wanderlust ▷ lucaya

two; we meet again

so Lucas will be in this chapter!! yay, are you excited? I'm excited.

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T W O

[ m a y a ]

RILEY'S WORDS HAD STUCK WITH ME FOR THE ENTIRETY OF FIRST PERIOD ART CLASS.

Ms. Kossal kept telling me to pay attention, but I couldn't bring myself to do it, because I was too focused on what she said—Lucas felt something from the kiss, which I definitely didn't expect to happen. I didn't even mean to kiss him, it just sort of happened. It was in the heat of the moment, it wasn't purposeful, or even particularly enjoyed.

Okay, so that was a lie. Yes, I really did enjoy the kiss with Lucas, but I didn't want to enjoy it. I was perfectly prepared to say something along the lines of, "Learn how to kiss, Huckleberry!" and then pair that with a hahurr! before heading off. But that wasn't how it went at all, because like Lucas, I also felt something. Riley was being too nice to me after what I did to her, and I just didn't understand at all—she should've hated me. I definitely hated me.

I was headed to my second period, which I figured would go very bad at some point—history with Mr. Matthews. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that Lucas would be in that class, because he'd always had a habit of being places where I didn't want him to be, which was definitely going to include Mr. Matthews's class. Aside from that, I knew Cory was going to lecture me on running away.

Riley spotted me as I was walking down the hallway, and she rushed over to me, her canvas tennis shoes making scuff marks on the floor. At first I thought she was going to yell at me, but a small smile pulled onto her face as she approached me. I sighed of relief.

"Hi, Maya," she said. "Are you going to my dad's class?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Me too," she informed with a nod of her head. "I can tell you're nervous, Maya—but you'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say," I mumbled, but I think she still caught it.

It was silent for a moment, aside from the noise our shoes made against the floor of the school hallway. Then, "I know this is hard for you, but everybody misses you. We're glad your back, Maya."

I didn't understand why she wasn't mad at me, but then again, I wasn't really complaining. It was nice knowing that she and I could still be friends, even after what I did to her—nobody besides Riley Matthews would've ever forgiven for doing such a thing. I was thankful to have her as my best friend.

I jerked to an abrupt halt when I reached the open door of Cory Matthews's history class. Riley must've noticed, because she stopped as well, sending me a look of concern as she lightly drummed her fingers against the back of one of her textbooks, which were clutched tightly against her chest. I tapped my foot on the ground, biting my bottom lip hard enough to draw blood and gingerly eyeing the door.

"You know, I think I might just cut class," I said. "See you around, Riles."

I was perfectly content with chickening out as I turned on my heels, beginning to head towards the exit as fast as I could. However, I barely made it one step away from Matthews's history class as Riley grabbed my wrist, preventing me from going any further. I muttered a string of complaints under my breath, releasing a sigh and turning to look at her.

"Can I tell you a secret, Maya?" she wondered allowed, tilting her head to the side.

I cocked an eyebrow, saying, "Um, sure..."