viii: maya (after)

You're trying not to punch the wall. Partly because it would break your hand; partly because then you'd be giving in to your anger. If you give into your anger, the man who hit him probably is going to end up dead.

You wake up at ten pm. You're not going to school. You can't. If someone talks to you, you'll probably have them by the neck in a heartbeat. You're trying not to cry with all your energy. You open Facebook.

The first thing to appear in your newsfeed is a video by your bestfriend, titled "Farkle".

Oh, Riles…

You move your cursor over the play button and click. Riley comes into shot, red-faced and trying to force a smile. Even when she's completely crushed, she's smiling.

"Recently, my…uh…" She stumbles: she's not sure what to classify her relationship with Farkle, you know that. "Close friend passed away. And, I'm upset. I'm upset because everyone is trying to make it…seem… like they were his bestfriend, even when I have never seen them even look at Farkle, let alone have a conversation with him…" She stops, and breathes, "Farkle was literally the most loyal person in the entire world. I've known him for almost ten years, and they've been some of the most amazing years of my life. It's the closest thing to love that I've ever experienced. And I may only be fifteen years old, but I know well enough that no one is as great as Farkle. And I don't think anyone ever will be again." She nods her head a few time and tries to keep her smile intact. "My name is Riley Matthews, and Farkle J. Minkus was the best person in my life."

You click the button in the corner that leads to the video on Youtube and scroll through the comments:

HRose_.xx: "Such a shame that your friend is gone. The way you described him; he's probably with the angels now."

no1johnlockian: "My dad died a few years ago, and the same thing happened where people were acting like they were his bestfriend even though the hardly know him. Stay strong, kiddo! xx"

Tronnor Lyfe: "Sorry this happened..."

There were one-thousand-and-twenty-one views already, in the space of the two hours since it had been published. You click the message box to leave a comment:

pancakehart: "everything will be alright, pumpkin… i got you."