Words [Riley Matthews]

27 ~ time capsule

The group sat in the Matthews' living room.

"All right, I'll go first," Cory said.

"Now, no one knows what anyone else buried, right?" Shawn said.

"Yeah, that was the deal," Topanga said.

"Don't open it," Maya said.

"Yeah, wouldn't you rather believe your lives are perfect?" Riley said.

"You make a good point, girls, you do," Cory said. "But, here's another point, have you even met me?" Cory opened the box. "There it is."

Topanga smiled. "It's the jean jacket," Topanga said, picking up the jacket. "It's the first time we said, 'I love you.' It still fits."

"Time has been good to you, Topanga," Cory said.

"Time has been good to us all," Cory said.

Cory turned to Maya and RIley.

"And that's how you do the time capsule!" Cory said. "Okay, your turn!"

"Okay, don't overreact," Topanga said.

"Why would I overreact?" Cory asked.

"Because I know you're going to misinterpret this," Topanga," handing Cory the letter.

"Let's see," Cory said. He began to read the letter. "'Dear, Cory, if you would let it happen, I think you and I could have a future.'"

"Topanga, what's wrong with this? This is great," Cory said.

"It's not from her," Shawn said.

Cory freaked out and threw the letter.

"Aah!" Cory exclaimed.

Topanga picked up the letter.

"It's from Lauren," Topanga said.

"Who's Lauren?" Riley said.

"Well, before we got married," Topanga said, "your father met a girl at a ski lodge and she really liked him."

"Matthews, you dog," Maya said.

"Is this why we never go skiing?" Riley asked.

"Why would you do this, Topanga? I... I buried a symbol of our love," Cory said.

"Cory, I was threatened by this because I was young," Topanga said. "The jean jacket was the first time we said 'I love you.' But I almost let this little piece of paper hurt us because I was young. You always knew, but I didn't understand that our love will last forever and that nothing could hurt it. I buried this because I hoped that when we opened it, I would be next to you and that I could go like this."

Topanga tore the piece of paper and toss it into the box.

"Here it goes," Maya said.

"All right, here it goes," Shawn said. He took a book out. "Shakespeare's sonnets. Vivaldi's four seasons a Van Damme movie ticket and lip gloss."

Riley took the lip gloss.

"Kiwi mango," Riley said.

"Ah, me and Angela, we were gonna be Cory and Topanga," Shawn said. "I guess there can only be one Cory and Topanga. But, still...Me and Angela. I wonder what she's up to nowadays?"

"Who's Angela?" Gabriel asked.

"She's just someone who left me, kid," Shawn said.

"Bye, Shawn," Maya said.

***

"Okay, I'll go first," Lucas opened the box.

"You putting in your sheep nickel, Billy Bob?" Maya asked.

"No, I changed my mind about that, I'm not putting a reminder of when I gave up on a dream," Lucas said.

He held up his transfer slip.

"Your transfer slip," Riley said.

"I'd much rather be reminded of when something good started," Lucas said. He put in the transfer slip into the capsule.

"Me next," Farkle said.

"You're science fair trophy?" Riley asked.

"Wasn't that important enough for this," Farkle said. He held up his orange turtleneck.

"You're favorite orange turtleneck," Riley said.

"It was the one I took off when I felt like I was nothing," Farkle said, "but you guys wouldn't let me be nothing and since it's us that's gonna be together when we open this, I can't wait to see the something that I am," he placed it in the box. "Riley, Pluto?"

"Yeah, still Pluto," Riley said. "Whenever we open this, I hope I haven't stopped believing in things," she placed Pluto in.

Farkle, Lucas and Riley looked at Maya and Gabriel.

"Okay, I'll play, but you guys have to leave," Maya said. "Your parents and Shawn didn't tell each other what they were putting in and that's the way I want to do it. I'm hoping we'll all be surprised."

"Same here," Gabriel agreed.

Farkle and Lucas left Topanga's.

"Hey, whatever it is, I hope it works out the way you both want it," Riley said.

"Me too," Maya said.

Riley left.

"Just to be clear, this stays between us," Gabriel said.

"Yeah," Maya nodded.

Maya took out the picture of her birthday and put it in the time capsule.

Gabriel took a picture of him and his mom before she passed away, before they moved to New York.

Gabriel closed the capsule.

"Hope is for suckers," Maya said.