Excerpt:

Keen on keeping his promise to be there for Maya when Josh wasn’t available, Zay formally asked her to be his date at the Winter Gala. He arranged an intricate proposal with paper snowflakes numbered with clues. Riley was in on the stunt, happy to lend a hand in making sure Maya found each clue in order. There were only three of them because even Zay knew Maya didn’t have the patience for much more. Zay’s sole intention with that proposal was to make Maya feel like she mattered. He couldn’t just ask her because she was his friend or because he liked sitting next to her. Besides, he’d noticed how quiet she’d become since the new year began. And while there were several things that were starting to concern him outside school and his friendships, Zay couldn’t ignore the girl who made him feel less like an outsider. He needed to return the favour.

• Focal ship: Lucas/Maya (slow burn ish)
• Other ship dynamics: married Shawn/Katy, past Lucas/Riley, current Farkle/Isadora
• Rating: Teen & Up (coarse language, sexual references)

Somewhere in amongst all the Triangle angst, Maya became angry and reckless again. Lucas didn’t understand what was happening then; he just knew the Maya he’d fallen for had disappeared. She didn’t know who she was anymore. Lucas knew who she had been, and he saw a glimmer of that person again and again in the weeks afterward. But they were just glimmers, just reminders of the girl he had lost. She’d evolved into someone new. It wasn’t someone Lucas could be sure he wanted to be with.

But he still cared for her, and he still wanted her to be happy. So he let her go.

• Rating: Teen & Up
• Canon-Compliant up to “A Christmas Maya”.
• Past Riley/Lucas (first flashback is in Chapter 10)

• Canon-Compliant up to “A Christmas Maya”.
• Past Riley/Lucas (in flashbacks)

Riley stared at the dirt still mocking her. She would need to leave it; she would have to hand that mess over to someone else. There was another mess requiring her attention.

She stood, turning to Maya carefully. Riley put on her best fake pout. She hoped her eyes were cooperating. As happy as she was to see that Maya was indeed safe, she couldn’t let her current emotions overwhelm all the other emotions she had experienced that day. She couldn’t let Maya believe she was off the hook for lying to her. At least, not right now.

• Canon-Compliant up to “A Christmas Maya”.
• Past Riley/Lucas (in flashbacks)

She’d stopped talking to Lucas on purpose. That didn’t mean she’d ignored him completely; that was hard to do even when she wasn’t confused about who he was to her. But she’d put a pause on their usual banter because Riley had discovered what it meant. Or, at least, a reason was found that made sense at the time Maya felt feelings she’d never felt before.

• Canon-Compliant up to “A Christmas Maya”.
• Past Riley/Lucas