Girl Meets the Mind of a Genius

Genius Meets Hands

Farkle (con)

I jump and put my hand on my chest in terror, "Oh my god Riley, I didn't hear you come in."

Riley smiles, definitely not feeling bad for scaring me, "I caught Maya on her way out and she left the window open for me."

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough."

She walks in my room further and looks around, "It's nice to hear you playing again, it's been a while."

"Yeah," I smile at her as she looks at my ceiling, still a planetarium, "too long."

Riley looks back down at me and frowns, "You said that the song made you sad that people lose each other. You said you never want to lose people in your life like the person in that song did."

"I did say that. And I meant it." I say softly.

"You're not losing anyone," She walks over to me, "And, if I have anything to say about it, you never will."

I smile up at her, "Thanks Riles."

"Of course, Farkle."

"Come play." I move over and pat the empty bench.

"What?"

"Come on and play a song with me."

She shakes her head, "You have got to be kidding me."

"What? No, I would never!" I nudge her with my elbow, "You used to play with me all the time."

"No, you would play and I would sit there and smile because I had no idea what to do."

I pull her arm down, "Please. It'll be fun."

"Fine," Riley sits down on the bench, "What are we playing?"

"You know what we're playing!"

Riley smiles at me before looking down at her hands to rest her finger tips on the keys.

She takes a deep breath and begins playing the melody of, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles. (song up top)

She and I used to play this all the time when we were younger. I taught it to her when we were 10. It's our song.

"Do you remember the first time we played this together?" I lean into her a bit to get her attention.

"You're going to mess me up!" Riley pushes me back, "But, yeah, of course I do. It was Christmas in fourth grade."

"We played it on Christmas Eve at the 'our parents can't get past high school' party." I smirk.

"A very mean way to name an annual tradition, but yes," Riley smiles, "After we finished, we were so proud."

"But then Maya got up and asked us why we didn't play a Christmas song."

"And I cried." She says with a laugh.

I nod, "You did, and you ran into your room crying and only wanted to talk to me."

I turn to her slightly, "Do you remember what I told you?"

"'At least I taught you a song you can play in July too.'" Riley quotes.

We stop playing and laugh at the memory. I would do anything to go back to a time where our biggest problem was not playing a Christmas song.

She lets out a sigh, "Things were so much more simple back then. We didn't look at each other like boys and girls. We were all just friends."

"But I still loved you, even though I didn't know what love meant." I can't believe I just said that.

Riley turns and looks right into my eyes. I can't read her. Usually I can.

"Do you now?"

"I don't know."

My heart starts pounding. 

I turn and face the piano and breathe, "Tha-that's a great memory Riley, thank you for bringing it up."

I brought it up. But I don't know what to say.

She swivels to face the piano, "Do you think that we'll all get together on Christmas Eve?"

I look up, "What?"

"Like when we all have families," she places her fingers on the keys, "Do you think you, me, Maya, Lucas, Smackle, Zay and maybe even Charlie will all get together for the holidays?"

I smile, "I hope so."

"Me too," her smile turns devious, "I can't imagine not meeting the children of Farkle Minkus."

I laugh, "Well if you miss them at first, you'll see them winning Nobel Peace Prizes by the time they're 10 so don't worry too much."

Riley starts playing, "Pick up the pace, Minkus, you're falling behind."

"What? That's not fair, we stopped!" I catch her at the second verse and we continue playing

Right before we get to the chorus, I start mumbling the lyrics, "You'll let me hold your hand."

Riley giggles and bumps me as I continue, "I wanna hold your hand."

"I wanna hold your hand."

I feel my chest get heavier.

My breathing gets shorter.

I take my hands off of the keys and grab the bench with my left hand. 

I need to ground myself.

"Farkle are you okay?" Riley grabs my arm and places her other hand on my cheek, turning my head towards her.

I look into her eyes and keep trying to breath deeper, "Yeah, I just forgot the rest of the song."

She shakes her head and takes her hand off of my cheek, "No you didn't."

"What?" I whisper.

"Farkle, we've played that song a million times. You're a genius. You wouldn't forget it. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I shake my head, too quickly, "I'm fine."

"Farkle." Riley grabs my shoulders so I have to face her.

It's like 7th grade, when she knew I was getting bullied.

She wouldn't back down then and definitely won't now.

"It was just a spike in anxiety," I'm not lying, "I'm fine, I promise. I just need to calm down."

"What made you anxious?"

I look at her, not saying a word. She knows what made me anxious. She did.

Riley looks between my eyes and my lips.

I want to kiss her. I can't. She and Lucas have been dating for less than a week, I can't tear them apart.

We're looking at each other with that look you share with someone right before you kiss when you aren't supposed to. That look of nerves with a hint of lust but also terror.

She starts leaning in, but I jump up and step back from the bench,

"I-I should go to bed. I need to listen to the nurse and relax,"

It's 4 in the afternoon.

"Yeah, of course." Riley stands up and shakes her head slightly.

It's like she's trying to snap herself out of it.

We both walk over to the window and I open it for her, "Bye Riley."

She starts stepping out but stops to look back at me, "Bye Farkle."

"We should play again."

"We definitely will."