I had gone to the Matthews house early, and was sitting down eating breakfast with them, when Maya ran in. "All right, weirdos. Listen up and listen up good. I got like a minute before he walks through the door."

"Before who walks in?" I asked.

"Your Uncle Boing." Maya said, pointing to Riley.

"Oh, Maya, you've got to get off of this."Riley sighed.

"Nope. The reason he's not interested is because I've been playing it all wrong. See, my strategy of turning into a total nut job at the mere sight of him ain't working out as planned."

"Or maybe it's the age difference." I deadpanned.

"Three years older. Riley's dad married her mom. He's like 20 years older."

"We're exactly the same age." Cory scoffed.

"What?" That was new information to her.

"And Kenzie's mom and stepdad were like 5 years apart!"

"Let me also remind you that that was an arranged marriage, so...."

"I just need to be caszh. How's this?" She propped her feet on the table."

Topanga chuckled. "Yeah, how's this?" She pushed Maya's feet off. Then, the door walked open and Josh walked in.

"Hey, family."

Maya twirled her hair. "Yeah, hi. I don't care."

"My brother!" Josh said, walking over to Cory.

"My brother!"

I crossed my arms, standing up. "My beanie!"

Josh turned to me, raising his eyebrow mockingly. "I have no clue what your talking about..." He said, adjusting my beanie.

"You're evil." I said, pouting.

"Nice to see you too, Makenzie Hunter."

I looked around the room. "Alright, who told!?" Cory sheepishly raised his hand, and I raised an eyebrow. "I'll deal with you later."

"So, Riley, shouldn't we be like heading to school now, since there's nothing here for me of any interest?"

"Sure. Let's go."

Auggie came sit next to us. "Think she'll make it out the door?"

"I give her 20 seconds before she jumps on his head."

"I say 10." I said, smirking.

We stood up and walked over to Maya. Josh held up an envelope. "I came up here because I wanted to do this in front of all of you. I hold in my hand an envelope from New York University."

Maya stopped walking. "Ohh. Are we stopping?" Riley and I teased.

"I'm not stopping. I'm resting." She stopped walking again.

"What's in this envelope tells me where I'm gonna be for the next four years." Maya stopped walking.

"Ohh. Are we stopping?" We teased again.

"I'm not as young as I used to be." She said frustrated.

"Good luck, Josh."

"Yeah, go get 'em Joshie boy." I smirked. "Maybe you can get a job so you can buy your own beanie."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, hi. I don't care." Maya said starting to walk out with Riley.

"Is it just me or is there a new maturity in Maya that I haven't seen before? I find it intriguing."

I scoffed. "You shouldn't have said that."

Maya ran back into the room and jumped onto Josh's back, causing me to burst out in giggles. "Where will you be?"

"Hold on to your dignity, woman!" Riley yelled at her.

"Too late for that!" Auggie and I exclaimed, still giggling.

"Get off me, you little ferret!" Josh yelled, trying to shake her off."

"Give it!"

"It's my life!"

"It affects me, too!" She said, grabbing the letter from his hand.

"Grab his beanie too!!" I yelled to her, and she threw it at me.

"'Dear Applicant Boing.'"

"It doesn't say that!" Josh exclaimed.

"'This year we are only accepting married applicants.'"

"It doesn't say that!"

"'So... we regret to inform you that...'"

"Regret to inform me?"

"'We regret to inform you that you will be spending the next four years in New York with Maya!'"

"I got in? I got in." He said, shocked.

"We got in. Congratulations." He threw her onto the couch.

We all gathered into a group hug. "Yay!"

"That's so great." Josh said, still in shock.

"I don't know what this means." Auggie exclaimed.

"Congratulations, Buddy. I'm so proud of you." Cory said, hugging him.

"It means a lot, Cory."

"All very exciting, I'm sure. But Riley, Kenzie, and I have our own educations to which to attend... to which."

As I walked away, I felt my beanie snatched from my head. "I think this belongs to me." Josh said, grinning, causing me to roll my eyes.

We started walking away again. "This is so great. And my buddy who goes there invited me to his dorm tonight to meet some college friends if I got in."

"Ohh. Are we stopping?" Riley asked.

I grinned, catching where Maya was going. "Nope, We're doing something else now."

Maya turned to Josh. "When is this little party? Yeah, whatever, hi, I don't care."

"Uh, 10:00 Tonight?"

"Where's this little party? Yeah, whatever, hi, I don't care."

"Greenwich Hall."

Maya smiled. Riley turned to us. "Are we smiling? I'll smile. I'll smile anytime. What are we smiling about?"

"Bay window. Bay window right now." She grabbed our hands, and we ran to the bay window.

~<3~

"Can I sleep over at your house tonight?" Maya asked.

"Yay." Riley said happily.

"But not really?" Maya finished.

"Awww."

"I'm going to that party."

"Oooh, you're going to sneak out? But he said it could go till 10:00."

I shook my head. "No, it starts at 10:00."

Riley gasped. "It starts at 10:00? Who even heard of such a thing?"

"That bothers you, huh?" I said, shaking my head.

"It starts at 10:00?" She repeated.

"There are going to be college girls there. And they're pretty, and they're smart, and they're witches."

Riley made a face. "I don't like witches."

"We can't let Josh fall under their spell, Riley. I'm sneaking out." I raised my eyebrow.

"You will be grounded forever, and I will lose my best friend. Don't do this."

"No. I'm not gonna look back and regret the things I didn't do. I want to look back and regret the things I did do."

I sighed. "If you're doing this, I'm coming with you."

"You guys can't do this. Your conscience will always bother you."

"I don't have a conscience."

"Everybody does. And until yours shows up, I'm going with you too."

"Oh, really? Kenz I believe, but you're ready to sneak out this window and crash a 10:00 college party with me?"

"I am so ready." Then, her face morphed to one of realization. "It starts at 10:00?"

~<3~

"Okay, how are we pulling this caper off?"

"Riley, if we snuck out for an adventure, I know you'd tell your parents."

"I promise I won't."

Cory looked around. "Who's talking?"

Riley raised her hand. "We are. It's us."

I scoffed. "You ain't going."

"What is a lie? What are the effects of a lie on the human soul?"

"Why are you looking at me?" Riley asked, causing me Maya and I to roll our eyes.

"The man who summed up the price of a lie was Edgar Allan Poe in "The Tell-Tale Heart."" I shuddered. Zay and I had done this as a project for school in Texas. "Farkle." Cory suggested. But, before Farkle could start talking, Zay cut him off.

"So... this guy chops somebody up, hides him in the floor. He's cool for awhile, but all of a sudden, Boom, boom. Boom, boom. Boom, boom!" He slammed his hands on the table.

"His guilty conscience made him hear the heartbeat under the floorboards. So, he gave himself up." I finished.

Zay sighed. "Some people just ain't cut out for this stuff."

"And you are?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

Farkle rolled his eyes. "He called on me, you know."

Zay and I shrugged. "We know stuff."

I grinned. "This was our end of the year project for English."

Zay continued. "I know a lot of stuff." He walked over to Farkle. "I know stuff about you."

Farkle looked like a deer in headlights. "You don't know anything about me."

"Boom, boom." Zay and I chanted.

"Why would you do that?"

"Boom, boom."

"I don't understand. Why would you do that? Kenzie stop!"

"Boom, boom!"

"All through kindergarten, I never fell asleep once. I was faking all my naps. Faking them. I can't do it. I don't know how Maya can just fall asleep anywhere."

"I knew it!" I exclaimed.

Maya snored from her desk. Cory turned back to the class. "Okay, so, guys, the point of the story is that the conscience is more powerful than we realize." He banged his hands on Maya's desk loudly.

"I never wake you up!" She exclaimed.

"For those of us who have one. Now, just as the truth comes out, so too will a lie. How will you live your lives? How strong is your conscience?" Riley's face turned to one of terror.

"We haven't done anything yet." We reminded her.

"Oh, yeah." She said, before rocking back and forth in a daze. That girl worries me.

~<3~

"Before you give up on me completely, you've gotta give me a trial run at least. You gotta, guys. You've just gotta." We groaned. "Yay. If I succeed..."

"We take you." I said, nodding. "And if you fail..."

"I'm out, and out like a light."

"Okay." Maya looked over at Cory. "What's he doing?"

"He loves his tots." Riley said, smiling.

Cory counted his tater tots. "Eight. Nine. Ten? Ten tots." He turned to Auggie. "Auggie. How many you got?"

Auggie smiled brightly. "12."

"Gimme."

"Do I have to?" He said, but still handed over his tater tot to Cory.

"He counts the tots on everybody's plate to make sure nobody gets more than him."

"That's not what I do. I know one thing for sure about life. 10 tots is one tot too little, and 12 tots is one tot too much."

"Watch this, Riley." She turned to Cory. "Mr. Matthews, you're looking good. You wearing your hair different?"

"How would that even be possible?" Topanga asked.

"Thank you, Maya. A lot of work." While he wasn't looking I took one of his tater tots and puts it on Riley's plate. "This doesn't just happen." He continued. Riley's eyes widen, and she started to act weird. As she started acting weird, my phone buzzed.

'Wanna come over tonight? We're having family movie night, and my mom insisted I invite you. You know how she is.' It was a text from Zay.

I smiled. 'lol, depends... What movies?'

'We're starting off with the 5th HP movie, but then my mom wants to go to bed... She said we can stay up late if we wanted tho...'

I turned to Riley and Maya. "Change of plans, ladies. The Babineaux family invited me over, and I'll be out late probably..." Maya and Riley both nudged me, causing me to blush. "It's not like that!"

"Keep telling yourself that, honey."

I smiled, responding. 'I'm in!'

~<3~

I leaned on Zay, yawning. We had decided to watch as much of Sherlock as we could before falling asleep. "Tired, Kenz?" He said, raising an eyebrow. I nodded, laying down on his lap and looking up at him. "So I'm your pillow now?" He laughed.

I grinned sleepily. "You make a pretty comfortable pillow." I turned my body to the side so that I was facing the TV. My head was still on Zay's lap, and I could feel him unconsciously playing with my hair.

I had missed him more than I wanted to admit. We were best friends in Texas, and even when I was mad at him, I still missed him. I sleepily turned onto my other side, so I was facing his chest, and yawned again. Then, I shut my eyes, hearing Zay mumble 'Night, Kenzie...' before falling asleep.

~<3~

Okay, I just HAD to write some cute fluff between Zay and Kenzie. Two questions, 1. What should happen next for the two of them? 2. What will their friends and families reactions be when they find out about what just happened?