Riley looked at her and mumbled, "I'm scared..."

Maya held her hand and whispered, "But I'm right here."

"It doesn't matter! I'm still getting bullied!" Riley suddenly yelled.

Maya cover Riley's mouth and brought her down to the floor. She then pulled her up onto her lap and hugged her close. "Shh, it's okay," she softly reassured in her ear, "I'm sorry that you're going through this."

Riley whimpered quietly and snuggled into her.

"I'll always be there to protect you. Scott won't hurt you anymore," Maya continued as she gently ran her fingers through Riley's hair.

Riley looked at her, eyes watering. "How do you know?"

Maya smiled. "because I'm Maya, and nobody messes with my best friend." The she pressed a soft kiss to her cheek and whispered in her ear, "Besides, I said whatever you want."

The two didn't have their next class together either, so that meant they had to go their separate ways again. Maya kept telling Riley not to worry; that everything was going to be okay. As Maya walked down the hallway, her hatred for Scott grew. How dare he do that to her little plant! She was about to lose it when she looked up and saw him: the guy that broke her best friend. She felt the anger surge inside of her and she stopped him in the hallway. "Why would you do that?! Why would you break Riley down like that?!" she asked angrily.

Scott just smirked. "Did what? I only told the truth."

Maya only got angrier. "None of what you said was true! I love Riley!"

Scott crossed his arms. "You sure about that?"

Maya finally just lashed out and punched him in the stomach.

Scott laughed. "You really thought you could hurt me? You're weaker than I thought."

Maya didn't know if she should feel angry or hurt.

Scott smirked again. "That's what I thought. As he walked past her, he purposely ran into her shoulder.

As soon as she knew Scott couldn't see her anymore, Maya winced in pain.

He was really strong and he wasn't even trying.

This was going to be harder than she thought it would be.

After school, like usual Maya went over to Riley's house, and she told Riley about her encounter with Scott.

Riley immediately felt bad for all of this and blamed herself.

"It's not your fault you weren't there! Please don't blame yourself," Maya pleaded.

"But since I wasn't there-"

No! Nothing bad physically happened, and I'm honestly glad you weren't there," Maya cut off.

Riley finally just sighed. "Well, are you okay?"

Maya thought about how Scott had hurt he shoulder, then decided to lie to protect her friend. "I'm alright." Riley didn't need to worry about her.

Riley inspected Maya's expression but couldn't see past it, so she assumed that she wasn't lying.

"Hey, everything is going to be okay. We just need to let someone know, because we now know for sure who it is."

Riley hesitated, but still agreed. Maya smiled slightly and kissed her on the forehead. "Atta girl."

Riley blushed. "It's not all that."

Maya smirked. "I didn't say it was."

Riley smirked back and pinned her down.

Maya laughed and pushed her off. "You're so weird," "Really? I didn't notice."

Maya rolled her eyes and kissed her cheek. "Never change, Riley."