Girl Meets Second Chances

Fifteen

Maya's eyes flutter open, giving her a glimpse of the brightening horizon and when she groggily turns over to escape the light her face ends up in the soft fabric of Lucas's sweatshirt. They sit close enough for her to feel the warmth radiating from his body, her cheek resting against his shoulder and she knows that she should probably put some space between them. But she doesn't. She's too exhausted to move or at least that's what she tells herself and she settles a little further into the hammock, promising to get up in a few minutes.

She starts to drift back to sleep so easily that she almost doesn't notice when Lucas shifts beside her. He moves carefully like he's trying not to wake her and when he settles back into his spot, somehow he's even closer than before. There's something about being here with him, about the way the sun kisses her cheek and how the hammock gently rocks back and forth that just feels...right. A part of her wishes she could skip out on going to the hospital and just hide out here for the rest of the day but soon as the thought pops into her head a twinge of guilt flutters up in her stomach. Having all of her friends here this weekend has been a nice distraction from the real reason why she's here but it's time she faces reality.

She shifts a little, ready to pull herself away from Lucas and finally get up but then she hears someone approaching in the distance. Panic stops her from moving or opening her eyes; she's not ready to explain the whys and hows of what she and Lucas are doing out here.

"Well how cute is this?"

She can feel Lucas's body tense at the sound of Zay's voice and she wonders if he feels the way hers stiffens too.

"Not the time Zay," he says in a hushed tone. "She's sleeping."

"I see that." Zay's voice is laced with amusement. "What I'm wondering is how she ended up sleeping out here with you?"

She can practically picture the smirk that probably sits on his face and she almost feels bad for leaving Lucas to answer the questions while she sleeps. She almost feels bad enough to step in, especially when a tense silence finds its way between the two of them, Lucas ignoring Zay altogether.

"Really? The silent treatment," Zay finally says. "You can't tell me that you're still mad about last night?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I almost jumped off a cliff thanks to you."

"You know you always could've just answered the question."

"No I couldn't," he says, pointedly. "And you know that so I don't get why you would do that to me. You're supposed to be my best friend."

Sleep still clings to his voice but the seriousness in his tone is clear, especially to Zay who lets out a sigh.

"I am your best friend," he says. "And that's exactly why I did it. All I was trying to do was get you to tell her the truth."

There's a pause in the conversation and she's reminded of Zay's words to her from last night. At the time, she was too concerned with trying to stop Lucas from hurling himself in the lake to even think about it but now she can't help but wonder why Zay was so determined to get Lucas to answer that question. Or why Lucas was so determined not to answer it.

"Look maybe I didn't exactly think it all the way through," Zay admits, bringing her out of her thoughts. "And I'm sorry for doing it in front of everybody but you and I both know that this isn't going away."

Lucas lets out a long breath.

"I know," he says, his voice even softer than before. "And I will tell her but I need you to let me do that when I'm ready."