"Riley, get out here! I have great news!"
I trudged out of my bedroom, each step heavier than the next. I had just finished my homework, but I couldn't even recall what I had written. My thoughts were still centered around my argument with Lucas in the cafeteria this afternoon. The best idea was probably calling him and apologizing, thus being the bigger person. But something about that didn't seem right to me. He had hurt me, too. Maybe this was one time I couldn't be the bigger person.
"Yes, Dad?" Even my tone sounded annoyed. He seemed far too happy to even noticed, and I couldn't decide whether or not that irritated me. Eventually I came to the realization that it shouldn't even matter to me; I had bigger problems.
"Shawn is visiting this tomorrow!"
Shawn Hunter had been my father's best friend since ... well, I wasn't sure. Forever, I was guessing. Things with Shawn were still pretty awkward, due to the fact that I was certain that he didn't like me. At all. I had no idea what I had done to make him dislike me so strongly that he couldn't even look me at me, but I tried not to dwell on it.
It seemed painfully unfair that he was popping up the same time I was having problems with Lucas. Things were complicated enough already. As much as I wanted to seem brave and strong, I couldn't help but feel rather terrified. "That's great, Dad." I sounded deflated to my own ears, but he was too excited over Shawn's visit to notice. I managed to flash him a small smile before stumbling back to my bedroom. I had a lot of thinking to do.
. . .
The morning came quicker than I had anticipated. Which was a bit of a surprise, considering the fact that I had barely slept. I stumbled onto the subway with Maya by my side, not even bothering to pay attention to my surroundings. I had already told her about Shawn's upcoming visit, but decided to keep my speculations about how he felt about me to myself. I didn't want to seem whiny. and besides, we both had much bigger problems.
"Maya?" I asked her suddenly. The subway had just started, and I had to tighten my grip on the pole to keep from falling.
She finally tore her gaze away from the other side of the subway, where she had been intently watching for the past couple minutes. "Yes, peaches?"
"What happened when your dad came back?"
Her expression immediately hardened. I knew right away that I had asked her the worst thing possible, but couldn't bring myself to feel regretful. We were supposed to be trying to be friends again. Friends talk, but real friends listen. I wanted to listen to what was going on in her life.
Eventually she shrugged. "He came back so he could officially sign away his parental rights. He didn't want to keep handing out money for child support, and I wasn't important enough to keep in his life. He didn't even look at me when I showed up at the diner with Farkle. He acted like we were total strangers."
I bit my bottom lip hard. The guilt was slowly seeping in as I realized that I should have gone with her. I could have at least confronted her father and called tried to change his mind. Everybody deserves a father, Maya was no exception to that. I should have gone and fixed everything for her. That was practically my job. "I'm so, so sorry Maya."
She shrugged again. "I had been expecting this all along, so it isn't really much of a surprise. He isn't the type of person to care about very many people. He has his brand new family, anyway, why would he need his idiotic daughter that wasn't worth sticking around for?"
I shook my head reflexively. "You aren't idiotic, Maya. I can't believe him! What kind of person signs away their parental rights just to save a couple hundred dollars a month? This is so-"
"Careful, Riles, wouldn't want to use any explicit language. It steals away your innocence." Her tone was teasing, but I couldn't bring myself to even crack a smile. It was obvious how much this had hurt Maya, which automatically meant that this was no time for playful banter.
"I don't care," I mumbled. "Why didn't you tell me any of this?"
She looked down at the ground, eyebrows furrowed. "I didn't see any reason to. He already left me a long time ago, Riley. This was really nothing new, and the bits that were new, well, Farkle helped me get past those. Besides, by the time we started talking again you had your problems with your cowboy. You have enough on your plate, you don't need me stressing you out even more."
"Maya, you're my best friend, I want to be there for you." I paused, something suddenly sinking in. "Wait a minute. Farkle helped you through it?"
She laughed softly. "Yeah, he did."
Curiosity was getting the best of me again. I couldn't stop the next words from coming out. "Do you have feelings for him?"
I could almost see her building her walls up again when I asked her that. She didn't say anything for a long moment before gesturing across the subway, where she had been staring earlier. "Did you even realize that Ranger Rick is right there?"
If she was trying to distract me, it definitely worked. I instinctively glanced across the subway, my eyes locking on Lucas right away. He was scrolling past something on his cell phone again, just like the day I had met him. I hesitantly looked away, trying to focus on anything but him. Which was pretty difficult, considering the fact that it was taking all of my self control not to walk over to him. I didn't even know what I would do. There was still nothing left to say.
"Aren't you going to talk to him?" Maya asked, raising her eyebrows.
I shook my head. "Nooo. Everything is perfectly fine right here. The only thing that could possibly go wrong is if I go over there, which I'm not going to do. So I think it's about time we get back to the subject of you having feelings for Farkle, yeah?"
She paused fora long moment, glancing between Lucas and I. Her eyes locked on my hand, still tightly gripping the pole, before she gently grabbed it, tugging it away. It was suddenly difficult to breathe when I realized that she was planning something. The type of something that had the potential to change my entire destiny. "Maya, what are you going to do?"
She paused again before abruptly flashing me a half-smile. "I'm doing you a favor," she said, grinning innocently. The subway skidded to a stop the second she let go of my hand, sending me flying across the subway and-
Oh.
Oh.
Right into Lucas's lap. Just like the day I had met him.
I forced a weak laugh when I realized that his arms were wound around me, keeping me from slipping off and onto the floor. It sounded fake to me, but I hoped that he hadn't caught on.
"Hiii," I murmured breathlessly. "We were just talking about you."
. . .
A/N: I'm not too sure how I feel about this chapter... oh, well. I hoped you guys liked it! It looks like Shawn's coming, Maya's dad is a total idiot (we already knew that, though), there might be something more than friendship between Farkle and Maya, and ... hmm. Oh, right. There's no way Riley can avoid Lucas now.
Thank you guys so much for all your wonderful reviews! It makes my day to hear from you guys, so thank you. To everyone starting school, or everybody who has already started, good luck! I hope it's a fantastic year for you all.
Also, for the guest that asked me if there's a jealous Lucas in the future ... I'm planning on it. ;) I hope freshman year is great for you!
Longest author's note ever - finished.
(I don't own GMW.)
