the only exception, a maya hart story

t w e n t y - f o u r

 A silence passed between us as Farkle, Zay, and I exchanged nervous expressions about Lucas's strange positive attitude.

"Well.. umm.. Riley says hey," I spoke monotonously, trying to level my emotions.

"You spoke to her?" Lucas questioned slowly.

I guess he got over my decision pretty quickly.

I felt a pang of heartbrokenness as I realized he didn't care if we were together or not. Maybe I created this entire love story in my head and none of it was real. Because he sure as hell didn't seem affected by what had caused me great emotional pain only 30 minutes ago.

At least you're not with him anymore..

"Yeah, we FaceTimed her, but she had to go so.." Zay trailed off as we all awkwardly stared at Lucas.

Farkle and Zay were both pretty tall, and both stood at about 6 feet in height. But standing near Lucas, they looked scrawny and short. Lucas was about 6' 3" and to someone who stands at about 5' 4", I was completely intimidated by his overpowering size.

"Aw.. wish I got to talk to her," Lucas said slowly as a flash of sorrow passed over his eyes.

"Umm.. yeah," Farkle said in response as he slowly grabbed my hand and began to walk into the other room.

I was dragged along by the force of his pull although I tried to struggle (it was no use), and he stalked away from the kitchen with me in tow. I suddenly felt bad for Zay who was all alone with Lucas in the kitchen. Probably one of the most awkward situations he'd ever been in.

This is all my fault. It's my fault everything is all awkward. I did this.

"Maya."

Farkle's voice snapped me back into reality as I began to wonder what would've happened if I went home with Riley when she went back to New York.

"Maya!"

"Sorry," I mumbled. "Why did you drag me out here against my will?"

Farkle's left eyebrow raised as if to say "are you kidding me?" and rolled his eyes in sarcasm. Needless to say, Farkle had changed a lot since middle school.

"Maya, there are two pressing issues going on right now," Farkle began with his arms crossed. "One. You and Lucas have made this entire trip awkward. I'm tired of having to look at each other nervously in order to say a couple of words. You two need to make up, whether that means getting together or becoming friends again because it's literally tearing our group of friends apart."

I took a sharp inhale of breath as I processed Farkle's harsh yet completely accurate words.

"And the second thing?" I asked quickly.

"Two. Did you notice Riley's face when we were FaceTiming her? Did anything seem unusual to you?" Farkle asked with great concern.

"Well.. um.. yeah. Her eyes were dark as if she was struggling with something inside her that was slowly killing her. Her normal bright, smart-ass personality was completely changed and dimmed in comparison to her usual self.

"Exactly," Farkle said rubbing his eyes in worry. "Oh God, I thought it might've just been me who saw it in her. This is bad."

"Farkle, calm down," I said slightly nervously. "What do you think is going on?"

"Maya, before I tell you anything, you have to promise you won't lash out at me.." he said as he bit his lip in panic.

"I'm not promising anything, now tell me what the hell you think is going on before I have an anxiety attack from waiting!"