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Hulu series PEN15 follows best friends Maya (played by co-creator Maya Erskine) and Anna (co-creator Anna Konkle) as they attempt to navigate the terrifying, hilarious world of middle school in the early 2000s. Season 2 is just around the corner and fans are excited to continue watching Maya and Anna grow up.

But just how much will the duo grow up through the course of the show? Will fans someday witness Maya and Anna go to high school? Here’s what Erskine has to say.

Anna Konkle and Maya Erskine at the "PEN15" Press Conference at The London Hotel
Anna Konkle and Maya Erskine | Vera Anderson/WireImage

‘PEN15’ Season 2

PEN15 Season 2 is going to pick up shortly after where we left off in the Season 1 finale. In the seven-episode drop, fans will get to watch Maya and Anna partake in such middle school staples as a pool party, a sleepover, and getting involved in a few extra-curriculars like drama club and wrestling.

Just as Maya battled the title of UGIS last season, this season the girls have a new terrible label: “desperate sluts,” a nickname Konkle is, unfortunately, all too familiar with from her own experience in middle school.

‘PEN15’ is about Maya and Anna in middle school

In an interview Erskine did with Entertainment Weekly in May 2019, before the second season had been written, she spoke about her vision for the show, particularly wanting to keep the girls in “7th grade forever.”

“We always knew the first season would straddle between childhood innocence and experimenting into teendom,” she told the publication. “So, [next] season, I think we’re going to pick up where we left off. We’re hoping to keep the show [about] Anna and I in 7th grade forever. That’s what the whole concept of the show is about: that purgatory. It’s not about these two characters going to high school.”

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While Erskine said, at the time, she and Konkle may explore some darker themes in Season 2, it was important to her to keep the light, funny qualities of the show as well.

“We don’t want to lose some of the sillier, zanier moments that are reminiscent of that time, because your logic at that time is crazy,” she said. “I mean darker like, maybe we’ll have the girls experiment more sexually, and go into more R-rated things! Anna’s parents just got divorced so seeing how that plays out would be interesting. Maya still has a secret from Anna about [having her first] period. How will that be revealed?”

Thankfully, it seems like Erskine and Konkle have plenty of material to pull from to keep PEN15 going.

“We’ve been talking about [doing] this show for six years,” she said. “There’s a bible of stuff — all these ideas and stories.”

PEN15 Season 2 starts streaming on Hulu on Sept. 18.

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