?”

“Huh?” Riley jumped a little as her mother entered.

“Sweetie, I got a call from Maya’s dad and it seems like she’s run away and he thinks she’s going to come here. You know it’s not safe for her to be on her own trying to go across the country. I know you want Maya back, but I need you to swear to me that if she calls you that you will tell me right away okay?”

“I-um-” Riley swallowed hard, forcing herself not to look towards her closet. “I swear I’ll tell you if she calls.” She made sure the promise was specific to Maya calling and not showing up.

Maya peeked out once Topanga left the room, Riley locking the door behind her. “What did you do!?” Riley asked in a strange whisper. Maya just sat in the bay window and hugged a pillow close to her chest, taking in the scent of her favorite place in the world.

“I hate it there, Riley, I had to leave. I don’t belong there.” She muttered, sad blue eyes looking towards her oldest friend in the world.

“Peaches…” She sighed. “But they’re worried about you, he called my mom.”

“He called her today. I left two days ago.” She told Riley with little emotion in her voice. “Listen, you swore to tell if I called, so I just won’t call.” Maya continued with a smile. “I just need a little time to figure out how to stay, okay? Please.”

Riley caved, as she always had for Maya, and let Maya stay, waiting until they were sure Cory and Topanga had gone to bed before Maya climbed into bed with Riley to sleep. Not wanting to risk being caught, Maya was gone before Riley woke up in the morning leaving a simple note that said ‘leave the window open’. Maya slipped back in the window once everyone was gone, first climbing back into bed for another couple hours of sleep before she raided the kitchen.

Maya made sure to clean up any trace of herself in the apartment and was careful to slip out before anyone got home again. She wasn’t sure how she was going to make this work, but she knew she was not going to go back to Ohio. She spent many hours in the New York public Library, reading about the art she hadn’t continued learning since her move. She read fiction and history, she just found a nook in a hidden away corner and kept herself hidden away for hours.

“Maya?” It was two days later in the library that she was spotted by someone else. She jerked up with wide eyes. She had let her guard down as she read and was now face to face with someone very familiar. “Maya, what are you doing here?”

“J-Josh!” Maya felt a torn smile on her face, half afraid and half so happy to see him.

He moved to sit in the chair next to hers and looked at her curiously. “Isn’t everyone looking for you?” He asked. “I heard…” But she just shrugged. “Maya, how did you get here?” She had been sure he would be on his cell to Topanga by now, but instead he was getting comfortable in the chair and looking to her for answers.

“I took a bus.” She told him simply, closing her book.

“From Ohio?” She just nodded. “Maya…anything could have happened to you! What were you thinking?!” A shh came from a row of books to their left and Josh’s voice lowered some.

“I was thinking I had to get out of there. I was thinking I wanted to go home.” She paused, looking him over. “Are you going to tell?”

Josh sighed, something in her eyes softened him some. “No. But I’m worried about you, Maya.” He looked at her for a long time. “C’mon.” And as her eyes got wide, worried about where he wanted her to go. “I’m starving, let’s go back to the dorm and we’ll order some pizza and talk.” Josh had a bad feeling with how comfortable she looked in that chair that she was spending all her time in the library just because it was a free place to go. Maya smiled appreciatively and stood, pulling on her backpack and walking with him.

Josh and Maya split a large pizza and talked more, she told him about the family she was expected to just be a part of, about the one school town and walking everywhere because they didn’t have public transit. She told him about not speaking to any of them, about how unwanted she felt from everyone but her father. She told them how all she wanted was to be back home away from that place, to be somewhere she belonged. She expressed how she felt her father was just being selfish taking her away from the Matthews but he wouldn’t hear her when she tried to tell him how she felt.

“So Riley knows and she’s actually kept it a secret?” He asked with a hint of a smile. He was sitting beside her on the bed but they’d been watching TV as well so his eyes weren’t on her. When she didn’t answer he turned to see her curled up asleep against the wall on his bed. He covered her up and relaxed next to her. It couldn’t hurt to let her sleep for a while.

Josh was half asleep himself when he heard Maya’s phone chiming from his desk where she’d left it to charge. Had he been fully awake he likely wouldn’t have checked it, wasn’t his phone after all. But in his drowsy state he just grabbed for it and looked down. Riley was worried, Maya had never come back. Quick message back. “Riles it’s Josh, she’s with me tonight, she’ll text you tomorrow.” And with a confirmation that she’d gotten the text – along with a bunch of questions about why she was there that he wouldn’t be answering – Josh went back to sleep, his arm draping over Maya without realizing he was even doing it.

Sometime in the night, the blankets fell to the side and Maya wrapped herself around Josh, both of them tangled up together so that when they woke they were nose to nose. Maya had forgotten where she was at first, but seeing Josh so close to her she wasn’t even sure she was even awake. This had to be a dream. She reached, testing the reality and touched his cheek brushing the slight stubble. It was then his eyes opened, blinking a few times as if he too wanted to be sure he was actually seeing what he was seeing.

“Sorry I woke you up.” She whispered, her cheeks going a little red but it was too dark to tell. “Just…uh...forgot where I was.”

“You okay?” He asked, his dark eyes settling on her in the dim light in the room.

“Yeah.” She muttered, neither of them moving away, neither untangling their legs from the other and his arm never lifted off her side. She felt warm, and safer than she had in weeks. Josh wouldn’t be able to say what made him want to do it, but he pushed a hand through her hair slowly. Maya’s eyes closed for a second as a hint of a smile showed on her face.

Their eyes met and there was something in her, something less pushy than she’d been years before, something soothing in her voice. As he watched her eyes he leaned in. His nose brushed against hers first and he hesitated. “Is this..?” And with just a nod from her to answer his question before he finished asking it, she gave him permission and he closed the gap. It was a small kiss, innocent and sweet and it didn’t grow heavy even though it could have with ease in the solitude. But that wasn’t what Josh was looking for, he didn’t want some heavy moment, he didn’t want it to turn into something more, he just wanted to kiss her once.

As they both pulled back and Maya smiled a little. “Get some more sleep.” Josh told her softly, a smile on his lips as well as he settled in close to her, holding her without questioning it as they both slipped back into deep sleep.