Maya stood outside of school, waiting for her mom to pick her up. Of course, she had been waiting for her mom for about two hours. And for little Maya, it felt like days. Everyone else had gone home, and she was practically alone, except for the nearby teachers who pitied her and kept asking if she wanted a juice box. Maya kept saying she was fine, only because she didn't anyone to see her cry. She never felt comfortable crying in front of people. She's Maya Hart, she's always okay. A blue car parked in front of the elementary school and Maya's heart fluttered, her mom hadn't forgotten her after all! But when the driver rolled down the window, it wasn't Katy at all; instead, a pretty woman with honey brown curls was at the driver's wheel. "Riley, come on!" the woman said, "Sorry, I'm late!" A perky brown-haired girl skipped past Maya, happy to see her mom. Maya recognized her from class; she was the girl who waved her hand excitedly every time the teacher asked a question. Maya never raised her hand, she was afraid she would end up sounding stupid in front of everyone. Apparently, her name was Riley. Maya had always thought Riley was a boy name. Maybe her parents thought she'd be a boy, thought Maya. She knew that her dad probably felt that way. Ever since her dad left when she was three years old, Maya kept making up reasons why her dad would leave. But every time she asked her mom about it, Katy would choke back a sob and refused to answer. Riley didn't ignore Maya, like most girls did. Instead, she turned around and asked, "Hey, is your mommy still coming?" Maya stared at her feet. "No," she muttered. She waited for Riley to say something pitiful and run into her mom's car, but Riley surprised her. "My mommy can drive you home," Riley said cheerfully. "I can't let you do that," Maya replied. "I'd be happy to," Riley's mom said, once again surprising Maya. Without another word, Maya hopped into the car and told Riley's mom her address. She heard that she shouldn't give strangers her address or let them drive her home but she would rather jump into stranger's car than stay at school overnight.
''Hi, I'm Riley and you are…. Maya right?'', Riley asked Maya. Maya stared at Riley in astonishment. No kids seemed to know her let alone remember her name. Then again, Maya didn't have many friends and most kids tended to avoid her because she was weird. While most of the girls in her class seemed interested in pink, Barbie dolls, and princesses, Maya preferred to draw everything she saw. Of course nobody understood the meaning behind her drawings. Most kids like to draw what was in front of them but Maya preferred to add a story behind her subjects. Of course, her classmates complimented her work and her teachers encouraged her to enter her work in the annual school art show but Maya never listened. She drew for herself, not for others. She felt like when she drew, she was free and that nobody could tell her what she was doing wrong or how stupid or worthless she was. She felt happy because she just putting her feelings into her drawings. In fact, her drawings were the only place she could express her feelings. As her drawings usually had a sad tone message in them, she was pretty much miserable all the time.
''Maya, earth to Maya?''Riley said, waving her hand in front of Maya. Maya snapped back to reality, wondering how long she's been thinking.
''Sorry.'', Maya apologized, smiling sheepish.'' I was wondering where my mom was.'', Maya lied, not wanting to tell Riley what she was thinking.
''What about your dad, Maya? If your mom couldn't pick you up, didn't your teacher called your dad to come pick you up?'', Riley's mom asked, looking at Maya through the rearview mirror. May scowled. Everyone always ask about her dad. Every kid seems to have both a mom and dad. Lucky them, Maya thought.
''Maya, are you okay? You're crying.'', Riley asked, her voice laced with concerned. Maya didn't realize that she had been crying. That touchy subject must have affected her harder than she thought. ''My dad doesn't live with us. He….. left when I was three years old. I haven't seen him since then.'', Maya said, surprised how comfortable she was to tell Riley and Riley's mom about her dad. She never told anyone about her dad before. She didn't feel anyone would understand. But Riley and her mom seemed different. From what she saw, they seemed to be very kind and understanding people.
There was a long uncomfortable silence that followed, causing Maya to awkwardly slid in her seat and look at anything but Riley and her mom. She felt stupid for telling them this. But it seemed right to tell them this. Like they could help her. But who was kidding? Nobody wanted to help her through the situation. Her own mom never comforted Maya when she stayed up at night crying about her dad and why he left them.
Maya felt an arm around her shoulder and instantly started crying softly, all the feelings she kept inside of her bursting out like a river. ''I'm sorry, Maya. I didn't know and mommy didn't mean to make you cry. Right mommy?'', Riley said looking at her mom.
''Of course, I didn't mean anything Maya. I just assumed that your dad was still living with you but I now know the truth. So I'm sorry.'', Riley's mom, said turning the corner. ``So who do you live with?'', Riley asked, curiosity in her eyes. '' My mom and grandma.'', Maya replied, staring out the window. Her grandmother looked after Maya when Maya's mom was working night shifts so pretty much every day. Maya enjoyed spending time with her grandma. Her grandma would always bake them cookies and made homemade hot chocolate and then they would draw together. After that, they stayed pretty silent. Fortunately, the silence didn't last long as they arrived at Maya's apartment building.
Maya opened the car door quickly and practically flung herself out of the car as fast as her little body could let her. While she was sad that she wasn't going to see Riley ever again, she was also happy to be home. Just before Maya entered the apartment, Riley called her back. Maya came straight over, curious about what Riley wanted. ''Want to come over to my house for a sleepover Friday?'', Riley asked, hope glistering in her eyes. Maya looked at her surprised. Nobody ever invited her to a sleepover before. Nobody ever invited her to anything really.
Riley looked at her with an anxious look, the hope in her eyes dimming by the second. Maya looked at Riley with a smile and nodded. Riley squealed and ran out of the car and pulled Maya into a big hug. Maya was taken back. None of her classmates ever hugged her before. After a few seconds, Maya awkwardly hugged Maya back, not sure what to do.
Riley's mom came out of the car and for the first time, Maya had a pretty good look at her. She was really pretty. She was a young woman, looking to be in her late twenties or her early thirties. She had long, gorgeous, thick honey brown hair that fell down to her waist. She had perfect tan skin and bright sparkling green eyes that reminded her of the sparkling emeralds she saw in the fancy jewelry store. Also for the first time, Maya noticed that the mom had a big belly.
Maya pointed to Riley's mom stomach. ''Why is your tummy so big?'', she asked innocently. ''Mommy's pregnant!,Riley stated excitedly, I'm going to have a baby brother!'' Maya nodded. She was excited that Riley was going to have a baby brother though she didn't know why. Whatever the reason, Riley's happiness was contagious and by the time Maya arrived at her apartment, she was grinning from ear to ear.
After the sleepover, Riley and Maya had become inseparable. She and Riley always hung out at lunch, played with each other at recess, and Maya started to spend most of her time at Riley's place, feeling safe and loved there.
One day, the class was assigned to plant a tree in the school garden. Maya chose a pretty apple tree while Riley chose the smallest tree. The kids started making fun of Riley for picking a small tree saying that Riley was just like it. Maya felt anger bubbling and boiling inside her. Nobody makes fun of Riley. She didn't deserve such treatment. Maya basically attacked the kids who made fun of Riley resulting in her having to stay inside for recess. But Maya didn't mind. She spend most of her recess time drawing and she could still draw inside. Beside the kids learned their lesson and never made fun of Riley again.
When the bell rang for recess, all the kids excitedly exited the classroom talking about upcoming parties and other things she didn't cared about. Maya turned back to the sheet of paper in front of her and smiled. It was just Riley and Maya with their arms around each other with huge smiles on their faces. Above their heads were the words Best Friends Until The End. ''Wow, that's really good.'', a familiar voice said and Maya turned around surprised to see Riley behind her. ''What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be outside?'', Maya asked surprised. Riley shook her head, a huge grin on her face. ''I couldn't leave my best friend alone in the classroom. So I'm going to stay with you.'', Riley said, pulling up a chair next to Maya and sat down. Maya was shocked. Nobody did such a sweet thing like that to her. But with Riley, the sweetest girl in the world, it wasn't much a surprise. ''I'm sorry for getting you in trouble. You didn't have to fight those kids for me.'', Riley said looking at Maya with a guilty face. Maya smiled at how Riley was apologizing for something she did but secretly appreciated it. ''Well of course I had to defend you. You're my best friend. Those kids were idiots. Nobody hurts my little plant.'', Maya said staring at Riley. Riley looked at Maya with a confused look. ''Little Plant?'', she asked, obviously confused by the nickname. ''Yeah, that's my little nickname for you. You know, since you pick that small plant to plant. You know you're like a little plant who's going to bloom into a beautiful flower.'', Maya said genuinely, smiling sheepishly. Riley pulled her into a big hug and both girls smiled. ''I love you, Maya.'', Riley said. ''I love you too, Riley'', Maya said back, hugging the girl even tighter.