Published: December 11th, 2014

Edited: April 27th, 2015

"Mr. Matthews, Ms. Kossal asked me to give this note to you."

Cory scowled with confusion, slowly reaching to receive a folded piece of paper from Lucas. Lowering himself into his desk chair, he ignored the commotion of his pupils transitioning into their last class of the day as he unfolded the note.

It wasn't common for Cory to get a note from other teachers, but when he did, it usually discussed a problem with one of his students. He didn't think this would be regarding Riley, but it was possible that Maya could be the subject of the note. He had gotten one or two about her.

As he opened it, Cory skimmed it to notice both his daughter's and Maya's name written inside, explaining how they had been absent in Ms. Kossal's art class last period.

"Sir," Farkle slid another note across the desk. "A note from Mr. Ernett."

"Geez!" Cory snatched the second one, a frustrated grimace on his face as he hurried to open it.

This note, from the school's English literature teacher, also donned Riley and Maya's names, detailed in how they had not been present at all during fourth period. What in the world had the two of them been doing? Riley never skipped classes and was proudly nurturing a perfect attendance record for the year. Well, that record was a goner now.

The ringing of the bell broke Cory's thoughtful stare, as he looked up to see the class prepared to hear today's discussion. However, he had just lost his train of thought, and all he could think about was where his two "daughters" were.

Just as she had lost track of the time, Riley was lost in nursing her best friend. Excluding the few nights of baby-sitting Auggie, she had never been left alone in caring for someone, especially someone as sick as Maya. Riley had tried to coax her to let her take her to the nurse's office, but Maya stated that she didn't like that place. As casually as she acted about it, Riley felt there was something deeper than just a simple dislike for nurses.

Now, as Maya was resting her head on her friend's shoulder, Riley could feel her continuous trembling and heard the occasional, upset growl from her unsettled stomach. She had missed both fourth and fifth period, and now sixth period was about to start. Or wait-?

"Maya," Riley asked, a sudden panic in her tone. "Did the bell ring yet?"

"It rang five minutes ago," Maya's response was lackadaisical.

"No!" Riley immediately jumped up, leaving Maya without a shoulder underneath her head as she had to quickly catch herself. "My dad's probably freaking out!"

Maya's eyes widened in realization as she remembered that their last class of the day was with Cory. He wouldn't dismiss their absence as nonchalantly as the others did. He would force himself into their business and figure out why they were missing.

"Crap, we gotta hurry-"

Hurry they did, as the two of them tried to silently use the door farthest from Cory's view and sneak into a back row seat. Cory still noticed, as he quickly called them out.

"Since when did you decide to follow your partner-in-crime into juvenile delinquency, Riley?" Cory said, reacting just as Riley had imagined.

"Seriously, Dad? That's really overreactive, I only missed a couple classes!"

"Yeah, and you've never done that before!" Cory said. "And you can both explain yourselves in detention after class."

Suddenly, Maya turned to exit at a hurried pace, sprinting down the hall once she left the room. Riley, along with the whole class, stared after her; but unlike everyone else, she knew what was wrong.

Forgetting an explanation, Riley took off after her and left Cory with even more frustration. He vigorously scratched his head with a short, stressed-out sigh before turning to Lucas.

"Mr. Friar, could you please go get them? I'm not pausing my class worry over whatever inexcusable reasons they have for skipping class."

Lucas rose from his desk and left with solemn obedience. Once he had closed the door behind him, he was almost immediately knew where they were, as he heard from around a corner an awful sound of retching. He turned the corner in a jog to see Maya bent over a trash can, Riley standing beside her to keep her hair away and leave a comforting hand on her back.

Cautiously approaching them, Lucas waited until Maya was done before speaking up. It was surprising to see Maya so vulnerable and dependent on someone else, as she was always the irritable, sarcastic one who sat in front of him in class and consistently turned around to tease him with a smirk. He didn't like the nicknames, but he'd rather hear them over the pitiful sound of her vomiting.

"You guys okay?" Lucas asked afterwards, as Riley returned his question with a startled glance and Maya responded with an eye roll, her head clanging against the lockers as she slid to the floor in exhaustion.

"What do you think?" Maya snapped.

"Did my dad make you come?" Riley asked anxiously.

"Yeah, he told me to go get you guys," Lucas said. "You want me to tell him you went to see the nurse?"

"No, I'm going home," Maya said, stumbling into a standing position until catching her balance and heading to the stairs.

"Maya-" Riley started with a desperate tone, then gave up with a sigh and a saddened glance at Lucas before following her.

Returning to class awkwardly, Lucas felt the pressure of Cory's anticipating silence as he watched him come in without Riley or Maya. It was hard to decide between telling the truth, which would leave his friends in trouble, and lying, which would hurt his conscience. The latter seemed less important at the moment, though.

"I couldn't find them, sir."