Girl Meets the Mind of a Genius

Genius Meets Bay Window

Farkle (con)

"What do you mean Josh texted you?" I ask, startled.

This is uncharted territory, especially for Maya. She finally had Lucas, the point of this whole love triangle. Is Josh enough to ruin that?

Maya shrugs, "We've established that you're the smart one here, figure it out."

"What did he say?"

"He was obviously drunk, I could tell by the typos." She shifts uncomfortably, "But he said he missed me. He said he wished we talked as much as we used to."

I sigh, "And how did that affect you and Lucas?"

"It shouldn't. If I truly loved Lucas it wouldn't matter, right?" Maya exclaims, "But I can't stop thinking about that text."

This changes everything. Maybe if Riley just expressed her feelings, Maya could let go of Lucas and start pursuing Josh. Maybe it would give Maya permission to leave the triangle.

I can't tell her, though. I want to give Riley some time. She hasn't even come back from her date yet.

"So why stay with Lucas? Why not move on?" I ask.

"After all of the drama and confusion, I can't go back. If now is my time to be with Lucas, who I still have feelings for, I need to take it." She nods, like she's trying to validate herself.

"Riley is off with Charlie anyway. It's not like she benefits from all of this. If anything she'll just be hurt."

I close my eyes, trying to compute all of the information I've received. The claims Maya makes conflict with each other. If Josh's text means that much, she should be giving up on Lucas and going after what she wants, right? But then she says she still likes Lucas. Why is it all so complicated?

"Please don't tell Riley yet." Maya looks at me, "I need to and I will. Just not now."

I purse my lips, "Then why are you here?"

"I knew Riley wouldn't be. I wanted to think at the bay window," She smirks her signature Maya smirk, "but someone ruined that."

I smile, "I think you needed to get that out."

"Well now I need to get out." Maya crawls past me, out of the window, "Have fun talking to Riley."

"Thanks Maya." She leaves.

My head starts spinning with all of this new information. All of these new feelings.

Riley likes Lucas, but is stepping back for Maya.
Maya is interested in Josh and likes Lucas, but feels obligated to stay with Lucas.
Lucas just likes them both...probably the easiest conclusion to draw.

So what does it all mean?

"Farkle?" I snap out of my thoughts and look up.

"Hey Riles."

She gives me a half smile and sits next to me in the bay window.

"How'd your date go?" I ask, turning to her.

She stares straight ahead, "I don't know."

How could she not know? When doing an experiment, the hypothesis is either proven or disproven. Maybe this one requires more research.

"So what will you do next?"

Riley looks at me, "I don't know. Charlie asked me to go on another date."

"Uh...what did you say?"

"I said yes," Riley starts to choke up, "He's my boyfriend, Farkle, of course I said yes."

"Your boyfriend?" I exclaim, my eyes widening, "Wh-when did that happen?"

She shrugs, "On our date. He asked to be my boyfriend and I said yes."

"Riley why would you do that to yourself?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

I can't believe her. I know she has feelings for Lucas, she practically admitted it to me. So why would she turn to Charlie? Why deepen the lie?

"You still like Lucas. Just tell them you still like Lucas." I state.

"Farkle, Maya stepped back for me when she saw I had feelings for him. Why shouldn't I do the same? Why does it matter that I step back?"

I shake my head, "It's driving you crazy. I can't just watch you destroy yourself in a lie."

Riley's eyes are locked on mine. She's starting to cry.

"I'm a little tired." She starts shaking.

I slide over to her and put my arms around her, "You need to be honest about how you fe-"

"I'm tired, Farkle." She rests her head on my chest.

I feel a weird feeling in my chest that I can only describe as kind of warm. I want to keep Riley safe. I want to protect her. I just don't know how.

"I don't want to do this anymore."

"Don't want to do what?"

"Feel."

I sigh and stare at down at Riley's head.

If Maya told Riley about everything with Josh, Riley would realize she could stop hiding behind Charlie, right? She's only doing this for Maya. But Maya doesn't know how she feels about Lucas.

No one knows what they're doing. Including me.

"Riley?"

I can feel her breathing heavily.

"Riles?"

Her bedroom door opens and Topanga walks in.

She glances down at Riley and then back up at me, giving me a small smile and mouthing 'thank you' as she backs out and closes the door.

For a genius, I can't believe it took me that long to realize Riley is asleep.

I lean back into the bay window pillows and start thinking.

Everything started changing when feelings got involved. It used to just be me, Riley and Maya. But then Lucas came in and Smackle came in, and everything just turned on its head.
Feelings are the one thing I haven't figured out yet. They're new and they're complicated. I don't know how to prove them or categorize them, they all jumble into one big mess.

This is why my relationship with Smackle is so much easier. Like forces repel, but our experiment is to bring together like forces and see what happens. As long as nothing goes wrong, the experiment is successful, and it has been so far.

But all other relationships seem to have feelings involved. Feelings and science don't mix. Emotion has no place in science.

I think I need to reevaluate my experiment.