Happening >>Riley Matthews<<

Chapter 2

I was waiting at Maya's locker, just waiting for her to try and cheer me up. Although I know it won't work. I waited, and waited, and waited... Five minutes before the class bell rang, Farkle and Lucas showed up.

"Hey, Riley." They said in unison. They looked at each other and laughed. I found it actually quite amusing, but all I could muster was a sad, small smile. Whatever this thing was, it was keeping me from being me. I really wanted to laugh, but it refused to let me.

"Riley, what's wrong?" Lucas asked. Both of them had concerned looks on their faces.

I suddenly broke into panic mode. I needed to come with an excuse on the spot. NEVER had to do that before. I started sadly, "Maya hasn't shown up yet. She's not usually his late." I mentally crossed my fingers hoping that my act would cover up what was really bothering me.

"Wait, but doesn't Maya ride the subway with you?" Farkle asked. I really wanted to laugh at their confused faces. But whatever was happening to me forbid it.

"She texted me this morning saying that her mom was driving her to school today. I really hope they're okay." They both nodded their heads. We stood there together, talking and laughing and waiting for Maya. Well, they were talking and laughing. I was just waiting for Maya. Before we knew it, the bell rang. I ran into class with Farkle and Lucas walking in behind me.

Maya was okay, right? Nothing is going to happen to her. Oh who am I kidding? Bad stuff always happens to me. Any second, my dad is going to call me up to the front of the room...

"Riley, can you please come here?

...he's going to tell me something bad happened to Maya...

"Where's Maya?"

...and I'm going to run out of the room crying because my best friend just died...

And that's what I did. I ran right on out of there and down the hall, not knowing where I was going. I eventually ended up in the Janitors' Closet. I sat down, curled up in a ball, and cried. I felt someone staring at me. But I honestly didn't care. I mean, who wouldn't stare at a mess? I heard the door open and close. I heard Janitor Harley say faintly, "She's all yours." Great. That means the boys came to find me. Sometimes I wish I didn't have such good friends.

The door opened. I didn't look up. I continued sobbing. Not even trying to control how much I was shaking. I felt one body sit to my left and another body sit to my right and another body sit in front of me. Oh great, they brought my dad. I'm not going to hear the end of it now.

I felt a big, strong hand on my back. "Riley, what's wrong?" Lucas asked for the second time today. Why do people have to care about me? Cuz I'm sick and tired of it.

"My dad said that Maya got in a car accident." I managed to stutter out between sobs.

"Riles, I'm right here." I heard the confusion in her voice. Wait... her?

I lifted my head a little bit to see Maya. In front of me. With her hands on my feet. "Peaches?" I managed to squeak out.

"I'm right here." She patted my shoulder. I scooted closer over to her so that I could lean on her.

I don't know why I was still crying. Maybe it was because I don't know what's happening to me. Don't know what's consuming me.

"Riley, why are you still crying?" Maya pet my head and tried to shush me.

"I don't know." I choked out. I started getting out of control. I couldn't stop. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't stop. I started hyperventilating.

"Lucas, get the nurse!" Maya barked. Almost immediately I heard footsteps pounding down the hall.

"Farkle, what do you do in situations like this?" It was silent for a moment. The only sound that filled the room were my loud, obnoxious, out of control sobs and hiccups.

"Maya, find a water bottle, fill it, and bring it back as fast as you can!" Once again, I heard footsteps flying away. Away. Away from something. Away from me. She was leaving me. Why couldn't Farkle go? My best friend in the whole world just left me.

This made me want to cry more. So I did. Breathing became hard for me. Farkle scooted over and put my head in his lap. He tried soothing me, but it only made it worse. I wish I could just be left alone. No one would get to see my misery.

A few seconds later as it still got harder and harder for me to breath, Lucas came running in with the nurse with Maya by their side.

Voices became muffled as someone picked me up. I felt a slight wind blowing through my ugly hair. Which just made everything worse.

I blacked-out for a second before being rejuvenated by a large splash of water on my face. My crying became lesser but my breathing only quickened. Before I knew it, I was being laid down on something comfy. Five blurry face stood over me.

"Peaches?" I barely whispered. I felt someone take my hand and squeeze it. I squeezed back. As my vision cleared, I saw that the five faces belonged to Maya, Farkle, Lucas, the nurse, and my father.

The nurse asked everyone to leave because she wanted to speak to me privately. All of my friends left. My dad stayed. The nurse said it was fine since he was my legal guardian.

"Riley, what caused you to cry so hard?" She had pulled a notepad out of a drawer and was patiently waiting for me to answer.

"My dad told me that my best friend had died." I twiddled with my thumbs.

"Riley, that's not what I said." My dad explained very calmly. "I asked where Maya was. How did you get that she died from 'Where's Maya?'"

"I think I was just expecting bad news and I just heard my self-conscious talking instead of you." My dad slightly smiled and rubbed my arm.

"But after you found out that she wasn't dead, why were you still crying?"

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "Maybe it was because I couldn't believe that I thought my best friend was dead? I don't know. It was just like some sort of grief machine came and took over my body."

The nurse wrote something down. "Mr. Matthews, I suggest Riley be taken home for the day so she can relax a little bit." My father nodded his head.

"My wife is home today. I'll call her and see if she can come pick you up." He directed the last sentence at me and winked. "I'll have Maya grab your things."

Five minutes later, Maya, Farkle, and Lucas were all up in the nurse's office handing me my bag and coat. I smiled at all of them. But not my real smile. Because I couldn't.

"We'll stop by your house to see how you're doing later, okay?" Maya said more than asked. I nodded my head just as my mom walked through the main doors. I said goodbye to them and walked to our car with my mom.

"Let's get you home, Sweetheart."