Meeting the world

Chapter 18

Riley's pov

~

In the end everything turned out okay, Maya was released from the hospital and her father was arrested. But her mother was no where to be found.

My parents let Maya stay with us until further notice. I felt so bad for her, and so disappointed in myself for not being able to guess that she was being hit by her father. I wish I would have been able to fix everything for her. But I couldn't. The best I could do was be there for her. And that's exactly what I was doing.

***

Weeks passed. Still no sign of Maya's mother. The cops were beginning to lose interest in the case.

Maya slept in the spare room, which was right next to my room. The wall separating us was paper thin, and sometimes I heard Maya cry at night. And it made me cry.

***

Things were pretty awkward between Lucas and I. At school we would say hi, but that was pretty much it. Maya was adapting, going back to her usual ways. But even when she would joke around, I would notice that there was something missing, a part of her that just wasn't into it.

Farkle followed Maya around like a puppy, with concern in his eyes. He was still worried about her, he hadn't gotten over the fact that she was in the hospital just last week. And maybe she hadn't either.

***

A whole month passed, and I was getting tired of Lucas and I not talking. It was time to put an end to it.

I went up to his locker.

"Listen Lucas, we need to talk." I said.

He nodded. "I know."

"Okay."

"So..."

"Yeah..."

What exactly was I supposed to say?

"Lucas, why is everything so awkward between us?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I guess it's because of the, um...the thing that I did."

He couldn't even say it.

"I don't know what I was thinking, I'm sorry. Can we still be friends?"

I smiled, relieved. Maybe things could just go back to the way they were.

"Great. We should hang out some time, with Maya and Farkle."

"I'd like that. How about we all go to the Halloween party this Friday? It's at Chuck's place."

"Cool. Sounds great." I replied, not questioning how Lucas got invited to Chuck's party.

Chuck was 2 years older than us, and he was the most popular kid in his grade. He threw the coolest parties, but I've never been to one before. My parents would never allow me to go to one.

I walked over to Maya who was getting the books she needed for the next class.

"Hey"

She turned around.

"Oh, hey." She replied.

"So Lucas invited us to Chuck's Halloween party on Friday."

She raised and eyebrow.

"And you're going?" She asked, shocked.

"Um yeah?! Of course! I'm a party animal!" I made a bunch of animal noises.

Maya made a face and laughed.

"Your parents would never let you go to Chuck's party." She said.

"Then I won't tell them."