Maya heard everything from the hallway upstairs. It wasn't really anything she hadn't already known. Obviously the Friars didn't want her staying with them. Obviously they didn't like that she was friends with her son. Of course Lucas was right. Nothing was going to happen. Lucas was a good guy, and she wasn't going to let anything happen. For his sake and for hers.
Lucas came up the stairs and knew at once. "You heard everything," he said. "I'm so sorry."
"It's my fault for listening," Maya said. "Besides, I could've guessed all of it. I'm not going to get you into trouble. Besides, I'm just staying here for a few days."
"Are you?" Lucas raised his eyebrows. "This is news."
"I said until the funeral." Maya drew her legs up closer to her body. "The funeral is in two days. After that, I'm not going to impose on your family."
"You're not going to live alone."
"Really, Lucas? What else is going to happen? I stay with your family forever?"
Lucas didn't have an answer.
"That's what I thought," Maya sighed. "You don't have to be responsible for me. I'm an adult, and I'm able to take care of myself."
I don't have to be responsible for you, but I want to be, Lucas thought.
"I'm going to call Riley," Maya said, getting to her feet. "Sorry your parents are being so hard on you."
Maya went into her room, sat down on the bed, and called Riley, who picked up immediately. "Hey, Riles. How's it going?"
"Maya!" Riley's face lit up with a careful grin. "Saving the world. One wounded soldier at a time. But in reality, being an army nurse isn't all that exciting for now. How are you?"
"Right at this very moment or in general?" Maya asked.
"Both," Riley said.
"I'm good right now, but how I'm feeling changes every few hours." Maya tilted her computer screen down so that she could see Riley's face better. "For no reason whatsoever. Something that won't make me want to cry this minute might make me feel sick to my stomach in sixty minutes. I don't know how to fix it and I don't think I can."
"You're at the Friar's now?" Riley asked.
"Yeah."
"That's good. You shouldn't be alone."
Maya huffed. "Why not? What if the way I deal with this is by getting space?"
"Bad things happen when people are left alone," Riley said seriously.
Like they die.
"How are your parents?" Maya asked.
"They're doing OK," Riley said. "They want to talk to you tomorrow, if you're free. They're really sorry they can't be there for you."
The Matthews' had moved to Colorado four years ago. They couldn't afford to fly back to New York very often.
"I should be free anytime in the morning," Maya said. "I have class in the afternoon, if Lucas will let me go."
Riley smirked. "He's a good guy."
"Yeah…" Maya said.
And Riley knew. Her best friend couldn't keep anything from her. Maya loved Lucas.
But this wasn't the time to discuss that. So Riley discussed everything else. She and Maya talked for an hour, and then Maya went to bed.
That night she didn't sleep very much. She cried a few times, and she expected a hand to reach out of the darkness and grab hers, but it never did.