Girl Meets World | AU

S4 E4 - Girl Meets Maya's Bully

*At Topanga's*

"That's it! Mom! Give me your apron" I shout as soon as I come in, making everyone turn and look at me
"Babygirl, what happened to you?"
"Yeah, you look like a train wreck" Zay adds
"Maya, what are you doing here? I thought you had art club" mom stands up and starts checking on me but I take advantage of the situation and take off the apron, she looks exhausted.
"Maya! You're full of bruises! And what happened to your hand? And why are you covered in paint?" I kiss her head
"It doesn't matter. You look very tired. Why won't you rest for a while? I can take care of this" Elliot frowns
"Maya, your mom and I got this"
"She's exhausted Elliot! Just let me help, okay?" I grab mom's notebook and pen and walk up at a table
"What can I get you?" I ask with my best smile
"I'll take a milkshake"
"Give me a coffee"
"I just want a chocolate ice cream" I write the order down
"Be back in a minute" I walk behind the counter and start preparing
"Maya, calm down. Why are you so nervous?" the others approach me
"Baby seriously, what happened to your hand? And face? And clothes?"
"I burnt my hand while cooking me some breakfast, fell at cheerleading practice and accidentally spilled paint over me. Okay?" I start heating up the machine to prepare the coffee
"Calm down"
"I am calm, Farkle!" they all fall silent and I sigh
"Sorry. Today was just a rough day at school. Mom I wanna help you today. You need to rest" she sighs
"You're right"
"Go home and take a shower. I can stay here the rest of the day" she smiles and kisses my forehead
"You are a great child. I'll go home and rest for a couple of hours. But then I'll get back here, got it" I nod
"Yeah"
"See you later, babygirl" she finally walks out and back home
"Maya, come sit with us" Alice invites me but I ignore her
"You look worse than your mother"
"Just shut up Zay! I'm fine! Stop bugging me!" I take the order to the table and sit behind the counter
"Go talk to her" Smakle orders my boyfriend
"Smakle, she's not in the mood" Riley snaps back
"Just do it, Lucas" he sighs and walks up to me
"Hey" he greets me with a smile
"Hey" I reply as I clean the counter
"Can you look at me?" I sigh and do as he tells me to. He starts leaning in for a kiss but I love my head away so that he kisses my cheek. I'm not really in the mood now. How could Alice start messing with my family? With my own mom and baby sibling?!
"Huh"
"Why didn't she kiss him?"
"Maybe something's wrong with her"
"Can you guys stop analyzing me?! I'm not a lab rat! Leave me alone!
"Maya, are you sure you're okay?" I put my best effort to do a smile
"Yes, Lucas. I'm okay, I'm always okay. Can I get back to work now?"
"She called him by his real name!" I roll my eyes and open a text message that someone just sent me. Worst error ever. Another message from Anna.
"Maya?" Riley asks me when she notices that I've been silent for too long
"Are you okay, short stack?"
"Stop calling me that!" I immediately storm away to the bathroom where I'll possibly find some peace

Elliot's POV

"Guys why is she snapping this hard?" Lucas sighs
"I don't know. She's been like this for the last couple of weeks"
"Really?" he nods
"She's her normal self in the morning but when the first bell rings she almost looks..."
"Scared to separate from us" Riley adds
"And at the end of the day she's always angry or annoyed" Smakle continues. Something bad must be happening to Maya.
"Guys, she has been keeping falling at practice lately and today she asked me to be removed from the pyramid for a secondary roll" I frown
"That's not like Maya at all"
"Yeah, I'm the klutzy one between us" I notice that her phone keeps blowing up with notifications but I decide to ignore it
"What about the paint spill? I don't think that's true"
"Yeah, me neither. She's always super careful with art supplies" Missy groans
"Who's phone keeps ringing?" she looks over the counter and grabs it
"How do I put this thing on silent?"
"You need to unlock it" I reply in a 'duh' tone
"Who knows the passcode?" Riley raises her hand
"Oh, it's pretty easy: 120801" I aw
"Your birth day!"
"That's not it" Riley frowns
"It is"
"It's not. I've already tried it"
"Huh, why did she change it?"
"Maybe she doesn't want you to go through her stuff anymore"
"Oh, what she should hide from me?" Lucas starts blushing
"Maybe our text convos since-"
"Oh, I always read them"
"Riley! That's personal!"
"I didn't think Maya had such a romantic side... it's scary"
"Try with 654123" Farkle suggests and Zay scoffs
"Yeah I don't think-"
"That's it! Now I can put this thing on... huh?" I frown
"What do you mean by 'huh'?" She looks like she's reading something
"You guys might wanna read this..." I take the phone and starts reading some text messages from... Anna?! I feel my blood boiling as I keep reading
"What's happening?"
"Maya is being bullied" Missy admits
"What?"
"Read" I hand Lucas and the others the phone so that they all can read it too
"I swear Anna and I will have a serious talk"
"Yeah, I'm going to join too" Lucas adds
"Well, I'm definitely going to kick her out of the team"
"Why would she do that? Maya is such a pure soul. I mean, she can be annoying to me sometimes but there's no reason to take it out on her!" Missy admits
"I swear if it's because of that time she kissed me I'm gonna kill her! It happened over a year ago and she wasn't even fully conscious! Damn it!" I slam my fist on the counter. The only one who doesn't even flinch is the cowboy. I know that he's trying his best to keep is cool and not turn into Texas Lucas.

Maya's POV

After a while I come back, I'm finally calm down. When I come back I notice that everyone looks at me with concern
"I'm sorry for before guys. This just hasn't been the best day of my life so far but now I'm fully calm
"Maya, why didn't you tell us?" Farkle asks and I frown in confusion. What does he mean
"What?"
"Maya. Stop lying" I notice that Riley is holding my phone. How did they unlock it? I changed the passcode!
"That's my phone! Give it back!" Lucas steps in front of me
"Why didn't you tell me? I'm here to protect you"
"Lucas, I don't need protection. I can handle this alone"
"Look at you! You're bruised and covered in paint everywhere! Do you really think you're capable of handling this alone?!"
"This is nothing serious-"
"She's harassing you! I bet that she's the cause of the scratches and paint, am I right?!" I don't reply, I just look down.
"Just answer Maya! Are you being bullied yes or no?!" I take a couple of steps back. I'm honestly scared right now. I've seen him as Texas Lucas before but this time is different, he's much angrier
"Maya!"
"Yes!" I manage to say
"Yes, I'm being bullied" I say in a whisper, causing his expression to soften while he gives me a tight hug
"Lately I don't even fell like stuff I like like painting or hanging with you guys. Getting out of bed has become a magic trick and I'm the worst magician ever! I don't wanna get back to school tomorrow, I-" he shush me and starts rubbing my back, slowly calming me down
"It's fine, Maya. We'll handle this, okay?" I slowly nod
"Riley. Keep the phone. We'll need it tomorrow"
"Guys, I-" Riley hugs me tightly
"You helped me when Farkle and I were being bullied, let us help you this time, okay?" everyone joins the hug. I don't even wanna think about what's gonna happen tomorrow.

*The next day, at History class*

"You are more defined by what comes out of your mouth than what goes in it. The way you speak and the things you say have power. Speech gives us the power to create or destroy. Talking about destroy things with words: if you are being destroyed by them then don't allow the voice of your fears to be louder than the other voices in your head. Make sure the voice of reason, the voice of belief, the voice of confidence are all strong enough to frown it out" I look away from Mr. Matthews
"Maya?"
"Yeah?"
"Which voice are you gonna listen to?" the bell rings and we all go to the hallways
"Maya, my dad is right. What are you gonna do?" I sigh
"Can you guys at least be with me when I'll do it?" Elliot and Alice join us
"So? You're gonna tell the principal?" I nod
"I think so"
"Great! Come on! Let's go!" he literally drags me there and knocks on the door
"Come in!" he slowly opens the door and Riley pushes me in
"How can I help you?"
"I-uh... I'd like to report a case of...bullying" this is it.

"Anna Jones at the principal's office. Now" we hear the speaker. I'm so nervous. What if I did the wrong thing? Elliot rests his hands on my shoulders, gently massaging them
"I'm proud of you, Maya"
"You are?"
"Yeah. It takes a lot of effort reporting a bully. I'm glad you found the courage"
"I heard you wanted to see me?" Anna's smile falls as soon as she sees me.
"Yes, you may sit down" she glares at me
"Ms. Hart said that you've been bullying her-"
"That's a lie!"
"We already showed them the text messages!" Missy hisses at her, making her shut up
"As a principal I cannot tolerate such things..."
"I understand but if you just let me explain-"
"Three days of suspension" her eyes widen
"My parents are gonna kill me!"
"I'm not done yet. You aren't allowed to be part of the cheerleading team for the rest of the season. Same things applies for the art club"
"Can I go now?"
"No. Now I have to call both of your parents so you'll have to stay here for a very long time. As for you Ms. Hart"
"Yes?"
"You're free to go. I'll call you back when your parents arrive" I nod
"Thank you" I manage to contain my excitement until we're out of his office.
"Oh my gosh! I did it!"
"You did it, Peaches!" Riley hugs me tightly but I notice that Elliot and Lucas are still mad
"Guys, everything's fine"
"No, it's not. Why didn't you tell us?"
"First of all: I know you both were gonna turn into your wild side. And second: I felt ashamed" Elliot frowns
"Ashamed? Of what? It's not your fault if you're totally awesome and Anna is jealous of that" I softly chuckle
"I didn't want to show you guys that I was being affected by the situation. I wanted to stay strong" Lucas sighs
"You need to stop with that facade. We all know you're not as tough as you want to show" I sigh
"I'm sorry for not telling you. I promise to be more open about these kind of situations in the future" Lucas hugs me
"You better, or I'll turn into Texas Lucas again" I bite my lip
"I wouldn't mind..." I whisper
"What?"
"Nothing! I quickly reply while blushing
"So you like Texas Lucas, ma'am?" he asks with a stereotypical Texas accent and a smirk
"No, I don't. That Lucas is such a... Huckleberry" he grins
"So it means hero?"
"Just-just kiss me already!" he chuckles and slowly kisses me
"Aww" Riley and Alice say in unison
"Bleh!" they all together when we add the tongue, making me chuckle.