And Then She Stopped

chapter twenty

Lucas looped his thumbs underneath the straps of his backpack to still it from bouncing as he huffed up the steps of the school. It was their first day back from winter break and he'd forgotten to come earlier than usual to avoid the rush of people meeting with their friends before school to catch up. Because of this, Lucas had had to park a block away from the school due to lack of parking and he was less than thrilled about this. He adjusted the straps of his bag one last time before pressing through the heavy doors of the school, nearly knocking over a few girls who were standing in the way. Lucas put his hand up apologetically before continuing on through the hallways, squeezing through the narrow gaps of people until he nearly tumbled into Mr. Matthews classroom. Slightly disoriented from the chaos in the hallway, Lucas had to blink a few times to refocus his vision until his eyes settled on Maya's empty desk. He furrowed his brows together and pointed at the desk looking at Riley for an explanation, but she only shrugged.

"I haven't heard from her." She explained. Riley in no way intended to sound so casual. She was worried about Maya – but over the course of the past year Maya came and went as she pleased, always returning with some other ridiculous story to tell the school. So, after the last scare, Riley decided not to freak out as much. Maya came and Maya left, it's just what she did.

Lucas looked down at his phone and refreshed his messages as he took his seat behind the empty desk – nothing from Maya. He looked up at the unoccupied seat and felt a weight drop in his stomach. He thought of the last interaction he had with her over winter break, she was flustered and they were in the middle of the storm. Staring blankly at the desk he shoved his phone back into his front pocket, wondering if Maya ever made it home that night.

"Lucas?" Mr. Matthews repeated, reigning in Lucas' wandering mind.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat the question?" Lucas mumbled, still more focused on Maya's whereabouts than his own education.

"Would you care to present you current events assignment?" Matthews asked again, straightening up his desk. Lucas looked around, everyone was looking at him, waiting for him to stand up and talk about what's happening with the EU or the Presidential Election. Instead, however, he looked back to Mr. Matthews and stood up.

"I'm sorry, I can't." Lucas scooped his books off of his desk and rushed out to the hallway with Riley and Farkle in tow. He ignored them, leaning against a locker and pressing the cold metal into his neck to try to keep himself grounded. Finally, Riley reached forward and grabbed his face with both of her hands.

"LUCAS!" She screamed, pulling his face towards her own, "Look at me." She said more softly. His eyes frantically looked around her face until they settled on her eyes and he felt himself calm down.

"Alright, enough of that." Farkle said stepping in-between the pair, keeping Riley behind him. "We're all worried about Maya, Lucas. But she disappears, this isn't the first time and it won't be the last. We can't freak out like this every time she skips out on us."

Lucas closed his eyes and sunk down to the floor, extending his legs out in front of him, "She tried to walk home in the blizzard. What if she didn't make it back?" Riley and Farkle each sat on either side of him.

"We would've known by now Lucas, this is just Maya being Maya." Farkle patted Lucas' head in an awkward attempt to console him.

"But what if he's right?" Riley asked, now more invested in the situation, "What if Maya never made it back home? It's cold out she can't survive out on the streets at this time of the year." Farkle made a face at her and gestured towards Lucas with his head, implying that she was not helping with the situation at hand.

"Let's go to her apartment. See if she's there or ask if she was." Lucas proposed, turning his back to Farkle.

"Wait, right now?" Riley asked getting ready to stand up.

"Right now." Lucas confirmed, he grabbed hold of Riley's hands and helped her to her feet as they scurried down the hallway with Farkle chasing after them yelling at Lucas, "THAT'S MYGIRLFRIEND FRIAR."

Lucas' car engine gently hummed as they sat outside of Maya's apartment building. Riley once believed that everything looks better with a thin layer of snow. However, for some reason the snow on this building just made it look even more cold and hostile. This was not a place where happy people grew up – and Riley always knew that. But right now the reality of it all began to sink in. Farkle parked directly behind them and Riley was preparing to go in when her phone buzzed, a text from Maya. She pulled it open and showed it to Lucas and pressed it against the window for Farkle to read – who was standing outside the car with his face pressed against the glass making sure that Lucas stayed in his lane. Riley laughed to herself as she watched Farkle jump between reading the message and looking into the car, he was adorable jealous. Riley and Lucas stepped out of the car and she finally looked down at the message and read it for herself;

M: I'm okay. Go home.

"She's got to be in there then... doesn't she?" Riley was beginning to feel more optimistic. Farkle shook his head and pointed to Maya's bedroom window.

"My dad and I installed a camera on her window so I could see her people, remember? Anyone can access that stream if they really want to." Riley's heart sank, way to kill the hope Farkle. Riley brushed off her skirt and looked between Lucas and Farkle with a smile before pressing forward up the steps.

Finally the three of them were standing outside her apartment, staring at the wooden door. Lucas had his fist raised in anticipation but never pressed forward to actually knock. Lucas moved his hand forward towards the door, and then dropped it down to the knob, swinging the door open. He looked at Farkle and Riley who just looked at him shocked,

"She always leaves it open." He smirked and walked in. There was a thick mug of tequila that made all of their eyes water and Katy's hand could be seen underneath a mountain of covers, hovering above an empty bottle. They all looked confused, there were bottles scattered all over the kitchen and living room and some cigarette butts with smoke still rising from the end scattered across the floor. Lucas quickly walked over and stomped them all out. When he turned back to face his face was more concerned than angry.

"She never told me about this? This was never here when I came, did you...did you know?" Farkle and Riley exchanged glances and they both shook their heads.

"This is sick, sick and wrong." For a moment Riley thought he was going to cry, "Why wouldn't she come to any of us for help?" His voice cracked. Farkle pushed past both of them, knowing that both of them were far too close to Maya to be the strong one. They were a close knit group, but he knew that if this were about Riley, he'd hope Lucas would take point. Farke giggled Maya's door handle, locked. He went to knock on the door when Katy hastily emerged from the tower of covers screaming.

"LEAVE HER ALONE DAMNIT." She slurred, stumbling around, "GET OUT!" Lucas and Riley looked terrified s Farkle looped his arms in theirs and dragged them out of the room.

The moment they stepped into the hallway Riley burst into tears. She'd thought her and Maya had known everything about each other and yet here she was, seeing an entire side to Maya's life she was completely oblivious to. Farkle knelt down beside her and wrapped his arms around her from violently shaking as she sobbed into his shoulder. Lucas stood silently, leaning against a wall, horrified of how he never picked up on all the hidden cues that Maya's home life was far worse than she let on. She never wore short sleeves, or shorts without tights, her hair always covered the back of her neck and she never let him inside when he showed up unannounced. He had so many opportunities to put the pieces together, but he never did. The three of them stayed in the hallway, a broken bunch, the density of the situation weighing down on all of them.