February 19th 2017

Chapter 50
Her Call To The Missed

It was December 23rd, and to the best of her abilities she had not managed to find cheer in herself for the days to come, not since the week before, when her mother had finally told her they'd be spending the holidays in Texas. She had explained that she'd tried, really, but they just couldn't afford the trip there and back. She pressed on this a near guarantee that they would be able to go next Christmas, but in saying this she had already confirmed Maya's fears. If next Christmas would have taken this long to afford, then she would hardly ever get to go, would she?

She had told Riley days ago, knowing how much she'd looked forward to this visit, too. She hated to know how sad it made her, as much as her, and so they had been calling each other over Skype every day. Seeing her face pop up on the screen of her phone – a present she'd received in the mail shortly after her arrival in Austin – it was as though she'd travelled miles and miles back to her old world.

"Peaches!" she would burst out every time, and Maya could only smile; it was that or crying.

"Hey, Honey," she would reply, hoping it helped her dear faraway friend's heart beat a little brighter. As much as Maya had struggled with adjusting to her new life, she knew Riley had needed to do it, too.

Sure, she hadn't been the one to have to move to a new city, but Maya knew how she would have felt if Riley had gone away, and she would not have wished that on anyone she liked, and on her the least of all. When they would speak, instead of texting, she could see that in her. She would be so happy, just to see her face appear, and Maya didn't think that kind of overpowering burst of joy could come out of anything other than heavy sadness.

She'd try and get her to tell her how she was doing, but she would always change the subject, telling her about what had been going on at school, or at home, or with Farkle, and if it wasn't that, then she would ask Maya questions instead. Maya wanted to push further, but with the distance, and the means of their conversations, she knew it would be too easy for Riley to make some excuse and disconnect the call. The best she could do was to try and make her as happy as possible in the time when she had her on the screen.

She thought she'd been doing better in the last couple of days. The sadness hadn't gone away completely, no, but there was something there. Maya had tried to ask, maybe something had changed, but if it had, then she couldn't figure it out, and Riley wasn't saying anything. It had to be how Christmas was getting closer, and really that would make sense. Between her birthday and Christmas and the end of the year, December had always been her favorite month. She'd walk around like the whole thing was magical. If that was the case, then even now it couldn't let her down completely. Maya looked at her now, her smiling Riley, and she wished for her an endless December…

Her friends here in Texas had been working overtime to bring her some magic of their own, ever since they'd found out she wasn't going to be able to go back to New York for Christmas. She wouldn't have put it past them to somehow try and put together what money she'd need to go, but she'd already shot down the idea, didn't want to have them turn to their parents for her, especially if it was going to be this way every time she wanted to go back there.

At least, she had her greatest silver lining, and it was how she would still have all of them, get to go to all their houses in turn, in what they referred to as the 'Christmas tour.' It was the one thing she had to try and lift her disappointment over having to stay. It hadn't really worked, not fully, and she didn't expect it to. She would be happy when she was with them, and with her mother, of course, but then when she'd be left on her own, such as now, then all the glow they had been shining on her had just as quickly gone away, and she'd be back in this feeling, the one she'd thought for sure that she had gotten rid of weeks ago, the one where she missed home so much she couldn't bear it. Hadn't she been feeling, finally, like Texas was now her home, too?

But now she had Riley on her screen, while her mother was out, determined to pull together some miraculous sort of a Christmas meal. She would not have put it past her mother to end up getting Hildy to help her cook it.

She didn't want Riley to know she was tailspinning, not now, but oh she was… Couldn't she have this one thing? After everything since September, she had made something of her new life. All she wanted in return was to be with the people she'd been forced to leave behind.

"Maya?" Riley asked, and she realized she'd been looking at the screen but not seeing, not hearing.

"Sorry," she blinked, tried on a smile. "Did I tell you about our field trip?" She had, days ago.

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners