what the future holds

#2

"Well, Lucas Friar, what can I get you?" I asked him, a hint of annoyance in my voice.

"All I want is an explanation, Maya. Of why you disappeared at the start of sophomore year without another word to any of us until right now." Lucas said, staring me down with those cowboy green eyes of his.

"Look, I'll talk to you about it later. Right now I have to serve people who are actually here to order food." I said, more bitterness in my voice than I had intended.

"In that case, I'll get a Texas Steak, please." Lucas smiled, but I could see in his eyes that he was enjoying torturing me.

"Any drinks with that?" I asked.

"I'll have a beer." Lucas said plainly.

"Lucas..." I started, knowing full well that he was underaged.

"I'm twenty one next month, Maya." Lucas said, trying to convince me with those eyes of his.

"I could get fired for doing that." I told him.

"You could also get fired if I filed a complaint about you not giving me what I wanted." Lucas winked. I scoffed.

"You're more annoying than I remember." I said, turning on my heel to get him his alcoholic drink. When I grabbed it I made sure no one was watching me, then walked back over to his table and set it down. "There you are, sir." I smiled at him. "I'll get your order in." And I turned around, whipping my hair in his face, and returned to the kitchen.

"Hey, Cecilia! I got an order of one Texas Steak, please!" I yelled at our cook, who could probably barely hear me over her cooking instruments clanging.

I walked back out to see if there were any customers that hadn't been served yet. I spotted a familiar brunette who was smiling at me with flowers in his hands. I walked over to his table and pecked him on the lips.

"What are you doing here?" I smiled at him.

"I wanted to surprise you at work. You seemed stressed out earlier." He informed me. I shrugged, I was stressed out earlier. "And I brought you flowers." He showed me the beautiful bouquet that he had bought me.

"Thank you, babe." I said, kissing him again. "Can you just take those home for me and put them in water?" I smiled at him.

"I'll do that when we get home, because I'm staying here to keep you company until you get off work." Josh said, taking my hand and squeezing it. I squeezed his hand in return and walked off to take the order of an old married couple.

__________

It was finally my break, which meant that I only had an hour and a half left of work. I went outside and pulled out a cigarette that I had confiscated from Lucas earlier. I turned it in my fingers, thinking about all the time I had spent away from my old friends. All the memories I had probably missed.

"So are you gonna give me that back or are you gonna try it out for yourself?" Lucas asked me, leaning against the back alley wall.

"I don't smoke." I said firmly. Lucas just shook his head and held out his hand for the cigarette. I stared at him in disgust. He shrugged and put his hand back in his pocket.

"So who was that guy you were kissing?" Lucas asked me. I looked at him as if he were crazy.

"My boyfriend, Josh." I explained simply, Lucas looked at me with a weird glint in his eyes.

"How long have you two been together?" Lucas inquired, staring at the damp ground.

"Almost a year now." I informed him, trying to read his expression, but even back in high school Lucas was difficult to read.

"Good for you." Lucas spat, his tone telling me that he didn't find it good at all. He took out a cigarette from his back pocket and lit it. He pressed to his mouth.

"What happened to you?" I asked him. He stopped inhaling the smoke and looked at me with sad eyes. "Underage drinking? Smoking? Blackmailing me?" I asked him incredulously. "What happened to Lucas the Good?" I almost started to cry right then and there.

"He grew up." Lucas said dryly. My mouth hung open in distaste.

"This is not the Lucas I knew." I insisted, stepping closer to him. "This is not the Lucas I fell in love with."

"Yeah, well maybe if you hadn't left things would be different." Lucas said, dropping his cigarette on the ground and stepping towards me. "Maybe if you had left a note or called us or sent us a letter and told us that you were okay. Maybe if you had explained. Maybe if you didn't just leave us without you for five whole years of our lives. Maybe then it would be different." Lucas growled.

"What difference did it make?" I asked, the hurt evident in my voice. "You all were pushing me out of your group anyways. You and Riley were together, Farkle had Smackle, who did I have? You were too busy with yourselves that I didn't think you'd care if I disappeared out of the blue. So I didn't object when my mom told me we were moving with Shawn to Albany." Lucas just stared at me, mouth half open. Clearly he wasn't expecting me to have an explanation. He thought I would just say that I just left and that was that. He wanted to blame me, I could tell. "How's that for an explanation?" I ask him.

With that I turn and walk back into the diner.

__________

After my shift, I dropped my apron in the laundry hamper and walked out into the main area. I smiled when I saw my boyfriend waiting for me at his table. I walked up to him and his expression brightened, it made me smile knowing that I had that effect on him.

"Ready to go?" He asked me. I took his hand and we walked out together. "What took you so long at your break? You took five more minutes than it allowed." He noted. I sighed, I had hoped that I wouldn't have to explain the whole Lucas thing to anyone yet.

"Just a ghost from my past." I muttered, hanging my head. He looked at me with concern on his face.

"Hey," He lifted my chin so I would look at him, "who was it?" He asked me.

Here it comes.

"Lucas Friar." I admitted, to my surprise, Josh didn't even break his stride.

"Oh, the cowboy who was dating that girl Riley when you left." Josh said. I had told him the story of me leaving many times because he liked to help me feel better about it. I found that sweet.

"That's the one." I said sadly.

"What'd he have to say?" Josh asked me. I didn't want to repeat it. I didn't want to remember it. I wanted to pluck it from my mind like it hadn't happened. I didn't want to, but I told Josh everything that he had said to me and I told him everything I said to him. "You were in love with him?"

I expected him to say as much. As my boyfriend, it was his job to make sure I didn't love other guys.

"I was. Not anymore." I said reassuringly. He looked slightly relieved.

But it felt like I was reassuring myself.

__________

okay so yes it is josh from gmw

the only thing is he is not related to riley or cory in this version

i hope u enjoyed it

♡ kylie