Author's Note: This is my first Girl Meets World fanfic, and I'm really excited! Would love comments, criticisms, and reviews! I will try to update as often as possible! Thanks for reading! (Edited by Chereche!)

If any of you are reading this and you haven't already read this story, here is a warning for y'all: I began writing this in July 2016 and my writing improved SO much that's it's not even funny (this happens around Chapter 31 after I took a long hiatus and spent time on another story, where I slowly improved). So, my point is this: please give this story a chance despite the mediocre writing you find for the first 20-30 chapters, because I would really appreciate it. And it gets better, haha. Yeah, I'm currently writing this in March 2017, and I just re-read this first chapter. Thank you to those who read all of this! :) Enjoy!

UPDATED: 10-21-2016

Disclaimer: I don't own Girl Meets World, just the story!

Chapter One: It All Started With Braces

Maya had always had confidence; no matter what life threw at her. It was mostly because she had learned that she couldn't do anything to prevent the hurt, so it was better to fake it until she could make it. And, up until Shawn had offered to buy her new clothes, she hadn't cared or thought much about her appearance either.

Until today.

Maya tried to hide it by walking normally and she had even slipped on a pair of heels to seem taller, and thus, more powerful. But she knew she couldn't hide it forever, especially with her quickly approaching friends. Maya turned around and pretended to be occupied with her school books.

"Maya! Why weren't you there this morning?!" Riley cried, running to her.

"Where?" She asked, ensuring that her head was still firmly inside her locker.

"My house to pick me up," Riley said, and Maya could tell that she was pouting.

"I had to—pick something up," Maya lied, still pretending to rummage through the shelves.

"But we haven't seen each other since 4:30 after school yesterday, which was—" Riley paused, turning to Farkle who, with the rest of their group, had caught up to them.

"Approximately 16 hours, 5 minutes, and 26 seconds ago!" He piped up, shrugging as if the information he had calculated was obvious.

"That has to be longest amount of time you two have ever spent apart!" Zay mocked.

Riley didn't take the hint and agreed with him. "Yes! And I don't like it!"

"I'm sorry, honey. It will never happen again." Maya laughed.

"Good," she said, relieved.

"Okay, what are you looking for, Short Stack?" Lucas asked, raising his eyebrows. "You were in the locker before we got here."

"Nothing, just...reorganizing." She cringed at her lame attempt at an excuse, but they seemed to buy it if the way they all laughed was anything to go by.

"Yeah, okay," Lucas said dismissively, and Maya yelped in surprise as she saw his hand reach out in her peripheral vision. She barely had time to avoid getting her head smashed as he closed the door.

"Well, you don't look like you've committed any crimes," Lucas said, searching her face teasingly. "But what are you hiding?"

Maya rolled her eyes and folded her arms, refusing to speak. There was no way she was going to let them see it for as long as she could help it.

"What? Nothing to say?" Lucas mocked, although his face showed his surprise at her silence.

"Oh, no!" Riley lamented, as she moved to her side and hugged her in sympathy. "You lost your voice, Peaches!"

The group of friends looked at her in disbelief, much to Riley's confusion.

"How could she have lost her voice?" Farkle asked.

"She was just talking to us!" Zay added and shook his head at the ridiculous statement.

"Oh, yeah." Riley said and pulled herself away from her friend.

"So, what's going on, Maya?" Lucas asked seriously.

Maya ignored him, and instead started to flip through her Geography book, hoping they'd actually shut up for once and leave her alone.

"Oh, man." Zay looked at Lucas. "It came to that. She's reading man. Whatever you did, it had to be bad! What did you do?"

"Nothing!" He threw up his hands defensively. "I never do anything remember?"

The group's attention turned to Riley then. "Hey, don't look at me!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, come on!" Farkle protested a moment later when they looked to him.

Maya was fed up with their annoying argument and nosiness though and so she started to leave. She didn't get far; she felt Lucas's arms around her as he picked her up and brought her back. Again, much to everyone's surprise, she didn't argue back as was the norm; instead, she only wriggled in protest.

"This is a new one; the silent treatment." Farkle remarked, as if he were analyzing a new scientific phenomenon.

"Yah, except we didn't do anything wrong that we know of." Zay pointed out.

"So, it has to do with Maya." Riley confirmed.

"Hmm." The gang tried to figure it out, while Maya continued to roll her eyes and watch the clock hoping for the bell to be her reprieve since Lucas seemed prepared to not let her get away.

"Wait a minute!" Riley's eyes, previously closed as she concentrated, popped open. "She's wearing her high heels."

"Which she only does when she's especially self-conscious about something," Farkle agreed. "And, it's usually physical."

Zay and Lucas stared at their friends in mild disbelief.

"Do they do this often?" Zay whispered.

"Yah, they're kind of like modern Sherlock Holmes' when it comes to people they really care about." Lucas answered, shaking his head.

"Okay, Sherlocks," Zay said, before he chuckled at the reference. "One; I'm apparently going to need to be careful what I do from now on, because you can figure things out way too easily, and two; I don't see anything that different about her."

Riley came closer to her, looking her open with exaggerated thoroughness that caused Maya to raise an eyebrow in return.

"Why wouldn't you tell me, Peaches?" Riley protested.

Maya looked down at the ground, letting her long, blonde hair obscure her face in lieu of a response. Where was that darn bell? "Sorry?" she muttered, not sure if Riley had really guessed it or was just trying to trick her into revealing what it was was different with her.

"Oh, now I know what it is." Farkle declared with a nod. Maya lifted her head enough to glare at him. With his usual annoying attention to the smallest of details and actions, he had finally put two and two together and had figured her out.

"Will someone please explain it to us normals?" Lucas said with slight irritation, still looking at her.

"Isn't it obvious?" he said, as he forcibly pulled up her head, ignoring her glare.

"She got braces!" Riley said, clapping.

Maya shook her head, trying to refute their words, but Zay was actually curious and brazen enough to reach out and actually open her mouth to find out. They caught a glimpse of the unwanted braces before she snapped at Zay's hand.

"Feisty." He complained, holding his fingers defensively to his chest.

"This is about braces? Maya, it's not a big deal!" Lucas told her, trying not to laugh along with the rest of his friends.

"What's so funny?" Maya spat, her temper boiling. They were laughing at her; the braces must look even more horrible than she had originally thought.

"The fact that you're trying to hide something so normal! Come on, where's the feisty girl that doesn't care what anybody else says?" Farkle said, attempting to comfort her.

Maya didn't have an answer to that so she just made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat, and stalked off, her heels clicking furiously.

Zay whistled as he took in her obvious aggression. "Man, if I didn't know Lucas, that girl would be the scariest thing I've ever seen."

"I don't get it." Riley said, sounding hurt. "Why's she's acting so weird?"

"It's just braces!" Zay agreed. "Lots of people have them."

"It's Maya," Lucas said, as if that explained everything. "But don't worry too much about it Riley," he said to reassure her. "It will all work itself out."

"But that's the thing; she's not acting like Maya." Farkle countered. "She wouldn't let something like this bother her."

"Yah, I know." Lucas said thoughtfully.

Farkle was right. There really was something odd with Maya's behavior today, but what was the cause of it?

"Are you mad at me?" Riley asked, concerned.

"No, Riles," Maya said, taking a tray from the counter.

"Then what's going on with you?" she inquired, following Maya into the lunch line.

"Nothing, okay?" she snapped, aggravated by the continuous questions. Then, noting Riley's wounded expression, she backtracked a bit, saying apologetically, "I'm sorry...I just don't like this."

"No one likes braces, Peaches," Riley said, chuckling a little bit. "But there's something else too...I mean, why wouldn't you talk to us about it?"

"Nope, nothing else," Maya said with finality, closing the conversation.

They were silent as they finished grabbing their lunch, and sat down at their usual table. Riley looked at her friend's plate in disbelief. "Is that all you're eating?" she half-demanded. "Are you sick?"

Maya glanced down at her applesauce and slice of bread. "No, I'm just not hungry," she said. Her stomach growled in protest just then, highlighting her lie.

Riley giggled despite her confusion. "Do you want some of mine?" she asked, moving to transfer some of the food on her tray. "You would do it for me."

Maya shook her head.

"Okay, I can get you some of your own, then," Riley said cheerfully. She started to get up, but the blonde grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"It's the stupid braces, okay?" Maya said frustrated. "I can barely eat this."

"They don't let you eat?" Riley asked in astonishment.

Maya rolled her eyes, but smiled despite herself at Riley's reaction. "I can eat honey, but my mouth is just super sore right now. I literally can't chew anything. I'm not really sure I can manage the bread."

The rest of their friends showed up then, all carrying full trays. Lucas sat down next to Maya, his face full of concern as he looked at her sparse selection.

"Okay, I know you're mad at us, but not eating isn't a good form of comfort."

She shot him an annoyed look.

"Or revenge...whichever it is." Lucas finished with a sigh.

"It's not revenge, Huckleberry," she snapped, and the tension among then that had raised with his statement relaxed considerably at the nickname. "It's just my braces."

"Her mouth is super sore, and she can't eat," Riley added.

"Well, that is just too bad, because for once, these tacos are extremely delicious!" Zay said and took a huge bite of his overflowing taco. "I mean seriously, I'm gonna have like 5."

Lucas and Farkle glared at Zay for his inconsiderateness, but Maya took a more direct approach and reached across the table to take a fistful of his shirt and pull him close.

"You know what I think?" she asked, waiting until he shot her an indifferent look, still chewing. "I'm sure that the taco would look a lot better on your face." Her words were nonchalant, luring him into false security before just grabbed the remainder of his taco with her free hand and proceeded to smear it on his face and hair.

"Maya!" Farkle groaned as he put his head in his hands.

She ignored him, and took up another, this time dropping it inside his shirt, and crushing it with her hands.

"Okay, Shortstack, that's enough," Lucas said, as he pulled her away, her hands dripping with taco fillings.

"Oh, what? You're jealous?" Maya mocked, waving her messy hands in his face.

"What-" Lucas began in confusion, leaning away from her as her fingers got a bit too close.

Maya grinned and took Farkle's taco off his tray, and smashed it over Lucas's head. "Did you want some?"

The whole cafeteria went silent then, all conversations ceasing as people from around the room looked toward their table, taking in what had happened.

"Do you have any idea what you've just done?" Riley asked in a hushed, fearful whisper as the atmosphere of the room changed.

"Rules state that once a single person has thrown, smashed, or smeared food on or at more than one person in the span of 2 minutes, an all out food fight is acceptable," Farkle added, his eyes wide.

"Oh, come on. Like anyone has, or for that matter, follows rules about-" Maya stated, rolling her eyes, although her own tone was a bit uncomfortable as she realized that they were indeed the center of attention.

"Food fight!" someone shouted and she realized that, yeah, Farkle was right.

Chaos ensued.

The lunch ladies and few teachers present were no match for the hundreds of high schoolers throwing food at anything that moved. Lucas and Zay's first act was to crown Maya queen of the food – after all, she deserved a taste of her own medicine. Maya saw it coming, and proceeded to grab a random plate of mashed potatoes. She backed away, looking to Riley for support. Unfortunately for her, Riley and Farkle were preoccupied in their own war with Smackle who had dumped a bowl of thankfully lukewarm soup on her boyfriend's head.

"Okay, you know what?" Maya hedged, continuing to back up slowly as the two boys advanced with trays filled with food and evil grins. "Revenge is never the best option."

The boys laughed, and Lucas listed off the things wrong with what she just said. "One, you're one to talk, and two, since when do you back down from a fight?"

"Never," she agreed. Maya's eyes held a mischievous glint as she suddenly rushed the boys. Unfortunately, they weren't as surprised as she had hoped.

"That's cute." Zay cooed as he easily took Maya's potatoes out of her hands, while Lucas snagged her wrists with his free hand to prevent her from escaping.

"Riley!" She screeched, but couldn't help herself from laughing at the pure ridiculousness of the situation.

The boys smirked just before dumping the trays on top of Maya, who gasped and sputtered as sauces blinded her, slimy vegetables slipped down her shirt, and chocolate pudding made its way into her now brown-blonde hair. Zay added his final touch by crushing a taco and covering her with it, while Lucas contributed by adding a small cherry on the top of her head.

"Perfect." Zay nodded, smiling evilly.

Maya licked her lips, and cracked her knuckles, watching with satisfaction as the boy's smiles faded as they took in her countenance.

"What have we done?" Lucas whispered fearfully.

"Why you smiling at us all pretty?" Zay chuckled nervously, echoing Farkle's words from eighth grade.

"So the last thing you ever see is something nice," she said, her tone overly cheerful as she reached for a plate of stuffed burritos off a next table.

"Dude, that's like our tacos on steroids!" Zay said, noting the size of it. The pair started to run.

For anyone else watching, it was a pretty funny sight; a small, blonde girl screaming as she chased after two pale faced, tall boys who were scrambling to escape her presence.

Observing them, Riley smiled broadly and said with relief "Maya's fine now. She's back," seconds before someone dumped jelly on her head. Growling, she grabbed a handful of the nearest thing she could find and turned her attention towards her attacker.

"This is a new one, Ms. Hart," the principal said as he folded his hands and stared at the aforementioned girl.

"Really? I could've sworn I started that "mystery meat rebellion" back at John Adams," she responded, furrowing her brow.

Mr. Douglas rubbed his forehead in impatience as he continued. "Don't you think you're a little old to start a food fight?"

"With all due respect, sir," Maya replied, leaning back in her chair, and, giving into temptation put her feet up on the desk as well, "I didn't know about the "rules", it was just meant for my friends."

He pushed her feet off his table, and glared at the irresponsible girl that was staring defiantly back at him. "Ms. Hart, the point is that you shouldn't have played with your food at all. You are 15 years old, and you need to begin to take some responsibility in your life."

Her face darkened slightly. "I have enough responsibilities, sir and I take care of them just fine."

Mr. Douglas sighed. "I'm referring to school Ms. Hart. I don't think I need to tell you that you have one more chance before you face suspension."

"How does what I did warrant a suspension?" she demanded, briefly stumbling over "warrant". She had glanced it on her mother's word a day calendar, and it seemed that she had unconsciously memorized it. "And besides, I wasn't the only one involved."

"But, you did start it," he said bluntly. "Every student in that lunchroom will spend the afternoon cleaning up the mess caused. A mess created because of your actions. And like I said before, you need to take responsibility for things. This isn't your first time here by any stretch Ms. Hart. Consider this your final warning before you are suspended."

"It was just a food fight." Maya muttered.

"The food that was wasted together cost money Ms. Hart. The janitor will still have to sanitize the room even after the students finish cleaning, not to mention the lunch ladies who slaved over your lunch and the teachers who were caught in the cross-fire."

"Do you want money or something?" Maya asked, aggravated, stopping her principal from rambling.

"No, Ms. Hart. What I want from you is a change in attitude, a change in behavior. Hopefully some time in detention will give you some perspective, perhaps community service as well. I will be contacting your parent once I have finalized my decision regarding you."

"Yes, Mr. Douglas," she grumbled, hoping the conversation was over.

He nodded for her to go, and she stood as she walked to the door and opened it. Immediately she spotted Riley at the end of the hallway waiting for her.

" Ms. Hart."

She turned around to stare at the man looking at her gravely.

"Don't forget that this is your last chance. Next time it will be suspension." Mr. Douglas reminded solemnly.

Maya didn't bother to respond, and simply closed the door. Riley ran to her friend, and hugged her awkwardly, wary of the food still covering her. She had been given a chance to brush some of the stuff off, but hadn't gotten the opportunity like Riley to change into something else. She crinkled her nose in disgust.

"Finish cleaning?" she asked, noting the books in her hand.

"Mr. Charles pulled us out to take our test. I'm going back after," she explained. "Anyway, It's not fair that you have to take the blame, Peaches," she huffed.

"Were you eavesdropping?" Maya asked wryly.

"No…maybe a little." she admitted. "But it wasn't hard to figure out. You were the only one who got dragged to the principal's office."

"Yeah well nobody hesitated to point me out," she grumbled, recalling how the principal and other teacher shad shown up, yelling over the noise and chaos to bring the room back to order. It had only taken the man asking once who was responsible for people to single her out, and, without much choice, she had had to leave with him. "Doesn't matter though," she joked. "Good news though."

"Yay! I love good news," Riley gushed happily. "What is it?"

"I probably won't see his office or this school for a while."

"They're going to suspend you?!"

Maya shrugged. "I have one more chance, so basically yes…a suspension is coming."

Riley frowned for a moment before her expression brightened again. "Oh, come on, you. The great Maya Hart doesn't have to get in trouble every day. You'll be okay."

Maya scoffed at her hopefulness. "Riles, I'm just an accident waiting to happen," she said flatly.

"What? How could you think that?" Riley reached out and stopped her from walking any further, looking at her, concerned.

Maya sighed. "Nothing, never mind," she said dismissively, before groaning as bits of food dropped from her blonde curls.

"Wait, is this the nothing else is going on?" she asked, referring to what she had said earlier. "You were so worked up about your braces before, but something else is wrong, isn't it?"

"No, I was just being silly about something completely normal," she disagreed, although from the look Riley gave her, she knew that she didn't buy it. It was obvious that the braces were still something of a sore spot for her.

"They're just braces-"

"I know, Riley." Maya said impatiently, cutting her off. "That's why I said it was silly for me to try to hide it, and to get mad at you guys for being nosy earlier."

"I'm not talking to you." Riley said, though it wasn't rude; just thoughtful. It was only then that Maya realized that she was just wondering aloud, rather than actively addressing her. Maya rolled her eyes, wishing that the brunette would just talk quietly to the little unicorn-princess-sunshine voice inside her head.

"I love you, but you're a lot of work," she said.

Riley continued on as if she never heard Maya, which she probably hadn't. "So, the sensitivity about the braces are just a side effect of whatever else is going on..."

"Riles, can you please just stop being Sherlock, and let it go?" she demanded, because that right there was a bit too close to the truth.

"Oh, you!" Riley declared, laughing at the blonde's ridiculous statement.

But thankfully, for now, she didn't speak her thoughts aloud again.