Chapter Twenty: Girl Meets Master Plan
Riley and I were in her room and she was putting the finishing touches on the box that held Maya's 14th birthday present. Riley and I sat down at the window and Riley held out the gift. Maya crawled in through the window and took the box away from Riley. "Happy 14th Maya." Riley and I said. Maya opened the box and pulled out another box. She opened that box and pulled out another box.
"How's fourteen? Tell me what it's like to be fourteen, but don't leave anything out." Riley said to Maya. "So far it's a lot of work." Maya told her. She took the lid of the box she was holding and pulled out once again another box. "Because you know I'll be there soon, and I want to know what I have to look forward to." Riley explained. "Well if you're like me, you can look forward to your mother forgetting your birthday." Maya told her.
"Oh no she did not." Riley and I said. We tried to go out the window, but Maya stopped us. "Where you goin', honey and sweetie?" Maya asked us. "Must talk to your mom." We replied. "Must not get involved." Maya told us before making us sit back down. "Why do you tell us these things if you don't expect us to fix them?" Riley asked. "When you're fourteen, you'll understand." Maya replied. "I'm fourteen and I still don't understand." I told her.
"How could your mother forget your birthday, Maya?" Riley questioned. "I've stopped trying to figure it out. She was already gone when I woke up this morning. She probably just took an early shift at the diner." Maya answered. "Rather than be there for your birthday?" I asked. "Uh-uh." Riley and I said. We tried to get out of the window, but Maya stopped us again.
"Riles, Care, friendship ring." Maya said. "Yeah." Riley and I said. "Three of them." Maya said. "Yeah." Riley and I said. "In case I lose one." Maya said. Riley and I stopped trying to get out of the window and turned to look at Maya. "No." We told her. "Well, anybody else would have just got me one." Maya said. "No." Riley and I repeated.
"Oh, I get it." Maya said. "Yeah." Riley and I said. "One for one hand and two for the other hand." Maya told us. "No." Riley and I said. Maya put one of the rings on her hand. "I'll never take this off until I die." Maya told us. "You'll probably die before me since you're older." Riley told Maya. "That means I'm going to die before both of you." I pointed out.
"Should I tell the people not to take it off your dead corpse body?" Riley asked. "Yeah, would you do that for me?" Maya asked. "And, Maya, the other rings…." Riley and I trailed off holding one hand out each. "…are for you." Maya finished as she put the two rings on our hands. "Yeah. Oh, no. If you're not there and Caroline's not there, who's going to tell the people not to take it off my dead corpse body?" Riley asked.
"Happy birthday Maya." Riley and I said to Maya as we pulled her into a hug. "Thanks for not forgetting." Maya thanked us. "Oh, yeah, that reminds me." Riley and I said as we once again tried to get out of the window.
Riley, Maya, and I walked into the apartment. Riley and I walked past the couch and I swear I saw Uncle Shawn sitting there. We stopped walking and turned around to look at him. "Are you really here?" Riley and I asked. "Yep I'm here." Uncle Shawn answered as he stood up. "Uncle Shawn." Riley and I said as we hugged him. "Hey there." He said to us. He turned and looked at Maya. "Hey." "Hey." Maya replied. "Okay." Shawn and Maya hugged each other.
"It's her birthday. Squeeze her good." Riley told Shawn. "Oh, happy birthday kiddo." Shawn said to Maya. He brought her into another hug "You doing something special?" "This is it." Maya answered. The front door opened and Cory and Topanga walked in with a box. "Honey, hide the cake before Maya gets here." Topanga told him. "I know, but you know what we should do? We should bring the cake to Maya's mother just in case she forgot to get her own kid a cake." Cory told Topanga. I don't think he noticed that there were other people in the room. "Oh, you think that could actually happen?" Topanga asked.
"Honey, I grew up with Shawn Hunter. Remember his mother? She forgot where she lived. See, my biggest worry is that forgetting to give your kid a cake is the first step to forgetting where you live." Cory explained to Topanga. "Oh, that's not your biggest worry anymore." Topanga told him looking at us. "Maya's behind me isn't she? Why is everybody always behind me? Okay, Maya, I'm not going to turn around because I'm all embarrassed, but you know how much I like your mother." Cory said. "I know you do. You always defend her." Maya replied.
"Because at least she's not-." Topanga cut Cory off, "No, everything's fine! Stop talking." "Shawn's mother! What a cuckoo. "Ah, it's Tuesday! I better run away!" Cory laughed. "You have to laugh, huh, Topanga?" Cory then took notice of Topanga's face. "Nice face." "You want to turn around or you want me to turn you around?" Topanga asked. "How you doin', Shawn?" Cory asked still not turning around. "Well, it ain't Tuesday, so pretty good." Shawn answered.
Cory turned around and threw the cake in the air. "Shawny!" Cory shouted. Riley, Maya, and I moved on to the top of the couch as Cory and Shawn embraced each other then fell on to the couch. "How you doin', buddy?" Cory asked. "Just here doing a photo essay." Shawn answered. "Weekends in New York for under $100. It's impossible. Can I stay here?"
"We found him on the couch." I stated. "Can we keep him?" Riley asked. "Wait a minute. Who let you in?" Topanga asked. "I have a key." Shawn answered. "You gave him a key?" Topanga questioned Cory. "Fine, I'll give you a key." Cory told Topanga. "You love me." Topanga stated. "I do love you. You have the key to my heart." Cory told her. Cory got up and they went over to the kitchen.
"So who has the key to your heart?" Riley and I asked as we sat down next to Shawn. "Yeah, you've ever been in love or what?" Maya asked sitting down on Shawn's other side. Shawn turned and looked at Cory and Topanga. "Angela time?" He asked. "Seem unavoidable." Topanga told him. "Angela." I said. "Spill it." Riley ordered. "Yeah, was she all tortured poet-wanderer-female-you type?" Maya asked.
"You guys want to know how they fell in love?" Cory asked. "He went through her purse." Topanga told us. "What?" Riley asked. "I can explain that." Shawn said. "Girls, trust us, it was very romantic in high school." Topanga said. "So basically he fell in love with a concept?" I questioned. "It was doomed from the start." Maya started. "Never let me do that." Riley told Maya. "Me either." I added.
"I would kill it immediately. That's what best friends are supposed to do." Maya told us. "Ring power!" She shouted pointing the finger that had her ring on it. "Ring power!" Riley shouted doing the same as Maya. "Ring power!" I shouted doing the same. "Thunder!" Maya shouted. "Lightning!" Riley shouted. "Rain!" I shouted. Shawn pushed our hands down.
"So where's Angela now?" I asked. "I don't know. I tried to make it work." Shawn told us. "But you couldn't commit?" Maya guessed. "No. You know, people have it all wrong about me. I was all in. She's the one who left. I got left." Shawn explained. "Yeah, I... I get a lot of that too. Who's on your list?" Maya asked. "Mother, father, girlfriend." Shawn listed off. "Wow. What is it with us?" Maya asked. Shawn laughed, "What is it with us?" Riley and I exchanged a look with each other.
Riley and I stood up quickly. "Window, window right now!" Riley exclaimed. Maya got up. "Not you." I told her. "But it's my birthday." Maya said. "Yeah, I know." Riley and I said. "You." Riley said pointing at Topanga. "Really?" she asked. "And you!" I said pointing at Cory. "Oh, boy!" Cory exclaimed. Cory and Topanga followed us to Riley's room.
"Okay, we have heard all of the stories." I started. "But tell me the truth, mom." Riley continued. "When you guys were our age, was dad really that good at schemes?" We asked. "Schemes?" Topanga questioned. "You know, rackets, scams." Riley started. "Pulling stuff on people, changing their lives." I finished. "Cory Matthews was the best there ever was." Topanga told us.
"Why?" Riley and I questioned. "Well, because when he believes in something, his will is stronger than anybody's." Topanga explained. "I'm retired." Cory stated. "But what if we believe in something?" Riley asked. "Your move." Topanga told Cory looking at him. "Riley and Caroline, you want to pull me back into the game, this has to be monumental." Cory stood up. "A scheme of schemes. Schemetata de Schemetata." Cory told us.
"What's that mean?" I asked Topanga. "He's making it up." She answered. "A scheme that makes the angels sing. Otherwise I'm out forever, you hear me? You got one minute Caroline and Riley." Cory told us as he sat down next to us. "Wow me." "We want Shawn to be Maya's dad." Riley and I told them. "Wow." Cory said.
"Riley and Caroline, you can't just want Shawn to be Maya's father. Your dad can't possibly make that happen." Topanga told us before turning to Cory. "Can you?" "Tough one. It's the stuff legends are made up of. But if we can pull it off, it would make the angels sing." Cory told us. "We want to do this with you, dad." I told him. "Teach us. We want to do it for Maya." Riley added.
"Riley and Caroline, I don't want you to get your hopes up. But if there is anyone in the world who has a chance of pulling this off, it's him." Topanga told us. "Well, the best master plan involves how well we know our two subjects." Cory explained. "We got rings." Riley and I said showing them our friendship rings. "So do we." Cory replied. Topanga held her hand up showing her wedding ring. "Shawn gave me mine when I was 25 years old. Your mother wouldn't let me wear it. Okay, so the next step in our plan is we need a cutting-edge tech guy."
"Ladies." Farkle greeted. "Farkle." We replied turning to look at him. "Want to see my new computer watch? Sure, it looks like an old calculator watch, but I updated the hard drive and added an interesting new feature." Farkle told us before he pressed a button. "Riley is within five feet of you." Riley's voice said. He pressed the button again. "Caroline is within five feet of you." My voice said.
"Hey, that's my voice." Riley and I said. "Yeah, I've been recording it for year. But don't worry, I would never take advantage of it." Farkle told us. "I love you Farkle." Riley and my voices said in unison. "Well I guess we found our tech guy." Cory stated. "So the teams complete." Riley and I stated. "Not quite yet, Riley and Caroline. See, the best master plan usually involves a distraction. And usually it comes in the form of a pretty face." Cory told us.
"Oh, you guys." Topanga said. "Hi everybody." Lucas greeted from the window beside Topanga. Topanga grabbed Lucas' chin and looked at him. "Yeah, okay." Topanga said. "That's how you think of me?" Lucas asked. "A lot of the time, yeah." I told him. "Okay." Lucas said. We continued to discuss the plan.
Riley, Farkle, Lucas, Cory, Topanga, and I walked back into the living room. "Where have you been? It's my birthday. And when did you guys show up? You've all been in there talking for the past hour?" Maya questioned us. "Actually, we said what we needed to say in 10 minutes." I told her. "Looks like you two have been talking for the past hour, though." Riley added.
"Yeah, well, you wouldn't let us in your room, so it's like you trapped us out here." Maya retorted. "Uh-huh." Riley and I said. "So of course we've been talking for the past hour." Maya told us. "Actually, according to my watch, it's only been-." Farkle pressed a button on his watch. "Maya is within five feet of you." Maya's voice said. "What the-." Maya said. Maya started to walk closer to Farkle.
"Danger, danger." Maya's voice said. Maya took Farkle's watch off, throws it to the ground, and then stomps on it. Farkle pulled out a watch that looked exactly like the one Maya destroyed. "I love you, Farkle." Maya's voice said. "Yeah, okay." Farkle said moving away. "Riley, Caroline, I thought we were doing something for my birthday." Maya said. "Yeah, we're pretty sure something's going to happen." I told her sharing a look with Riley.
"You three." Maya pointed at us. "Us?" Riley, Lucas, Farkle, and I questioned. "Window now." She ordered. We all walked towards Riley's room.
"You want to see a rope trick?" Lucas asked holding up the rope in his hands. Riley, Maya, Farkle, and I were seated at the window. "Maya, it's important that you know what we're about to do it for your own good." I told Maya. "Maya, it's important that you know that what we're about to do is for your own good." My voice said from Farkle's watch. "Farkle." Maya said. "I'm the wonk." Farkle stated.
"Okay, I get it. Now what is so important?" Maya asked. "You want to see a rope trick?" Lucas asked while swinging the rope. "Will you stop distracting me with that? It's not like I actually believed you're a real cowboy." Maya told Lucas. "Yeah, 'cause if I was. Then I could do this." Lucas replied. He threw the rope at Maya and tied her up.
"Why did you tie me up?" Maya asked. "Oh, Shawn's going to meet your mother." Riley told Maya while looking at her nails. Maya growled at me and Riley. "Why would you want him to meet my mother? My mother drives men away. This will end up just like my father, Riley and Caroline! Shawn will run for the hills!" Maya shouted. "Run for the hills? Who says run for the hills?" I asked. Maya growled at us again. "Run for the hills!" Riley shouted as we ran out of her room through her door.
So Riley, Cory, and I were at Nighthawk Diner waiting for Shawn. What's the point of a scheme if you're not there to see it happen? We had menus in front of our faces so Katie and Shawn couldn't see us. I heard the door open and saw Shawn walk in. "Here we go." I whispered to Cory and Riley.
"Katy?" Shawn guessed. "That's what it says right here." Katy told him. "Yeah?" "Hi." Shawn said. "Hi. What'll it be?" she asked. Cory, Riley, and I peeked over the top of the menus we were holding. "Oh, me? I'll have some birthday cake." Shawn told Katy as he sat down.
"What?" Katy questioned. "What kind of mom are you, Katy?" Shawn asked. "What? Hey, unless your business with me us tuna melt, meatloaf, or pie, you can walk your nosy little butt right out of here." Riley, Cory, and I looked at each other before moving our menus up so our faces were behind the menu. "Who are you, buddy?" Katy asked. "My name's Shawn Hunter." Shawn answered. "Whoa." Katy said. "What do you mean, whoa?" Shawn asked. "You're the guy Maya doesn't stop talking about, the Matthews' friend. You guys all went on a family weekend together. She had a really good time and I appreciate it. Thank you very much." Katy thanked him. "You're welcome." Shawn replied.
"And if you ever question my motherhood again, I will smash a plate over your head." Katy told him. "You know what, lady? You already don't like me, so I'm just going to keep talking, okay? Today is Maya's birthday. What are you doing here since first thing this morning?" Shawn asked. "You're right. I don't like you at all." Katy told him.
"Show's over." Riley said. "That went well." I stated. "Let's move." Cory said. We put the menus up to our faces and made our way out the door.
Riley and I walked into Riley's room to find it a mess. "Whoa." Riley and I said. We walked over and sat down at the window. "Maya, we tried. It didn't work." Riley said. "Riley, Caroline, I told you, some things can't be fixed. She does this. She makes men leave. Shawn's probably in Mexico by now. Why did you do this?" Maya angrily asked us. "You're angry with us." I stated. "I am." She agreed.
Riley and I looked at each other, a smile found its way on to Riley's face. "How about now?" Riley asked. "Right now I'm kind of, like, furious." Maya answered. "Should we untie you then?" I asked. "I wouldn't." Maya answered. Riley and I reached over an untied her. She stood up and got out of the rope before she sat back down.
"If you want to give us back the friendship ring, we'll understand." Riley told Maya. "I am never giving this friendship ring back as long as I live." Maya told us in a really mean voice. "Wow, you said kind of nice thing in a really mean voice." I stated. "Caroline. People only get upset with each other when what they're talking about is important to them." Maya explained.
Riley and I shared a look. "Huh. Then maybe there's still hope." We said. "Thank you for untying me." Maya thanked us. "Are you still mad at us?" Riley asked. "I'll think about it. Yes!" Maya shouted as she pulled me and Riley down on Riley's bed. "So do you want to sleep over?" Riley asked.
"We just wanted to give you a birthday you'd never forget, Maya." Topanga explained to Maya. "I appreciate it, I do. Some things are just impossible." Maya said. "I used to no believe that." Cory said. "I still don't." Riley and I said. The front door opened, Shawn and Katy walked in. "Happy birthday. Everything you think is wrong." Shawn told Maya. "I asked you not to tell her. Why would you do this?" Katy asked.
"'Cause she deserves to love the parent who stayed." Shawn answered. "What?" Maya asked. "You mother had nothing to do with your father leaving, Maya. All right? All this time she's just been protecting him for you." Shawn told Maya. "Mom? You got left?" Maya asked. "I'm sorry." Katy apologized. "She's one of us." Shawn told Maya. "Come here." Shawn said to Katy.
Katy walked over to Maya and Maya gave her a hug. "I couldn't afford to get you what you wanted without working a couple extra shifts, but I got it, honey. Shawn helped me." Katy told Maya. "A locket?" Maya asked. "Yeah." Katy answered it. "Where is it?" Maya asked. "In my purse." Katy answered. "I'll get it." Shawn said. "You can't go through my purse." Katy told Shawn. "Let him." Maya, Riley, and I all said. Shawn reached into the purse and pulled out a beautiful locket. He walked over to Katy and gave it to her. Maya stood in front of her mom as she put the locket on and Shawn grabbed his camera. Once the locket was on Maya and Katy smiled for the camera.
"You see what I did there, Cor? I got Maya and her mother together." Shawn told Cory. If he only knew. "Yeah. You did great, Shawn." Cory told him. "Well, I'd be happy to include you in my next scheme." Shawn said. "Sorry, buddy. I got me two new partners." Cory told him wrapping his arms around me and Riley. "So you're with them now, huh?" Shawn asked. "Me and them. You're on your own." Cory told him.
"Come on! What fun is pulling schemes by yourself?" Shawn asked walking over to Maya. "Oh, it's you and me now?" Maya asked. "Well, hey, I'm in the market for a new partner in crime." Shawn explained sitting next to her, wrapping and arm around her shoulder. "Yeah, all right, I'll try you out and see how you do." Maya told him.
"Cake time." Topanga announced as Katy walked over to Maya with the cake. "Happy birthday, baby girl." Katy said. Shawn got up and stood next to Katy, "Make a wish." Maya leaned forwards and blew out her candles.
Riley and I were tied up sitting at the bay window with Maya. "Wow. You're right, I can hardly move. I see why you were kind of furious with us." I said. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And I can see why you wanted to tie us up too, so we could share your experience." Riley continued. "I understand that want us to share every experience because we're friends, with friendship rings!" I added. Maya held up her hand to show her friendship ring. "Maya, could you at least say one word to us?" Riley asked. "Good night." She said softly before leaving through the window. "My nose itches." Riley stated. Maya reaches out and scratches Riley's nose. "Thank you." Riley thanked. "Happy birthday." We both said.