Val Meets the Forgiveness Project
I don't own Girl Meets World!
Riley and Maya were still on the outs and it was all over the school. Whispers followed both girls the moment they entered and took separate paths to their lockers. Even more murmurs erupted when Val greeted Maya with a smile, nod, and pat on the shoulder.
Darby, Sarah, and Yogi knew their time had come. As the runners of the John Quincy Adams rumor mill, they went straight to the only person related to the Riley/Maya/Lucas/Val drama they knew would talk.
Isaiah "Zay" Babineaux.
Zay was enjoying a bucket of popcorn, watching the drama unfold when they cornered him.
"Sooo..." Sarah slid onto the bench next to him and swiped a handful of popcorn "Spill!"
"Hey!" Zay pouted at the loss of his snack "I'm not telling y'all anything, no, sir. I've learned my lesson."
Yogi brought out the puppy eyes "Please, Zay? We really want to know."
"Yeah, and we promise not to tell anyone. Right, guys?" Darby prodded her friends and they all nodded, hiding their crossed fingers behind their backs.
Zay hummed "All right, you've convinced me. Here's how it went down! Val and Lucas were at Topanga's and Riley pulled Lucas out of their date and tried to force him to go on a date with Maya. Annie almost killed her."
"Unsurprising." Sarah nodded.
"Then Val called Riley out, Riley tried to say it was what Maya wanted but Maya blew up and told her it wasn't what she wanted at all. She said a bunch of stuff about how she didn't recognize herself anymore, Riley always had to be on the side of Val not being happy, blah, blah, blah. I stopped listening. But Val eventually told Riley to leave and bought Maya a lemonade."
Sarah, Yogi, and Darby exchanged gleeful glances.
"Thanks, Zay!" Yogi shouted over his shoulder as they went off to spread the gossip.
"Did you hear? Riley tried to make Lucas date Maya again. Annie was really mad! But Maya actually stood up for herself against Riley."
"Huh? Never thought she'd do that."
"I know, right? Val was furious with Riley, but she didn't even have to do anything really! Maya spoke up, that's why they haven't made eye contact all morning. Apparently, Val was so proud she bought Maya lemonade."
"Aww, that was nice."
"Have you heard? Riley kidnapped Lucas in the middle of his and Val's date to try and force him to date Maya. It's a miracle Annie didn't kill her."
"God, I'd hate to be on her bad side."
"Yeah, 'cause you're not an idiot. Anyway, Maya told Riley off and brought Lucas back to Val. Then Val bought her lemonade."
"Because Val's the goddess we all aspire to be."
"Oh, my God! Did you hear what happened?"
"No? Tell me everything!"
"Riley kidnapped Lucas and tried to make him marry Maya! Annie tried to kill her! But Maya, of all people, stepped in and knocked Riley out so she and Lucas could get away! Then she brought Lucas back to Val! But Val bought her lemonade so they might be a thing now, I guess?"
"...I'm sorry? WHAT?!"
"Hey, did you hear Val dumped Lucas for Maya?"
"No!?"
"Yeah."
"Why couldn't she dump Lucas for me?"
"Oh, and Annie killed Riley."
"...I would have done the same."
Rumors were still flying, getting more ridiculous with each new teller, as the students took their seats in Mr. Matthew's history class. Riley and Maya were determinedly not looking at each other.
Cory stood up and began class "All through history, countries go to war. That's what we normally study in here. But today, we're going to talk about peace and forgiveness and how we get there."
"Good luck with that." Annie snorted.
"Every once in a while I come up with a good idea." Cory grinned.
"More like every once in a while Mom reads the room and writes his lesson plans for him." Val whispered to Lucas and Farkle.
"What could it possibly be that I haven't already thought of?" Farkle scoffed.
Cory pointed at the genius "Farkle, I forgive you."
"What did I do?" Farkle frowned.
"I forgive you too." Zay grinned.
"What did I do?!"
"You know what you do."
"I feel better now that I've forgiven you." Cory spread his arms wide "How do you feel?"
"I'm sorry for every time I've hurt you! What did I do?!" Farkle wailed.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today we're going to begin the forgiveness project. Our history isn't just about what we've done. How we grow comes from the repair of what we've done." Cory explained, pointedly ignoring the icy air between Riley and Maya "And how we forgive what was done to us."
"Hm." Riley hummed "I'm in. What do we do?"
The rest of the class rolled their eyes but didn't protest.
"Everyone take out a piece of paper." Cory instructed and began to hand out scarlet envelopes "So this isn't your laptop or your cell phone. You've got unlimited characters here. As many words as you want. The impact will last longer than six seconds. And I guarantee you, it's never going to disappear. So pick up a pen. Express feelings. This is one of the most important things you're ever going to do. You're about to forgive someone."
"What's this got to do with history, Matthews?" Maya snarked.
"It gives you a chance to change it."
"Have you been talking to Mr. Feeney again?" Annie laughed "That was way to deep for you to come up with on your own."
"Oh, just forgive someone would you!" Cory grumbled.
"Like when I forgave Auggie for biting the face off my Beary-the-Bear bear." Riley grinned.
Val had to surpress a sigh, this same argument had been going on for years.
"That wasn't forgiveness, honey." Cory's patience on the same topic had been wearing thin for ages.
"Why not?" Riley pouted, crossing her arms.
"Because you haven't gotten over it." Cory tried to explain.
Riley pulled out her mutilated teddy "This is the first thing I see every day!"
"No wonder she turned out psycho." Someone in the back row muttered.
"So, is there anyone in your life that you want to forgive?" Cory dragged the class back on topic "Change your history. Go."
Riley pulled out a pencil and started to write "'Dear Auggie the murderer...'"
"For pete's sake, he was three! Get over it." Val grumbled.
Val knew her parents were hoping this lesson would help Riley and her mend their differences, with a bonus of fixing Riley and Maya's friendship, but with how Riley was steadfastly ignoring their issues, instead focusing on something their brother had done years ago when he was three, that wasn't likely. Glancing around, Val noticed almost everyone was writing something already, she chewed thoughtfully on her nail, thinking.
Who could she forgive? Missy Bradford, who'd made her life hell for a long time? Maybe someday, but not right now, Missy was still awful and Val wasn't ready to forgive her. Her parents for failing to step in when Riley was bitter and destroyed their relationship? No, she'd long since forgiven them that, they'd done their best and, while it wasn't perfect, they'd tried.
Val glanced around again and her eyes landed on the blonde in the front row. Maya? She had proven that she wanted to be a better person, she'd stood up for herself, for Lucas, and for Val against Riley, something no one ever thought she'd do. Val wasn't too proud to admit she had been surprised and impressed by her.
Making a decision, Val put pen to paper and started to write.
"Maya," Cory's voice made her look up "No one in your life you want to forgive?"
"No." Maya was pointedly ignoring Cory's gaze.
"Maybe now would be a good time to reach out to your Dad?" Lucas suggested cautiously.
Maya shot him a look.
Riley decided to step in, pretending everything was fine "You and your Mom are in a good place. You're strong, Maya. Don't you want to forgive him one day? Why not now?"
Maya grabbed a pen and started to write angrily. Riley looked triumphant, thinking she'd succeeded, until the paper was slammed on her desk.
She opened it and read aloud "Ahem. 'Riley, butt out. I am serious. Butt your butt out.'" She turned to Maya "I forgive you."
Annie snorted.
Val, Annie, and Farkle were at their lockers after class, Farkle was complaining about the assignment and the number of letters he'd already received.
"You know, you try to do your best by people. You try to be the best friend you could be. And what do you get?" He grouched.
Lucas and Zay walked up and handed Farkle a letter each.
"Oh, this should be good." Annie leaned against her locker to watch.
"What did I do?" Farkle asked desperately.
"Read 'em." Lucas tapped his letter.
Farkle opened the note and read aloud "'Dear Farkle, I forgive you for ruining every single movie we've ever seen together.' How do I ruin every single movie?"
"Ah, read mine. Read mine." Zay chuckled.
Farkle obliged, opening the envelope "'I forgive you for figuring out the end of every movie and shouting it out before it happens.'"
"Because, see, we don't want to know." Zay explained.
"I just want to share my abilities with my friends." Farkle shrugged.
Lucas pointed at him "We don't want your abilities."
"Your abilities make us want to hurt you." Zay agreed.
"Sarah, Darby!" Farkle called to the two whispering girls as they passed "Movie with me?"
"Are you crazy?" Sarah scoffed.
Darby shook her head "Never again."
"She dies!"
"He blows up!"
"She's the killer!"
"Nobody gets out of Monkey Town!"
"Are you crazy?" Sarah repeated.
"Hurt you." Darby glared, cracking her knuckles.
"Oo-kay." Farkle sighed.
"By the way, thanks for the intel, Zay." Sarah waved as she and Darby headed to their next class.
Val arched her eyebrow "Intel?"
"Uh..."
Farkle stepped in "Well, thank you for forgiving me. Do you think we could still go to the movies if I stop telling you what happens?"
"Do you think you can?" Lucas doubted.
"Of course I can." Farkle grinned "'Oh, let's give him one more chance.' 'Hey!' Then you chase me and I scream."
"Oh, let's give him one more chance." Zay agreed.
Farkle's words caught up to the boys "Hey!" They both shouted.
"It's just too much fun! AHHH!" Farkle raced away down the hallway, Lucas and Zay hot on his heels.
"Hey, Val, is it true you dumped Lucas for Maya?"
"What?" Val choked.
"Yeah, that's what everyone's saying."
"Intel." Val growled and turned to Annie, who was hanging on her locker to stay upright she was laughing so hard "Take my bag to class for me?"
"Happily!" Annie chortled.
Val handed off her bag and took off like a shot down the hallway "ZAY!"
"EEK!"
When lunchtime rolled around, Zay was looking ruffled and thoroughly chastised while Val appeared quite pleased with herself. They took their usual seats with their lunches and started to eat, chatting leisurely. Lucas and Zay discussed basketball tryouts while Annie, Val, and Farkle debated which book they would be reading in English next and how it might factor into their lives. The lunchroom fell silent when Maya walked through the door.
Riley was already sitting at their regular table, Maya's normal seat cleared next to her. Every eye was on the blonde as she kept her head held high and walked right past the brunette and sat at an empty table on the other side of the room. Fresh whispers rose as the drama continued.
"Oh, there's no need for this." Val sighed.
She got up and walked over to Maya's lonesome table and plopped down across from her.
"Val?" Maya was confused, Val had been nice to her since the blowout with Riley, but she wasn't really expecting it to last "What are you doing?"
"Come sit with us." Val offered "There's no reason you should sit alone, you have other friends."
"I didn't think we were really friends." Maya mumbled.
Val paused "We weren't. But we got along most of the time, had our ups and downs..."
"I did trash your room." Maya reminded her, ducking her head in embarassment.
Val waved her off with a laugh "You did, but you also apologized for it and payed me back, something someone else has yet to do. And you've grown a lot since then. You're not a bad person, Maya. And even if we aren't friends now, I'm open to us becoming friends."
"Why are you so nice to me?" Maya had to ask "I've been nothing but horrible to you."
"You've been a lot of things, Maya. You are strong and opinionated and we clash sometimes, but you're also determined, smart, and loyal. Overall, you're a good person, and you deserve goodness in return." Val shrugged "You know where you've failed in the past and you want to do better. I don't know about you, but that's the kind of person I want to be friends with."
"Is everyone else gonna be okay with me sitting with you all?" Maya glanced pointedly at Annie, who, if you didn't know her, was impossible to read at the moment "It's not going to be awkward?"
"Everyone will be fine with it." Val assured her "If it's awkward, it won't be for long. Come on."
"I don't know..."
Val softened "If you don't want to, I won't make you. But it's a standing invitation, anytime you change your mind, you're welcome to join us."
She got up and started back to the table, Maya hesitated for only a second longer before she grabbed her lunch tray and followed. The two girls sat down at Val's table, ignoring the stares and whispers that surrounded them.
Riley fumed in her seat before storming over and trying to put her tray down next to Maya, only to find Annie's backpack now on the table and her legs on the chair Riley was aiming for.
"Can you move please?" Riley tried to ask politely.
"Are you going to be civil?" Annie shot back.
Val leaned over to Annie "Don't start any drama. Riley, do you need something?"
"I want to talk to Maya. MY best friend." Riley huffed.
"I don't want to talk to you." Maya replied, keeping her back to Riley.
"Why not?" Riley pouted "Peaches?"
"I'm not 'Peaches' anymore." Maya said "I don't want to talk to you right now. Leave me alone, please."
"But...Maya...?"
"You heard her." Annie shooed Riley away.
"I-!"
"Riley." Val stood up "Maya has asked for space. Please give her that."
"Translation: 'Get lost.'" Annie raised her eyebrows.
Riley spluttered before she turned on her heel and stomped back to her table.
Val turned to Annie "I know you're pissed at her, but I get the sense something else is going on too and we will be talking about it. In the meantime can we not start any more drama with her, please?I've reached my quota for the week."
Annie sighed "You know me to well, Matthews. Fine, I'll be nice."
Maya was staring at her plate in silence.
"Maya?" Lucas ventured "You okay?"
Maya shrugged "Why...Why did you stand up for me?" She took a chance and peaked at Annie "You of all people?"
"Like it or not, you and I are more similar than you might think. And you're not so bad, Hart." Annie laughed "At the very least, I dislike you a lot less than I dislike Riley."
"Have you guys thought about who you're going to forgive for history?" Farkle asked the girls, eager to get away from the delicate topic.
"I'm tossing around some ideas." Annie shrugged "I'm not sure yet."
"I'm almost done with my letter." Val nodded "What about you, Farkle?"
"I don't know. I don't really have any long lasting grudges."
"I wrote a letter to my Dad." Maya's admission silenced the table.
"Good for you." Val reached over and patted Maya's hand "Are you okay?"
"I don't know."
"It's a big step, reaching out." Annie sympathized "I think it calls for some ice cream. Topanga's tomorrow after school? On me."
The group was at the back table, snacking on Annie's promised ice cream and watching Topanga try and waitress for the first time. Riley was in the window seat, pouting.
"Really, Topanga, please don't worry about this." Katy tried to convince the lawyer not to chase their customers out.
"No, I told you I would come and help out when I can, and I can today." Topanga tied an apron around her waist.
"Yeah, no." Katy begged.
"This is gonna be so good." Annie snickered.
"I can't take my eyes off it." Maya agreed.
"You don't think I can do this, do you?" Topanga challenged.
Katy struggled for a moment "I think that you are Topanga Matthews, attorney at law, and that might perhaps color the way you deal with customers, who I don't even think will believe you are a waitress."
Topanga scoffed "I could be a fine waitress." She turned to a man sitting at a nearby table "And what will you have, sir?"
"Yeah, gimme the cheesecake." Howie, a regular guest, requested.
Topanga raised her eyebrows "You wanna try that a different way, chief?"
"No!" Howie glared.
Katy, thankfully stepped in, cheesecake in hand "Okay. Hey, Howie. Here you go. You know what comes with our biggest piece of cheesecake? Our biggest smile." She grinned brightly.
"Ha! Don't ever leave me again." Howie dug in.
"Aw, thanks, Howie." Katy blushed.
"I was talking to the cheesecake."
"Right."
The group at the back table was struggling to hid their laughter as Katy headed back to Topanga.
"Okay, one more." Topanga bargained.
"No more ever." Insisted Katy, growing exasperated.
"No. I'm gonna try that guy. Right over there." Topanga pointed as the bell over the door jingled and a scruffy blonde man made his way to a table by the window.
Katy froze "No, I got him."
"Okay. I'll learn from you." Topanga leaned back against the bar to watch.
Val noticed that Maya had gone very still, her eyes darting between her mother and the scruffy man.
"Maya?" She asked "Are you okay?"
"You're going to want to watch what happens next very carefully."
Two and two connected to make four and Val snapped her head around to stare at the man with wide eyes.
"Hello, sir. How are you today?" Katy greeted quickly.
"I'm-"
"You a little hungry, are you?" Katy railroaded on "Is that why you've come here? Are you a little hungry? Is that-"
"What do you recommend?"
"I recommend the first thing I can get my hands on." Katy darted over to Topanga, not giving him a chance to answer "Give me something."
"Okay." Topanga grabbed the cheesecake from Howie "You should have said please!" And passed it off to Katy.
"That's what I recommend!" Katy grabbed a chunk of cheesecake and chucked it at Maya's father's face.
"Is that him? He really showed up? What did you write in that letter?" Annie whispered.
"I wrote something, and I mailed it. Tell me it was a good move." Maya begged.
"It was a bad move." Farkle's eyes were wide.
"Why?"
"Your Mom is currently painting his face with cheesecake." Zay pointed out.
"I feel like I should hide my muffin." Lucas mumbled, watching as Katy grabbed more food to throw at Kermit.
"I don't understand." Topanga threw her hands in the air "Is this guy our millionth customer?"
"No!" Katy wound up with a cake pop.
"Sir, why are you okay with this?" Topanga gaped.
"I kind of expected it." Kermit deadpanned as a brownie landed in his hair.
"Katy, who is this guy?" Topanga blocked Katy's next throw and grabbed her by the shoulders.
Maya stood up and faced the man who had left her and her mother all those years ago.
There was a long silence before Kermit smiled, ignoring the icing dripping from his nose "Hi, Maya."
"Hi, Dad."
Riley seized the opportunity "Hi. I'm Riley. I've heard a lot about you."
"Hi, Riley. You a good friend of Maya's?" Kermit greeted.
"Not anymore." Maya glared.
Riley slumped and let her mother pull her away.
"What are you doing here, Kermit?" Katy asked, avoiding her ex's gaze.
"I was invited." He pulled out the red envelope from their history assignment.
"What?" Katy frowned.
"Dad 'improved' on your lesson plan, Mom." Val explained.
"He had an idea?"
"Uh-huh."
"I apologize immediately, your food is on the house." Topanga smiled awkwardly.
"That's very nice of you, because I wouldn't have been able to afford all this. May I please borrow a towel and your sink? And I'll take this to go." Kermit joked, pointing at his face still covered in cheesecake.
"Of course. Val?" Topanga urged.
"This way." Val led Kermit to the back "Go ahead and use the sink, I'll find you a couple towels."
"Thank you."
Val ducked behind the counter and snagged a couple towels to bring the now dripping Kermit, though at least you could see his face now.
"You know, you're not what I expected." Val tilted her head as she handed off the towels.
"Oh?" Kermit asked "Are you a friend of Maya's too?"
"I've known her a long time." Val nodded "But we haven't been close friends until recently. I'm Val."
"Kermit. Nice to meet you."
"Thanks." Val kept staring at him "I just have one thing to say. If you've come here to mess up Maya's life, in any way, you should think twice before you go back out there. You think Ms. Hart throwing food was bad? Maya's got a lot of friends here and we'll all go to war for her, whether she knows it or not."
"I don't want to mess up her life." Kermit placated "Not any more than I already have."
"Good." Val nodded "Don't. You can come back out when you're dry."
Val headed back out and sat down next to Maya. The blonde was clearly nervous, fiddling with her fingers and twisting a charm on her bracelet.
"Maya, what do you need from us?" Val asked.
"Want me to kick his a-"
"Annie!" Farkle hissed.
"What? I'm just saying, I'd do it." Annie shrugged.
Zay stared at her "You're unusually violent today."
"I know." Annie scowled "Give me your muffin."
Zay handed over his muffin.
"Thank you."
"No problem."
Maya took a slightly shuddering breath "I don't know what I need. I need to talk to him, I guess."
"Do you want us here for it?" Val asked "If not, we can wait outside."
"No!" Maya's answer came quickly "No. I, uh, I want you all here."
"And we'll be here for you, peaches." Riley leaned over the back of the couch, glaring at her twin "I'll be here for you."
Maya paused "All right, I don't want to fight with you right now. You can stay, but keep your mouth shut, please."
They all lapsed into silence for a moment before Kermit reappeared, rubbing his hair dry with one of the towels. Topanga subtly moved a slice of cake farther away from Katy as she approached her ex-husband.
"You said you were going out for a walk and you'd be back in an hour." Val could hear the forced brightness in Katy's tone and quickly moved to help her mother hide the food "You're nine years late."
Kermit just smiled "Thank you, Katy."
This seemed to catch the woman off guard "For what?"
"I know that in those nine years, you protected me with Maya. You never once sold me out."
"Well, a girl should think well of her father." Katy shrugged.
"Why?" Annie asked "I don't. My dad's a human dumpster."
Farkle elbowed her gently.
Kermit wisely chose to ignore Annie's commentary and instead looked to Maya "I was real happy to get your letter, Maya. And that you've got good friends here."
"These people have been more a father to me than you." Maya didn't mince her words "I wouldn't be who I am without them."
"Looks like they did a real good job."
"So...you left." Maya took the plunge "Why were mom and I not good enough?"
Katy quickly hurried forward "No, no, no. Maya, that was a long time ago. We're over it." She slapped Kermit with her dish towel "Why were we not good enough?"
Topanga reached out and pulled the towel away "Cory and his ideas." She grumbled.
"I think you know that wasn't it." Kermit tried to explain.
"Then what was it?" Maya asked "We were your family, then we weren't. By the way, how's your other family doing?"
Kermit hesitated "Everyone is fine."
"Girls, care to explain your father's idea here?" Topanga pleaded.
"The assignment was to forgive somebody." Riley explained.
"It changes our history." Val finished.
It was sometimes odd how the twins would finish each other's sentences, even when they were so out of sync. Everyone in the room was vividly reminded that, no matter how different Riley and Val were, they had grown up together and were quite similar in many ways.
"Okay, that's pretty good." Topanga had to concede "He's still in trouble though."
Val nodded "No mashed potatoes for a week."
"So, I wrote to him." Maya finally looked back at Kermit "And he showed up."
"To forgive him?" Katy asked nervously.
"That was the assignment." Maya nodded "But I haven't decided if I'm going to pass or fail yet."
Val watched the scene unfold before her carefully. Zay, Farkle, and Annie were eating popcorn as they watched the drama unfold, Lucas sat beside them, one eye on Val and the other watching Kermit, as if he half expected the man to make a run for it. Katy looked ready to crumble, she'd spent so many years taking the brunt of her daughter's anger for her father's absence, they'd improved their relationship a lot in the last year but Val could see Katy worried about Maya taking Kermit's side.
Topanga was watching like the killer shark lawyer she was. Her eyes focused on Maya, the girl she'd practically raised, and Katy, the woman who'd become a dear friend. Obviously Kermit was her opposition, the man had left without a word of goodbye. Riley hovered awkwardly behind Maya, waiting for a chance to offer her special brand of "support."
Maya sat on the couch, watching her father, waiting to hear his answer. Why was she not good enough? Why was her mother not good enough? Val could see where this was going. Maya wasn't going to forgive him, but that wasn't what she wanted and it certainly wasn't what he deserved. Maya was going to get closure.
"Maya, whatever you decide," Kermit chose his words carefully "thank you for reaching out to me."
Maya paused, the room held its breath "Do you remember the night the thunder shook the apartment? I was five and I thought-the lightning was so bright, I thought the world was on fire."
Kermit frowned, confusion lacing his features "Why bring this up?"
"I'm all under my covers crying and you come flying into the room and peek under the covers and decide to make it a game." Maya continued her story "We were in Alaska looking for gold. And you said the lightning was the Northern Lights. The Aurora Borealis. You made that entire night an adventure until the storm passed. And I woke up the next morning and it was a sunny day. Do you remember that?"
Kermit shook his head sadly "No, Maya, I don't."
"That's because it didn't happen. The storm happened, but you didn't." Maya turned to face her teary eyed mother. "It was Mom that came in. Mom made it Alaska and I wasn't scared at all."
"Hmm, I was petrified." Katy sniffed "Greatest performance of my life."
"Where were you?" Maya asked her father.
"I wasn't home."
"Yeah, because you left." Maya nodded "Little brothers bite off bear's faces, friends spoil movies, and fathers leave. Sometimes you can let it go. Sometimes you can't."
Maya stood up and left.
"Girls?" Topanga urged.
"On it." Val and Riley stood in unison and followed Maya out.
Maya was sitting on a park bench, sketching the nearby lake as the sun set when Val and Riley found her. The sisters may not have gotten along, but when someone needed help they could put their differences to the side.
"Maya," Val approached "You okay?"
"No."
"What can I do, Peaches?" Riley sat down next to her "Tell me what to do."
"Move." Maya didn't look up from her sketchbook.
"Huh?"
"You're blocking my light. Move."
Val sat on the other side and gently took Maya's hand, stopping the movement of her pencil "Maya-"
"Please, don't." Maya whispered "I don't want to talk about it. Not right now."
Riley frowned "Maya-"
"Okay." Val cut her off.
"Val, I think Maya needs-"
"Maya told us what she needs." Val shook her head before looking back at her friend "What do you want to do instead?"
Maya sighed "I...I don't know. I...I just want to...I don't know."
"That's okay." Val rubbed her shoulder "How about we just sit here for a while?"
Maya nodded and started drawing again.
Over her head Riley and Val made eye contact and began a silent conversation.
'She needs to talk about it.' Riley raised her eyebrows.
'She will.' Val nodded 'When she's ready.'
'When will that be?'
'When she's ready.'
"I can feel you two doing that." Maya huffed, cutting off the conversation "Stop."
Riley blinked "I'm just worried about you, Maya."
"I know." Maya grumbled "Stop."
The girls lapsed into silence, the only sound the scratch of Maya's pencil and the distant echos of traffic. The sun was steadily sinking lower in the sky until it just peaked over the horizon.
"It's going to be dark soon." Val broke the silence "C'mon, we should get home."
Maya put away her art and picked up her bag and let the twins lead her back to her apartment before they headed home themselves.
"Val," Riley hesitated "Can I ask you something?"
Val considered for a minute before she nodded "You can ask."
"Who are you forgiving?" Riley asked her sister as they reached their front step.
Val didn't respond, opening the door and leading the way up to their apartment.
"Val?"
"I didn't say I'd answer."
Mr. Matthews history class the next day was buzzing with tension as they trickled in. The forgiveness project was not an easy one.
Cory started the class addressing the elephant in the room "How's the forgiveness project going?"
"You killed us, Matthews." Maya shouted out.
"I gotta say, Matthews, I don't know what you were thinking." Riley grumbled.
Val huffed "You should've stuck with Mom's lesson plan."
"You think forgiveness leads to peace?" Lucas asked.
"It leads to war in a movie theatre!" Zay pulled a popcorn kernel from his hair.
"Lights go down, the movie starts," Lucas set the scene "I made Farkle sit in the other corner of the theater so he can't ruin anything."
"Seems like a good strategy." Cory nodded.
Lucas laughed "Yeah. Then a cowboy comes on the screen. Farkle yells-"
"Dead!" Farkle interjected.
"An old prospector comes on the screen." Zay grumbled.
"Alien looking for a time portal!" Farkle cheered.
"Next comes a cheerleader." Lucas shook his head.
Cory raised his hand "How is there a cheerleader in this movie?"
"No kidding!" Farkle shouted.
"Well, I'm sure some of you had a better experience." Cory looked at his students desperately.
Everyone shook their heads, some glared at their teacher.
"Forgiveness doesn't work, Dad." Riley piped up "I forgave Auggie and he didn't thank me."
"Riley, did you really forgive Auggie?"
"NO!"
"Then why would he thank you?" Val sighed.
"Maya, did you forgive your father?" Cory asked, trying to make the blonde meet his eyes.
Maya stared resolutely at her desk "No."
"And we didn't forgive Farkle." Farkle smiled cheerfully until Zay threw a balled up piece of paper at him and it clipped his head "Ow!"
"Well, it sounds to me like forgiveness is harder than it looks." Cory nodded.
Maya finally looked up to glare at him "I tried. Made it real clear. Want to hear it?"
"If you're alright with it." Shrugged Cory.
Maya pulled out her notebook and found what she'd written and began to read aloud "In school I'm learning about forgiveness. What you did makes me have a lot of angry feelings inside of me. I don't want to be angry anymore. Why did you leave? Did I do something? Make me understand what I did. Your daughter, Maya."
Tears were shining in the Hart girls blue eyes and Lucas reached forward to put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. Maya let him for a minute before she shrugged his hand away and swiped furiously at her cheeks.
"Did he help you understand what happened?" Cory asked.
"No." Maya shook her head.
"Why not?"
"I mean, I guess I never gave him the chance to explain."
Cory turned to the younger of his twins "Riley, why did Auggie bite your bear's face off?"
"I don't know." Riley realized.
"Why not?"
"I never asked him."
Cory looked at the boys "Lucas? Zay?"
Lucas looked over to the resident genius "Farkle, why do you tell us the end of movies?"
"Well, you're good at everything you do." Farkle pointed to Zay "You've got that class-clown thing going. All I've got is my mind, so I try to impress you with it any way I can. 'Oh, Farkle, you don't need to impress us. We love you just the way you are.'"
Lucas shook his head "Farkle, we are never going to the movies with you again."
"Ever." Zay agreed.
"Guess you missed that one. Huh, Farkle?" Lucas teased.
Farkle smirked "No, I didn't."
"Oh, Farkle, you don't need to impress us." Annie smiled.
"We love you just the way you are." Val agreed.
"Movie?" Farkle grinned.
"Anytime." The girls nodded.
"We gotta get better minds, man." Zay grumbled.
"Yeah, we do." Lucas pouted, making Val laugh and blow him a kiss.
"All of you do." Cory pointed at his temple "Better minds know that sometimes to really forgive someone, it helps to understand them first. It gives the other person a chance to be heard from too."
Maya threw her hands in the air "Why can't you just admit you're wrong about this?"
"Because forgiveness is one of our finest qualities as human beings, Maya. You have to understand each other before you can even begin to know what comes next." Cory pointed to the door "Go understand each other. See what happens. Your assignment hasn't even begun until you do."
Val, Annie, Maya, Lucas, Zay, and Farkle were heading to Topanga's after school when Val steeled her nerves and asked Maya if they could talk for a minute outside the cafe. Maya agreed and they lagged behind, letting their friends go in first, order, and find a table.
Maya shifted her weight nervously "What, uh, what did you want to talk about?"
"Well, not necessarily talk, per say. I wanted to give you something." Val reached into her bag and pulled out the red envelope from history class.
"Val..."
"Hang on." Val put up a hand to stop her "Just...you don't have to read it if you don't want to. But I want you to know that I forgive you."
Maya looked down at the envelope in her hands and slowly opened it to pull out the letter.
Dear Maya,
I know we've been through a lot and not much of it was good. But I think I understand at least some of why it happened and why we both acted the ways we did. I know I wasn't always the best friend to have, I know I made mistakes when I was younger that hurt you. I'm sorry for that.
I also want to say that I forgive you for the things you did that hurt me. Wow, neither of us have been great friends to the other. But I'd like a chance to change that, if you're open to it. You're a good person, Maya. You're funny and loyal and artistic and smart and you deserve friends who will appreciate you.
Even if you don't want to be friends, I want you to know that I will always root for you to be happy and successful.
Your (hopefully) friend ,
Val
Maya folded the letter gently and looked up at Val "You didn't need to apologize. We were kids."
"My actions still hurt you back then though, and I'm sorry for it." Val hesitated "I didn't write this letter because I want your forgiveness. I wrote it because I'm ready to forgive you. It's okay if you're not ready to forgive me, now or ever. But I-oof!"
Maya cut her off with a tight hug. Val hesitated for a second before she returned the gesture, letting Maya hide her tears in her shoulder.
"I forgive you." Maya whispered "I forgave you years ago. I'm sorry for everything. I was a horrible person and friend to you." She pulled back "That chance to change, can we start now?"
Val grinned "I'd love that."
Maya laughed a little "Forgiveness does make you feel better, I guess."
Val nodded as they headed into Topanga's "Did you get to see your dad again before he left?"
"He couldn't get away fast enough." Maya sighed "He's halfway home by now."
The girls joined their friends at their usual booth and accepted the milkshakes the boys had gotten for them from Ms. Hart behind the counter. Cory, Topanga, Riley, and Auggie were sitting at the bar.
The little bell over the door jingled as it swung open and they heard Kermit plead to Ms. Hart "I'm not hungry, so please don't throw anything at me."
Maya turned around "I thought you left."
Kermit nodded "I did. I did. I was in the car on the way back. And then I looked at this thing again" He pulled out and unfolded Maya's letter "And it says you don't want to be angry anymore." He looked around the little bakery "I know what you all are to Maya. Thank you. I just need to borrow her for one second, if that's okay."
Maya looked to her mother, who nodded nervously, and stood up to follow her father out. Everyone watched with bated breath through the glass door as Maya and Kermit sat down on the patio to converse.
"You know what?" Annie asked.
"Hmm?"
"He doesn't deserve the name Kermit."
"Why do you say that?" Zay questioned.
"He does not deserve the name of the muppet who snagged Miss Piggy."
Everyone broke out in giggles at that but stopped when they saw Maya stand up and, after a last long moment, come back inside, tears streaming down her face. Katy immediately went to hold her daughter and Cory and Topanga hurried to get tissues and Val came over to rub her shoulder gently.
"I'm sorry." Maya apologized as Cory handed her a box of Kleenex "I failed. I know you wanted me to forgive him, but I didn't. I couldn't do it. You were wrong about this one, Mr. Matthews."
Cory shook his head "I never expected that, Maya. That kind of forgiveness, it doesn't come so easy. But life is a long time. And I hope you get there someday. But that's never what I was looking for right now."
"What did you want from me?" Maya asked, confused.
"Maya, did you forgive yourself?"
Maya threw herself into Cory's arms and cried some more.
Val, who was doing her best to offer what comfort she could, looked out the window and could see Kermit, watching the scene with a kind of bittersweet smile. They made eye contact briefly before he turned and headed up the stairs back to his car, his new home, and his new family. Val didn't like the man one bit, but she hoped he was a better father in his new life, purely so no other little girl would have to deal with the father Maya had.
Word count: 6849 words
Sorry this took so long to get out. I know it's been like a year since I updated this story and I'm grateful to everyone for your patience.
This chapter isn't great, I know it's a little choppy and bouncing around, but I hope you like it anyway. I think I might go back and edit some old chapters but I'm not sure yet. I will at some point but I'm unsure if I should finish the whole story first or put it on pause while I edit.
I will be starting a new job in February and again I can't promise any quick updates. I have an original chapter in the works but it's nowhere near done. I can say that I'd like to write more and I'm hoping that I'll be able to when I have a more concrete schedule.
Thank you again for your patience. Please don't forget to comment, vote, and add to your reading lists!
Love,
The Author