His Texas Girl// Lucas Friar

Girl meets A Christmas Maya

Later that night I'm walking down towards Topanga's as I see Zay exiting.
"Hey Zay, bye Zay" I say as we cross paths.
"Hey Ari, bye Ari" he says as we laugh and head towards our locations, me to the cafe and him probably heading home.
"So who'd you get for Secret Santa?" I hear Smackle ask as I climb down the stairs.
"Zay" I hear Farkle respond.
"What are you gonna get him?" Smackle asks.
"I have absolutely no idea" Farkle responds before they see me.
"Hey guys" I say smiling.
"Ari!" They exclaim.
"I need help, I picked Zay" Farkle says.
"Okay" I say nodding. "Zay's well he's Zay. He likes video games and sports. He loves food and jokes. I don't know what more to tell you Farkle. I can tell you all about Zay but you need to know that information in order to find a gift. Remember Riley wants to see how well we know each other" I tell him as I pat his shoulder.
"Yeah I know. I thought I knew Zay well but now that I picked him..." Farkle trails off.
"You realized you didn't know him that well?" I ask.
"Yeah" he nods.
"Sorry Farkle, you'll figure it out" I say before I walk into the cafe and pick up some muffins before heading home.

"Okay, who goes first?" Riley asks as we all sit at Topanga's a few days later.
"No! We're not going one at a time, I want this over with as quick as possible." Maya says.
"I don't think everybody feels that way, Maya." Riley responds before we all proceed to tear open our gifts as quick as possible.
"Oh... Oh, boy. Uh, it's a clock. It's broken. And the instruction manual on how to fix it. Best Christmas ever." Maya says in her mocking tone as she looks at her gift.
"I must've opened the wrong one. The Magical Gathering of Dungeon Masters. Of Catan. For Nerds. This can't be for me." Zay says as he lifts up his present causing me to look at Farkle in shock.
"It has your name on it." Smackle says pointing at the tag.
"Oh, wow. Just... Hmm. Thank you." Zay says putting it back in the box as I give him a small hug sending him a reassuring smile.
"Boy. I may have never done this with you before, but even I know you could at least pretend to deeply appreciate whatever you get." Smackle says before she lifts up her present. "Etiquette: A Guide to Manners and Proper Behavior Among People. I deeply appreciate it." Smackle reads the cover before throwing it towards Zay and I.
"Guys, that's a really mean gift. Guys?" Farkle says looking directly at Zay.
"Farkle, wait. I'm sure there's a good reason that somebody would..." Riley starts before he cuts her off.
"Yeah, is there a good reason somebody would get me this?" Farkle says holding up the menorah that he was gifted.
"Farkle, you found out that your ancestors are Jewish." Riley says.
"So... I... I don't know who I am anymore, I shouldn't even be celebrating Christmas?" Farkle stutters out.
"No. No, that's not it at all." She says.
"Why are you pushing me?" He asks frustrated.
"I'm not! I didn't mean to." Riley replies slumping into her chair.
"Let's see how this goes" I say before finally looking at my present and pulling it out. "How to be a better friend" I read the cover of the book. "Oh wow, um okay then" I say before putting it back in the box and wrapping my arms around my self. Zay then wraps his arm around me knowing that I sometimes felt like I didn't belong in the group, we both felt like that sometimes so it really hurt getting a book on how to act like a better friend. Zay's always been like a brother to me and since Lucas isn't here getting this reassurance from him was the best thing.
"Great job. I mean, another brilliant year, Secret Santas." Zay says mockingly as we both start to clap.
"Yeah, I guess we don't really know each other at all." Farkle says as we all look around.
"A broken clock? That's what you think of me?" Maya says before standing up and trying to leave.
"Maya, we're not going anywhere until we figure out why these horrible gifts are great." Riley says.
"There's nothing to figure out, the whole thing's a disaster." I say shaking my head.
"What does this mean, Riley? How is this great?"Farkle asks Riley about his gift.
"Farkle, I got this for you not to change you, but because it's a part of where you came from. Ever since the day after our culture week, when you found out that you might have a new ancestry, I started reading about it. Because I love you. And I would always want to know who you are. Whoever you are. Did you know that in Hebrew everything goes from right to left? All this time, everything you've done, you've always thought left to right. And now, you may need to consider that there's another way." Riley explains to him with tears in her eyes. "Isn't that what you've always wanted? Happy Hanukkah, Farkle. Merry Christmas. Happy everything." Riley says before they hug.
"Thanks, Riley, uh... You're right. I'm gonna try to learn everything I can about this." Farkle says before he picks Zay's gift up and hands it back to him. "This was from me, Zay."
"The Magical Gathering of the Dungeon Masters. Of Catan. For Nerds. Why would you think I'd want this? Isn't this something you'd want? Is this what you think of me?" Zay asks shocked and confused.
"No, this is actually for both of you Ari and Zay, we know how close you are to Lucas, and... with him away for the holidays, we didn't want you to feel like you were alone. So Smackle and I wanted to include you in our world, too." Farkle says.
"Farkle told me that he didn't know what to get you, and it bothered us that we didn't know you better. And we want to. So he got you this game, that will help us to get to know you, both of you" Smackle tells us.
"How?" I ask confused.
"Because it takes 17 years to play." Farkle states.
"Then we better get started. Thank you." Zay says as I nod in agreement. "I'm the one who, uh, got you this." Zay says walking to pick up the book he got Smackle.
"I know that there are some things that are different about me. That's why you got me an etiquette book?" Smackle asks sadly.
"Well... if you open it, you'll see there's some writing in the margins." Zay says sitting next to her and opening the book.
"Yeah, you crossed out a lot of stuff. And you wrote some of your own stuff." She replies flipping through it.
"Yeah, here, see, it says, uh, "A young lady speaks in a gentle tone, and never raises her voice." Your voice is my favorite thing about you. That's why I crossed all these things out. That's why I changed everything to the funny things you do that I like. Because I know you're working on stuff, but I never want you to forget who you are, and what makes you wonderful." Zay tells her before standing and moving back to his seat.
"I'm feeling things because of you!" Smackle exclaims in an accusing tone.
"You're welcome, Smackle." Zay says simply.
"Can't wait to hear this one." Maya says holding up her clock.
"It's beautiful. But it's broken. It was hard to find a broken one. Ever since I've known you, you've never stopped trying to put yourself back together. I wanted to get you something to let you know that you've done a great job, and it's okay to work on something else." Smackle explains softly to her.
"But why a clock?" Maya asks.
"You already know that time fixes a lot of things. I thought you might like to return the favor." She replies.
"I'm not crying, you are." Maya says.
"How to be a better friend" I read again before looking at Maya. "Personally can't wait to hear this" I say.
"When I met you, I was so sure that I liked Lucas and I acted terribly towards you. Both of us did" Maya says pointing between herself and Riley. "Last year when we did this we were like that and this year we're friends but I know that I could be a better friend towards you. I guess Zay and I had the same idea because if you look inside" Maya continues before grabbing the book and opening it and handing it to me "It's full of writing that I put in, I marked the stuff I know I have to work on in order to be a good friend for you. I know we haven't been getting along for a long time but I promise I'm going to do better." She says causing me to smile at her as we both have tears in our eyes before leaning in for a hug.
"Thank you" I say as we pull apart.
"You did good, guys." Riley says as she looks at us.
"So did you, Riley." Farkle says.
"Yeah, Riley, maybe we should give this Secret Santa thing one more year." Zay says.
"I'm forcing Lucas to stay next year, no way is he getting out of this again." I say causing everyone to laugh.
"Hey, Maya... you know the good thing about having a nice clock? Once you fix it, it will always point you towards your... Christmas future." Riley say dramatically before pulling confetti out of her pockets tossing it around.
"Ghost of the Future. I fear you most of all." Maya says shaking her head as they stand and leave. Farkle proceeding to mock the theremin.
"Get me one!" Smackle exclaims excitedly as Zay and I laugh. We all continue to head out laughing and talking.
Once I'm home I call Lucas on FaceTime. "Hey Bubs" I say smiling as he picks up.
"Hey Angel" he says answering.
"I miss you" I say smiling.
"I miss you too" he says. "So how was secret Santa" he asks jokingly.
"At the beginning absolutely terrible..." I start before he cuts me off.
"What'd you get?" He asks before I lift up the book.
"How to be a better friend" I read holding it so he could see.
"Oh wow" he says causing me to laugh. "Who got you that" he asks.
"That was my reaction, and Maya" I tell him before I explain to him what it meant causing him to smile at me. We then go on to talk for a few hours before we say our I love you's smiling at each other before we hang up, heading towards our holiday celebrations.
I walk downstairs smiling at my family before I take a seat next to them on the couch as we watch Christmas movies and drink hot coco while snacking on some cookies.