I close my books. I finally finished studying! I stretch a little and finally get under the cover of the bed, ready to sleep. Wait, forget about it. My alarm clock rings right away. I groan in frustration. Did I really stay up all night to study and finish my painting? Again? The answer is yes.
I change into some new and clean clothes and start cooking breakfast for Shawn and mom. They're really tired with unpacking all building all the furniture so I think that this is the least I can do for them. I don't have that much time though so I just cook some pancakes and climb out of my bay window just go climb into Riley's bedroom. Being her upstairs neighbor is super awesome! We can have sleepovers whenever we want. We haven't done that yet because I'm always busy but I'm sure it'll happen soon!
"I'm here!" I yell
"Peaches!" Riley yells back, giving me a heart attack. I didn't see her inside her room, I thought she was out or in the bathroom
"Riles! You weren't here a minute ago!" she frowns
"Of course I was. We even waved at each other" I tilt my head. I have no idea of what she's talking about
"You don't remember?" I shake my head
"No, I don't"
"Maya, have you slept?" Elliot asks as he comes in
"A little bit, yeah. Why?" I lie
"Maybe your memory doesn't work that well because of the lack of rest"
"Or maybe it doesn't work because I'm Maya. I always forget things" they both laugh
"Yeah, you're probably right, let's just go to school"
*In the school hallways*
"Hey, Maya!" Lucas shouts to me as soon as he sees me and when Riley, Elliot and I approach the group he kisses me passionately, taking me by surprise. What's up with him? At the beginning I don't kiss back but eventually loose myself into our heavy make out session. I love the taste of cinnamon on his lips.
"Well, hello to you too" Riley and Elliot say with sarcasm when we pull away
"So, are you excited for today?" he asks me with a grin
"Of course I'm excited!... For what?" his happy expression turn into a sad one, almost disappointed
"Maya, our anniversary. It's today" I raise my eyebrows in confusion
"Uh, no? It's Friday, today is Tuesday"
"No, Maya. Today is Friday" Farkle replies. He's trying to analyze me
"You forgot about anniversary?" I shake my head in denial
"Absolutely not. I even called Alice and told her that I couldn't go to practice. I just thought... are you sure today is not Tuesday?" everyone looks at me with a puzzled expression
"Maya, are you okay? You've been forgetting a lot of things lately"
"I'm fine Riles. And I always forget about things"
"Yeah, but lately more than usual"
"Are you sure you're okay?" I give them a warm smile
"Yeah, I'm okay. Shall we go to class?" I lock arms with my boyfriend and start walking
"Lack of sleep!" Smakle shouts
"What?"
"You haven't been getting enough sleep. This may affect your memory"
"This is why you've been forgetting a lot of things lately"
"Maya, is this true?" Zay asks with concern and I sigh
"You better get some sleep, okay?" I raise my hands up in defeat
"Okay, you win. From tomorrow I'll start sleeping more" Lucas kisses my head
"Good girl. Let's go to class now. I've heard that Mr. Peck has already graded our papers.
I feel my heart stop. I really hope I didn't fail the chemistry test. We eventually get there and I sit next to my lab partner, Zay.
"Good morning guys. How are we feeling in this Friday morning?" Everyone cheers since it's the last day of the week
"That's what I was expecting! And guess what? I'll make your weekends better too since I've already graded you tests" everybody except for Farkle and Smakle groans. Chemistry isn't the easiest class and Mr. Peck it's not very generous when it comes to grading. This is why almost half of the class is failing this subject, including Zay and Riley.
Our teacher starts giving us the graded sheets of paper
"Mr. Friar..." I can feel the cowboy sigh in relief
"What'd you get?"
"D-" he got a D-?! I'm screwed, I'm seriously screwed.
"Ms. Matthews.." she squeals in excitement
"I got a D+!" this just makes me more nervous. Did I pass? Probably not, definitely not, absolutely not
"Minkus, Smakle..." they both look at the paper in shock
"Hey, you guys okay?"
"I-I got a B-, I don't know how to feel..." Farkle got a B-?! Farkle?!
"What about you, Smakle"
"Me too, Maya. I didn't get an A I- click" Damn, she crashed. I totally failed. I mean, they're the smart ones in here! I'm just.... Maya. Broken girl who is a bad influence on her friends since 2001
"Mr. Babineaux..." Zay groans when he sees his grade and I rest my hand on his shoulder to comfort him
"It's fine Zay. I'm sure you'll pass this class by the end of the year"
"Thank you Maya. I hope so too"
"Ms. Hart" he hands me the paper with a smile but I refuse to look at the grade. I feel like I might cry.
"Congratulations. The highest mark in the whole class" I frown. What does that mean? It can't be possible
"What'd you get?" Zay asks me
"I-I don't know. I'm afraid to look at it"
"Just move you hand man!"
"No!" He groans and takes the paper from me
"Zay!"
"Woah..."
"What did she get?" Riley asks and Zay turns the paper around so that I can look at my grade too
"....A+" everyone jaws fall to the floor, including mine
"It can't be" I say in shock
"No Maya. That's your grade" I take my test back and notice that there are no corrections. This must be wrong. I raise my hand
"Yes?"
"There's a mistake"
"What do you mean?"
"You just gave me an A+. There must be an error. I've never scored that high. Especially in Chemistry" he chuckles
"Believe or not, everything's in order. I found it shocking too, this is why I checked over and over again. Still, there are no mistakes. Congratulations Ms. Hart" he goes on with his lesson but I don't pay attention to it at all. I just can't focus, literally, my vision is blurry.
"Wow, Maya. I'm impressed"
"Thanks Zay" the rest of the lesson goes by until we hear the bell ring. At this point we all gather up and start walking towards our next class: History
"Maya, congrats!" my best friend hugs me and I smile widely
"Thank you, Riles"
"Who did you cheat from?" Farkle asks me, sternly and I frown
"I didn't cheat"
"I don't believe you. Come on, tell us"
"Farkle, I didn't cheat" he rolls his eyes
"Sure"
"Listen. I can't believe it either"
"Just admit it already"
"I was literally in front of his desk"
"Because you always cheat" I'm starting to lose my patience
"Tell me how I could've cheated if he was right in front of me"
"I don't know, but it's not possible for someone like you to achieve an A+" I raise my eyebrows and everyone stops walking
"Someone like me? What do you mean by that?!"
"You've never studied or did homework your whole life. You were always too busy-"
"Too busy with what, Farkle, huh?! Busy making sure my mom was okay while dealing with my own personal daddy issues?! Is that what you mean?!" I step closer to him
"I'm sorry if by studying I'm achieving the results I want"
"You'll never get your scholarship"
"...What?" I say, my voice a lot more vulnerable than it had sounded in my head.
"Sweetie, maybe you should stop now" Farkle ignores his girlfriend
"Just because you've been studying and got a few A's doesn't mean that you'll get your scholarship. You're Maya after all. Sooner or later you'll stop studying and get back to your usual C's and D's. You're aware that you must have a minimal GPA of 2.5, right? You'll never get there. You barely had a miserable 2.0 last year"
"Things can change, you know?"
"Not in your case. Your head is too little and not used to absorb all the necessary information"
"Why do you think that I stay up all night, huh?"
"You'll never achieve your goal. Let Smakle and I be the smart ones and stop this play" I can't believe what I'm hearing
"I'm out of here" I bump my shoulder into his and take my seat. Maybe he's right. I'm just a stupid blonde after all
I read what Mr. Matthew wrote on the board: heroes.
"Heroes can come from anywhere. You don't have to be the big, muscular guy wearing the cape to do something really big, no matter what the superhero movies we grew up loving have taught us. Sometimes the most unlikely group of people come together to do something extraordinary. Sometimes people who did big things came from an unusual background. Maybe they were uneducated, maybe they came from poor families or simply grew up without a home. Can someone name a few examples? Maya" I sigh
"Can't you call someone else, Matthews?"
"Why should I?" I sigh
"Apparently I can't fit any information in this head. You better call on someone else"
"Farkle"
"Abraham Lincoln, he didn't have a formal education"
"What did he do?"
"He became our president and led the country during its darkest phase" I can feel the regret on Farkle's tone
"Someone else. Maya"
"Matthews, I-"
"I know you know Maya. Don't go back to hiding. Say it" I sigh
"Winston Churchill. He had never been to college and didn't even end high school.
"What did he do?"
"He became the Prime Minister of Great Britain. He also played a significant role in WWII by leading Britain away from the brink of defeat. Without him Britain would've probably lost" Farkle raises his hand
"I know someone else"
"You do? Go ahead then"
"Maya Hunter" I turn around to look at him
"What'd she do?"
"She became co-captain of the cheerleading team, made into the art club, helped her parents with moving in a new house and gave up her nights of sleep to study in order to obtain a scholarship for college" he looks at me
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. Of course you're smart and can obtain higher results than me. I guess I was jealous that you got an A+ while I had a B-"
"It's fine, Farkle. Don't worry about it" I'd have a lot more to say but I'm too tired to discuss right now. I feel so weak. Wait, is it just me or it's cold in here? If it's cold then why am I sweating?
"No, I really said some hurtful things to you. How can si make it up?" I smirk
"Oh no..."
*At lunchtime*
"Farkle?"
"Yeah?"
"Do it"
"Now?" I nod
"Yeah" he sighs, leaves his sandwich on the tray and sits next to Alice. I know that she and Elliot are starting to go out on dates so why don't have fun with it?
"Hey baby" he wraps his arm around her, making her frown
"Uh, hey Farkle. How are you?"
"I'm good. Listen. Tomorrow. Topanga's. 5 pm. What do you say?" Elliot chuckles
"Okay buddy" he slaps his arm away
"The only person she's going at Topanga's is me, got it?"
"Yes sir!" he sits back next to me
"I hate you" I laugh
"You did this in yourself" I notice that Lucas has been silent for a while now
"Hey, is everything fine?" he smiles at me
"Yes, I was just thinking about some stuff" I kiss his cheek
"What kind of stuff?"
"Well, I was thinking about how beautiful you look today" he starts kissing me. I love him so much
"You're so sweet" I whisper in between kisses
"Ew! Can you two stop?" I mentally roll my eyes at Missy. Why is she here? I simply ignore his and decide to straddle Lucas just to tease her even more
"Maya, come on. I bet Mr. Matthews is watching us and then tell Shawn" I groan in frustration and get off him
"Fine" I sit back down on the bench
"I love you"
"Love you too"
"I can't wait for tonight. You're gonna love the movie"
"Please don't tell me you picked a rom-com"
"Uhhh...no? No. I chose a horror movie! Like the ones you like" I laugh at his terrible act
"Okay, Huckleberry" the bell rings, meaning that we have to go back to class
"Maya, you haven't eaten your food" I look at it. Smakle is right. I was too focused on Farkle and Lucas to even eat something, thinking about it, I haven't eaten breakfast either.
"I'll just eat something later"
"Are you sure you're fine? You look so..."
"Dead" Elliot completes the sentence and walks up to me
"Let me check something" he rests his hand on my forehead and retracts it after a few seconds
"She's burning guys! Do you have fever?" I shake my head furiously in denial
"No, I'm fine. I have to be fine. I have an Algebra test now"
"I'm sure the teacher will understand if-" I cut him off
"No, I'm fine. Look..." I stand up quickly. Too quickly. My vision gets blurry and almost fall to the ground. Luckily someone catches me
"I've got you" Missy?! No! I'd stand back up if I could but I don't have enough strength to do it
"Let's take her to the nursery" After that I'm not able to hear, feel or see anything else, what's happening?
*Some time later*
"How is she?" I hear Riley's voice and open my eyes to see her and the others talking to the school's nurse. Wait, my Algebra test! I can't miss it!
"Is she gonna be fine?"
"Guys, I need you to calm down" I sit up and as I'm about to stand up she stops me
"Not so fast lady"
"I'm sorry but I'm late to-"
"Yes, I know. I've already talked to the teacher. He said that you can do it next week" I sigh, there's nothing else I can do, right?
"Maya are you okay?" Everyone rushes and gathers around the bed I'm laying on
"Space" the nurse orders and they take a few steps back
"What happened?" I ask
"You fainted" I frown
"Why?"
"Well, first of all you had very high fever. I gave you some medication so you should be feeling better. Then your friends told me about your sleeping and eating habits" she glares at me like a mom would
"Get your eight hours of sleep and eat something, got it?" I slowly nod
"Good. I've already called your parents to take you home. You need to take some days off and relax a little. I'm gonna leave for a while now" as soon as she walks out everyone hugs me tightly, including the Bradford sisters
"You scared us to death, Peaches"
"Sorry Riles"
"You haven't had a fever in ages, why do you have one now?"
"The lack of sleep and food deprivation debilitated her immune system" Smakle says proudly, she should become a doctor for sure. Missy walks up to me
"Promise us to sleep and eat regularly from now on" I frown
"Why are you so worried?" she gasps
"You fainted right in front of me! I didn't know what happened to you? I was afraid I was holding a dead body or something like that. I was worried sick for you!" Aw, that's actually...sweet?
"I'm fine everybody. Okay?"
"Ms. Hunter. Your parents are here" he barge in
"Are you okay, babygirl?" mom and Shawn start checking in me immediately
"I'm okay guys"
"How are you fine? You're burning! Come on, let's go home"
*At night, the Hunter's apartment*
Well, let's just say this is not how I wanted to spend my first anniversary with Lucas. I'm locked in my room. No books, no homework, no art. Just Netflix and bowls of soup.
I hear a knock on the door
"Come in!" Shawn opens it
"Hey, kiddo. How are you?"
"I've been better" he softly laughs
"I figured out you needed some company" Lucas comes in with a plate full of s'mores
"Hey" he sits next to me on the bed and I frown at my adoptive dad
"Why are you letting him here? In my room? Just the two of us? Alone?"
"Because I trust both of you. And you're sick so if you do something that requires saliva he'll get sick too" he smiles at us
"Have fun. But not too much" he closes the door
"Hey"
"Hi. I brought s'mores" I chuckle
"Yeah, I've noticed" he leaves the plate on the night stand and wraps his arms around me, hugging me from behind
"Happy anniversary" I smile back at him
"Happy anniversary" there's a brief moment of silence
"You know, I'd kiss you right now but I don't want you to-"
"Yeah, I wouldn't want that either" I sigh
"I'm sorry for ruining our anniversary"
"Hey, it's fine, you didn't ruin it. You know the only thing I need for a perfect anniversary?"
"What?"
"You"