"I said move your lips not lock lips," Zay reiterates, sliding in front of her in the middle of the hallway.

Maya throws her arms to her sides and sighs. "Did Lucas tell you?"

"You know he did. Like, I love the guy, but God he can just get a tiny bit disgusting." He looks both ways before pulling her gently by the arm towards the lockers. He lowers his voice and says, "Look, I know you like him, but you've got the guy hangin' on by a thread, here. I know you kissin' him is kind of an up-in-the-air deal. But maybe you could, I don't know, DTR? Discuss the relationship?"

Maya turns to face the lockers and hammers her forehead against them, groaning. "The kissing thing was supposed to do that for me? Let my lips speak for me?" She tilts her head up, eyes glued to the ceiling, staring straight up at the fluorescent lights.

"That's-hold on." He shuffles closer to her, looking down at her, trying to meet her gaze. "That-that was your first kiss, wasn't it? Your first kiss was with Lucas." He breaks out into a grin-not mocking, but genuinely amused and almost touched. Maya rolls her eyes and scoffs. "That explains your-no offense-lack of knowledge about kissin'. First of all, the 'speak with your lips' thing is complete bullshit. Exhibit A: parties."

"Well-

"You just can't capture your feelings in a kiss. I mean, you can but-just talk to the guy, okay?" he pleads.

Maya swallows and nods. "I guess, sure-"

"Good." He gives her a good-natured smile and pats her on the shoulder. "Because he's right there," he says before twirling around and disappearing into the crowd of people.

"Hey, Maya."

Maya turns around to find Lucas standing before her, fiddling with his bag strap, attempting a smile. "God, are we doing this now?" Maya moans.

He blinks and ignores what she just said. "I was wondering...if you wanted to go on a date with me? Like this Saturday or something?"

"Uhhh-," Maya stalls. She twists in place, her head starting to hurt from frustration. "Look-the whole kissing thing-it didn't mean anything. Nothing. Just spur of the moment-"

Lucas presses his shoulder against the lockers, tilts his head forward, and raises his stupid eyebrows. "Maya?" he says softly, a smile growing on his face.

Maya blinks a few times and then groans. "Stop that-stop doing that!" she complains, stomping her feet like she's twelve again. She looks around and notices most people have already gone to class, only a few people shuffle slowly through the halls.

"Stop doing what?" he teases. He sure as hell knows.

"That. You're whole smiling thing," she explains.

"Oh, so do you like my smile?"

"Not when you're trying to-to manipulate me."

Lucas pushes off the lockers, standing up straight. "Well-"

"I'll go on a date with you," Maya blurts out. She looks up at him.

Lucas nods, suddenly going softer in the face and his pose no longer as confident. He starts fumbling with his bag strap again. "Cool...cool," he mumbles to himself.

"Oookay. I'll see you later." She waves him off, starting to head to class, but then Lucas calls her back. "Wow, miss me already, Huckleberry."

"No...I don't have your number."

"There. I'm done," Maya says, shoving a bunch of clothing pieces into Lucas's arms. She turns around and picks up the stack Lucas gave her. "Now off to the dressing rooms." Lucas nods and they part ways.

They're at the local JCPenney's, which they both realized wasn't the most glamorous place to have your first date. But technically it wasn't even their first date. It's Sunday morning, so the mall is practically empty, which oddly makes Maya happy, which makes Lucas happy. So they unconventionally decided to spend a romantic Sunday in JCPenney's picking out outfits for each other. To be honest, the lady behind the cash register in the woman's petite section has been eyeing them for the past hour.

Maya leaves her respective dressing room first. Lucas picked out a ridiculous frayed vest, a pair of suede pants, cowboy boots that are a tad big on her, and a big white cowboy hat to top it off, which keeps falling forward over her face.

Eventually, Lucas emerges clad in a tight black shirt, a black leather jacket, and a pair of skinny jeans that cling to him. He walks over awkwardly, the jeans barely allowing any movement. It's both hysterical and a bit adorable.

"Oooooh boy," Maya cooes. "This. This is the best outfit. By far."

"Speak for yourself. You in ridin' gear's got me feeling all kinds of things," he says.

Maya rolls her eyes. "Gross, sicko," she chides, but she's laughing anyway. "Maybe I'll defend you from all the bad guys. A little showdown. And then you and l will ride off into the sunset together on horseback."

Lucas stares at her for a few seconds while she rocks in place, a content smile glazed on her face.

"Well, I suppose we should change. Smoothies?" Maya says, trying to break the tension.

Lucas blinks and nods. "Sure-sure."

He trails behind her to the dressing rooms, but before he can go back into his stall, she grabs his by the shirt, pulling him towards her. Mustering some confidence, she pulls him into a kiss by the shirt collar. Lucas leans into it and when Maya pulls back, a goofy grin is plastered on his face.

"Thank you," Maya says, "for the whole date. It was…nice." She glances down. "Also I thought me kissing you in cowgirl gear might be...I don't know-one of your dumb fantasies."

"And on the first date, too," he says quietly.

"Ugh. Absolutely disgusting," Maya mutters.

"Hey, I bet me kissing you looking like a greaser was one of yours."

"Yeah, it's at the top of my bucket list," Maya deadpans.

"Sooo...do you like me?"

Maya pushes him away and starts heading back to her stall. She hears Lucas snicker behind her. Without turning back to look at him, Maya says, "Yeah, you're alright."

Maya curls against Lucas. The sofa chair is obviously only meant for one person, but Maya managed to squeeze herself next to Lucas.

The gang decided to gather at Topanga's for one final get-together as juniors. Despite all her maturity, Riley is unable to contain her excitement. She planned the get-together, so it was inevitable. She's already got a list of the colleges she's going to apply to that she keeps in her pocket at all times. It's times like these that Maya realizes she was always a bit ready to grow up, she just hid it under a pile of bunny rabbits and purple cats.

"So Maya and Lucas are finally together. Thanks to my help. No need to thank me, though," Zay says, folding his hands behind his head and kicking his feet up on the coffee table.

Lucas throws an arm around Maya's shoulders and hugs her to his side. It's been a week, but Maya still feels her heart start to pound against her chest. She knows it will go away eventually, but Maya doesn't really want it go to away.

"Yeah, Riley. You better catch up," Maya teases.

"No way. I am done with boys. College is my goal right now," she says calmly, splaying her hands out in front of her. Farkle shifts a little and Maya can tell there are certain exceptions to her rule.

Maya loosens herself from Lucas a little. She looks up at him and smiles. "What happens after high school? What if we end up going to different colleges?" Maya asks.

"Woah, woah, woah. She's talkin' about bein' done with boys and college and you're talkin' about us potentially being separated-can't ya'll just enjoy something that's going on right now? Live in the moment, people. Carpe diem and shit?," Zay says.

"Zay's right. Which is why we shouldn't plan too far ahead, because something might disrupt it-change our minds," Farkle agrees, though it's obvious he's referring to Riley.

Riley just shuts her eyes and says, "Farkle, would you like to help me study for our chemistry final?"

Farkle looks all too happy to. "Sure, Riley."

And just like that, Riley bids them goodbye and her and Farkle leave the coffee shop.

"Wow," Zay blurts out. "They goin' to go study? We're not gonna go do that...right?"

Lucas withdraws his arm from Maya's shoulders. "Actually, I was gonna go study for-"

"Let's go play laser tag," Maya suggests.

Zay points a finger at her. "That's what I'm talking about."

Lucas isn't as enthusiastic. "Maya, are you sure?"

Maya bats her eyes at him. "Relax, Huckleberry, it won't take all day."

Lucas draws his eyebrows together and Maya knows he's debating it in his head. That, and he's a little taken aback, since she hasn't called him Huckleberry since they started dating. But he's not that taken aback as he is pleasantly surprised. "Fine," he finally says. "Miss Hart, you are a bad influence on me."

"Aw," Maya says, "but you know that's not true."

They stumble out of the chair, which requires Zay pulling Lucas up like an old man. Maya finds herself happy as they ride in Lucas's truck, the windows rolled down. She told Lucas it wouldn't last all day, but even then she knew she was lying. It does last all day, both because they're dreading going back to reality and because after every game, they all shout in unison, "Carpe diem!" and then go play another round. But Lucas doesn't mind.

thank you so much for reading and for all the follows/comments. they mean a lot! (btw the title and all the chapter titles are from the sound "soundcheck" by catfish and the bottlemen).