The four of Them

Girl meets worry

3 WEEKS LATER

Riley was happy. She was dating Lucas now, and Maya was happy, at least that's what she says, she broke up with Josh not even 2 weeks after they started dating. Ever since the ski lodge, Maya seemed more reserved, more distant, almost as if she was avoiding Riley. But that couldn't be it, could it? Maya was her best friend, she would tell her if she did something wrong.

It's been 3 weeks though, and Maya still drifted further from her, little by little. 

1 MONTH LATER

She's had enough.

It's been an entire month since the ski lodge, and now Maya rarely talks to her. She doesn't even know why.

If Maya has a problem, she should come to Riley and talk to her about it. Now Riley had to resort to her final scheme to get Maya to talk.

The bay window.

Riley was waiting patiently by the bay window, waiting for her blonde friend to enter the way she usually does. What was she even going to say? Peaches why have you been avoiding me? Maya, why aren't you talking to me? 

She didn't have much time to plan ahead when Maya came through the bay window. Riley turned to look at her; she looked tired, burnt out, and overall like shit. The two of them stared at each other for a while, neither of them breaking eye contact or wanting to stare any longer. After a minute of aggravating silence, Maya opened her mouth to speak, but words came out only a second later.

"Why do you want to talk to me?" She asked, rather bitterly. Riley blinked in surprise, shock, and hurt. The way Maya spoke felt like she got shot in the heart; Riley thought they could talk about whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, but the hostility in Maya's voice made her doubt that. She stayed silent for a solid minute, the clock ticking in her room the only sound to break the silence between them. Finally, Maya sighed and turned around toward the open window.

"Don't call me over if you have noth-" She started but Riley didn't let her finish.

"What did I do?" She blurted out, and Maya stopped in her tracks. She was already halfway out the window, she could easily walk out without answering, but instead, she stayed, unmoving and stiff.

"What did I do to you?" Riley repeated after a long moment of silence from Maya. "Please, Maya, tell me, you're my best friend, you can talk to me." Maya breathed out slowly and shuddered subconsciously. 

"And that's why I can't tell you..." Riley heard her mutter before she went out the balcony window. She refrained from asking what Maya meant and instantly followed her to the best of her ability.

Maya was descending the fire escape as fast as she could, but when she heard Riley call out her name, she faltered, and that was enough for Riley to catch up to her and grab hold of her shoulder. 

"Maya...please, talk to me" She practically begged, her voice quivering in fear of losing her best friend over something she didn't even know was going on. "Is...is this about Josh?" She asked tentatively.

Maya scoffed and shook her head in disbelief. A second later she turned around to face her friend.

"Riley, Josh was a fantasy, and you don't date fantasies, I dated him, I saw parts I didn't like, and my fantasy was broken, just li-" Maya started, but stopped herself. She pursed her lips and turned around again "I shouldn't have come here, this was a mistake," she muttered and started walking down the fire escape again.

"Maya, just talk to me!" When Riley saw Maya was still walking away, she raked her brain for ideas to stop her. "Ring power!" She yelled out at the top of her lungs, startling some pedestrians below, but she didn't care; she needed to fix whatever her best friend was going through. Maya stopped in her tracks and lifted her finger with their friendship ring on it as if on instinct. Riley heard her curse before she put her finger down and turned around.

"Ring power" Maya repeated, barely a whisper. That was their way of convincing the other to do something they didn't want to. Maya sighed and shook her head in annoyance, then looked up at Riley.

"Riley, I don't want to talk," She said plainly. Riley knew she was lying, she might say that, but her eyes told a different story. They were missing their usual mischievous tint and now looked like swirling hurricanes begging to burst out. Riley took a step forward and Maya took a shaky breath but didn't make any moves to get away.

"Maya, if you didn't want to talk, why'd you come over?" Riley watched as Maya's eyes widened, but still, she said nothing. "Maya, you think you don't want to talk but I know that deep down, you really want to," Riley said calmly. 

"N-No. I just came 'cause I thought you needed advice with Huckleberry" Maya stammered, shifting her weight from one foot to another. Riley smiled warmly and stepped forward.

"Peaches, you can tell me what's going on" She tried reassuring Maya. 

Maya shook her head weakly, and Riley took another step toward her; the closer Riley got, the weaker and paler Maya seemed to be. Riley wrapped her arms around Maya once she was within reach and pulled her in for a hug. Maya melted into the hug and hugged Riley back. 

The pair of them stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity. Time stopped around them, and while they hugged, they were the only two people that existed in the world. The cars passing by under them sounded like they were blocks away, the conversations between pedestrians were whispers, barely audible, but still there. Maya was another thing Riley needed to fix, she needed to make Maya happy, and to make her happy, she needed to know what was going on.

"Maya, are you ready to tell me now?" Riley asked as she pulled away from the hug. Maya shook her head again and looked up at Riley.

"If I tell you...it'll ruin everything, I can't do that to you Riles," Maya said shakily, but clearly believing what she said.

"Peaches, our friendship is stronger than what you're hiding me from." Riley tried reassuring Maya again. Maya just shook her head again and smiled weakly.

"W-When I'm ready, I'll tell you but now...I just can't, I'm sorry" Maya looked down and Riley nodded.

"When you're ready" She echoed. Riley couldn't wait until she was ready, the sooner she found out, the sooner she can fix it; she just had to be careful around Maya in the meantime. Maya's eyes lit up upon hearing that and she smiled.

"Thanks, Riley," She said, wiping away a tear that was threatening to come down. 

"What are friends for?" Riley responded, smiling back. Maya chuckled and looked into the distance.

"Well, I'd better get going, it's getting late, bye Riley!" Maya started going down the fire escape again, waving at Riley. Riley waved back, smiling to herself; she was gonna fix whatever was going on with Maya, and she was going to do it soon, she just needed help from a certain genius.