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The Secret of Life

"Do we need anything else, Dad?" Riley asked as he looked over the grocery list.

"Can you grab some apples and meet me on line for the checkout?" He asked.

"Sure," she nodded and walked toward the produce section.

Cory took the cart to line six at the checkout counters with Auggie and patiently waited.

As they stood there, a blonde girl walked out of the store and set off the alarm. She took off running.

"Hey! Come back!" A security officer ran after her.

They watched as the girl ran through the parking lot, nearly getting hit by several cars. She kept running and tripped over a parking barrier on the ground, scraping her hands and hitting her head.

She groggily got back up and tried to get away again but was apprehended by two security guards.

"Let's see what you took," they said leading her back into the store.

She reached into her jacket and pulled out...a sandwich?

"I'm sorry, I don't have any money," she told the police.

She was begging for the cops not to call her parents, and the more Cory looked at her he realized how thin and fragile she looked.

Before he knew it, he found himself trying to convince the guards to let her go. They eventually released her under the condition that she never come back.

"Thank you for getting me out of that..."

"Cory, Cory Matthews."

"Right, thanks Mr. Matthews," she said and walked away.

"Wait," he called after her. "Where are you off to?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders.

"Why don't you come with us and you can eat a proper meal."

Normally, she would refuse such an offer. She wasn't some charity case. But when she felt her stomach rumble with extreme hunger, she caved.

Riley had returned and they checked out their items before heading for their car. The car ride home was extremely awkward.

The girl spent most of the time staring out the window.

"Where are you from?" Cory asked. "Where are your parents?"

The girl kept quiet and ignored his question.

"My name is Riley. What's yours?" She tried to ask her another question.

The only reply she got was a grumbled out "Maya."

"That's a nice name," Auggie blurted out obliviously. "My name is August, but people call me Auggie. I'm this many," he held up 6 fingers.

Maya turned to see his hands and how many fingers he was holding up. She had to admit, seeing him do that was kind of adorable.

"How many are you?" He asked innocently.

"I'm 15, but I can't show you with my hands, it's too many."

Auggie seemed satisfied with her answer and nodded his head in approval.

Even though she hadn't answered any of Cory's questions, he was relieved to know her name and age. That way he'd have more to tell about her to his wife than the story of how she was almost arrested for shoplifting.

They arrived at the Matthews' residence to homemade chicken noodle soup that Topanga had been preparing all day.

Cory asked Riley to get a bowl for Maya while he talked to Topanga in the other room.

Maya sat at their kitchen table and Riley placed the bowl of soup in front of her. Within minutes, the bowl was empty. In her malnourished state, she had completely devoured it.

"Do you want a second bowl?" Riley asked, only a few spoonfuls into her own bowl.

Maya didn't say a word, but Riley could tell by looking into her eyes that she was still very hungry.

Riley got her a second bowl which Maya was extremely grateful for. As she ate it, Cory and Topanga came back out.

"Hi, honey. I'm Topanga Matthews and I'm gonna need you to answer a few questions for me, Maya. First off, what's your last name?"

Silence.

"Ok, what are your parents' names?"

Silence.

"Where do you live?"

Silence again.

"Listen, we're only trying to help you. And if you refuse to say anything, we'll have to take you down to the police station for running away."

"Fine, my last name is Hart," she said quietly.

"And what about your parents' names?"

"My mom's name is Katy Clutterbucket, my dad's not in the picture," she mumbled.

  "Ok, what's your mom's phone number?"

"Why do you want it?"

"So we can call her so she can pick up her 15 year-old-daughter that she must be worried sick about."

"No, I won't give it to you," Maya folded her arms in front of her.

"Fine, I'll just have to do a little more work and search online."

Within a moment, Topanga had searched on her phone and got a hit.

"I found it and I'm going to call your mom."

Maya looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"No, please don't," Maya begged her.

"Why don't you want us to call her?" Cory asked.

"They treat me like crap there. Please don't make me go back," she was in tears.

Topanga looked at Cory who wore the same sympathetic and concerned expression on his face.

"Why don't you stay here tonight?" Cory offered.

"Are you sure? I don't mind sleeping in the park or something," she dried her eyes with her sleeve.

"Don't be silly, honey. We want to keep you safe."

Maya saw their faces and their genuine desire to help her and it confused her. No one in her life had shown this much concern for her, not even her own parents. 

"Why are you doing this for me? You hardly even know me."

"We're doing this because we can. And we are blessed to be able to help you," Topanga told her.

"We've been on this earth a long time, and we've learned some things. People change people, it's the secret of life."

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