A/N: Oh my! So many people wanting me to update! Well, I'm happy to oblige!

~~~Maya's Point Of View~~~ Chapter Four: Justice Is Served

Mr. Matthews took a long look at us. At Missy on the ground, at me standing over her. He looked at all of the bystanders, who were chatting excitedly with each other, whispers of 'did you see that?' and 'that was awesome!' and 'uh-oh, what's Mr. Matthews going to do?' reaching my ears.

"Move along, move along," Mr. Matthews waved the students on. "Get to class, there's nothing to see here."

Everything seemed to get quieter and quieter as they scurried away, the sound of footsteps dying down as people entered their classrooms, until all I could hear was the fast thumping of my own heartbeat, pounding itself against my chest as if it were trying to escape. I took in a few short, ragged breaths. I don't think I'd ever felt so terrified in all of my twelve years of living.

Oh, no, I thought. This can't be good... this isn't good at all.

Mr. Matthews kept his gaze fixed on me, as if he were waiting for me to explain. His face was red, and I could almost see the smoke rising up from his ears. I gulped hard, then looked at him, ready to attempt to explain.

I took a deep breath. "Mr. Matthews, I-"

"Maya," he interrupted sternly. "This is the kind of example you set for my daughter? Fighting in school?" his voiced raised with every word, sounding angrier and angrier. I had never heard him be so loud or get so angry in all the years I'd known the guy. "You know better than that! You've gone way too far!"

Farkle butted in. "But sir, she was just-"

He ignored him. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

I suddenly became very interested in the ground.

"I-I..." as much as I tried to keep it steady, my voice faltered. Here he was, the only father figure I'd ever had, and he was screaming at me, ticked of at me. My hands trembled, and my heart raced as fast as a hummingbird's. I fought back the tears that welled up in my eyes. I couldn't cry, not in front of my friends, and definitely not in front of Missy. They were not allowed to see me like this. I wasn't going to let them."I'm... I'm sorry, sir." I whispered.

"You know what, Maya?" Mr. Matthews asked, his voice breaking. "I am, too. You took it too far this time. I'm sorry, but this school has a no-fighting policy. I am going to have to report this-"

"Doe!" Riley cried through her hands, coming to stand in front of her father. Her voice was muffled and squeaky. "She wad dust defendig be!"

"Riley?" Mr. Matthews went from mad-as-hell teacher mode to overprotective father mode in a matter of seconds. He was at her side instantly, kneeling down in front of her and removing her hands from her face. "Who did this to you?" he asked, appalled by the blood that continued to flow from his daughter's nose.

"Id wad Biddy," Riley whispered, burying her face into her hands again. "Baya wad defendig be."

All heads turned to Missy.

Missy was on her feet now, rubbing her head. She took one look at the enraged look on Mr. Matthew's face and bolted. She made it about two yards before the back of her ugly pink sweater was caught by Lucas. He led her back to us.

"Going somewhere, Miss Bradford?" Mr. Matthews asked, pulling Riley into a protective embrace.

"Trying to be invisible, are you, Missy?" Lucas added.

"She's lying!" Missy cried, pointing at me. "It was her! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Stob lyig!" Riley said softly. "You doe whad you'b done."

"It's true, sir," Lucas said. "Missy punched Riley, and Maya defended her. I stopped her from fighting, and Missy jumped her."

"Maya didn't do anything wrong," Farkle added. I couldn't help but smile. They were all defending me. Farkle turned in my direction, smiling up at me with those bright blue eyes of his sparkling. The butterflies in my stomach fluttered wildly when I heard what her said next. "She's innocent."

Innocent? I blinked, trying to force down the grin that kept trying to make its way onto my face. I couldn't help but think of that day, back at the beginning of the school year, when I had insisted to Mr. Matthews that I was the opposite of innocent.

"Dad, you have a choice here," Riley explained to her father. "You can either understand that this is just a boy talking to me in the cafeteria-"

"I'm gonna do whatever you say next!" Mr. Matthews said.

"But this is so innocent!" She protested.

"Honey, fathers don't see anything as innocent," he told her. "We see it as... what's the opposite of innocent?"

I raised my hand, grinning. "Right here!"

Oh, the irony, I thought to myself. Here I am, months later, trying to convince him that I am innocent. What has this world come to?

"Who are you going to believe more?" Missy spat angrily, glaring daggers at my friends and I. "The words of pathetic little brats like these people," she gestured to us. "Or a mature, grown up like me?"

"Miss Bradford, these 'pathetic little brats' happen to be my daughter and her friends," Mr. Matthews said. I could tell he was struggling to keep his temper in check. "And I happen believe them."

"Favoritism!" Missy cried. "You're showing favoritism! You shouldn't even be a teacher!"

"Oh, so now you're lying to me? You get into a fight, and the you lie to me! You're only getting yourself into deeper trouble!

"It's not a matter of favoritism, Missy," Farkle told her, sounding surprisingly calm. "You're greatly outnumbered. Four against one. Why do you even try?"

Missy looked down, studying her feet with sudden interest. "Fine... I did it, okay?" she said after a moment's hesitation. "I hit Riley, I fought Maya. Are you happy now?"

"Missy, go to the principle's office," Mr. Matthews growled firmly. "Now. And you three-" he looked at Lucas, Farkle, and me- "Please escort Riley to the nurse. I have a referral to fill out and phone calls to make."

Missy huffed. With one last glare at all of us, she stalked off in the direction of the principal's office. Mr. Matthews had disappeared into his classroom, leaving the four of us alone in the hallways.

Lucas wrapped Riley in his arms, leaning down so that they were eye to eye. "Are you okay?" he asked. I could see her heart melt.

"Y-yeah," she sniffled, blinking at him with her big brown eyes. I smiled. Those two were perfect for each other. It didn't take rocket science to figure that out.

The four of us walked down the halls, Farkle and I just a few steps behind Lucas and Riley. The two of them snuggled against each other, whispering quietly. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but when Riley made that 'hmmm' sound she'd made when she first laid eyes on Lucas, I knew that whatever he had said had made her happy. That's really all that mattered to me.

"They're perfect for each other, aren't they?" Farkle asked, as if he'd read my thoughts.

"Yeah," I smiled. "They are."

"Do you know who else are perfect for each other?"

I knew exactly where this was going. "Who, Farkle?" I asked with a sigh.

"You and I," Farkle said flirtatiously. I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the way my heart fluttered in my chest.

"Yeah, in your dreams," I told him, my voice not coming out as confidently as I intended it too. And mine... not that I would ever say that out loud. I have a reputation to keep. I can't let anything get away of that, not even Farkle ...but... why does it hurt so much?

We were silent for a few minutes. The only sounds were those that were made by our footsteps.

"Maya?" Farkle broke the silence. "What was that about?"

I knew what he was talking about. The way I had said 'in your dreams.' I didn't have my emotions completely in check after the fight with Missy and being yelled at by Mr. Matthews. But I played dumb, at least for the time being.

"What was what about?" I asked.

"Don't play dumb with me, Maya," Farkle said. "Farkle knows that you know what I'm talking about."

"Well, all I know is that whatever it is that you know must be wrong because I don't know what you're talking about."

"Maya, stop playing dumb." I didn't say a thing. Farkle sighed. "Fine, I will tell you what know. There was something in the way you told me that we were perfect for each other in my dreams. Your tone of voice... I've never heard you use it before."

He found me out. How was I going to get out of this? I prayed for a way to get out of for me, we had just arrived at the nurse's office.

"I'll take her in," Lucas said, turning to face us. "You two can go to class."

Thank God for the cowboy! I thought, a grin slowly coming to my face. I could avoid Farkle, get out of this conversation. This was fantastic!

"Well, Farkle, nice talking too ya!" I said, skipping away and feeling almost like a five year old. "Gotta go to class!"

"But Maya!" he called after me. But I ignored him. I was gone.

The last bell rung, dismissing us from our last class of the day. I left my class, stopping by my locker to get my books. Riley had gone home early, so it would just be me on the subway today. I didn't mind that much; Riley needed to rest. She wasn't gonna get any of that with me around, that was for sure. It wouldn't be a huge deal. I would just be home alone. I was a big girl. I could handle myself.

I walked through the hallways, tuning out the conversations around me. Two out of three were about the fight today, and I did not wish to be reminded of it.

"Maya!" a familiar voice called out. My heart skipped a beat, and I put a little more pep in my step. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be.

"Maya!" Farkle repeated. "Maya, please talk to me!"

I broke into a run. I burst through the doors and sprinted down the stairs, taking off down the sidewalk. Farkle was still behind me. I could hear him panting with effort, still trying to catch up to me. he wasn't going to be able to run for much longer. I just had to hold out till- Oof!

My legs flew out from under me. Suddenly, I was on the ground. The breath had been knocked out of me.

"Maya!" Farkle was at my side in a instant. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." I panted, standing up. My legs wobbled a bit, but I managed to hold myself up pretty well. "Damn uneven sidewalk."

"I wanted to talk to you," Farkle said gently.

"Well I don't want to talk, Farkle!" I cried, throwing my hands up in frustration. "What's so important that it can't wait until tomorrow?"

"Look, about earlier," Farkle began, but I didn't let him finish.

"Farkle, I don't have time for this," I said. "My mom.. she gets out of work early today, so we're going to... hang out," I lied. Not my best lie, but whatever. Farkle seemed to accept it.

"Okay," he said softly. "I'll.. see you tomorrow..."

We both went off in our separate directions. Once I felt that we were far enough away, I let it out. The tears streamed down my face, and as quickly as I wiped them away, more replaced them. Why was life so difficult? It felt like it was all a cruel joke. I was doomed to never be truly happy, wasn't I?

I went down to the subway station, hoping beyond hope that the one person I wanted to see would be there. By some rare stroke of luck, there she was, sitting on her usual bench.

"Yo, Crazy Hat!" I called, my voice breaking a bit. As much as I tried to sound happy, I couldn't bring myself to. Not that it really mattered- I was still crying.

At the sound of my voice, Evelyn 'Crazy Hat' Rand turned in my direction with a grin on her face. "Well, if it isn't my dollies- are you okay?" her grin slowly faded as she took a look at me. She patted the seat next to her, expecting me to sit.

I sat.

"Why must life be so difficult?" I asked.

"I've wondered that very same thing myself on many occasions," Evelyn said. "Now, what's going on? Where's Riley?"

I explained to her everything that had happened, the whole thing with Missy. "But that's not why I'm upset. I'm torn. There's this boy, Farkle-"

"The Farkle? The one who wanted to make 'cash, cabbage, cheddar cheese?'"

"Yeah," I told her. "He's just about the weirdest little guy in the world. But when I'm around him, I get this feeling... I think I like him, but I have my reputation to keep. Something tells me liking Farkle won't exactly help with that."

Evelyn though about this. "Listen, Maya. You can't hide your feelings just for the sake of something as petty as your reputation. If you bottle up your feelings, one day, you'll just explode! You don't want that to happen, do you?"

I smiled weakly, shaking my head. "I don't," I admitted.

"The heart wants what the heart wants, Maya. Give it what it wants."

The subway I needed pulled in right then. I smiled at Evelyn as I stood up. "Thanks, Crazy Hat." I told her. "Tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow.

Evelyn waved at me as I stepped onto the train. The doors closed before she could say anything, but I knew what she wanted to say. And the next day, I was going to give my heart what it wanted. Nothing was going to stop me.

At least, that's what I thought.

A/N: Okay, guys! That's it for this chapter! See you next time, and thanks for reading! Please please please drop a review on the way out! Thanks!

~Pebblemist~