CHAPTER 4

Eighth grade had ended roughly as the bay window incident occurred. Thinking about high school, hearing how people grow apart, terrified Maya in a way she never thought she'd feel. Of course, Riley promised they'd stay together, they'd been together since they were 5 and she assured Maya that they would remain that way until they were 105. They made it through freshman year; they learned about Maya's mom's best friend and how they had grown apart because of distance and fame and how "being friends with a person one day and not the next" was "normal". They had even made it through the whole "moving to England scare" without faltering.

Now the separation and distance was inevitable. They hadn't graduated high school yet and their future was already being decided; a future apart. Although Riley still hadn't chosen a college yet, it was pretty evident that it wouldn't be even a little bit close to where Maya would be. Riley had promised freshman year that she would give up a higher level college to stay with Maya, but 4 years later, it was time to decide, and things had changed. Maya was the one with her college in place. She'd been accepted into her dream school, an art school, and even though Riley had become quite a pro at painting and drawing purple cats; she would never go to an art school.

Sure, there were plenty of colleges in the same area, but of course, Riley had to choose the "perfect" college. She had looked at pretty much every college that was at least semi-close to Maya that provided the major she wanted but nothing seemed "right".

As the days flew by though, Cory and Topanga were putting a lot more pressure on Riley to decide. Even though Riley wasn't really bothered by the constant pressure of choosing her college, Maya was. It was a reminder that Riley's choice was going to change their life, and their friendship. The more she talked about the schools that were further away she was considering, the more scared Maya became.

"What if she meets new people that she likes more than me?"

"What if something bad happens?"

"What if she needs me?"

"What if I need her?"

The thoughts continuously swirled and the fear continuously worsened. She knew talking to Riley would make her feel better but she didn't want Riley to worry about her while trying to choose a college, feel guilty, or change her mind just for her. She also didn't want Riley to think that she might lose hope in their friendship. So, Maya laid low, tried to block out the idea of college, and showed up a little less frequently at the Matthew's house, to avoid any conversations that could intensify any of her emotions.

Although Maya tried to make these changes as discrete as possible, Riley caught on to Maya's changes right away. She knew Maya wasn't coming over nearly as much but she wasn't exactly sure why. Senior year was ending, if anything, Maya should be at her house more often; they only had a couple more months together before the world threw them apart.

So, after sitting in her room waiting for Maya, and thinking about what might be happening in her mind, Riley decided to do the thing Maya had done so many times for her; to show up, and be there for whatever was bothering her best friend. She stood up, climbed through the bay window, and out into the streets on New York.

Riley arrived at Maya's apartment a couple minutes later, knocked on the door, and then let herself in. She found Maya sitting on the couch drawing. Maya looked up from her paper and a slight smile spread across her face.

"Riles, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"You know, that's funny Maya, I was just about to ask you the same thing."

Maya's smile disappeared as she realized she'd been caught. Riley knew her better than she knew herself; she should have known that she'd figure out something was bothering her. She definitely did not want to talk about it but Maya knew better than to think Riley would walk out of the room without answers. Maybe though, she could delay talking a little longer.

"What are you talking about Riles? I'm fine" she replied in her most convincing voice.

Riley looked at Maya skeptically, trying to read her facial expression or body language. Maya knew exactly what she was doing though so she quickly looked down to continue working on her drawing.

Riley walked over to the couch and looked over Maya's arm at the drawing she was working on; a picture of the night sky. The paper was filled with stars, and a bright, shiny moon. Riley had seen Maya draw this kind of picture many times. She would study and draw the stars when she needed to calm down or take a break. This picture though, was a little different. There was a person in this one, a girl, sitting in the corner, looking up. Then she realized there was another girl, barely visible, doing the same thing but a lot further away.

"It's beautiful Maya"

"What? This? It's nothing. I wanted to draw so I just started messing around."

"Why would you even think I'd believe that for a second?" She replied with a disapproving expression

"What makes you say that?" Maya asked halfheartedly, knowing she was eventually going to lose this battle.

"Because you have pencil all over your hands and face, which only happens when you are working really hard on something."

"I do n-... oh" she said looking down at her hand.

Riley turned from the place she had been standing and began walking towards the door. Maya looked down at her drawing again, trying not to think about how Riley had just walked away. She could feel her eyes starting to fill with tears when she felt someone sit down next to her. Riley lifted Maya's chin so that she was looking her in the eyes and began wiping away the pencil marks with a wet paper towel. Her whole body relaxed as her best friend soothingly stroked her face. As soon as Riley had stopped though, Maya's mind began flooding with thoughts as her eyes filled with tears again.

"She's not going to be right next to me anymore"

"She's not going to be here at all next year"

"What happens if I need her?"

"I need her"

Riley broke Maya's spiraling thoughts. She placed her hand on Maya's shoulder and very calmly whispering, "Maya, talk to me, please. I want to help you."

"I'm fine Riley, there's nothing you can do about it."

"I can listen"

Maya looked down at her paper again

"Maya, I'm worried about you. You haven't been through my window, you haven't even been at my house in over two weeks. Are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong?"

"No sweetie, I promise I'm not mad at you. You haven't done anything wrong."

"Then what's wrong? I miss you. I need my Maya back. I keep waiting for you to climb through the bay window, but you haven't. I want to spend as much time with you as possible before-"

"Before we leave for college, right? Before you start a new life and meet new friends? Before you move far away and we only get to see each other maybe two times a year? Before-" Maya continued as tears began streaming down her face. "Before-"

"Maya, stop" Riley interrupted, scooting closer to where her best friend was sitting.

"I can't Riley. It's all I can think about. The next four years of our lives, we are going to be completely separated. If something bad happens, I can't just crawl through your bay window. I'll have to catch a flight or drive nine hours just to be with you. It scares me Riles. I don't know what I'm going to do knowing that you are so far away."

"Maya, you know I'm always right here. Maybe not in person, but I'll always answer your calls or respond to your texts, even if I'm in the middle of class or if it's one in the morning; that's how important you are to me. And if for some reason I'm not there, I know you'll meet some amazing new friends who will have your back too."

"That's just it though Riley. I don't want the first person we go to talk to if something terrible happens to be some "new friend", no matter how amazing they are. I want us to share it with each other first. I'm scared once we stop sharing the big stuff with each other first, we'll lose all the other stuff too."

"Maya, we are going to meet new people, we are going to make new friends; we have to if we are going to survive four years of college, but just because I cry to my roommate about some big breakup or something doesn't mean that I'm not wishing more than anything else in the world, that I was with you. I have no idea what the next four years are going to bring us, and yes, we are going to be painfully far away from each other and some things are going to change, but this, us, never will. We might not be able to talk to each other every day. We might only see each other a couple times a year, but I know that no matter how far away you are, you'd be knocking on my door in a split second if you knew I needed you, and I know that you know I'd do the same for you. I can't promise things aren't going to change, because that would be a lie, but I promise no matter what happens, no matter how many miles, no matter how long the days, you will always, always be my best friend."

"But how do you know that?"

"Because I love you. You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me and I never, ever want to lose you. No, I never, ever will lose you."

Maya wiped the tears from her eyes and laid her head down on Riley's shoulder.

"If it's ok with you though, for now, I want the world to just be you and me for as long as possible."

"Yah, I'm ok with that" Maya replied, the stress washing out of her body once more "oh, and Riley?"

"Yes Peaches?"

"I love you too"

"Forever and always?"

"Forever and always. Ten miles or ten thousand miles."