Girl Meets Second Chances

Fourteen

Maya takes her eyes off the ceiling long enough to glance down at Riley sleeping at the other end of the couch; her face buried in the cushion, one of her arms hanging over the side, and she wishes could sleep like that. Instead she's up torturing herself with things she has no control over and just lying here staring up at the ceiling is driving her crazy. If she were at home, she'd be painting or looking out her window, watching the people passing by on the street below. It always seemed like taking her mind off whatever was making it hard for her to sleep was her only option and now seems to be no different.

Without giving it much thought, she throws her legs the edge of the couch, careful not to wake Riley, and tiptoes in socked feet to the front door, stepping out into the crisp air. She takes a seat in her usual spot on the porch steps, looking out into the night sky and there's something about being out here that instantly calms her. As much as she loves the city, she can't put into words the feeling of being able to get away from it all, of getting to see the sky glittered with so many stars. The last time she had seen so many stars...

She shakes away the familiar thought before it has a chance to fully form in her mind and tries to focus her attention back on the sky.

"Can't sleep either?"

She turns in the direction of the voice, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness and when they do Josh emerges from it as if by magic. She lets out a breath, relieved to see that it's only him.

"Nope, wide awake with my thoughts," she says, offering what she hopes is a smile. "What about you?"

"Well between Farkle snoring like a bear and the Cowboy tossing and turning I'd say I've gotten maybe—" He pulls out his phone to check the time. "Five minutes of sleep."

She tenses a little at the mention of Lucas, but laughs.

"Sounds like you're having a rough night."

"Something like that." He takes a seat next to her, pausing for a second, before turning to look at her. "So, those thoughts that are keeping you up, do they have anything to do with tomorrow?"

He looks at her, waiting for her to say what she figures he already knows but she only shrugs.

"Hey it's normal to be nervous about something like this," he assures her. "But you'll be okay and Sophie will too." His words come out with so much certainty and she wonders how can he be so sure when she isn't. Maybe it's because compared to her life, Josh's life has been an easy one. He has the luxury of simply believing that everything will work out because it's all he's ever known, but she knows better.

"Please don't say that."

"Say what?" His eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"That Sophie will be okay. You don't know that."

"I'm sorry Maya. You're right," he says, sheepishly. "I don't know what's going to happen but what I do know is that you have to have a little hope. It's the only thing you can do."

She nods, knowing that he's right but isn't exactly sure how she's supposed to do that. Lately, finding a reason to have hope in something has been hard and no matter how much she wants to believe that Sophie will be okay, the cynic in her just won't let her. She turns to Josh, wondering if he might have a way to help her find the hope she's been missing but just when she's about to ask, he speaks first.

"I know this probably isn't the right time for this," he says suddenly. "But can I talk to you about something?"

"Um...sure. What do you wanna talk about?"