The next day, Riley and Maya sat in their desks in the History classroom. They silently waited for their friends to come in. The pair often got to class early because Riley was too afraid to do anything else after getting on the subway. Maya sighed softly as she looked at her friend, who looked back at her with a sheepish smile. After a few minutes, Farkle came bounding in with a grin that stretched ear-to-ear.

"Guess what, guys?" he asked excitedly, dumping his backpack onto his chair.

Maya rolled her eyes slowly. "What is it?" It was too early for this particular girl to care too much about anything, and Farkle's extreme smile was killing the mood for her.

"Smackle's going to transfer to Abigail Adams High School with us in the fall! Isn't that great?" Farkle announced with arms stretched over his head.

Riley laughed. "Yeah, Farkle! That's amazing," she said as she gave him her patented "Good Morning" hug.

Maya waved her hand in the air dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. Amazing. We can listen to you chatter on for hours on end. I can't wait. As Riley's dad says, 'We don't have room for you and your words.'."

"Ignore her, Farkle," Riley said. "She's in a mood."

"I am not!"

Farkle raised his eyebrows. "I see. Shall I get Smackle on the phone? She might know some scientific remedies for your... lady problems."

Maya looked at him with glazed-over eyes, ignoring his hint at her "time of the month". "You know what? I'm going to take you up on your offer. Get her on the phone." Maya took Farkle's phone and walked out the classroom to get some privacy.

Without Maya, Riley resumed her everyday schedule before class: getting out her books, placing her water bottle on the floor, and taking a few cleansing breaths. Farkle watched all of this with amusement.

Lucas and Zay came in next, talking about the latest football game. "Hey, guys!" Lucas said cheerfully as he greeted Riley and Farkle. He placed his book bag on the floor gently and proceeded to talk about the game's stats. Apparently it was a very interesting game.

Riley's eye started twitching. I know that Maya's soulmate is Lucas. But does Lucas know that? Have they talked about it? Of course they haven't! I can't keep secrets like this. My mind makes up hallucinations. What am I going to do? I need Maya... now! Where is she? Riley thought as she stared at Lucas. Her arms shook as she tried to calm down her eye.

"You okay, Riley?" Lucas asked, bemused. He stared at the tall brunette who dismissed him with a nonchalant wave.

"Yeah!" Riley replied loudly. "Why wouldn't I be? I'm not hiding anything."

Lucas laughed. "Okay, if you say so."

"I do," Riley answered with a slight smile before turning away quickly.

Maya came back in with a huff and threw Farkle's phone to him. He fumbled around for a bit before getting a firm grasp. "Could you maybe not throw my iPhone around like that next time? I may be rich, but my dad is super strict on how I spend his money."

"Yeah, yeah. Smackle sent me to voice mail, I guess she's at school," Maya said, distracted. "Riles, look what I found in my locker." Maya passed a piece of paper to Riley.

"Oh, it looks like a love note!" Riley said excitedly as she examined the paper. It had a poem written on it, as well as a small print of Van Gogh's portrait. "See, someone does like you. People don't not like you."

Maya sighed as the group of boys looked at her with interest. "Riley, you weren't supposed to say that out loud."

"Whoops," Riley said sheepishly. She looked at the paper again, reading the poem softly. "Hey, this guy seems to know you pretty well! He either is one of the guys that you talk to often. Or a stalker. Either way, it looks like he likes you a lot."

Maya snatched the paper back. "Thank you for displaying that piece of information to the whole entire world."

Riley laughed. "Not the entire world. Just our friends."

Zay nodded. "Yeah, just your friends."

Lucas cleared his throat. "Hey, Maya. What do you think about your poem?"

Maya's head jerked up as she stared at Lucas, eyes squinted. "How did you know that it was a poem?"

Riley's eyes widened. "Good catch," she said under her breath.

Lucas's eyes darted from Zay to Maya. "Uh," he stammered for a few moments before gathering his thoughts. "I don't," he said as he stared at Zay for confirmation. Zay could only nod slightly. "I just, you know... assumed that it was. Because it's usually love letters and love poems. They kind of go together." Lucas said as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Normally."

Maya took this information in slowly. She didn't really believe his answer, but she couldn't understand why he would lie about something like this. Especially since he hasn't said anything about his tattoo to her yet. Maybe it really was just some random guy.

Zay raised his hand. "Miss Maya?" he asked.

Maya rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Nothing. What does the thing say?"

Maya blushed bright red. "Not much. Just a poem and a print of one of Van Gogh's paintings. He also asked if I would meet him at the school doors at the farewell dance."

Riley clapped her hands excitedly. "Are you going to? This is so exciting."

Maya nodded slowly. "Yeah, I will. Why make the poor boy suffer, right?"

Lucas watched this exchange as he bit his lip slightly.

Mr. Matthews came in at that moment, and greeted the kids. "Who's ready to learn?"

"We are!" Riley said with a smile.

The pair chattered on as Lucas watched Maya read the poem once more. She bent her head a little while a smile spread across her face slowly. She stared at the poem and the print for a while before tucking them into her art journal that she always kept with her.

Zay slapped Lucas on the back as a congratulatory salute.

To the Golden Girl

Her golden-blonde hair shines in the sun

and her ever-rare smile makes you feel like

if you died today, it would be quite all right.

She is invested in her art,

but not as much as she is in her friend. Her

best friend, who often brings more problems than she solves

is no match for the girl with a big, but slightly broken

heart.

Her big heart is poured into her writing and her paintings,

and though her art shows no sign of external damage,

the meanings that are painted through the canvases

suggest inner turmoil that cannot be fixed

with present sunshine and rainbows.

Her broken heart is the least of her worries

as she fights to keep everyone else afloat.

Through all of this, she often forgets herself.

Her broken heart seems unfixable.

Would you let me fix it?