Girl Meets World | AU

S1 E6- Girl Meets Popular

Maya's POV

"Look what's happening; look what's coming" My best friend says to me
"What's coming, crazy?" I ask her
"Invitations... to the middle school parties. It's begun. We could be party girls. I'm going to need a party-girl walk" she does a crazy walk
"Yeah, that's not it"
"You know,there is going to be boys at these parties. But not just any boys. No, opposite-sex boys. They're the best kind"
"Yeah, you sound ready for this"
"Oh, I am. And I may just be the first girl who crosses over from our side of the room to the... yeah it's gonna be you. You know what pretty-boy hister is handing out invitations to... don't you?" she taps me on the arm and I tap back
"A party"
"Membership cards to the popular club" I sigh in defeat
"Why can't you just let it be a party?"
"Because this is it, right here. This where you go one way and I go the other way. You get the invite and you marry pretty-boy hipster and I end up marrying Anthony Delveccio and we buy things in bulk. You're gonna be popular. I'm not" she tarts rubbing Maya's hair
"Good for you. Good girl. Bye-bye, Maya"Bye-bye" What the-Oh! The 'Pretty-Boy Hipster' gives her an invitation!
"Yay! For me. Maya, I know you didn't get one, but is it okay if I'm really happy?"
"You go get 'em, tiger" I say with a chuckle as we enter the class where she slams the envelope onto his dad's desk"Boom!" he picks it up
"you got invited to something?"
"So much for genetics, baby"
"Ooh, middle school party. Yup, I didn't get invited to a whole lot of these. Good for you. I'm proud of you. Boy-girl party?"
"Yup"
"You can't go"
"May I approach?" I ask
"Hurry, please"
" I'm gonna keep your young'un out of trouble, sir"
"Hart, you are trouble. Why would I want my young'un anywhere near the same party you're gonna be at?"
"You wouldn't. Say it. You know you wanna say it"
"You can't go if Maya's invited" I point at Riley, gesturing her to talk
"Maya's not invited'
"Then you may go"
"Thanks, daddy"
"Alright, good day, everybody. Class dismissed" Everyone stands up except for Farkle
"Sit down!" we all sit back down
"So, there's this guy Damocles who really really wants to be king. One day, he gets an invitation to come sit on the throne and actually hang with royalty"
"No!"
"'Sup, Riles? Pop's lesson hitting a little too close to home?" I say to tease her
"Nope, what he's saying has nothing to do with me. Yes, I've been invited to hang with middle-school royalty, but nothing bad could happen"
"I'm sure you're right. Farkle!"
"When Damocles sat on the throne he noticed a sword hanging over it, help up by a single tiny thread"
"Maya" mr. Matthews calls up on me
"Be careful what you wish for?" I try to guess
"Why?"
"Being what other people want you to be is just a sword hanging over your head"
"Riley"
"Nothing to do with me" Sure, keep telling yourself that sweetie.

*Some hours later*

we're at the location that was written on the invite, Mr. Matthews took us here "Well, looky here, teacher daddy, nothing hanging over my head except this here halo of popularity. And yay for you, my best friend, for watching me with a smile"
"Yeah, I'm smiling. I'm watching" This is gonna be fun...
"Alright, alright. Half hour you can stay. I'm waiting right here" she rings the doorbell
"I changed my mind. I want you in there. Protect your friend"
"I can't do that, sir. Wasn't invited"
"Why is that exactly?" I smirk
"About to find out, sir. Smile. Watch" Yes! Finally! Farkle opens the door
"Greetings, fellow partygoer"
"Farkle?" Riley turns to us
"Starting to become clear, sir?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm smiling real big"
"Announcing the arrival of party guest number six, female number one" right then another girl shows up
"I'm a female, Farkle" she does a weird pose
"You getting this yet?"
"But pretty boy pretty boy's still here" Poor, innocent thing, she has no idea. The pretty boy hipster takes off his raincoat, revealing two boys
"That's the greatest thing I've ever seen in my life"
"Everybody look at Riley. Honk honk waka cha" Okay Maya, don't laugh too hard
"Honey, stay an hour. Stay a week, stay forever. Just enjoy. Hey, you know what would make this just perfect for me?" he asks me and another guy starts talking
"Have you noticed the lightsabers hanging from the ceiling precariously over your head?"
"Damocles"
"There it is"
"I know" and after that her dad leaves me at home, where I find nobody, as usual. I prepare myself a simple bowl of cereal and turn on the tv when I hear a knock on my room's window. Weird, who could it be? I look over and notice that it's Elliot
"Elliot!" I say with a smile and open it
"What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to see you" he replies as he comes in
"But it's late. How did you-"
"I snuck out"
"What?!" it can't be possible, he's a Matthews! What about Topanga? She should know where he is considering she pays lots of attention to him
"Yeah"
"Why?"
"Like I said, I wanted to see you. Dad said to me that Riley was stuck in a geek party"
"Yeah" I say with a chuckle, it's too funny
"I kinda saw it coming"
"Really?"
"Yup. If it was a typical middle-school party they would've invited us"
"You need to put on a hold to your ego"
"While you need to have a little bit more of it"
"Touché...Anyways, what you did is still wrong. What about your mom?"
"She's busy with work. Apparently she's working on saving an Ukrainian bakery"
"I know that bakery, it's a cool place"
"Really?"
"Yeah, it makes you feel like at home"
"Then we should go there sometimes"
"You mean like on a..."
"A date, yeah. What you say?" I smile warmly at him
"I'd love to"
"Great" he looks at his phone
"It's kinda late, I should go now"
"Sure, bye" I give him a quick hug, a friendly one but when we put slightly away we still keep our arms around each other, almost as if there was something keeping us glued together. Elliot looks straight into my eyes, into my soul, into my vulnerability. I look down, nobody can see the real me, the weak Maya, the one I've been hiding since the day my dad left.
"Don't be afraid to show me who you really are"
"I don't know what you're talking about"
"Don't lie to me Maya, you're biting your lower lip" how does he know everything about me?
"And I know other ways to bring out your vulnerable side"
"I highly doubt it" he poses his thumb on my chin and gently pushes my head up so I'm looking at him again
"I don't" he whispers before pressing his lips against mine. I automatically wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer if that's even possible. We kiss for a few minutes and pull away only when we need oxygen
"That was...quite something" he chuckles in response
"It was" he brushes a strain of hair that was in my face behind my ears.
"You're beautiful" I blush
"Thanks" he kisses my cheek
"Bye" he leaves the apartment and I'm left alone again. I don't know why but when I'm with him I let down my defenses for a while and the only person I do that is Riley, it must be because he's Matthews, yeah, no other reason at all...

*The next morning at school*

As soon as I see Farkle I pick him up close to me by his turtle neck, I have the feeling something bad happened to Riley
"Okay, Farkle. Where is she?"
"Whatever have I done to deserve this display of affection?" Is he serious?
"This look like affection to you?"
"It takes it however it goes" he points at his lips
"Right here, nurse"
"She wasn't there when I tried to pick her up this morning and I couldn't find her in the halls. What'd you do with my girl?"
"Maya, release the Farkle" This is my best friend's voice. I turn around instantly and look at her, how the hell is she dressed like?
"Farkle didn't do anything except open my eyes to what the world really thinks I am"
"A harajuku girl?" I ask her
"Yes, because I figured if what I am is nerdy-geeky, I'm going to set the nerdy-geeky world on fire"
"You take it" I say to Mr. Matthews, this is too much
"Nope, beyond me. All yours"
"Why should I struggle to be popular when I can be these people's express fairy queen? Ha!"
"No, please. The one guy was two guys. The sword fell. This is the way you're gonna go? You're gonna embrace this?" I ask her
"Deal with it. I've gone over to the dork side"
"This isn't you"
"This is her" Farkle really needs to shut up
"They love this me"
"I'm not changing you back"
"Oh, yes you are. My daughter's going through this week's crazy, you get in there"
"Father, may we continue with the lesson? I seek knowledge"
"Never mind, leave her alone"
"Look at her!" he simply shrugs
"All right, what do you guys know about girls?" he asks to the other geeks
"Mostly we're terrified of them, sir so we try to keep our distance"
"Well, then I choose express fairy nut job" this can't be true!
"This is not who you are. What do you know about being a harajuku girl?"
"I don't have to know anything except that they love it. Sorry, Maya, I walk with a different crowd now. And as you can see, I am quite the influence on them" I'm not gonna let this stay this way! Some hours later I decide to solve this mess by coming in through our bay window
"Okay, I'm gonna take one last shot at this while I believe Riley is still in there and not completely under the spell of-" Interesting, Farkle is here as well
"Ladies" I grab him by his left arm and pull him down
" Farkle!"
"She's one of us now, Maya"
"She's one of me, Farkle"
"You're not letting her reach her full potential!" It's useless talking to him
"Riley, the world I know wants you to be yourself. In my world, it needs you in it"
"You're one of us now. And I've decided to prove it by letting you help the John Quincy Adams' spelling-bee team to the regional finals" he can't be serious!
"Really?"
"I'm right about you, Riley. I know I am"
"Thank you, Farkle. Sorry, Maya. The world wants what it wants. And right now, the world wants me like this"
"This isn't over, Farkle" I say before walking back home.
The next day I walk in class to assist the spelling-bee contest"Welcome, to this qualifying round of the city regional spelling bee between our own John Quincy Adams Middle School and Einstein Academy"
"Formidable opponent. And Smackle"
"I will destroy you"
"I am energy, you can't destroy energy. Ha!" the girl mouths him an 'I love you' ew, feelings
"Riley, get up there and show us who you really are"
"Okay, Ms. Matthews. Your first word is -" I put a card on top of the one he is holding
"Maya, you can't-"
"Check out the word, Mr. Matthews"
"Maya, what are you doing?"
"Hey, Farkle's not the only one with a master plan" Sometimes I can be smart too
"Ms. Matthews, your word is harajuku"
"Excuse me?"
"Harajuku"
"Uh, may I have the meaning of the word?"
"Oh, you don't know? Then let me tell you. It's a real neighborhood in Japan, where authentic Japanese girls have created an authentic look and life for themselves that is unique to them"
"Country of origin?"
"Are you kidding me?!" I add
"Can I hear it in a sentence?" Do I have to?
"Yeah. 'Stop pretending to be a harajuku girl, because you're not; you're Riley' R-i-l-e-y"
Five seconds, Ms. Matthews, or you're eliminated"
"What do you mean 'eliminated'?"
"It means you won't be a part of the group anymore"
"Harajuku" She takes the horrible glasses she was wearing off
"Something I am n-o-t. Sorry, Farkle. It was a lovely party and your friends are really cool"
"We are? We've never been called that before, thanks, Riley. We feel the same way about you" Mr. Matthews buzzes, meaning Riley is eliminated and she sits next to me
"Well, I guess we're back to where popular is gonna be kind of hard, huh?"
"I wouldn't know. And let's not try so hard to find out" we hug. All of sudden Elliot rushes in
"Mom saved the bakery!"
"That's awesome!" everyone says in unison
"So, can we go on that date?" He asks me and I smile instantly
"Su-"
"Wait, you're going on a real date?" My best friend asks
"Wait, you're going on a date?!" Mr. Matthews adds, clearly concerned. I look at Elliot with an amused look before he takes my hand and we run away from everyone and everything.