Chapter 3

When Maya woke up in the morning she found she had 5 missed calls and about 20 new messages from Riley. She felt bad that she had ditched her last night without any notice. It was after all a promise. She just couldn't bring herself to go in and she didn't have a valid excuse why she couldn't come over. After she saw Kylie sitting in the bay window with Riley, sitting in their bay window it was too much for Maya to handle for… some reason.

Maya decided she should head over to Riley's a little bit earlier than normal. She at least owed her a small explanation. Besides, she knew Riley probably had some things to say to her and she didn't particularly want all of New York to hear in on their conversation as they walk to school.

As Maya got to Riley's window; she saw Riley sitting in her normal spot in the window with a really distressed look on her face. Maya didn't think she'd ever seen that look on her before. She slowly pulled up the window and before she could even get herself all the way through the window; Riley's arms were wrapped around her. Why hadn't she just gone in the window last night? As quickly as the arms had been wrapped around her, they were taken off. Maya had no time to explain herself as Riley began spit firing questions at her.

"Why did you not come over last night? Why didn't you call and tell me you weren't coming? Why weren't you answering your phone? Are you ok? Are you sick?"

"Woah Sweetie, calm down. I'm ok. I'm not sick."

"Then WHY didn't you come over like you said. WHY weren't you answering your phone? I was so worried."

"I know Riles. I'm so sorry. I should have called you."

"WHY didn't you?"

"Can we talk about this later? I think we should start heading to school. The streets looked really busy this morning."

"Ok Maya but this is NOT over" Riley said as she grabbed her backpack.

For the first time in Maya and Riley's friendship, they walked to school in complete silence. Riley was confused and concerned and Maya just couldn't think of anything to say, let alone tell Riley why she had completely dropped off the face of the earth last night. Maya wasn't really sure herself. As they walked into school Lucas and Farkle made their way over to meet them.

"Woah, something is not right here" Lucas declared as he walked up

"And why would you think that?" Maya asked defensively

"Because you're not talking."

"How do you know that we didn't just pause as we walked in?" Maya asked, not wanting anyone else on her case

"Because you guys are always talking. I don't think you've ever paused your conversation, especially because you've entered the school."

"Maya, why didn't you come last night?" Riley asked once again

"Riley, I really don't want to talk about this right now. I'm not ready."

"What don't you want to talk about?" Lucas asked curiously

"Nothing you need to know about Lucas" Maya snapped

"She's mad because-"

"Riley stop! This is between you and me"

Right then, as if on cue, the bell rang.

"Saved by the bell" Maya thought as she began heading to her first class

As the day went on; Maya began to feel better, that is, until history.

"Please be gone. Please be gone" Maya thought to herself as she walked in "Why am I thinking that? I'm a terrible person. What is happening?"

"What are you doing Maya?" Riley asked coming up beside her

Maya opened her eyes, not even realizing she had closed them, "Nothing, just…. Thinking"

"Thinking about what?" Riley asked, realizing that this might be the chance to finally figure out the truth

But just as Maya was opening her mouth to talk Kylie walked in and called out to Riley.

"Hey Riley! What's up? Can I still sit here?"

"Of course you can!" Riley answered enthusiastically

"I had so much fun yesterday with you! Do you want to come to the pet store with me again today after school?"

"I'd love to but…" Riley said turning to Maya, "Maya's kind of having a rough day and I want to make sure she's ok."

"Why did she just tell her that? Wasn't there some sort of an unspoken rule with best friends about 'emotion confidentiality'? Especially between people we barely even know."

"Well you know, puppies are one of the best stress relievers. They actually sometimes bring them to colleges on finals week to help the students out."

"That's such a great idea!" Riley responded

"It's like they don't even know I'm in the room" Maya thought

Just then Riley turned around to face Maya, "What do you think Maya? Do you want to go pet some puppies?"

"I'll have to think about it" Maya replied quick and sharp. She turned to Mr. Matthews. It was pretty evident that he had been watching them the entire time.

"Can I please go to the bathroom Mr. M?"

Mr. Matthews hesitated as he tried to look for some clues as to what was going on. He could tell how upset Maya looked so he said, "Go ahead Maya."

Riley raised her hand but before she could say anything Mr. Matthews said, "I think you should just let her be for a little bit Riley."

Maya stayed in the bathroom until she heard the bell. She had to figure out a way to sneak past Riley so that she could go pick up her stuff that she had left in the history classroom.

She peeked her head out the bathroom door. She saw Riley standing by their locker talking to Kylie.

"Well this shouldn't be hard at all" Maya thought "She doesn't notice me when she's talking to Kylie."

Maya bent down a little bit, to make herself smaller than she already was and as she suspected, made it into Mr. Matthew's room completely unnoticed. She grabbed her stuff as fast as she could but before she could get out the door, she heard the all too familiar voice.

"Maya, can you come here for a second?" She heard Mr. Matthews call

She was the only one in the classroom so it's not like she could pretend she didn't hear him. Maya took a deep breathe, turned around, and headed towards Mr. Matthew's desk.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Take a seat" Mr. Matthews said, gesturing to her usual chair and desk.

"Miss Hart, I couldn't help but notice that something is…off. Care to explain?"

"Not really Mr. Matthews. Besides, I'm not even sure I know myself"

"What do you mean Maya?" Mr. Matthews asked, taking a seat next to her

"It's just, there's this feeling I keep getting in my chest. It makes me want to yell but it makes me feels like I'm about to cry, all at the same time."

Mr. Matthews looked at her concerned, "How long has this been going on?"

"Not that long, just about a day."

"Do you know what you were doing when it started?"

Maya paused, "No, it just randomly started."

"Maya when did it start?"

"Yesterday in here" Maya said as she looked down at the floor

"Aww, I see. Why do you think that is Maya?" Mr. Matthews asked

"I don't know Mr. Matthews!"

"I think you do Maya. Could possibly have anything to do with our new classmate?"

"Maybe" Maya murmured under her breathe

"What was that Miss Hart?"

"I said 'maybe' ok? I'm a terrible person. I don't know why she's making me so upset."'

"Maya, you're not a terrible person. I think you're just a little bit jealous."

"It's just it's always been me and Riley." Maya said with a shaky voice

"I know Maya" Mr. Matthews said, putting a hand on her shoulder

"She's just so much like her, and we're so different. She probably understands more than me and she lets her pet puppies and bunnies every day. What can I do? Give her my problems?"

"Maya, you know Riley better than anyone. You know that you are the first person she'd go to if she was upset."

"But what if that changes? What if she changes everything?"

"She's your best friend. Don't give up on her that easily. You need to talk to go talk to her Maya"

"Thanks Mr. Matthews"