Chapter Ten: The End of a Chapter.
Love is strange, something we may never truly understand. True love is rare, and you never forget it, people fall in love so many times in their lives that they forget what it actually means to be in love, then one day someone walks into their life and reminds them. Reminds them what being in love really feels like, but there is a love you will never forget, the passing of time shall never whisk it from your memory. First love, such a love that one struggles to describe it, to match it. The first time you find someone, you make a connection with him or her so profoundly deep and true that you're filled with a feeling so strange and new for you that it confuses you. Suddenly in a single short moment in your life you say those three words that help you make sense of it all, when you tell that person you love them. Love doesn't always need a story, a chapter, a paragraph or even a sentence, and not always does it need three words, sometimes all it takes it one. One word that embodies and tells a story, one word accompanied by a look that tells the story you're yet to know. For Riley and Lucas, they've been doing it since she fell into his lap on the subway, every time they saw each other in the hallway, it's all they could really say to one another, 'Hey' or 'Hi' accompanied with a smile, they didn't realise it then, they didn't understand the feelings they felt for one another back then, even as they were finally pushed together by Murray they still didn't entirely understand. Now in a short sudden moment in their lives those three words were said, and they all made sense, bringing them both up to latest page of a story they had been telling since the moment they met, that in time everyone around them came to know. And the story, well it's still being told.
Riley and Lucas sat in the cafeteria eating lunch accompanied by their friends, the return to High School was not an easy one, but they knew that. Cory was right; it was hard to walk through the school, to walk passed Murray's classroom hoping to see him, sighing, smiling or just being there. They still haven't gone back into his classroom; simply looking at it is haunting enough, as the events of that fateful day play in their minds but one day they will conquer it, hopefully. If truth were told, sometimes when the bell rings, or a student screams a moment of panic over comes them, fear as if they were hearing the gunshots for the very first time again. People wouldn't ask them about it, they simply understood. When lunch was finished they walked together to History class where they patiently waited for Cory to arrive, they didn't mind that Cory was a few minutes late, it was only when ten minutes had passed and he hadn't arrived that the class grew suspicious of him.
"He's done this to us before!" Farkle reminded,
"We aren't falling for this one again Matthews!" Maya called out and everyone waited for a moment thinking he would give up and walk through the door. But there was nothing, simply silence,
"Riley, what's your Dad up too?" Isaiah inquired,
"You think I understand my Father?" Riley replied,
"You are his daughter" Isaiah insisted,
"Doesn't mean I understand his mind" Riley argued,
"Can anyone really understand his mind?" Maya asked,
"I'm not even sure Topanga can" Farkle sighed,
"I'm just interested to see what sort of life lesson your Father will be teaching us" Lucas insisted with a smile,
"Are you sure this is part of his lesson? He could just be late to class" Isadora stated,
"Oh Smackle, the only time my father was late was back in Middle School when he did it on purpose to teach us something." Riley gently said.
"He must be running out of stuff if he is reusing old tricks" Maya sighed. The classroom returned to silence after that as they waited for Cory to arrive, and finally he did fifteen minutes into the class.
"Hello class" Cory warmly said as he walked into the classroom,
"What lesson are you trying to teach us today Matthews?" Maya asked,
"Does it have to do with patience, balancing ourselves, people change people?" Farkle continued,
"What? I had to deal with a student related issue from my last class" Cory explained, the class looked at him suspiciously.
"So there is no deep and meaningful lesson behind you being late?" Riley suspiciously asked,
"Nope" Cory snapped,
"I don't believe it" Riley hissed,
"No one does" Maya backed up,
"Okay, can I now get to teaching you about History?" Cory asked childishly,
"No there has to be something, I'm not okay with this, and I'm me" Lucas expressed sitting up in his seat, Cory looked down at his book and gave a small smile before quickly hiding it and looking up at the class.
"Why did you all presume that because I was late I had something to teach you, and wasn't actually with another student?" Cory inquired,
"Because that's who you are, you're never late to class, the only time you had been was back in Middle School and you did it to teach us something then" Maya answered.
"So because that's what happened back then, it had to be the answer for why I was late right now, here, today in the present?" Cory asked,
"Yeah" Riley insisted,
"Well I'm sorry to disappoint, but today is just another normal day," Cory insisted,
"Yeah, and what's the life lesson you have for us today Mr. Matthews?" Lucas inquired,
"I'm just here to teach you History." Cory sighed; turning around and picking up a piece of chalk, he rested the tip of the chalk on the blackboard preparing to write on the board but paused. The class stared at him still suspicious. Cory chuckled,
"Dad?" Riley whispered curiously,
"You remember that do you?" Cory inquired,
"Remember what?" Maya asked,
"That day I was late" Cory answered,
"Of course" Farkle insisted, Cory turned around putting the piece of chalk down.
"Today's lesson is important so listen up" Cory instructed, everyone smiled at him and sat up right in their seats and readied himself or herself. "Memory, when you grow up, you get caught up in so much, that you forget to live life and make memories. Things will get tough when you go out there into the real world there is no denying it, these are some of your best years, so make the most of them, make sure that one day down the track you can look back and remember the best of days, when life was easier, when you were with your friends." Cory explained,
"Why's this the lesson Matthews?" Maya asked curiously,
"Because Maya, after recent events I was reminded how harsh the real world is, and how unprepared some people are when they join it. I found myself looking back, remembering when I was younger, how different things were, I remembered the good times and it helped me through the harsh times we've had recently. And I care about you all, I want to prepare you as best I can for when you meet the world. Which is also why today's homework," Cory continued and the class sighed depressingly at the word 'homework', "for homework I want you all to go out with your friends, go see a movie, go get ice-cream it doesn't matter just go do something with them, do something worthy of being remembered, that will one day help you through any rough times." Cory instructed, the class' attitude immediately shifted which was as clear as day by the smiles they all wore on their faces.
The kids completed the homework with great enthusiasm. Where they went, and what they did wasn't important as they were with each other; Maya however achieved something long overdue, and kept it in a folder that she held close to her person as if it was the most valuable thing she owned. They returned to the Matthew's home, Cory was seated at the dinning table marking student's work while Topanga was making herself a cup of tea.
"Hey Kids," Topanga welcomed warmly, and politely they all greeted her back.
"We're just going to go up to the roof to hang out up there," Riley explained,
"Okay have fun" Cory insisted before they started to leave the room but Maya walked forward towards Topanga and Cory,
"Maya?" Josh said, Maya turned around and looked at him,
"You guys go a head, I have something for Matthews" Maya insisted, Josh nodded and continued on his way, Topanga sat down at the table and Cory rested his pen on a student's work and both of them intrigued by what Maya said watched her closely. When her friends were gone Maya turned around and walked over to Cory and Topanga,
"You asked me to do something, and it feels like a lifetime ago you asked me." Maya began,
"I've asked a lot of you Maya, what was it exactly?" Cory inquired,
"Do you remember back in the seventh grade, when you took our phones away and we were paired up and had to study at the library?"
"Yeah"
"Do you remember how you and I had a secret meeting at the Library and you gave me a new phone?"
"Yes, I wanted you to keep an eye on Riley and Lucas, keep me updated with everything that was happening"
"You also asked me to do one more thing, and it came with a packet of coloured pencils."
"I asked you that if something beautiful ever happens to paint me a picture." Cory remembered; Maya smiled as she opened the folder and put her hand in pulled out three large pieces of paper and handing them to Cory who accepted them. The first drawing was of the night they all slept in Riley's room, it the middle of the page there was Riley and Lucas, who were asleep in the bay window holding hands, and from their hands a bright light was being emitted, it had grown to shield both Riley and Lucas from the darkness that they were surrounded by, at the top of the page was the word 'Love'. Cory handed the first drawing to Topanga revealing the second drawing, that was of Maya and her friends all standing in a row, Josh had his arm around Maya, Lucas around Riley and Farkle around Isadora while Isaiah stood in the middle of the group hugging himself, all of them wore a great big smile on their faces, at the top of the page read the word 'Friendship'. Cory handed the second drawing to Topanga bringing into his sights the third and final drawing, Cory closed his eyes for a few seconds and looked down at the table clearly emotional,
"Hey" Topanga whispered, gently resting the other two drawings on the table before standing up and walking behind Cory put her arm around him to comfort him, she rubbed his back and looked at the final draw which stunned her into silence. Maya could see the tears welling up in Topanga's eyes as Cory looked up at the drawing and with his left hand cupped his mouth; Maya struggled not to get emotional. Cory rested the drawing down and quickly got up and walked over to Maya
"Come here" he whispered hugging her tightly, Topanga soon followed and joined the hug. The third drawing had Cory and Topanga, Riley, Auggie, Ava, Maya, Lucas, Farkle, Isaiah, Isadora and Josh all standing as if in a family portrait. At the top of the page read the word 'Family'.
"So, what did you think?" Maya asked emotionally,
"I'm speechless" Cory told Maya, looking her in the eyes.
"They're breath taking" Topanga continued.
"Well you might want to dry your eyes" Maya insisted,
"Why?" Cory asked,
"Because the three of us are going up to the roof." Maya explained happily
"We are?" Topanga asked. Maya led them up the stairs and to the roof of the building where they found the Kids all waiting with food and drinks on the table, even Auggie and Ava were there, though they extremely excited to be up way passed their bedtime. Riley walked up to them and smiled,
"With all your talk about happy memories to remember, we thought that recently our family hasn't had many happy moments, so we thought that we should change that and expand upon our homework to include our family." Riley explained, Cory and Topanga walked away from the door and the Kids all stood smiling at them, Maya and Riley put an arm around each other and also smiled happily.
"So, if we're one big happy family, should I start calling you Dad?" Lucas cheekily asked,
"Oh no, no, no I'm not ready for that, don't do that to me. If this is one of those surprise things stop it right now I won't allow it" Cory replied in a panic and everyone started laughing, "Riley, show me your fingers!" Cory demanded turning around, Riley lifted her hands up and showed him her fingers, "Good only the friendship ring" Cory sighed in relief. Cory turned back around, "You!" he hissed squinting his eyes at Lucas,
"Me!" Lucas hissed, squinting back at Cory. Riley was right, it had been so long since they were all together smiling and truly happy, until this night that marked the ending of a chapter, of this chapter in their lives and what a way it was to end after so much pain and sadness, but just because the chapter is coming to an end and they're able to smile once again. It doesn't mean that they'll forget, they will never be able to forget, but they will remember the good that came from this chapter in their lives, how they met an Australian and how he changed their lives and fixed their friendship, they will remember how he struggled, protected them and took care of them even after his death. Time marches on, and all that is left of the past, are the memories we take with us.
Their High School years would come and go, and Graduation Day would arrive. While their families were seated together in the crowd, Riley and her friends sat together amongst their fellow graduates. Riley and Lucas, Maya and Josh, Farkle and Isadora were all still together, Josh sat in the crowd next too Cory. As for Isaiah, don't worry about him; he finally got himself a girlfriend, a cheerleader. They all wore warm excited smiles on their faces, while in the crowd tears of joy were being shed as parents watch their babies graduating from High School.
"And now please put your hands together for this year's graduates!" The School Principal announced and the crowd rose from their seats applauding, cheering and crying; while the graduates stood up and threw their graduation hats up into the air cheering as they did. The hall was filled with a thunderous noise, time seemed to have slowed down for Riley and her friends and the noise died out, in that moment they all looked through the crowd and saw him, Murray Farring, a face in the crowd smiling proudly at them, they all smiled back at him before he slowly nodded his head a few times, turned around and walked out of the hall with the door closing behind him. Time returned to normal and the noise came with it. Later they walked down the school corridors one last time, and paid one last visit to their old classrooms before returning to one classroom in particular, Murray's classroom, and one they hadn't been in since he was shot. A Plaque rested above the door in memory of Murray, they all quietly walked into the room and sat down roughly where they use too. Memories of their time in High School came flooding back in sync with one another, bringing tears to their eyes.
"I wonder what he would have said to us?" Farkle asked as he looked around at his friends, everyone wondered the same and pondered for a moment.
"You all know exactly what I would've said," a familiar voice said from outside the door, and a figure of their imagination, a long lost friend walked through the door. Murray Farring with that missed smile on his face and immediately the Kids began to cry, Murray stood in front of his desk before leaning on it. "I would tell you all, just how proud I am of the people you've grown up to be, and that I know you will continue to grow into far more wondrous people. I'd tell you how worried I am for the World because all of you are still together and that you shall remain I know it, and I don't think the World is ready to take on you lot. Cause you're going to go out there and make it your own. There is nothing left for me to teach you, no more lessons or advice, not now anyway, but perhaps sometime in the future. Until then spare me a thought or two from time to time, and know that I'll always be there, you won't be able to see me but I'll be there, watching over you all, a face in the crowd always proudly smiling at you, cause I know that you'll always be making me proud. And lastly, well I'd tell you, that I love you all so very much." Murray emotionally said in his Australian accent that they'd missed so much, as tears ran down everyone's faces. Murray gave them one last smiled before vanishing into nothing, after they wiped the tears from their faces and calmed themselves down they stood up and said a final goodbye to the classroom before quietly walking out of the room. But Lucas stopped in front of Murray's desk and his friends turned around and looked at him.
"Lucas?" Riley gently whispered as she walked up to him, Lucas walked around the desk and up to the board picking up a piece of chalk before he started writing something up. When he finished everyone smiled at him, he put the chalk down and walked over to Riley and they put an arm around one another
"Don't worry Murray, we will" Lucas concluded before he and Riley followed their friends out of the classroom. Time seemed to again have slowed down as they walked down the school corridor, down the stairs and for the last time they walked out of the front doors of the High School, together side by side ready to meet the World and start the next chapter in their lives. Because this is the end of a chapter, but not the end of the story, they did travel and see the World however, but that is a part of the story for another time, and back on the board in Murray's old classroom, Lucas had written a quote:
"We're all stories in the end, and one day we will have to tell them, make it a story that you'll be proud of, one that will make you happy and smile." – Murray Farring.
Author's comment: I would like to thank everyone who has supported this story along the way. Thank you for all the comments, kind words and the messages. Writing and publishing it online has been such confidence builder for me. Again I apologise for any mistakes and that as I said before writing FanFiction has sadly been pushed to a late night activity, but I'm still dedicated to doing the best I can with it and always trying to better my writing. I encourage you to please leave a message or inbox with your thoughts on the story and stuff along with any tips or criticism I accept it all haha! :) But I hope everyone has enjoyed the story, I'd had such a blast telling it and sharing it with you all. There will be a sequel to this story so keep your eyes opened, follow me on twitter if you want at /Blamaka10 I will be tweeting more often about my works and all so you can stay tuned and find out when things are happening. If you have any suggestions about any other areas you'd like to see me write FanFiction for feel free to send them my way and I will look into them. But again thank you so much for your support and for reading this story it means so much to me as a Writer to have such support thanks!