Chapter Five: Disrupting the Class

The building looked almost exactly the same as she remembered, but the feeling inside was completely foreign, no longer being surrounded in the drab halls by the people that made it worth showing up. There was a lingering smell that she placed all too easily as Sloppy-Joe day and for a couple of seconds her mind wondered if she could still pass as a high school student in order to sneak a bite in before she left. I mean hell, most of them are already taller than me, a fact that was the case in just about every location she found herself. All manners be damned, she barged into that old classroom just as she had barged into the bay window of the man's house countless times as a teenager. The guy was basically her family after-all, and one of the people that had known Maya the longest, so anything other than her typical Maya-entrance would certainly give way for concern.

"All right Matthews, now what are we going to do about this Riley situation? I'm counting on the King of Schemes for this one, so let's forego any time wasted on common decencies and dive straight into the plotting part!" Maya marched up towards the front, slapping her hands down loudly on Cory's wooden desk. "Come on, man, whatcha got?"

His brown eyes huge, he placed his grasp onto Maya's shoulders and slowly turned her body around to face the shocked stares she was receiving from his full room of students. "Forgive her, she's just a stray," he chuckled nervously, flashing his teeth in only the way that a Cory Matthews does.

"Oh wow….Well hello, young chumps," reaching up into the air to calm the class, she peered over all of the high schoolers that were filling the seats once surrounding her best naps. "Let me guess, this guy is trying to sell that whole 'people change people' thing on you guys? Well get used to hearing that, because you'll be hearing it for the next four years," Maya couldn't help but poke fun, entirely entertained. "Now what do we have here…you two!" she pointed to the girls to her front, "you're best friends, probably in some weird boy triangle, but little does the boy know, he doesn't matter at all…and umm…YOU! Yes, you!" focus was set, "You're the glue. See all this time I thought this lug's daughter was the glue, but really it was the loyal and devoted nerdy boy that held everyone together. What's your name, glue?"

"Dinkus," the young man replied.

"Oh my god, Dinkus?" Maya returned her tickled look back to Cory, "This is too easy dude, how does this not crack you up?"

Pulling his former student off to the corner, he clinched his eyebrows and kept his voice low. "Maya, what on Earth are you doing here? I did manage to have other students outside of the group of yous, clearly, and this is theirtime to learn, no?"

Realizing she had intruded, her humor shrank slightly. He was right, these kids deserved to have the best just as she had, and Mr. Matthews was without a doubt the best teacher—endlessly the one to guide the troubled girl in the right direction, never a sacrifice he wouldn't make for her, and always the first to expense his time for a person in need of help. She had been so lucky to know him, so lucky to be loved by him. Before Shawn, Cory was the best shot at a dad that Maya had ever thought possible. "I'm sorry," she sighed, "I didn't mean to screw up your day. I just wanted to talk to you, Matthews, I feel like I'm losing my mind right now. I know if anyone can set me straight, it's you."

Looking at the young lady he had watched grow from a tiny child to an independent, though still wily, adult, it was no secret that she was distressed. It was never a settling feeling for him to observe one of his children feeling so low, and with his fellow taco-lover, his heart ached the same for her as it would one of his own. "Hey," Cory gave a clasp to her shoulder. "Give me an hour, and then we'll talk, okay?"

On the verge of tears, she agreed and directed the class's attention back to their dutiful instructor. What was going on with her lately? Tears were not something that the strong and resilient Maya came by easily, but ever since yesterday it seemed like it was the only reaction her ducts knew. She needed an answer. She needed a fix. She needed for someone, anyone, to just put everything back together—a person to make all of it okay again before it was too late. Matthews was her last stop before going back home, and Maya knew that it was her last hope for keeping the person she loved so much and for so long, close. Because if there ever was a human being that may love Riley as much as she did, it would be Cory Matthews.

Finishing the last bite of a Sloppy Joe, Maya was pleasantly surprised that even years later, the food was still very much up to par in that cafeteria…and hey, a free meal. Turns out, there is a definite bright side to being only five foot—no one suspects a thing when you're twenty-two years old standing in the lunch line. Wiping her mouth with a napkin, she caught a peripheral view of a lingering body at her side. "Ready to talk now?" Ever respectful of lunchroom duties since the days she had to work them, Maya gathered all of the discarded trash onto her red tray, discarding all of the contents into the correct bins.

"Ready." Cory took the girl and guided her back to his classroom, setting her down in the precise spot that she had sat under his leadership only four years prior. After a pause he picked up his chalk and scribbled on the blackboard behind. "So, Maya, Belgium 1831?" he asked, pulling out the weakened chair affront his desk, and drifting down with elbows set atop the surface.

"No, no Belgium 1831. This is NOT that, how could it ever bethatwith Riley?" Annoyed, Maya was already regretting coming here. She thought this guy, of allpeople, would be on her side. She thought that maybe, just maybe, if anyone wanted to keep Riley here as much as she did, it would be Riley's father. Maya had only known a real father's attachment for a few years, but she still understood how powerful it was, and that a dad would alwayswant to keep their baby girl close. "I'm not giving up on this. Riley doesn't need to move, she doesn't need to throw away her whole life!" The girl's voice was coming off as more hostile than she had intended. Her lungs took a deep inhale. "Lucas is making this all about himself. He's stripping her away from everything that she appreciates and aspires to be and is instead bringing her across the country to har-har Texas. Hisplace. His home. It's not fair. Fuck, she's built her entire world here. How is this right?"

The older man stood silent for a minute, taking in Maya's words. Of coursethis wasn't easy for him either, his first born, his delicate and tenderhearted child, possibly moving to a land far beyond his reach. It tore him apart inside. Riley was the treasure that transitioned him into a dad, the one that unknowingly made every single other part of his life seem insignificant. When a father meets his daughter for the first time, something happens. A man holds those tiny untouched fingers looking at those impossibly thin fingernails, admiring them as being so small amongst his own rough and beaten down ones. So innocent and fragile, a thing he would give his life to guard from any harm at all—with that, a dad's heart is stolen so effortlessly. Cory vowed from that day in the hospital to be the one forever by his daughter's side, the one that would show her what it meant to feel utter adoration. To prove to her that love had no boundaries, and most importantly—to protect her, as best he could. He looked into those newborn trusting brown eyes that mirrored his own and knew that from the initial timid cry she made, the extraordinary girl deserved nothing but butterflies and rainbows in all lifetimes to come. However, he now realized that the butterflies she deserved were not his to give anymore. She had grown up, and was ready to accept them from someone else. Thinking of Riley's recent chance to go off on her own with the man he knew would do right by his daughter, he couldn't help but reminisce of the time when it was he and Topanga setting off on their own journey. It was scary, and the world of New York would be a whole new one to meet, however he was confident that Topanga was the woman he had loved with all of his being, and that any step with her would be a step in the right direction—a choice that had proven to be the best thing to ever happen to him…So how could he deny his daughter the same opportunity? "Maya, I know you want to keep her here, I do too. As a parent, I would desire almost nothing more than my children to stay as close to me as possible for the rest of their lives."

"Almost nothing more?" her thumbs were twiddling on the small desktop and she refused to look up.

"Yes, almost." The clock above the door showed 3:59PM now, and Cory was feeling drained. This news hadn't been easy for him either, however, misery loves company and he was reassured to be in the presence of a person that could understand his same sentiment. "More than the 'almost'," he air-quoted, "I just want Riley to be happy…even if that means letting her go. Sometimes the absolute best way to love someone is to let them go—let them make their own decisions and find their own path—to watch them be happy. You know her, Maya, more than anyone. Do you think that Lucas makes her happy?" Rising from his chair, he walked over to Maya and lifted her chin. "Could this be Riley's happily-ever-after?"

Goddamn it, her eyes were doing that thing again—heavy and ready to break down. How does this keep happening?Mind wondering, she recalled the times she had been present with the two during their times in college…watching her best friend and the cowboy cuddle up during their movie nights, Riley always spilling the popcorn of course, but Lucas having no shame at all and eating it straight off of the floor…seeing the flowers delivered for every single anniversary, even on the dumb ones like 'first time cooking a meal together.' Admiring that huge and infectious smile that Riley had when she'd come back from one of their dates, and would be crazily eager to tell Maya every detail as they sat on the bay window. The boy had made Riley happy—she was certain he had enamored the girl that she cared about so ferociously—much better than she ever could. He was her prince, and there was no mistaking that. Matthews was spot on, once again. Loving someone meant letting them go. It meant putting them first, wanting what was best for them. "He is. He is her happily-ever-after…" Crushed. Maya was crushed. Just like that, any hope she had hidden away for herself disappeared. Selfish though, she reasoned. Her best friend deserves the best. "…we let her go now?"

"Maya…" Cory removed his suit coat and laid it on top of the girl's leather one, knowing how cold she got when she was uncomfortable. "We let her go now."

A/N: Is anyone actually enjoying this story? Lmao, I've just received so little feedback than I was used to on my other series fic, and I'm not sure how this is being taken by you guys, so I'm wondering if I'm just writing into a void here. (Not you, Dragonsprit, I know you always review and I really love that.) But please comment if you like this and actually want me to keep going with it. I have a lot more in mind for this story, but if no one is interested then I could always just move on to a different story on something else. Just let me know. As always, appreciative of your opinions

-Lauren