A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry it's been so long without an update. Honestly, I didn't think I'd continue the story, but I have some free time now and decided to give it a second chance. Let me know what you think about the story so far. Enjoy!
The sunlight filtered into Riley's bedroom through the bay window. The curtains had been pushed aside to allow Maya's early morning entrance, and no one had bothered to reposition them before going back to sleep. Riley was the first one to awaken with the sun in her eyes, and Maya's ungodly snoring told Riley that her friend was still asleep.
It was only nine in the morning, but the city was already thick with the heat and humidity of a northeastern summer. Riley couldn't stand being in bed under her sheets any longer, so she was quickly out of bed and off to the kitchen. "Good morning, honey," Topanga greeted her daughter from the kitchen table. "Morning, mom." Riley replied, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Topanga was positioned at the head of the table with a laptop and a stack of folders. "Lots of cases?" Riley asked, sitting opposite her mother with a bowl of cereal in her hand. "Swamped with them," Her mother confirmed. "I think I'm actually going to take these into the office and do some work from there. Will you be alright if I leave you some money for lunch? I'll be home before dinner." Mr. Matthews was in Philadelphia for a long weekend enjoying a conference and a visit with his parents, while Auggie had already gone off to camp in the morning and he wouldn't be back until the late afternoon. "That's fine," Riley assured her. "I have no plans today that involve leaving the air conditioning of this house." That was all Topanga needed to hear before she gathered her things and was out the door. "Bye, honey, love you. See you around five." She called over her shoulder.
It was another three hours before there was any noise from where Riley had left her best friend sleeping. Riley might have doubted that she would wake up at all in the next decade if it weren't for the unmistakable huff of a grossly hungover Maya Hart. "Morning, sunshine! How ya feelin'?" Riley asked, her words dripping with an irritatingly enthusiastic tone. "I feel worse than I look," Maya replied dryly as she wiped some flakes of mascara from under her eyes.
It was true that Maya looked disheveled. Her hair was knotting from not having brushed out last night's curls, and the makeup that was once placed purposely around her eyes was now formed into an ugly crust below her bottom lashes. She was still dressed in last night's jeans and crop top, but only one sock adorned her feet. The first thing Maya did as she entered the living room was fish a Gatorade out from the Matthews' fridge, and she clung to the bottle with an iron grip. Riley had never seen a person down anything as quickly as Maya drank that Gatorade, and a part of Riley wondered if it might come back up, but luckily they were all spared that mess. "How about I make some coffee and we spend the afternoon watching Red Planet Diaries reruns?" Riley suggested a bit more softly. Riley couldn't stand coffee, and it baffled her that people voluntarily drank anything that bitter. She couldn't see why anyone would stomach it when there were so many sweeter things to be enjoyed, but coffee had become Maya's lifeline on sleepless nights. She had never been a heavy sleeper, and some nights she worked well into the morning on her current art projects. Maya sank down on the couch clutching a pillow to her chest and brought her knees up to support it. "Deal," She nodded as she become engrossed in her cell. There were a number of missed calls and texts that needed to be dealt with, most importantly those from Maya's mother.
When Riley arrived with the hot mug of coffee she was startled at the sight of large bruise on Maya's jawline. It was positioned on her jaw just beneath her left ear, and was an angry purple hue. Riley was surprised she hadn't noticed it earlier, but maybe it was due to the poor lighting when Maya climbed through the window. "When did that happen?" Riley asked as she handed over the much needed caffeine to her friend. Maya shot her a puzzled look, but Riley's eyes were fixed on the bruise and it didn't take long for Maya to realize what she was referring to. "Oh, I totally wiped out the other day. I was trying to get a ton of canvas up the stairs of my building and fell on my face. I looked like a total dumbass, but it was pretty funny." The story made Riley crack a smile as she pictured what the scene must have looked like. "Well, it's nasty," She teased. Maya shrugged and allowed Riley to settle on the end of the couch by her feet. "Just put the show on, and stop judging me. You know I don't trust the elevator in my building… thing looks like it's about to snap," Riley couldn't argue with Maya's logic, because she'd refused to ride that same elevator since they were twelve. "Alright, alright," Riley laughed, and the two girls settled into the quiet of each other's company. It wasn't all that different from how they'd spent most of their summer so far, and it was the kind of simplicity summer vacations were meant for.