BLIND a lucaya fan fic

all the small things

All the Small Things
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Farkle knew before anyone else.

It had been so obvious. All the little details and changes.

He knew because he was the kind of person who focused on the tiny parts that make up a whole. Riley had once said to him that it was the bigger picture that truly mattered, and in some cases that was true. But in this case, Farkle knew what he was doing.

He had discovered a breakthrough, and he wouldn't share it. Because the answer was right in front of us. The only people who discovered something like this, were the people who were ready to believe it. And to believe it, you had to look deeper.

That day ended like every day back from break ended. Exhausting and with way too much homework.

"Do they not know what it's like to be a teenager?" Maya said. "They give us all this work and expect that we don't have outside lives! We deserve a break from this, it's consuming our lives!"

"Yeah well, they lived through it too, and so did everyone before them," Riley said.

"Ladies," Farkle greeted.

"Farkle I will pay you to do my homework. Imagine it. A world where you actually get real money to do easy work," Maya said, putting her arm around his shoulder.

"If it's so easy why don't you just do it?" he replied

"I've got better ways to spend my life" she said.

As we exited the school, the air knocked the wind out of my lungs, and for the millionth time, I'd wished I was still in Texas.

"Oh my god. You know what I'll just go home with my dad in his heated car," Riley said, turning around.

"Oh no you don't!" Maya said, grabbing her arm. "You have to help me with my homework. Besides it's not that cold out."

"Easy for you to say. You're wearing a scarf," Riley pouted.

"You know they say scarfs are just hickey hiders," I said.

Maya looked back at me with wide eyes for a split second before recollecting and immediately snapping back.

"Eh you're just jealous."

I smiled and Riley blushed, looking really awkward before Maya said, "You know what, change subjects I don't want to picture that. Farkle how's that science thing going?"

"What science thing," he replied

"I don't know I just assumed you had a science thing. Um, tell us a story."

"There once was a great lad who had no girlfriend and didn't go to a fancy boarding school and didn't have popular friends but it didn't matter cause his parents were rich as fuck and after becoming the next Einstein, he took over the world and it was awesome. The end."

"Oh who's that one about?" Riley giggled.

"Donald Trump." Maya scoffed. "Except in the end it wasn't awesome at all."

"You know what Farkle? Maya's got a point. The year you turn 35 you're going to run for president and show the Americans what they really need. No joke" I said.

We split up there, Maya and Riley going one way, Farkle walking into his building, and me going down to the subway stop.

The next day wasn't as routine. Farkle looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep, which was extremely unusual, and he showed up to study hall half way through the period.

"Dude, what's up? Discover a scientific breakthrough?" I asked as he put his head in his hands.

"I wish," he replied.
That's the exact moment I knew something was wrong. Farkle would never stay up all night unless he was terribly sick, or the world was ending. And today he'd been the last person in the library, besides Maya who had been skipping study hall often since she started dating James.

Riley must have been concerned too because she asked him if he was alright, resulting in him replying: "I'M fine. I'm perfect actually, I mean my life could be a lot worse. I shouldn't be the one you guys are worried about. People have it a lot worse than us."

As I was about to ask him that the hell that ment, a teacher walked in and called Farkle, leaving me and Riley alone once again.

"Ok I'm not even joking this time, I honestly think he's on his period."

Riley was looking at the table with her eyebrows furrowed, obviously as confused as me.

"Do you think he did something? I mean he was late here and then taken out early by a teacher. I know we're not actually in class or anything but..." she trailed off, still desperately trying to decode his message.

"What could he have done? He's Farkle. He looked tired, maybe he fell asleep in class and that teacher was just going to give him detention or something for it," I suggested.

"No," Riley said. "That was a guidance councilor."

We spent the last 20 minutes of the period doing our work in silence before I went off to P.E.

I got home that evening and called Farkle. Of corse he didn't answer, but what did I expect.

"Honey is everything alright?" my mom asked.

"Yeah it's just..." I paused. "Farkle has been acting really weird since new years."

"That was only 3 days ago, Lucas." she said.

"I know, but." I sighed. "Now that I think of it, he was acting weird at the party too. Like, he left half way through, and it was at his house."

"What happened at this party?" she asked.

"Well I mean, there was a fight."

My mom tensed up. "Luke-"

"No Mom, I wasn't in the fight. It was between Farkle's cousin and Maya's boyfriend."

"And you stayed and helped Farkle?"

"No mom, I told you, I left and brought Riley home. The last thing I wanted was to be part of it."

"You left Maya at the party with her boyfriend who got in a fight."

"Mom, I offered her ride and she said she had to stay."

"You left her with her angry boyfriend to clean up a new years party with your other best friend whose house was probably trashed."

"Mom I told you already! I did what I could alright! It's not like nobody else helped clean and it's not like James is like-"

I cut myself off.

'It's not like James is like I was'

we both thought it.

'It's not like James is like Dad was'

these things didn't need to be said.

Farkle was right. There are people out there who have it worse. People like my mom, the sweetest woman in the world, but cursed with a drunk husband and a son with extreme anger issues.

There are people who can't move across the country and start a new life.

And for the millionth time, I was thankful that I'd left Texas.