I Write Sins Not Tragedies
A Girl Meets World Fan Fiction Series
Chapter 37: It's All Happening
A/N: I am so sorry that I've been gone so long and I want to thank all of you who patiently stuck by and waited for the next chapter to be released! College has been so stressful this semester and between homework and work and classes I just haven't had the time to write. It took me all semester for this one chapter, but I tried to make it as good as possible for you guys so that it was worth the wait. I finish the semester soon though so hopefully during my break between semesters I can give you guys some more updates for this story and all of the rest!
"You want me to go on a date with Charlie Gardner?" Smackle gasped, choking a bit as she coughed in shock, jaw dropping and eyes almost bulging out of her head. "How is that supposed to ruin Farkle and Zay's date with those slutty cheerleaders?"
"It's not," Riley rolled her eyes, leaning over to pick up the ice cream tub and spoon that had fallen to the floor at her feet. "We're going to ruin that in a different way," she beamed, jumping to her feet and racing over towards her closet.
The bare-footed, raven-haired beauty's long, pin-straight ponytail bopped as she walked, taking long strides with her long legs, left bare from the maroon spandex shorts she was wearing with a black Victoria's Secret sleep-shirt that read BUT FIRST COFFEE in maroon print. Meanwhile, Smackle sat at the Bay Window with her hair piled up into a sloppy bun, curling her black legging covered legs up underneath her and wrapping her arms around her, tightening her loose fitting, Victoria's Secret tank top that said DREAM ON around her skinny waist.
"What do you have in mind?" Smackle sighed.
"First, we need to get all dolled up," Riley explained, pulling open her closet door and rifling through the hanging articles of clothing that filled up the space. "And then we need to figure out where those morons are tonight," she replied.
"They went bowling," Smackle shrugged.
"Bowling?" Riley snorted, yanking a denim mini skirt from a skirt hanger and holding it up to expect it thoughtfully, tilting her head to the side as she studied it. "What kind of date is that for two guys like Zay and Farkle when they're going out with two slutty cheerleaders?"
"Riley, are you sure that this is a good idea?" Smackle frowned.
"Put this on," Riley tossed the skirt at Smackle and turn turned back to the closet, grabbing another denim skirt for herself and tossing it onto her bed, without turning around to watch as she tossed it over her shoulder.
"You want me to go bowling in a skirt?" Smackle gasped.
"And this shirt," Riley replied, tossing her a grey, off the shoulder, bell sleeve top.
"Isn't this a little much for bowling?" Smackle wondered.
"No," Riley rolled her eyes, pulling off her own shirt and replacing it with a burgundy, bell sleeve, boat neck blouse.
"And we're just going to show up bowling at the same place the guys are wearing mini skirts and that's going to be normal?" Smackle frowned, but started to change into the faded denim, laced mini skirt nonetheless.
"They're boys. The only reason that they're going to notice what we're wearing is if it's hot. And the only way they're going to notice us at all when they're out with the sluttiest girls on the cheerleading team is going to be if we dress even hotter than their dates are gonna look," Riley explained, pulling her hair from her ponytail and shaking out the wild mane, tussling it with her fingers just a bit.
"I don't know if I like this," Smackle sighed.
"Did you see the way that Lucas reacted when he saw Maya tonight?"
"It was like she was the only girl in the world as soon as he spotted her. It was like his entire world stopped and he couldn't think of anything else, because all he could think about was her and how amazing she looked. Everything just seemed to stop, because all that mattered was Maya, at least….as far as Lucas was considered, all that mattered was Maya, his short stack of a blonde beauty. I want somebody to look at me like that," Smackle admitted, lowering her head, standing there in Riley's skirt and her bra, holding the shirt Riley had handed her in her hands, twisting it around as she stared at the ground, knowing that she sounded like the opposite of the strong, independent girl that she always tried so hard to appear to be.
"And you deserve to have somebody look at you that way," Riley shrugged, pulling on her shirt.
"I'm never going to get that, because I'm not a girl like Maya. Girls like Maya get that reaction from guys, girls like me? We don't get any sort of attention because…." Smackle shook her head, allowing her voice to trail off as she gave in, putting on the top in her hands.
"Because why, Smackle? Why do you think that you don't deserve to have a guy look at you like that?" Riley frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Because I don't look like Maya. I don't look like you," Smackle rolled her eyes.
"And that's why Farkle loves you. He just doesn't know it yet. So, we have to shove you in his face and then tear you away from him, so that he learns how to appreciate you," Riley explained, an excited smile beginning to spread across her face.
"What makes you so sure that he loves me?" Smackle sighed.
"Because, Smackle-who wouldn't be in love with you, once they got the chance to get to know you?" Riley sighed.
"I don't get what you mean," Smackle shook her head.
"Izzy, you say that you're not like Maya or me, and you're right. Because, you're different just like how I'm different from Maya. But, we're friends with you because those qualities that really matter are in you, just like they're in us. And that means that we see you the way that you see us. You think guys fall all over themselves with Maya and me? Well, they fall all over themselves for you, too. You just don't notice it," Riley explained patiently with a comforting smile on her face.
"Then how come I've yet to have a line of admirers banging down my door?" Smackle challenged, but a teasing grin was on her face that showed Riley that she was starting to win her over.
"Because you haven't been looking. And because most guys are intimidated by you. Farkle's not, because he's at your level. And when you surpass him, it just makes him want to be better. The same way that his successes make you want to be better. That's what a good relationship does. It makes you challenge one another so that you can reach your full potential. So, stop whining because Farkle thinks he messed up his chances so much that he'll never stand another shot with you and get your act together so we can go and get your boy back," Riley giggled, grabbing Smackle by the wrist and pulling her out of the Bay Window and down the fire escape, heading towards the city below them without the slightest idea of what was going to happen next.
Because there was no way that anybody could predict what would have happened to the two brunette teenagers after they left Riley's bedroom.
"Maya, would you just calm down? I don't get why you're crying. What did I do? Can you please just talk to me?" Lucas begged, sitting on the edge of Maya's bed and staring at his distressed girlfriend, sitting in a ball on the floor in the corner of her room.
Her arms were wrapped up around her legs, which were pulled up against her chest so that her chin rested on her knees. Her makeup was smudged and smeared due to the tears that had been falling down her face for a few minutes by this point and her makeup was almost completely ruined. Her hair was a disaster and she was half-dressed, with her feet left bare.
She was fully aware of the fact that she probably looked like some sort of sexual assault victim, and she knew that that was probably adding to Lucas's awkwardness about how to handle the situation, but she couldn't help herself from crying. She was far too overcome by emotions, despite her confidence when the night had first begun. She had thought that she was ready, but she had never been so wrong before in her life.
And now, she was pretty sure that she had ruined things with Lucas forever, because how could she expect him to love a hot mess like herself? He was so comfortable and cool and collected-so perfectly put together.
And she was a disaster, falling to pieces as soon as a sign of real commitment and intimacy hit her. It didn't even make sense that somebody like him, sitting there all hunched over on the edge of her bed, shirtless in just his pants from their date and hair tousled, with his muscles bulging as he ran his fingers through his hair in distress.
She took a few deep breaths, swallowing hard with her eyes squeezed shut. Then, she slowly counted backwards from ten and opened up her eyes, releasing a slow breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding.
"I can't do it, Lucas," Maya admitted, hating how weak and hollow her voice sounded.
"What?" Lucas frowned, furrowing his eyebrows together. "Well, no shit, Maya," he chuckled, with a slightly nervous tone to his voice.
"Why are you laughing?" Maya gasped, narrowing her eyes as she stared at him.
"Because you're telling me the obvious. I can see that you can't do it, Maya. I can tell that you're not ready. What I don't get is why you're crying, because I don't think that not being ready for sex is something worth crying over," Lucas said gently, sliding off of her bed and onto the floor, slowly moving over towards her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close.
"Why are you so cool about this?" Maya wondered, resting her head on his shoulder. "Haven't you been wanting this for, like, ever?"
"Maya, I'm going to be with you for the rest of my life. I think I can handle waiting a few more years for you to be ready for this. I've got years with you and honestly, as long as I have you, I'm good to go," he shrugged, flashing her a small smile with one corner of his mouth rising up.
"You're so perfect," Maya grinned, reaching up to wipe the last of her tears away.
"I'm not going to try to pressure you," Lucas rolled his eyes. "Now, I know you didn't eat enough because all of that was really expensive and you hate when I spend money on you, so why don't you shower and throw on some sweats and I'll order us some Japanese take out from your favorite place and throw on a movie?" he offered.
"I could go for that," Maya nodded, unable to fight a smile from spreading across her face.
"Yeah, I thought so," Lucas rolled his eyes, rising to his feet and then reaching out to help pull Maya to her own feet.
Once she was standing up, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in close to him, pressing a gentle kiss on her forehead before taking a small step back and turning around, tapping her gently on the ass to guide her over towards her bedroom-adjacent bathroom. Maya snickered slightly, shaking her head as she made her way towards the bathroom, trying to figure out how she had managed to get so lucky to have a boyfriend like Lucas.
Lucas, meanwhile, made his way out of Maya's room and towards her closet, heading over towards the dresser where she kept some of his clothes, Grabbing a pair of grey sweatpants and pulling on one of his football practice shirts, he started to dial the number for Maya's favorite delivery place.
Before he could make the call, though, the phone started to ring and he almost dropped it in shock as he struggled to answer it. When he did though, his entire night changed right before his eyes, because he had most definitely not been prepared for what was going to be said to him on the other line.
Maya had just started finger combing her strawberry scented conditioner through her tangled blonde curls with the steaming hot water bursting from the shower nozzle onto her soft skin, when Lucas started banging on the door to her bathroom, shouting loudly but not loud enough to be heard over the running water and Maya's blaring Fall Out Boy playlist.
Rolling her eyes, annoyed by the interruption, she slid open the shower door just slightly and poked her head out, screaming t full volume,
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU, HUCKLEBERRY, SO YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO COME IN HERE IF YOU NEED TO TELL ME SOMETHING!"
Popping her head back in and slamming the glass door shut, she continued to get her conditioner out of her hair, sighing as she heard the bathroom door swing open and then slam shut. Another eye roll follower her music being shut off, because it meant that he actually was going to interrupt her shower, which was supposed to be her peaceful time, to tell her something that she most definitely didn't want to hear, because there was no way that it could be important to her when she was naked, after a mini-mental-breakdown.
"Maya," Lucas sighed, his voice soft yet broken sounding.
That voice alone was enough to get Maya to change her mood in an instant. Her frustration faded away within seconds and she started to panic.
"What's wrong?" Maya asked. "What happened? OH, god, please don't tell me that something happened to Riley," Maya gasped.
"Maya…there's been an accident," Lucas said.
Those words were enough. Maya grabbed her shower comb and gave her hair one final comb through and then opened the door, grabbing a towel from the hook besides it and wrapped it around her soaking wet body. Stepping out of the shower she grabbed a second towel and wrapped her hair around it.
"Give me ten minutes and we're heading to the hospital," Maya told him, fighting from allowing the tears welling up in her blue eyes to fall.
She couldn't cry right now, because it Riley was hurt, that meant that she needed to be even stronger than she usually was. She, as always, had to be strong enough for the both of them. And she knew that all of her friends were going to tell her that now was the time for her to break down and lose control, because they would support her, but they didn't understand how Riley and Maya's friendship worked.
They needed one another and they had their roles to play, and if they didn't play those roles, they were going to be absolutely helpless because it would be like they didn't even have one another anymore.
Maya needed Riley because she needed somebody to make sure that she always believed in a little bit of hope. She needed somebody who saw the best in her and wanted to make Maya bring that side out a little bit more. She needed Riley, because Riley was the one who kept her grounded and made sure that she didn't become a hot mess every single time trouble came her way and she was ready to give up.
But, Riley needed Maya just a little bit more than that. Maya was Riley's strength. She wasn't the girl that kept her ignorant to horrible things happening in the world and she wasn't the girl that made sure she didn't drift away into the atmosphere. Instead, Maya was the person who made Riley believe that she truly could do anything. She made Riley strong enough to be herself and try new things and sometimes, Riley was even strong enough to stand up for herself.
All of their friends had it wrong when they thought that Maya took away Riley's darkness and made it her own. Instead, Maya just put up walls around herself so that she could always appear to be strong, so that Riley knew that her rock didn't have a single weakness. Because, that was what Riley needed from Maya and with all that the brunette had given the blonde, she figured it was the least that she could do.
"Maya, you-"
"If Riley's hurt, then I need to be there and I need to be there now, so give me ten minutes and then we're leaving," Maya declared, head held high as she wrapped herself in her bathroom and squirmed out of the towel she had had wrapped around her body.
Then, she disappeared into her closet and slammed the door shut behind her, leaving a very confused and slightly frustrated Lucas Friar behind her, as he tried to make sense of his girlfriend and her constant desire to always appear to be the strongest person in the room at any given time.
On the other side of the door, Maya grabbed a pair of black, speckled sweatpants from Victoria's Secret with a folded waistline that cinched in at the ankles and tugged them on, removing her bathroom. Then, she grabbed a white razor back tank top and threw that on. She twisted her hair into a messy, sky high bun right on the top of her head and then threw on some moisturizer, a dab of concealer, drew a line of eyeliner across her face and applied a few careful swipes of mascara. As she made her way towards the door, she shoved her feet into a pair of black flip flops and grabbed a denim jacket with black leather sleeves.
Then, she was good to go. She was as put together as she could get herself, but it would be enough for Riley to know that Maya was not about to break down and she was ready to be whatever Riley needed her to be.
Unfortunately, though, there was no way that Maya ever could have predicted what Riley actually needed from her. There was no way that anybody would have ever been able to predict what would be asked of Maya when she entered that hospital room.
Farkle was pacing the waiting room when Maya arrived, and as soon as his childhood best friend passed through the doorway, he marched straight over to her, arms held open. The tiny blonde stepped inside of his arms and wound her arms around his torso, snuggling into his embrace.
"What happened, Farks? What happened to our Riley?" Maya whimpered.
Farkle knew that she was trying to be strong, and that was why he was allowing her to bury her face into his chest, because if she was going to break down, she wanted to be properly shielded in somebody that she completely trusted. And while Lucas would have seemed like the ideal choice for her, she would never break down around him because she knew that he would immediately take on an act to protect her. He would jump at the chance, because it was all that he ever wanted-to feel like he was needed to be a knight in shining armor.
Farkle, however, would hold onto her and give the illusion that he was leaning on her. He would make sure that everybody thought that Maya was the one supporting him, because that wouldn't surprise anybody. Farkle had always been the one person that watched Maya when she was at her lowest points, because she knew that he didn't have the same hero complex that Lucas did. As long as he could feel like a hero to one of his favorite girls, that was enough for him and nobody needed to know that he was the one who held Maya together.
"Her and Smackle showed up at the bowling alley when Zay and I were on our double date and, well….Zay and Smackle sort of blew up at one another and then I stepped in and then Riley lost it on me and she stormed out and….god, Maya, this is all my fault," Farkle sighed, burying his face into her tumbled, balled up curls that created her bun.
"What happened, Farkle," Maya gulped.
"She ran out onto the street…god, Maya, the car came out of nowhere and she…god, Maya, Riley got hit," Farkle gulped, squeezing his eyes shut as he spoke. "Riley got hit by a car and it's all my fault."
"Stop that," Maya said sharply, pulling away from him and placing her hands on his shoulders, staring up into his golden eyes with her denim blue orbs, making sure that he knew that everything she was about to say was what she strongly believed. "Do not say that this is your fault just because you two got into a fight. She ran out into the street and some driver wasn't in control of his vehicle and couldn't stop. But you didn't push her out there and you didn't make that car hit her. None of this is your fault and don't let me ever hear you blame yourself again," Maya said sternly.
"What were her and Smackle doing at the bowling alley?" Lucas asked, dropping down onto a chair in the waiting room and placing his elbows on his knees, burying his face in his hands. "Smackle hates bowling and Riley's only ever able to get Maya to go with her," Lucas sighed.
"Riley was pissed that we went out with other girls," Zay shook his head. "Especially that I went out with a girl who wasn't Smackle," he admitted.
"She had it in her head that we'd run off and we'd show up and Farkle would see me and he'd realize how much more fun he could have with me than with that other girl, because she knew that I wasn't over him," Smackle sighed. "And now Farkle thinks that this is his fault, but it's really all my fault," Smackle said, and then the tears started to fall down her face so quickly that it seemed like she wouldn't be able to speak coherently again.
"None of this is anybody's fault," Maya insisted. "Can we go and see her?"
"Cory and Topanga are in there with her now," Farkle answered. "They'll let us know when-"
"Cory and Topanga are here? Where's Auggie?" Maya started frantically searching around the waiting room until her eyes settled on the tiny little ball curled up in the corner.
Auggie Matthews, the seven-year-old boy was curled up in a ball, in one of the chairs in the waiting room, hiding from the scene taking place before him. His shoulders were shaking which showed that he was crying.
Maya shook her head and rolled her shoulders back, taking a deep breath before making her way over towards Auggie and squatting on the floor in front of him and cautiously reaching out a hand to place on his shaking shoulders.
"Auggie? Hey, Augs…it's gonna be okay," she whispered softly.
His head shot up and he turned towards Maya. Then, just like the little boy that she had known when she first met Riely, he curled up into that same ball, resting on Maya's lap with his head on her chest. The same position that Maya had seen him take with Topanga or Riley so many times. The one that showed that he was with somebody he trusted more than anybody else in the world.
"Maya," he asked in the smallest voice that the blonde had ever heard from him.
"Yeah, sweetie?"
"Why did this happen to Riley? What did my sister ever do to deserve this?"
"Riley didn't do anything, honey," Maya assured him. "But, sometimes very bad things happen to very good people. But it's all going to be okay, because your sister's strong. She's a fighter. Nothing bad is going to happen to her," Maya assured him.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because, Auggie," Maya sighed. "This is Riley we're talking about and even when you wish that she'd go away and just leave you alone, you know that she's not going anywhere for a very long time," Maya teased him, bopping him on the nose with her finger.
Zay blamed himself more than he was sure anybody else could blame him. If anybody was capable of bringing themselves to blame him with all that was going on. He was sure, though, that Lucas probably blamed him. He was sure that Smackle probably blamed him, and once Farkle stopped blaming himself he would probably start to blame Zay as well.
As strange as it probably seemed, Maya was probably the only person who wasn't going to blame him, because she was the only person who refused to make things worse by placing the blame on one of her best friends. She knew that blaming Zay would only lead to mass chaos. Besides, she knew as well as Zay did that Riley would never blame Zay for what had happened, so how could she place the blame on him?
Still, he blamed himself, which was why he was pacing by himself in a hallway by the cafeteria. He didn't want anybody to talk to him, because he knew the comments that would be made to him for what he had done.
This was what Zay did. He took on the blame for every single problem he or one of his friends had, because that way, he had somebody to place the blame on. As long as it wasn't because of some obvious outside factor, Zay blamed himself. He needed somebody to blame.
After all, it wasn't like he had hit her. He hadn't been the person who had been behind the wheel when they shouldn't have been and he hadn't pushed Riley into the street. He hadn't really done anything to explain why he thought the blame should be placed on him, but he still blamed himself, all the same, and he would continue to blame himself, because that was the only way he knew how to cope with things.
As long as there was somebody for him to target his anger at, he could keep himself from going off the rails. He wasn't like Lucas-Lucas would go after whoever was responsible for whatever had happened and he would never allow them to forget what they had done. Zay, on the other hand, held onto an eternal resentment towards whoever he blamed for the disaster in his life. And when he blamed himself, it just added to all of the disappointments he already had in himself.
So, he was going to isolate himself from his friends until he was calmed down a little bit, because if any of them tried to console him during this situation, he would feel feel even worse than he already did.
The problem was…he should have known that Maya Hart would never allow one of her friends to sulk in the corner by themselves. She had to make sure that everybody else in her life was taken care of, before she could try to worry about herself.
"What are you doing over here?"
Zay cursed under his breathe before turning around to stare at the blonde beauty that he had been in love with since setting eyes on her. She was tiny, but her personality made up for that. And she had been the first person to try to actually make him feel included in New York City. It was the same thing she had done with Lucas, though, and Lucas had fallen for her just as quickly as Zay had fallen for her. Only, Lucas had done it a year before and besides that, Lucas was always stepping aside to let Zay have things. It was only fair that Zay allowed him to have this one thing, that would make both his best friend and the girl he was crazy about happy.
"I just…Maya, it's my fault," Zay sighed.
He wasn't able to lie to her. He was already lying to her about his feelings and that was enough. He couldn't bring himself to lie to her anymore than he already had in life.
"What are you talking about? You didn't hit her with a car, Zay," Maya rolled her eyes with a tense laugh.
"Yeah, but I was a jerk to Smackle," Zay shrugged his shoulders, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans and raising his shoulders up high, so that they touched his ears as he lowered his gaze towards the floor.
"You weren't into her," Maya said softly. "And you told her that and you went on a date with somebody else. Riley was the one who had to take things into her own hands and try to push things. Besides, she brought Smackle there because Smackle's in love with Farkle, not because she wanted you back," Maya explained patiently, placing a reassuring hand on Zay's bicep.
The contact was enough for him to stiffen, because he had spent so many years watching Maya be with somebody else while acting as his guardian angel-stepping in whenever he needed her the most. And he really couldn't bring himself to take holding himself back anymore. His willpower simply wasn't that strong and he couldn't do it anymore.
He wasn't as good of a friend as he had always thought that he was and he knew that now, because if he truly valued his friendship with Lucas, he never would have done what he was about to do next.
"You're right," Zay gulped.
"I know I am," Maya smirked.
"No, I mean you're right about the fact that I wasn't into Smackle," He said slowly. "Because I'm into somebody else and I've been into somebody else for a while now," he confessed.
"Then go after her, Zay," Maya prompted, releasing her hold on Zay and brushing a stray blond curl out of her face.
And Zay took Maya's advice, the same way that he always had. He grabbed onto her arms, pulling her in close to him and sliding his hands down to her hips as he pressed his lips against hers, knowing that he was throwing away his friendship with Lucas-his friendship with everybody in the Six Clique, if he was being completely honest-but unable to bring himself to really care, because all he could think about was the fact that he was kissing Maya Hart and even though it was so wrong, nothing else had ever felt so right.