A/N: Wow, guys! Thanks for all the positive feedback! Now for the first chapter in Maya's point of view! This should be interesting! Even I'm a little curious to see where this goes. Now, look at me rambling :) Let's continue, shall we? Enjoy!

~~~Maya's Point Of View~~~ Chapter Three: Sticks and Stones

Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me. Ha! Whoever said that was a complete and utter idiot. Words do hurt, I had realized when dealing with Riley's dilemma. Sometimes they hurt more than physically getting hurt.

Missy Bradford was a terrible person. I hated that girl. I really did. She treats me and my friends like shit, she acts like she's the only person in this world that matters, and now she had taken it too far. Way too far.

Needless to say, I was not exactly in a good mood that day. It had started out okay, I guess. It was sunny, and nice out. But unlike Riley, who seemed to think a little sunshine made the day a gazillion times better, to me it was just another normal, ordinary day. Waking up to find that my mom had already left for work, going to Riley's, Mrs. Matthews forcing me to eat breakfast, Riley and I riding the subway to school.

But then the whole thing with Missy happened, and it really ticked me off. I know I overreacted, but I had a valid reason, okay? Let's just say it was a particular time of the month for me, if you have any idea what I mean. That's all you really need to know.

So, er, I had been sitting in Mr. Matthew's class after Lucas had made Farkle and I leave. Mr. Matthews was up at the board, excitedly explaining some boring facts about the Constitution, facts that probably weren't exciting at all and that he most likely didn't need to be enthusiastic about.

I wasn't paying attention at all.

Well, that was nothing new, really. I mean, I'm Maya Hart. Anyone who knows anything about me wouldn't be surprised that at all. They'd be surprised if I was paying attention.

But usually, when I'm not paying attention, I'm doodling in my notebooks or something. Now my mind had taken a trip and was kind of just wandering through dreamland. I was worried about Riley. Missy had broken my little plant, and I wasn't quite sure that Bucky McBoing-Boing was going to be able to fix her.

They weren't back by the time the bell rang. I was seriously worried. Riley wouldn't leave the locker and she would pull one of her 'food will only keep me alive' scams and she would sit there and starve to death. Okay, maybe that was a little extreme. I have an active imagination, okay?

The class was dismissed, and as I packed up my things, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw it was Farkle.

"Sup," I grunted, shoving the last heavy book into my bag. "Wanna check on them?"

"Yeah, of course," he said, leading the way out of the classroom. "What if she's still in my locker?"

"Then we'll get her out," I said, trying my best to sound optimistic, but since optimism isn't really my thing, it sounded just about as fake as it was.

"We will?" Farkle asked as we reached the door."

"Yup," I nodded.

Farkle opened the door for me. "After you, m'lady," he said, bowing like only a dork would. I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the fluttering feeling in my chest as we locked eyes. It lasted for only a split second- then we parted.

"Th-thanks, Farkle," I stammered, stepping out into the hallways.

Lucas was standing in front of the locker, Riley in his arms with her head on his chest. I couldn't help but smile as they quickly pulled away from each other, obviously trying (and failing miserably) to act like they hadn't been doing anything.

Farkle and I decided with just one glance that we wouldn't say a thing about seeing their little hug, at least for the time being.

"You got her out!" I exclaimed, a grin slowly spreading across my face. Maybe the day wasn't going to be as bad as I thought.

Riley was beaming. She opened her mouth, presumably to say something, but then turned around.

Standing behind her was the evil she-devil, the bulldozer in the pink sweater herself. Missy Bradford, with that arrogant smirk that never seemed to leave her face.

"Wha-?" Riley paused. "Oh," she groaned. "It's you. Just the girl I didn't want to see."

"Oh, well it's nice to see you too," Missy said sweetly. "Not."

"I loathe you," I muttered, shooting the girl an icy glare.

"Missy, how could you have done this to Riley?" Lucas asked. I could tell he was trying to keep from losing his temper.

Missy batted her eyes innocently. "Whatever are you taking about?"

"You know what you did," Lucas said, glaring at her. "Admit it, Missy. We all know."

"I have know idea what you're talking about!" Missy cried, throwing her hands up. She was a terrible actress.

I was done. She hurts my best friend, then just denies it? No. That was not going to fly with me. So I did what i do best. I didn't think.

I lunged. Before I knew what I was doing, Missy was pinned to the lockers with an appalled look on her face. As if she were surprised that I would defend my best friend.

I let out a growl that was so animal like, it almost scare me. "You little-"

"Maya?!" Farkle yelled. I didn't really hear him.

"Maya!" Riley cried. I felt a tug on the hood of my sweatshirt. "What are you doing?"

"Wha... ?"I blinked, slowly coming to my senses and realizing what I was doing. I slowly backed away, feeling slightly numb.

"Maya! What were you thinking?" Riley cried. She was trying her best to be angry with me, but I knew she couldn't stay that way for long.

"You're cute when you try to be angry," I said dryly. She paused for a second, then rolled her eyes.

"What were you thinking?" she repeated.

I hung my head and sighed. "... I... I wasn't."

"Obviously," Missy scoffed, glaring at me. "You never think. It's part of what makes you need to grow up. But, I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon."

"No," Riley said firmly, sort of surprising me. "It's not going to happen anytime soon." Was she agreeing with her? No. "You know why?"

"Oh?" Missy raised an eyebrow, leaning against the locker with a look of mock interest. "Why is that?"

"Because," Riley's voice wavered a bit. Her hands trembled, and I could tell she was terrified. But she powered through it, staring Missy in the eye. "We're twelve years old. This is seventh grade. We have years before we need to start growing up." she took a deep breath. "And just because you have decided to throw away your childhood and grow up faster than us, it doesn't mean that we have to."

Missy snickered. "What do you know, anyways?" she asked with a smirk.

She lunged forward with a balled fist. Before I knew what was happening, her fist struck Riley's nose, and jumped back with a screech of pain, throwing her hands up in front of her face. A thick scarlet substance gushed from her nose. Blood.

"Riley!" Lucas pulled her closer to him. "Are you okay?"

"Mmmmph," she rested her head on his chest, starting to cry. Blood stained his shirt, but he didn't seem to care.

Missy scoffed. "The truth hurts, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, Missy," I said calmly. "It does."

"Maya," Farkle warned. "Don't be like her!"

I ignored him. In seconds, Missy was pinned to the locker again, and I had no intention of letting her go. I tuned out Farkle's cries and warnings. This girl had hurt my best friend more than once. She was going to pay.

Missy threw her hands up. "Don't hurt me!" she cried, batting her eyes innocently.

"Don't hurt you? Don't hurt you? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't?" Missy was silent. "Oh, I'm going to hurt you!" I aimed my punch, getting ready to throw it.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" chorused the students around us. I could hear Farkle yelling 'No fight! No fight!'

But before my fist could connect with her face, someone grabbed onto me, holding me by my armpits. I felt my feet leave the floor. I kicked, furious.

"Let go of me, Huckleberry!" I growled, kicking backwards in a failed attempt to hit a certain place.

"Boooooo!" students yelled.

"No, Maya," Lucas said firmly. "I want to hurt her as much as you do, but we can't. This is what she wants; for you to be like her. Don't resort to her methods."

"Put me down," I snapped. "Now."

Lucas sighed. "Okay. I'm going to put you down now. But when do, you're not going to attack. Right?"

"Yeah, fine, whatever," I grumbled. He lowered me to the ground.

I approached Riley. She had her face buried in her hands, blood still flowing from her nose. She blinked up at me, her brown eyes wide. I opened my mouth to say something to comfort her.

"This fight isn't over," Missy declared from behind me. Before I could react, I felt hands pushing on my shoulders, and Missy lifted herself up, sitting on my shoulders with her legs wrapped around my neck so tightly it was hard to breath.

I staggered backwards, not strong enough to hold her. I fell back, taking Missy with me. I heard a bang. I had accidentally knocked Missy's head against the locker. Not hard enough to knock her out, unfortunately.

She let out a yelp of pain, letting go of me. I stood up, my legs shaking.

I heard a door open, then slam shut. Loud, fast footsteps heading towards me. A booming, angry sounding voice."

"What is going on here?"

I froze, suddenly terrified. I knew that voice, but I'd never heard it raised before. I whirled around. Standing behind me was Mr. Matthews.

To Be Continued

A/N: Ooh! Cliffhanger! Dun dun dun!

Please, drop a review on you way out! I'd really appreciate it!

~Pebblemist~