Riley Matthews has a cheat sheet to Maya Hart.
She'd never tell anyone, and lucky for her, no one ever asks so she never has to lie, but she does. Except, it isn't exactly a sheet, and it can easily be summarised in three words: Humming, body language and eyes.
It's Maya's subconscious that sells her out, really, because Maya Hart loves to hum (She has other habits too, but we'll get onto those in a while). It's not like Riley's cheating, either. Its just that she pays attention. A lot. Probably more than she should, so sue her. She may be in the closet but her mind hasn't gotten the memo yet.
It was subtle at first, just barely audible, so it took her a while to notice. The first time she noticed was when they were both in Central Park (The weather was amazing for once so Riley convinced Maya to go out) a few years ago. Maya had been grumpy at first, not really wanting to be there, but as they continued just walking around, she'd begun to relax and even smile. The humming began a little while after Riley had walked straight into a tree while they both were talking and weren't paying attention. Maya had laughed so hard her eyes watered before she helped Riley back up.
(' "True friends laugh before they help, Honey." "I know, Peaches." ').
As Maya's laughter calmed down, soft smile still on her face, she began humming, thus marking the first time Riley noticed it. She could hear the happiness in it, in the distinct hitch in the hum, and with one look at Maya's face, knew she wasn't even aware she was doing it. It was the sappiest thing, really, and it made Riley smile, because only Maya would hum 'Mr. Blue Sky' subconsciously because she found Riley's clumsiness amusing. How her mind made the connection with the weather and the mood, Riley'd never know.
After that, she only began noticing it more.
When Maya was sad, she'd hum songs by Muse or Twenty One Pilots, voice soft and soulful. When she was happy, it'd be variety of songs, her voice, and the songs themselves, exploding with life. When she was nervous or anxious, her humming would be jilted and uneven in volume, songs from indie bands Riley didn't even know existed and voice unsure and unsteady, but still there. For every emotion she had, there was a corresponding song she'd hum, and varying tones in which she'd hum them.
The only song Riley never quite managed to put an emotion or tone to was 'You Are My Sunshine'. There wasn't a particular time, place, situation, or emotion that ever corresponded to when she'd hum that song. The only connection Riley had ever drawn about when Maya hummed it, was that it happened around Riley, and only around Riley(as far as she had observed). She didn't know how she should interpret that, so she just didn't(She was probably imaging it being just around her anyway[she knew she wasn't]).
(Maya always reminded her of Pluto, which in her opinion was the smallest planet with the biggest h(e)art.)
Next came the body language. Honestly, she wasn't even trying to hide her appreciation of the female gender any more. She began noticing all the little quirks Maya had about a year after the humming. A lose strand of hair the colour and texture of molten gold twirled here, a clasp or twiddle of fingers there, and an occasional drumming of fingers on any available surface was all it took, really. Slowly she began to place the actions with events they were the reactions to.
(Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, after all.)
The hair twirl is something Maya does when she is in the presence of her current crush(or as she puts it, "They're just somebody I dislike less than I do other people. Except for you, you'll always be first.") She clasps her hands together whenever she's nervous(even though she claims she isn't. Riley always let her believe she believes her), like when she's about to give a presentation in front of a large audience. The finger twiddling is more complicated. It happens the most in moments wherein Maya is preparing to leave Riley's home to go to her house(she later recognises it to be anxiousness). Her personal favourite is the finger drumming. Maya always does it when she's really excited for something, all bright smiles and glimmering eyes(don't even get her started on those. It's like someone compressed the planet and all its greens and blues and decided to make her eyes their home) and always, always, joined by humming 'You Are My Sunshine' and god, if it didn't turn Riley into a blushing mess who felt lighter than a cloud than nothing did.
(One person really shouldn't have the power to defy physics and radiate light, but by god, if any one person should be able to do it, she's happy that Maya is the one who can.)
Finally, we get onto Riley's favourite part of the sheet. Maya Hart's eyes. Other names include 'The Earth personified', 'The first pool Riley went swimming in', and her personal favourite: 'Home'. She honestly had no other words to describe what she feels when she looks into Maya's eyes. But she's getting off topic. Maya's eyes were the hardest things to learn how to read, but once you learned, she's the most open book on the planet. Riley had the changes in Maya's eyes mapped out like she maps out the constellations to Maya whenever they go stargazing.
(Riley's sure Maya does it for her, but honestly, Riley does it just as much for her love of space as she does to see the stars reflected in Maya's eyes. The feeling of reliving the experience of discovering science and the vastness of space for the first time all over again too great to give up.)
She can read the dangerous glimmer in Maya's eyes when she's about to do something particularly rebellious, and tell it apart from the shine that lets her know that Maya is in pain. Can tell the swirl of colours in her eyes that indicate anger from the ones that indicate gratefulness. Tell the annoyed roll of her eyes from the amused and adoring one.
Maya Hart is a Rubik's cube whose colours are emotions and actions and reactions and complexities far beyond human understanding.
Maya Hart is a question that can't be framed and an answer that can't be discovered.
(And for all of Riley's scientific knowledge about the farthest reaches of the universe, she doesn't think she'll ever be able to explain or solve this one.
She supposes that if anyone is going to be the unstoppable force to her immovable object, she's happy its Maya Hart.)
So when Maya starts twirling her hair(Riley is always briefly reminded of the story of the imp named Rumpelstiltskin who spun straw into gold and absentmindedly wonders if the imp is real and spun Maya's hair himself), starts humming happy songs and drumming her fingers and frequenting the amused and adoring eye roll instead of the annoyed one, Riley finds it the easiest thing in the world to figure out that Maya has a crush, and who else would it be then the latest edition to their friend circle, one Lucas Friar. If she's going to be honest with herself, than yeah, he's definitely her type, but her heart, to keep or break, belongs solely to Maya.
However, she plays along. Lets them believe that she likes Lucas. Lets Maya believe that she likes Lucas, because she's just a little selfish when it comes to her best friend(God she wishs they were more, but if it never happens, this is enough). Except, when she sees Maya leave, when she sees how the thought of Lucas getting hurt affected her best friend, her Peaches, she has to drop the act. They like each other, and Riley couldn't, and wouldn't, stand in their way. So she tells Maya to go for it, that she doesn't like Lucas that way.
(He's a sweet guy, and maybe in another time and another place, they might've been. But not this time and not this place.)
The joy she sees in Maya's eyes when she says she doesn't like Lucas almost breaks her heart, but she stands strong. They're still best friends and that's all that matters. There is pain there, too, which Riley dismisses as her reaction to Riley 'stepping down'.
So, when a week later Maya and Lucas still aren't going out, Riley is more than a little confused. Until she notices it. The hair twirling, the happy humming, the finger drumming and the adoring and amused eye rolls, they weren't for Lucas, they were because of him. Just not the way Riley thought. Maya was being more outward with her actions, subconsciously (she thinks its subconscious anyway), because she saw Lucas as competition for Riley. Which is surprising to say the least, except it also isn't. They're Riley and Maya, they always have been.
(To put it into perspective for anyone who sees her as conceited for thinking it was all over her, the only reason she came to this conclusion was because Maya continued all the signs around her, but not Lucas.)
Of course none of that prepares her for Maya Penelope Hart serenading her and asking her to prom, a week before prom, in what could only be described as a promosal from one of those romcoms Maya claims to hate(They both know she doesn't). She, of course, says yes. How could she not, when Maya had gotten Farkle and Zay to shower her with daisy petals while Smackle held up a portrait of Riley and Maya at the bay window, the first time they wore their friendship rings(A portrait she knows for a fact Maya painted ). Even Lucas had pitched in, holding up the 'Go to prom with me?' sign. Maya had even made it herself, the ' o's ' in 'Go' and 'Prom' painted in the form of their rings.
(She'd felt bad about Lucas being dragged into this, knowing it had probably hurt his feelings, and had spoken to him later.
"It's okay, Riley. It hurts, but I'll get over it. We're friends first, all of us, and honestly, I think we all saw you and Maya coming, I think I was just in denial. I hope you're happy, both of you."
"We'll always be friends Lucas, and thanks for being so understanding."
"What are friends for?")
Riley finally figures out what emotion 'You Are My Sunshine' is for. What else can it be but love when it was the song Maya used to serenade her?
(Riley Matthews knows that science can explain love as the perfect balance of adrenaline, dopamine and seratonin, but she also knows that science can never explain the way her heart feels like its going to beat out of her chest when she sees the sun reflect of Maya's hair, turning it into molten gold right before her eyes, or the feeling of being blinded by the light Maya's smile emits when she's happy, something Riley knows is impossible, or the feeling of an inexplicable hum in the depths of her soul when Maya drums her fingers out of joy, or the feeling of an actual supernova exploding inside of her when she bears Maya hum 'You Are My Sunshine' because now she knows what it means. She thinks back to when she compared Maya to Pluto; had called her the smallest planet with the biggest heart, and thinks that if her reactions to Maya Hart being herself are the way she goes, then what a sweet end it will be.)
Maya Hart is an impossible possiblity and a mystery wrapped in an enigma and so much more and Riley Matthews wants to spend the rest of her life trying to unravel this beacon of light with the world in her eyes, gold flowing from her head and stars at her feet.
(Honestly? Falling in love, especially with your best friend, is the easiest thing to do. Its the journey after that that's the challenge, because love is a choice. You have to keep fighting for your relationship and never give up. And that's exactly what I plan on doing.
Riley Matthews, out.)
Author Note: This was so fun to write and any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! C: