Cory arrived at his classroom at around 7:50 and went to sit at his desk. He saw a note on his desk, which was weird, because most students didn't leave notes on his desk. Curious, he picked it up and read it and was shocked at what the note read. He recognized the handwriting almost immediately: Maya's.
He knew the "friend" Maya was referring to was one of six. It was either Lucas, Farkle, Smackle, Maya herself, or his daughter, Riley. He hoped he was wrong and ithat none of them were hurting themselves. Deep down, though, he knew that wasn't the case. His mind wondered through each of the six, wondering which one it was. Soon, students started to come into his class and he decided to have his first period students read a couple chapters in their history book and then do schoolwork, while he researched self harm on his computer.
Meanwhile, Maya and Riley were getting ready for gym. Riley changed into her hoodie and wore it over her t-shirt, with shorts on. Maya looked at her with sad eyes. She hated seeing Riley look so sad all the time, but she really didn't know how to help her.
"You ready, Riles?" Maya asked.
"I guess so," responded Riley, "I hope coach gives us a free day today so I can just walk."
Luck found them and the coach told the class they could do what they want that day, provided they were engaging in some form of physical activity during the class period.
Maya decided to join Riley on her walk around the gym. They soon heard footsteps come up behind them and Riley felt a tap on the shoulder, so she turned around.
Maya saw Riley turn around, so she did as well. Lucas and Farkle were standing there with weird looks on their faces.
"What do you guys want?" Riley asked curiously.
"We were just wondering if we could join you two on yall's walk. Normally, we would play basketball or something, but we feel like we haven't been hanging out with you lovely ladies as much." Farkle responded.
"Okay, that's fine." Maya responded.
They walked around the gym quietly for a few minutes until Farkle decided to speak up. "Riley, I'm worried about you."
"Why would you ever be worried about me?" Riley stopped to look at Farkle in the eyes.
"Because you haven't been yourself. And the situation in science class yesterday was troubling to us, to say the least."
Lucas nodded and said, "I may not have been there, but I've noticed you acting different as well. Smackle and Zay are concerned as well.
At this point, they had all stopped walking.
"I'm fine, guys." Riley lied.
Maya squinted her eyes at her best friend and said, "Riles..."
At this, Riley felt tears well up in her eyes for what felt like the thousandth time that week.
"I, I gotta go." Riley said and ran to the locker room.
After she ran off, Farkle and Lucas looked at Maya suspiciously.
"I can't tell y'all what's going on. But just give her time and she'll come around."
Lucas and Farkle both nodded and Maya looked at them and said, "Now I'm going to go check on Riley. You guys go play basketball or something and don't let anyone know something's off, okay? If coach asks, tell her that Riley and I both had bathroom emergencies."
"Okay," Farkle responded, "We care a lot about her. And you for that matter. So please don't try to handle whatever is going on all on your own."
Maya looked at Farkle and Lucas with sad blue eyes and said, "I know." And with that, she ran to go check on Riley.
Riley had felt cornered when Farkle and Lucas had asked her if she was okay. She knew they were well-intentioned, but for some reason, she started to feel like she was out of breath when they came at her. It was like she was embarrassed, except there was no reason for her to be. So, when she ran to the locker room, she went to her gym locker and got her backpack out.
Her breathing was becoming irregular and tears were falling down her cheeks. She knew there was only one thing that would help calm her down. She found the place she had hidden the blade that had been in the pencil sharpener and ran to the bathroom stall. Quickly, she rolled her sleeve up and was about to form another cut when she heard someone come into the bathroom.
"Riley, where are you at sunshine?"
The brunette felt her breath hitch and put her foot under the stall so that Maya would see her.
Maya tried to open the door, but Riley had locked it.
"Riles, can you open the door please?"
Riley thought about it for a second and decided it would be best to let her in, so she unlocked the stall door. She knew Maya and knew that the girl would probably crawl under the stall if she had to.
Maya opened the door and saw that Riley had her sleeve rolled up and a blade in her opposite hand.
"Riles..." the blonde whispered.
Riley looked down at the ground and said, "I didn't cut. I was about to. But you walked in right when I was going to."
Tears brimmed in Riley's eyes as Maya grabbed the blade from her hand and threw it in the sanitary disposal right next to them.
Then, she held onto Riley and said, "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. It hurts me so much that you're hurting so badly you want to hurt yourself. I just want you to be okay."
Riley buried her head into Maya's shoulder and they stayed in that embrace until they heard chatter coming into the locker room. They exited the restroom, and proceeded to go change.
On the way to second period, Maya felt a knot form in her stomach. She knew she had done the right thing, but she wondered if Cory had read the note and if he had, she wondered what he was going to do. She knew that he would probably make it into some kind of lesson. And she hoped whatever it was would help her know how to help Riley.
When they got to the classroom, and everyone took their seats, Self Harm was written on the board. Riley looked at Maya as if to ask if that's who she had found a way to ask, and Maya nodded.
Riley felt slightly betrayed, but she knew her best friend wanted nothing more than to help her. She saw Maya reach for her hand, and she grabbed it, squeezing it as if to let her know that it was okay.
"Does anyone know what self harm is?" Cory asked the classroom.
Upon asking the question, everyone looked stunned. However, a few kids raised their hands, among them Lucas, Smackle, Farkle, and Zay.
"Zay?"
"Isn't that what crazy people do?"
"That's a common misconception. Anyone else want to try?" Smackle and Farkle's hands hadn't left the air, and he debated on who to pick to answer the question. Finally he decided. "Smackle, what do you think?"
"Self harm is known in the DSM V as NSSI, or Non-Suicidal-Self-Injury. Although it isn't it's own official diagnosis, people are working on it to be seen that way. Self harm is known as a symptom of Borderline Personality Disorder officially in the DSM V, although people with BPD aren't the only one's who commit self harm. Self harm is when a person harms themselves but are not necessarily suicidal. For example, a person may cut themselves because they feel like their life is out of control, and want to feel like they have some control over their own life."
"Very good Smackle. Now, does anyone want to take a guess as to why we're discussing this in history class?"
He called on Farkle who raised his hand almost immediately.
"Throughout history, many people have engaged in different forms of self harm. Men would often harm themselves as a way to purify any sin act they believed needed to be amended. An example of this is seen in the novel, The Scarlet Letter when Reverend Dimmesdale punishes himself through self-flagellation. Currently, people who self harm do so because, as Smackle said, they need to feel some need to control their own pain. They may also be trying to numb whatever pain they're feeling." Farkle was talking a million miles a minute.
When the young boy was finished talking, Cory said, "Very good. Additionally, I would like to add that the reason it's important that we know these things is so that we know how to help people who may be hurting themselves, even if that person is ourselves."
Riley looked down the entire class period and just wanted everything to stop. When class ended, she let go of Maya's hand and headed to science class. She walked with her arms crossed and a sullen look on her face. She was almost to her science class when she tripped over some guy's foot in the hallway and fell face down, landing on her wrist. She screamed in pain.
Farkle and Smackle had both seen her fall. Immediately, Farkle reached for the hand that Riley didn't fall on, which Riley took and stood up.
"Riley, are you okay?" Smackle asked.
"I'm fine," Riley said trying to wiggle her fingers but wincing at the pain it caused.
"Can you move your hand?" Farkle asked.
Riley tried to move her fingers, but she couldn't without being in extreme pain and tears forming in her eyes.
"Riley, I think you need to go to the nurse's office." Smackle said.
Farkle nodded in agreement, "Come on, Smackle and I will walk you there."
He grabbed Riley's backpack from off of her shoulder and the three of them walked toward the nurse's office.
When they got there, Riley assured them that she would be fine by herself, so they could head back to class. They reluctantly agreed.
The nurse looked at Riley, seeing how the girl was holding her wrist. "What happened, Riley?" she asked.
"I tripped over some guy's show and fell," She responded.
"Alright, let me take a look," she said, lifting Riley's sleeve up, which revealed a swollen wrist and several cuts.
"What happened here?" she asked, pointing to the cuts.
"Nothing," Riley lied, "Friend's cat scratched me."
The nurse let it go, but she was going to mention the scars to the counselor later.
"Can you wiggle your fingers?"
Riley tried to wiggle her fingers again, but winced in pain. "It hurts."
"Alright, it's okay. Do you want me to call your dad's room or call your mom's cell?"
"Mom's cell. Dad won't be able to get a substitute in time, and my mom gets off early today anyway. You can tell my dad I hurt my wrist and my mom's coming to get me though."
When the school called Topanga telling her Riley had hurt her wrist, she immediately told her boss that she had to leave to go get her daughter. She knew the worst it could be was a break, but she worried about her daughter, nonetheless. Worry was her weakness when it came to her kids getting hurt.
When she arrived at the school, she went to go get Riley, whose wrist was wrapped in an Ace bandage. She cringed at the thought of her baby girl in pain, so the first thing she did was hug her daughter.
After she had checked Riley out of school, and were on the way to the hospital to get an X-Ray of Riley's wrist.
"How did you hurt your wrist, Riley?" Topanka asked.
"I tripped over some guy's foot 'cause I'm a klutz. Woohoo!" Riley exclaimed sarcastically.
"Hey, it's okay to be a klutz. Your dad's one too!" This made Riley let out a small laugh.
They soon arrived at the hospital, and since the reason they were there wasn't a bad emergency, the wait time felt endless.
After about an hour of waiting, they were called back by a nurse. When the nurse was done checking Riley's weight and vitals, he took Riley and her mother to a room and unwrapped her ace bandage. He then told Riley to change into a gown so it would be easier for the doctor to examine her wrist. It would also make it easier for an X-Ray to be done.
She was tempted to ask her mother to help her change, but she knew it was pointless because she would have a hard time changing by herself. She knew her mother would soon see the cuts that now lined her arms and her heart would break. But she let her mother help her anyway. Her mother helped take her shirt off over her head. And she was able to take her pants off by herself. She then was able to put the hospital gown on by herself.
Her mother's breath hitched when she saw the scars on her daughter's arms, but she didn't say anything about it. They sat there in silence for a while, until Riley finally said, "It's taking a while for the doctor to get here, huh?"
As if on cue, the doctor knocked on the door and walked inside. Riley was sitting on the hospital bed.
He lightly touched her wrist and asked, "Does this hurt?"
She cringed and said, "Yes, it hurts really bad."
"Can you move any of your fingers?"
"I've tried like several times and I can't."
"Okay, so we'll have an X-Ray done of that wrist to see what's going on. The nurse will come get you when they're ready for you."
The X-Ray ended up revealing that her wrist was indeed broken. The doctor did notice she had some minor cuts on her arms, but he refrained from saying anything to Riley or her mother.
It took a while for the nurse to put a cast on Riley's wrist, but finally, it was done and Riley and Topanga were able to leave the hospital.
After they got in the car, before Topanga started the car, she looked at Riley and said, "Why do you have cuts on your arms?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, mom." Riley replied.
Topanga grabbed her daughter's knee and said, "Riley...are you hurting yourself?" It was a question she was afraid to ask, but she needed to know the answer to.
"I..I don't know how to answer without you getting mad at me."
"Riley, sweet girl," Topanga said putting her daughter's hand behind her ears, "I'm not mad at you. I'm concerned about you."
Riley looked out the car window, tears starting to stream down her face and said, "Can we please just go home, mom?"
"Alright sweetheart." Topanga said, squeezing her daughter's knee, "But first, we have to go get your pain killer prescription first."
With that, they headed out of the hospital parking lot. Riley didn't know what to tell her mother about her cuts. Part of her wanted her mom to know the truth. Part of her was so ashamed about what she had done, she didn't think her parents would ever understand. Sighing, she got her phone and a pair of headphones out of her backpack, and played the music that provided an escape, at least for a while.