Chapter Text
Maya and Riley are standing at Riley's locker. Riley has just finished grabbing her books from her locker when the school bell rings just as Lucas walks past them. Riley and Maya immediately exchange a look as they notice him walk past, seemingly not noticing them, or at least not stopping to talk to them.
Riley immediately gets her phone out to send him a text, simply saying "Where u going'" as he sits on a nearby bench.
Maya gives her a vaguely annoyed look as she states, "talk to him." Her tone is annoyed and dry.
"Why? We have a great text relationship." Riley insists optimistically.
"You know what's a better text relationship?" Maya asks sarcastically, smiling slightly.
"What?" Riley asks.
"Talk to him." Maya repeats emphatically, giving her a pointed look.
Riley's phone signals that she's received a text, making her give a small smile as she reads it under Maya's watchful gaze. The reply simply reads "History. I sit next to you."
Maya looks away to hide her annoyed look and the eye roll that she gives to no one in particular, as Riley grins at her, showing Maya her phone excitedly, before she texts back as Maya looks between her friend and Lucas over on the bench, who reads Riley's text with a smile.
Lucas can't help but be amused at Riley's awkwardly excited reply of "So do I!! :):)"
"He's right over there," Maya points out Lucas, who can surely hear them, but if he does, he's polite enough not to mention it or let them know.
"No!" Riley refuses emphatically. "Too complicated over there." Riley insists with a worried glance at Lucas. "Lots can go wrong over there." She practically whispers to her blonde friend with a nod towards Lucas. "The only thing that can go wrong over here is if I go over there."
Maya simply points towards Lucas, silently urging her friend to do as Maya told her. Riley reluctantly hands her books and phone over to Maya before going over to Lucas, Maya turning to watch their interaction.
Lucas is still texting but he's not texting Riley at the minute. He's alternating between a group chat with his friends from Texas and a group chat with Mason and Serena. He wears a small, amused smile as Serena complains about having to be at school so early and how she doesn't have the energy for this while Mason teases her for being grumpy and sarcastically replies to Serena's complaints. Complaints he's apparently been hearing the entire way to school on the train. Apparently Serena noticed she wasn't getting much sympathy from Mason so brought the discussion to the group chat, hoping Lucas would agree. It didn't work out like that but Lucas is secretly happy they thought to include him. He doesn't know if they're quite at friend level yet but they're the closest thing he has to friends in New York, and their banter never fails to amuse him. They somehow manage to not make him feel left out, something he deeply appreciates.
Lucas is oblivious as Riley pops up from behind the bench he's sitting on, unsure what to do or say. She pops up further with a nervous, slightly awkward grin, as she rests her chin on the back of the bench, trying to think of something to say, a way to start a conversation. "Hi" She tries to say, but it comes out even quieter than a whisper, words mouthed so silently no one could hear them. "Hi" She tries again with the same result. "Hello" She tries instead, but try as she might, the words just refuse to come out loudly enough for him to hear.
Maya grimaces and cringes slightly from where she watches them by Riley's locker. She doesn't even notice when Serena appears next to her, Mason at her side, both watching Riley's attempts to make conversation.
"That..." Serena hesitates before finishing almost diplomatically, "could use some work."
"That's... yeah" Mason agrees, cringing slightly.
"Should... we save him? Or her? Or let her try again? Walk away and pretend we didn't see?" Serena considers.
"I... the last option. Definitely. For both our and their sakes," Mason decides.
Maya tries not to look too jealous that they get to escape this awkwardness when she can't, not after she suggested it.
Serena nods and they're about to walk away and pretend they never saw it.
Riley turns her head to look at Maya, almost pleadingly as Maya mouths, "talk to him," gesturing with her free hand that isn't holding Riley's books and phone.
"Okay," Riley mouths back before reluctantly turning back to Lucas. "Hi" She mouths enthusiastically with a wave. He neither sees nor hears this as he texts his friends from Texas.
Maya furrows her eyebrows, lips pressed firmly together as she looks on, confused and maybe even a little horrified about what she was seeing.
And that's precisely when Riley stands up and leans forward, sniffing Lucas. She gives a small, satisfied smile before going in for a second, longer sniff, before turning to grin at Maya.
Maya simply smiles, accepting that Riley is just not able to speak to him normally at the moment and gestures for Riley to come back over to her.
Riley excitedly stands up and walks back over to Maya, grinning as she asks, "how'd I do?"
"You smelled him." Maya states bluntly, completely deadpan.
"Yup." Riley agreed happily, still grinning as she accepted her books back from Maya.
"You smelled him is what you did." Maya repeats, still as deadpan as before, as she rests a hand on Riley's arm.
Riley sighs happily and hugs her books and phone to her chest with a little smile. "I walk through life the way I walk through life."
"Can we please talk about this?" Maya asks, hands on her hips with a small shake of her head, blonde hair swaying with the movement.
Riley walks away as she types on her phone, sending Maya a text with her answer, as Maya watches her go before taking out her phone when she receives the text. She sighs as she reads the text aloud, "nope." She rolls her eyes as she clicks off the text.
As she clicked off the text, she saw her most recent text before that, with Serena. They'd only messaged a couple times. Just a 'hello' here and there.
Meanwhile Serena and Mason had went over to Lucas to walk with him to class.
"Hey," Serena greets.
"Hey" Lucas returns the greeting with a smile, watching as Serena swipes Mason's energy drink from his hand and chugs some before handing it back. Mason sighs and shakes his head but doesn't comment.
"How's your morning been so far?" Mason asks instead.
"Fine. Riley just sniffed me so... is that a New York thing?" Lucas asks.
"No that's a 'Riley is awkward' thing. You'll get used to each other" Serena shrugs.
"We should get to class" Mason sighs, realising the bell's about to go, as the three walk into class.
Serena offers Maya and Riley a smile as they pass to get to their seats.
Maya and Riley smile back, though Riley can't help but deflate slightly, seeing Lucas with them. She knows they're his friends and she doesn't truly have a problem with them, she just... wishes she could be closer to Lucas like they are.
- - -
In class, Mr. Matthews holds up a phone as he points at the class while lecturing them. "You guys don't connect with each other. It's like you can't exist without these. You use emoticons rather than emotions. You're an unfeeling generation of zombies."
Maya and Riley immediately lean towards each other and pretend to be zombies, eating each other.
Serena turns to Mason with a smirk. "Hey, you not having a brain finally comes in handy," she jokes.
Mason glares. "I hope they eat you first." He mutters.
Serena gasps, faking offense. "Rude."
"You deserve it" Mason shrugs.
Lucas watches Maya and Riley as he overhears Serena and Mason's conversation and can't help but wonder what is wrong with people in New York. It wasn't like this in Texas.
"Stop eating her." Mr Matthews orders his daughter and her friend.
Serena smirks, amused, before noticing Mason's warning look and rolling her eyes. "I know," she mutters.
Maya and Riley stop pretending to be zombies and sit up straight in their seats as the door opens and one of their classmates comes in late.
"You're late, Miss Myzell." Mr. Matthews points out as he turns to face her.
"My goldfish died." She replies blandly, emotionlessly.
Maya and Riley exchange an amused look, as Serena shrugs and comments sarcastically to Mason, "Well, I believe her."
Mason snorts and rolls his eyes at Serena.
"You see?" Mr. Matthews points to Myzell. "This is what I'm talking about." He states as Myzell watches him blankly. "Miss Myzell has clearly suffered a tragic loss. Yet she does not seem in touch with her actual emotions." Mr. Matthews lectures passionately as he puts his arm around Myzell's shoulders, bringing her further into the classroom, ignoring the way she rolls her eyes beside him.
"Excuse me?" Myzell cuts in, faking offense. "I am crying my eyes out. I'm going to have to leave class early." She states, pulling away from Mr Matthews to leave the classroom, as Mr. Matthews watches her leave, surprised.
"We can do that?” Serena asks.
"That's an actual option?" Mason asks simultaneously.
"Oh, she actually made it out the door this time." Mr. Matthews points out, a little amused and almost bordering on impressed as he moves to call her back.
It turns out he doesn't have to. "I actually made it out the door this time!" Myzell enthuses, coming back in with a grin, as Mr. Matthews gives her a thumbs up.
"Guess it's not an option," Serena shrugs.
"Dammit" Mason mutters under his breath.
Maya and Riley give amused grins.
"Worth a shot," Serena comments to Myzell, giving her a high five as she walks past, Myzell grinning back with a nod in response, as Mr. Matthews closes the door behind her with an amused smile.
"Dad, adjust and deal." Riley suddenly speaks up, getting them back on topic. "Cell phones have been around for, like, ever." Riley states, leaning forward in her seat as she waves her arms around, giving a slight shrug.
"It'll amaze you to know that there was a whole world before you and cell phones." Mr. Matthews points out.
"And it'll amaze you to know that I have 394 friends in here." Riley gestures to her phone as she mimics the way he said it.
"And I'm amazed that you believe that." Mr. Matthews mocks sarcastically, as Riley slowly puts her phone down. Mr Matthews begins to draw on the chalkboard behind him. "This is a timeline of all human existence." He narrates as he draws a line across the board. Starting here is everyone who ever lived, laughed, loved and understood the value of life." He lists as he points at the beginning of the line. Riley watches on silently, trying to really take in what her dad is saying. "The cell phone era, which begins right around here pretty much destroys all of that." Mr. Matthews states as he draws a second line towards the end of the first line. "Way to go, you." He congratulates his students sarcastically.
"What, as if they weren't the ones that made them and then bought them for us?" Serena murmurs sarcastically.
Mason gazes amusedly at his friend.
"Sir, if I may take a different position?" Lucas requests, putting his hand up respectfully, as Riley turns to look at him.
"Yeah, save me, Mr. Friar. Do I go too far?" Mr Matthews asks, almost sarcastically.
"Always, sir" Lucas nods.
"He's not wrong," Mason adds, making Mr. Matthews give him the same narrow eyed look he was giving Lucas.
"Shit, he heard you." Serena mutters to Mason before pausing when that same look lands on her. "And me" she sighs.
Still, Riley nods along with Lucas's statement with a smile, silently agreeing as she turns to look back at her dad, amused.
"I understand your point, but I use my phone to video chat my friends and find out what's going on in Texas." Lucas points out.
"And to group message us, cowboy. Can't forget that " Serena adds teasingly.
"Very important. Someone needs to listen to her complaints with me or I'll go insane." Mason adds in a fakely serious tone.
They don't notice the way Riley frowns slightly, jealous over the fact they can apparently text him whenever they want about whatever they want. Sure, texting is easier, but she still often spends a lot of time wondering if and what she should text. But Maya does, deciding to intervene and join in on teasing Lucas.
"Yeah. How else can he track all the hoedowns and cattle pageants?" Maya teases, clapping her hands together with a smile as she puts on a fake southern accent.
Serena snickers as Mason snorts.
"Maya!" Riley scolds, leaning towards her, though her poorly contained amusement makes it ineffective.
"It's okay, Riley." Lucas assures her before smiling at the back of Maya's head, as the blonde girl smirks at her friend. "I'm unaffected by Maya's views of country life. As my uncle Buster says, "be like an eagle and soar above the mockingbird."" Lucas recounts teasingly, making Maya's smile fade.
"You're the mockingbird." Riley teases Maya, grinning as she leans towards her.
"I know." Maya deadpans, staring into space before she turns to face Lucas for the first time all class. "It kills me that I can't get to you." She states.
"Right?" Serena agrees emphatically.
"Seriously, nothing does. We tested it. He's never gotten even a little annoyed." Mason huffs.
Lucas gives them an amused look, as if wondering why they want him annoyed but it's obvious. They clearly like annoying each other. He takes it as another sign he's their friends.
"Sorry, ma'am." Lucas teasingly tips an imaginary cowboy hat at Maya, choosing to ignore Serena and Mason's comments.
Maya turns back around to face the front. "Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo." She groans angrily.
"Farkle time, sir?" Farkle requests, putting his hand up excitedly.
Mason immediately turns to look at him, as if he'd been resisting the urge and finally had an excuse to do so. Serena rolls her eyes but can't help but smile, amused and sympathetic, at her poor best friend.
"Oh, I love Farkle time." Mr. Matthews grins before swapping places with Farkle. Mason watches Farkle with a soft look in his eyes.
"With all due respect to history, Mr. Matthews, what's important to our generation will be on this side of the timeline, when Farkle and technology rule." Farkle speaks in a mysterious tone, gesturing to the latter end of the timeline, the so called cell phone era.
Mr Matthews nods, lips pursed, as he listens. Mason grins amused and fond.
Serena nudges him discretely. Any longer and he'll start drooling.
"And I will easily be able to make another one of you" Farkle plucked a hair from Riley's head.
"Ow." Riley hissed, reaching up to touch her head.
"And another one of you" Farkle continues, taking a hair from Maya.
"Of course." Mason sighs. He really needs to do something about this crush, find some way to get over it. He knows his feelings won't be returned. And yet, here he is.
"Ow." Maya deadpans, glaring at Farkle, as he nods with a satisfied smile.
"Wait, so, now there's four of us and one of you?" Riley asks, confused, gesturing to herself and Maya then Farkle.
"That's awesome." Farkle smiles.
Maya and Riley exchange a look as Farkle turns his small smile to Maya.
"The future - you can't escape it. I am Farkle!" He declares dramatically, throwing his arms in the air as he heads back to his seat.
Mason chuckles and Farkle catches his eyes when he does. Mason immediately blushes and looks away.
Mr. Matthews returns to the front of the classroom. "The assignment - you can't escape it. I am teacher!" He declares, in a more joking tone than Farkle, grinning, only to receive smiles from his daughter and Farkle and blank looks from the rest of the class. Serena even shook her head slightly, mouthing the word, 'no.' "Okay, so here's what we're going to do, guys." Mr. Matthews moves on. "We're going to split into teams and discover whether or not new technology has made us better people. You'll do presentations on your findings. And here's a twist - no computers."
"Fuck" Serena mutters, making Mason give her an amused look.
"What?!" Farkle exclaims, shocked, leaning forwards as he slaps his hands on his desk,
"We're going old school. You're going to do your research at the New York public library." Mr. Matthews states.
"Where?!" Maya demands, turning to look at Riley, looking confused and slightly horrified. Riley gives an amused smile in response.
"And here's another twist because I trust you not at all -" Mr Matthews continued. "Give me your cell phones." He instructs.
"No!" Riley protests, leaning forward.
"Yeah." Mr Matthews counters before gesturing for them to pass their phones, ignoring their grumbling, as he said, "come on, hand them up, hand them up." They continue to grumble as they pass their phones to the front of the classroom for Mr. Matthews to collect.
Serena stares forlornly at her phone as she passes it along. Mason laughs at her expression and playfully nudges her. "Looks like it's sleepovers this week so you can annoy me whenever you want." He teases. He knows the real reason she doesn’t like this is because her phone is one of the few ways she can talk to her parents while she’s away with work, but, well, if they can’t reach her cell phone, Mason and his parents will be their next point of contact to reach her. They try to call every day to hear about their daughter’s day, and Serena’s always cherished those calls, at least since her parents started going away more with work. The company they worked for had expanded, first to different states, then Europe. They spent a lot of time representing the New York branch of the business at business meetings.
Serena immediately perks up with a grin. She knows what Mason’s doing and appreciates it. Of course, they both know she would’ve slept over anyway, but that’s beside the point. “Absolutely.” She agrees enthusiastically.
“Your parents are cool with that?” Lucas asks curiously.
“Yeah, we’ve been friends forever, she’s practically the daughter they never had” Mason shrugs. “She has her own room and everything,” he adds, as Serena nods enthusiastically.
Lucas nods to show he understands.
“Thank you, thank you” Mr. Matthews mutters as he collects the phones, taking Riley’s last. The girl frowns at her desk as she sadly hands over her phone before looking up to pay attention as Mr. Matthews continues to speak. “Okay, so our teams for this assignment -- Maya –”
Maya gives an exasperated look as Farkle quickly swoops in, sitting one her lap. “What up!” He greets with a wave as Maya gazes at him blankly, arm resting on Lucas’s desk behind her. She does not look impressed.
Serena giggles slightly at the interaction, and even Mason can’t help a small half smile, even as he feels slightly disappointed.
Maya pushes Farkle off her with an eyeroll, as Lucas raises an eyebrow. Yeah, Texas was a lot more normal than this, he thought.
“And Riley,” Mr. Matthews started, his daughter siling up at him, amused from what just happened with Farkle and Maya. “You will be with—no!” Mr. Matthews cuts himself off when he sees Lucas smile and wave at Riley. This is not happening.
Riley’s eyes light ups as she turns back to her dad, happy with this turn of events. She raises her eyebrows at her dad, as if pointing out that he did this.
“No.” Mr. Matthews repeats, but the bell rings to signal the end of class before he can finish, and his students start to grab their stuff to leave. “Why did you have to come here?” he asks Lucas, eyebrows furrowed. He didn’t like this… any of this.
“Sorry I make you uneasy, sir.” Lucas apologies, but the laughter in his voice gives him away, as he leaves the classroom, only to find Serena and Mason waiting for him so they can head to their next class together. “Hey, why didn’t Mr. Matthews assign any other pairs?”
“There was an odd number of students before you came. Usually, Farkle teams up with Riley and Maya, but he evidently chose to work with Maya this time, which left you with Riley.” Mason explains as they start to head to their next class.
Meanwhile, Riley approached her dad to try and reassure him everything would be okay, beyond happy to be working with Lucas. “Oh, dad, we don’t even have our phones. I mean, what could possibly happen?” She nods to herself as she speaks before leaving the classroom.
Mr. Matthews turns to watch her go, half concerned, half-confused. He goes to say something but is so confused by her words he can’t figure out what to say. Does she really think nothing will happen if they don’t have phones? He knows how this story goes. He lived it.
Later that day, Maya is talking to Riley when Lucas walks by with Serena and Mason. Maya notices them and turns to call out to Lucas, “hey, soaring eagle, you are walking’ with us to the library tonight?” Maya invites. Her eyes fall on Mason and Serena. “You guys too.”
“Sure, if that’s good with you guys.” Lucas accepts the invitation, then looks at Seren and Mason. “Right?”
“Sure” Serena shrugs.
“Might as well” Mason agrees.
The three of them look at Riley and Maya.
“Well, seeing as how you’re Riley’s partner on this assignment, I guess we should find out if it’s okay with her.” Maya grins as she gestures to Riley, turning to face her expectantly. She nods at Riley. “Riley?” She prompts.
Riley stares, wide-eyed and nervous, at Lucas, finding herself unable to speak.
Serena turns to hide her amused smile, not wanting Riley to think she’s making fun of her. She thinks it’s kind of cute how nervous Riley gets around Lucas. It’s just also funny to her.
“You sure this is a good idea?” Mason murmurs to Maya, remembering what happened earlier. He absent-mindedly nudges Serena, knowing his friend well enough to know she’d probably laugh at the situation if he didn’t.
Maya nods, as Lucas smiles back slightly at Riley’s nervous expression.
Maya sighs slightly. “Riley, any thoughts on this that might come out of your mouth in word form?” Maya suggests encouragingly. Riley doesn’t answer, just staring at Lucas, lips subconsciously forming a slight pout.
“No, because you don’t have your phone anymore, so what are you going to do to communicate? I wonder.” Maya continues, slightly exasperated but still encouraging.
Riley gives two thumbs up, expression still nervous as she tries to smile but can’t quite manage to.
Serena nods. “Good enough for me,” she shrugs, as Mason turns and covers the almost-laugh he lets out with a fake cough.
“Oh, look at that. Two thumbs up from Riley.” Maya murmurs, hesitantly, voice slightly breathy, almost strained. She actually can’t help but feel… sympathetic. She knows this is hard and scary for Riley, even if she finds it ridiculous how hard it is for her friend to talk to Lucas. Still, Riley is her friend, and Maya will support her in this.
“And a smiley face” Maya drawls, tone slightly leaning towards disappointed sarcasm as Riley finally manages to give as wide smile.
Lucas smiles back, he hasn’t looked away from Riley once. He’s happy to know she’s okay with it, though. It will be nice to spend more time with her, get to know her better.
“Well, it’s better than earlier at least” Mason whispers to Maya and Serena optimistically.
“It is” Serena agrees, nodding.
“I’ll take it. For now.” Maya accepts. She smiles as she watches Lucas, Serena and Mason leave, eyes following the three of them but focused on Lucas, as Riley remains frozen in her smiley thumbs up pose.
Later that night, Riley sits with her family at the dining table, eating her dinner.
“It was a good day” Auggie, her little brother announces. Corey nods, pleased to hear his son had a good day as he goes on to elaborate. “And then my friends treated me nicely. And then my teacher measured us and then I’m growing. And then Jenny Lewis loves me… I think because I’m growing.” He finishes as his family listens, nodding along and smiling, as he tells them about his day.
“It wasn’t a good day. And then my friend pulled my hair out. And then my teacher took my phone away and then my teacher was also my father.” Riley explains, using a similar tone to the one Auggie had used, smiling throughout, as she points to Corey at the end of her explanation. He furrows his eyebrows as he scratches his hand, feeling slightly offended.
“At least you’re growing.” Auggie points out optimistically, smiling brightly back at his older sister.
“Honey, please don’t come apart. Look at this as a beautiful opportunity to spend time with your family” Topanga, Riley’s mum, encourages. Riley nods and looks towards Auggie, smiling at him.
Corey also turns to Auggie, who smirks back at riley.
“Hello, Riley” Auggie greets with an amused smile. He looks like he’s planning something.
“How are you doing’?” Riley returns the greeting with a smile.
“Want to hear about my day? It was a good day.” Auggie begins, unable to pass up the opportunity to annoy his older sister.
“Mom!” Riley cuts him off by calling for their mom.
“Forgiver her, Auggie. She misses her telephone.” Topanga explains, leaning towards Auggie.
“Well, then she can have mine.” Auggie offers, holding out his toy cell phone, which Riley accepts.
Riley presses a button and the play phone beeps. “The cow goes…”
“MOO!” Auggie answers his play phone. Corey grins at his sone.
“I’m not going to make it.” Riley decides, grinning, seemingly accepting this point.
“That’s what your father thinks.” Topanga nods.
“She can’t” Corey doubts.
“Honey, please don’t make your father right. It’s no good for any of us when your father is right.” Topanga pleads, shaking her head and widening her eyes dramatically. Riley nods, as if agreeing.
“She’s right” Corey nods, gesturing to Topanga.
Topanga looks between the two of them amused.
“Why are you really doing this?” Riley asks her father, sceptical and curious as she narrows her eyes at him.
Corey and Topanga share a look. “Because I want you and your friends to become human beings.” Corey shrugs as he answers his daughter. “And I believe that by doing this, you guys can learn to become human beings.
Suddenly the buzzer for their apartment goes off. “Hey, losers, it’s Maya.” Maya announces through the intercom.
“And Serena.” Serena chimes in.
“I’m here too” Mason announcers.
Riley’s eyes widen slightly in surprise that Maya came with Serena and Mason.
“Except her.” Corey points to the intercom, referring to Maya.
“You know what? I am going to do this.” Riley decides as she gets up from the table to buzz Maya, Serena, and Mason in. “I can get through this whole thing without making a text or a call.” She declares before buzzing them in. “Come on up.” She invites through the intercom.
“Of course you can, sweetheart.” Topanga encourages as she approaches Riley. “And do you know what? You’re already a wonderful human being.” Topanga wraps and arm around Riley. “But every so often, little tests like this are going to come up.”
“Why?” Riley asks her mother.
“Because it’s your father’s job to give you little tests.” Topanga explains softly, gently grabbing her arms and looking her daughter in the eyes, making sure she understands what she’s saying. “And maybe along the way, you guys are going to learn a little bit more about yourselves.”
“Yeah, like I’ve learned that I’m actually really okay with all of this.” Maya announces as she opens the door and enters the apartment, Serena and Mason following her in and looking around.
“Nice place, Matthews” Serena murmurs, looking around the apartment.
“Thanks,” Riley smiles awkwardly. She still doesn’t know Serena or Mason that well but they seem nice enough and Lucas is friends with them so she figures she might as well get to know them, or at least try.
“You don’t miss your phone?” Topanga asks Maya, slightly surprised.
“I was the only one in class without a smart phone anyway.” Maya shrugs. “And now I kind of feel like everybody’s even.” She explains.
“Makes sense” Mason acknowledges with a nod.
Serena hums and nods.
The door buzzes.
“Farkle.” He announces through the intercom.
Mason perks up at the sound of Farkle’s voice.
“Be ready in a minute” Riley dismisses, not even bothering to use the intercom.
Mason frowns slightly.
There’s another buzz.
“And Lucas.” He states through the intercom.
“Ready now!” Riley cries excitedly, grabbing her jacket as she runs past Maya and out of the apartment, as her family watches her go. Serena, Maya, and Mason exchange amused looks as they follow her out of the apartment to meet Lucas and Farkle.
“Did you see that?” Corey asks, pointing at the door with his fork. “You know what that was?” He asks Topanga. “That was boys. Too soon for boys.” Corey points out. “Not ready for boys. I don’t want boys. We just going to accept boys?”
“It happened; she’s gone. She was nice, we had fun, but we still have him.” Topanga waves off Corey’s concerns, turning to Auggie and gently grabbing his arm. “You want to colour?” She asks Auggie.
“Colour!” Auggie cheers happily as Topanga gets up.
“Of course you do. Let’s colour for the rest of our lives.” Topanga agrees, grabbing the colouring supplies as Corey starts to clear the table so they can use it to colour.
“Will I be getting a real cell phone someday?” Auggie asks Topanga as she starts to colour.
“Someday.” Topanga nods.
“Dominic Falcone has a real cell phone.” Auggie claims with a pout.
“Would you rather have a real phone or would you rather colour with us?” Topanga asks Auggie as Corey gives him an expectant look.
“Colour with you.” Corey smiles at his parents, who smile back happily. Corey even fist pumps slightly.
“Does that get me a cell phone?” Auggie asks, smirking slightly mischievously.
Corey’s smile fades as Topanga turns to him.
“Not too much longer with this one either.” Topanga states.
“Well, you’ll always have me.” Corey offers gently.
Topanga inhales sharply, “yeah.”
Corey’s sympathetic smile drops once more as he isn’t sure whether to be offended or not as his wife turns back to Auggie to colour with him.
Farkle leads the way into the library, followed by Riley, Maya, Lucas, Mason, and Serena, as they look around the library in wonder. Most of them have never been here, and Serena and Mason haven’t been for years. The smell of old books surrounds them as they wander curiously, their footsteps echoing. During the walk there, Riley and Maya had walked in front with Farkle, Lucas walking behind them with Serena and Mason, but now silence has fallen.
“What is this place?” Riley asks.
“This is where the ancients stored all of their wisdom.” Farkle nods slightly as he answers confidently, sounding impressed and amazed.
“You know, out of all of them, I figured at least Farkle would’ve been here before.” Serena muses.
Mason agrees, “me too.”
“Look at all of those…”Maya trails off.
“Books.” Farkle finishes her sentence.
“Books.” Riley and Maya repeat, drawing the word out strangely, almost confused.
“Am I missing something? Why are they confused by books. They’ve seen books. We’ve used textbooks.” Serena hisses.
Mason shrugs back equally confused.
“I’ve never seen so many in one place before.” Maya murmurs
“Look.” Lucas grabs one of the books off the shelf. He blows the dust off it. “Tales of human interaction.” He reads the front cover as Maya, Riley and Farkle gather around to also look at the book.
“I’m really hoping that confused look is just for what that title means, and not because he, too, has never been in a library or seen a book.” Mason murmurs to Serena, who can’t help but watch the group in concern as she nods in agreement.
“We’ll take it. Thanks, quickdraw.” Maya plucks the book from Lucas’s hand. She doesn’t know what that means but it sounds like it could help with their assignment. She drops it on a nearby table. “Farkle, do whatever you do with that.” She slides the book across the table to Farkle.
“You mean read?” Farkle asks as he sits down and flips the book open. “Chapter one—”
“Oh, I’m bored out of my mind. Let’s go to a movie.” Maya suggests.
“I wish. We have to get this done.” Serena sighs, sitting at the same table with a book of her own.
“I thought you liked books?” Lucas asks curiously.
“Oh, I do. Fiction books that I’m choosing to read. Non-fiction? Or books that are assigned? Not so much” Serena explains.
“Shh!”
“Ah!” They all turn to look at where the shushing came from and see the librarian.
Mason blinks in surprise. Okay, he was sure she wasn’t there before.
“There’s one of those ancients now.” Farkle whispers to the group, pointing at the librarian.
“Dude!” Serena hisses, offering the librarian an apologetic look in case she heard, since Farkle’s whisper wasn’t exactly the quietest. Meanwhile Mason accidentally lets out a laugh, which he quickly covers with his hand and tries to disguise as a cough unsuccessfully.
They all get up and head over to the librarian’s desk.
“Oh, wondrous gatekeeper of the knowledge, we are travellers from another time and place.” Farkle speaks in a mysterious voice. Riley grins, seeing nothing wrong with this approach. Lucas looks at the librarian as if apologising for Farkle and Maya closes her eyes, silently wishing she were anywhere else.
“This is the one you want?” Serena mutters to Mason, only to roll her eyes when she sees the soft smile and adoring look he’s giving Farkle. He couldn’t be more obvious bout his crush. Serena nudges and he settles his expression into a slightly less adoring look.
“Seventh grade middle school.” Riley adds, in the same mysterious voice, gesturing with her hands.
Serena face palms silently to herself.
“We wish to partake of this information from your great wall of wisdom.” Farkle continues.
“Do you rent phones?” Riley asks.
“Shh!” The librarian shushes them again.
“Well, someone had to do it,” Serena shrugs.
“There’s no one here but us.” Lucas points out.
“Why do we have to shush?” Maya asks, looking slightly annoyed.
“It’s a library. It’s supposed to be quiet.” Serena points out. She’s really starting to worry about this group. You don’t even have to go to libraries to know this stuff.
Mason can’t help but grin at Serena’s slightly exasperated tone. “Okay, come on, I’m sure the nice lady can deal with them. Let’s go work on our assignment.” Mason leads Serena as she hisses about ‘have they even watched TV before?’ and ‘how can they not know how libraries work?’ Mason laughs at her.
“I know, I know. Let’s go. A break from… whatever that is.” Mason assures.
“Let me handle this, Maya.” Farkle requests, catching Mason’s attention, who pauses in pulling Serena away to listen. “She obviously likes it quiet.”
“Yes, that’s why she told you to shush. Twice.” Serena mutters sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
She’s ignored as Farkle turns to the librarian. “Hello, book lady.” He greets flirtatiously.
“Okay, no,” Serena moves to pull Farkle away because there’s no way that ends well, but Mason’s subconscious grip on her arm stops her.
“Well, hello.” The librarian greets back. “And who might you be?” She asks politely.
“I might be Farkle.” He introduces.
“Would you do me a favour, Farkle?” The librarian asks.
“Oh, you know I will.” Farkle flirts.
“You going to let me go?” Serena asks Mason who, still distracted by Farkle, is still holding onto her.
“Oh right, yeah.” Mason lets go of Serena, who rolls her eyes playfully at him.
“Why don’t you go over there and… shh!” The librarian points as she speaks to Farkle.
“Well, that’s disappointing.” Farkle frowns as Maya pulls him away from the librarian’s desk and over to the table Serena and Mason have sat at, the one where they left the book. Mason positively lights up as they sit down, making Serena sigh slightly. This is going to be a long night.
“So, assignment.” Serena speaks up, drawing their attention. “Let’s get this over with.
“So…” Riley trails off as she stands nervously next to Lucas near the librarian’s desk.
“Yeah.” Lucas returns awkwardly.
“Uh-huh.” Riley nods, looking down, not sure what to say.
As they stand there awkwardly, riley twiddling her thumbs and wringing her hands together, Serena sighs. “They really need some help.”
“So go help them” Mason teases, nudging her.
“Yeah, right. Like I’m much better.” Serena scoffs, her eyes landing on Maya as she says it before quickly looking away.
Mason sighs softly. “Yeah.” He murmurs, looking over at Farkle and Maya, working on the project together.
“This chapter is called “Disconnect to connect.”” Farkle reads from the book as he sits with Maya.
“Not until we put down our phones, switch off our computers and look in our eyes will we be able to touch each other’s hearts.” Maya reads, voice sceptical. “Yeah, like that’s going to work on anybody.” Maya scoffs, rolling her eyes as Farkle glances at her, silently agreeing. As Maya goes to return to the book, she hears a laugh and looks up, seeing Mason and Serena sat together, Serena laughing at something Mason said before they start talking about their conversation. Maya can’t help but think they didn’t need this assignment. They don’t have trouble connecting at all.
Meanwhile, Riley and Lucas slowly turn to look at each other, their eyes meeting.
Later, Farkle and Maya had moved over to the bay window. Maya was drawing in her notepad while Farkle looked around as he held the book. “People used to need places like this. Now we can hold everything that’s here in a little device we can put in our pockets.” Farkle nods as he speaks to Maya, as she gazes up at the moon occasionally as she keeps drawing. “I don’t even need to look out this window to know what phase the moon is in or where the stars are.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t have a phone like that.” Maya comments, raising her eyebrows as he draws the moon. “I just have the actual sky.” She gestures out the window and returns to her drawing.
“Oh, I’m so sorry for you.” Farkle tries to sympathise. “You’re at a real disadvantage.” He nods as he speaks. “That can be the basis of our presentation, okay? Want to read back the notes?” he suggests, turning more towards her.
“What notes?” Maya asks, confused.
“You weren’t taking notes?” Farkle asks.
“No.” Maya answers.
“You know, why bother?” Farkle shrugs. “Without a computer, all we have is a pencil and a pad.” He reaches out to take Maya’s notebooks. “What could we possibly do with that?” He takes the notepad and looks at it. His expression softens.
Maya smiles softly as she looks at what she drew, what she made, with her own two hands, with just a notepad and pen. What could they possibly do with that indeed?
“Maya, I had no idea” Farkle breathes, admiring the drawing of nighttime New York outside the window, complete with a starry night sky. It’s beautiful. He turns the notepad towards her with a soft smile.
“Yeah, neither did I.” Maya agrees, schooling her face into her usual unbothered expression. Still, she can’t help but laugh slightly as she agrees, proud of what she’s done.
Meanwhile Serena and Mason were taking a break from working on the assignment. They’d decided to take a walk, see if they could find more books that might be relevant and stretch their legs.
Serena grabs a book off the shelf to see what it is as she comments to Mason. “Been while since we’ve been here, huh?”
“Yeah,” Mason chuckles. “We must’ve been, what, seven or eight?”
“Something like that.” Serena nods, putting the book back when she sees it’s not relevant. “You hated me. You thought I was so annoying.” She jokes.
“I didn’t hate you.” Mason immediately protests. “If I hated you I wouldn’t have hung out with you. I certainly wouldn’t have been friends with you since we were five.”
“You were mean,” Serena jokes.
“I know.” Mason sighed. “I cared too much what others thought. And people even then thought we’d end up dating. And the guys kept telling me you had cooties because you were a girl.”
“And you believed them.” Serena scowls in fake offense.
“No, I just got sick of them teasing me.” Mason admits.
“So, you started being mean, saying you weren’t my friend anymore and you didn’t want to spend time with me.” Serena teases.
“Not that it worked. You always were stubborn.” Mason snorts. “Said I wasn’t getting rid of you that easily.”
“And you never did.” Serena grins.
“Nope. I got rid of those other jerks instead.” Mason agrees.
“Bet you regret that, huh?” Serena laughs, turning to grab a book.
“Never.” Mason answers without thinking. Serena whips around like a shark smelling blood in the water, and Mason realises the joking agreement he’d meant to say wasn’t what he’d actually said.
“I knew it. I knew I was the best thing that ever happened to you.” Serena declares dramatically, teasing him some more, as Mason tried to backtrack.
Mason heaves a sigh and gives up, though makes a valiant attempt to brush it off with, “I wouldn’t go that.”
Serena laughs and decides to let him off the hook. For now. She’ll save this to tease him with later.
Meanwhile, Riley and Lucas sat awkwardly at a table together, neither quite knowing what to say.
“My dad thinks that we have no idea how to talk to each other.” Riley speaks up suddenly, shaking her head slightly as she glances towards him, only to find him already looking at her.
“What if he’s right?” Lucas asks with a slight shrug.
“Shh!” The librarian shushes them.
They both look over at her, confused. “But we’re not saying anything.” Lucas points out.
“I know.” The librarian states.
“Then why are you shushing us?” Riley asks.
“Because I can’t take it anymore.” The librarian claims. “You guys are hopeless. Come here.” She waves Riley over.
Riley walks over to the librarian curiously.
“Couple of sweet kids like and you sit there like a couple of lumps.” The librarian lectures sternly. “You’re a disgrace to every single story on these shelves.”
“Okay, so what do I say to him?” Riley asks, seeking her advice.
“Look around. Nothing here but books about boys, girls, men, women, and what they say to each other.” The librarian points out. “Open any one of them and you—no, not that one.” The librarian stops her grabbing one of the books one her desk. “Oh, boy, not that one!” The librarian discourages, stopping Riley from opening the book she was just reading before she called Riley over. “Look, all these books have something in common.”
“What’s that?” Riley asks.
“You start on page one, and each page you turn brings you deeper into the story.” The librarian explains. “What’s your name?”
“Riley?” She answers.
“What’s his name?” The librarian asks, gesturing to Lucas.
“Lucas.” Riley answers, turning to look back at him, as he reads one of the books they’d grabbed, oblivious to their conversation.
“You like a good story, Riley?” The librarian asks leaning closer to her.
Riley nods, smiling back at her.
“Then start at the beginning.” The librarian suggests.
Riley returns to the table with Lucas. “Hi.” She greets with a soft smile.
“Hi.” Lucas greets her back, with an equally soft smile and a gentle tone. Riley happily returns to her seat as they both silently read the respective books they have.
“Because it’s not until you really looked at each other and made a human connection that you can even begin to know each other.” Maya read from Tales of Human Interaction. She can’t help but laugh as she reads it. That sounds ridiculous.
“Look in my eyes.” Farkle pleads, staring straight at her.
“No.” Maya refuses.
“Look in my eyes.”
“No.”
“Look in my eyes.”
“No!” Maya refuses firmly, rolling her eyes.
Farkle sits back in his seat and looks away from her, disappointed she wouldn’t do it. He wants to know Maya. There’s so much about her he doesn’t know and he’s known her for years.
“Hey, guys.” Serena greets as she and Mason walk over to them. Mason seems to be trying to stop her, hissing for her to stop, which she ignores. “Do you mind if we join you? Mason just found something that could help.” Serena sits by Maya’s legs, not wanting to move either of them. She pulls Mason down so he’s sat opposite her, near Farkle’s legs.
“Sure.” Maya shrugs, secretly kind of relieved. She doesn’t mind Farkle. She’d even consider him a friend. But sometimes she didn’t have the patience to hang out with Farkle, especially one on one. She didn’t want to really snap at him.
“That’s fine.” Farkle agrees, even as he slumps slightly in disappointment.
Mason notices and sends him an apologetic look. He knows Farkle was probably enjoying spending time with one of his crushes.
Farkle smiles back and shrugs. Maybe this won’t be too bad. It might be nice to talk to new people. Or maybe not. Only one way to find out.
“I guess the thing I miss most about Texas are the pets I used to have.” Lucas tells Riley as an answer to her question.
“I had a hamster.” Riley offers, wanting to contribute something to the conversation as she smiles at Lucas, happy to finally be able to actually talk to him and learn more about him. This was easier than she thought.
“I had 24 horses.” Lucas tells her.
“You win.” Riley concedes with a laugh. “Tell me about them.” She requests.
“One day after school, Sofia was foaling.” Lucas starts to tell her.
“That means she was giving birth, right?” Riley clarifies, curiously.
“Not too bad, city girl.” Lucas compliments, impressed. Riley laughs, grinning back at him, pleased she was right.
“And there was no one there, so I called Doctor Galendo and he talked me through it.” Lucas continues his story. Riley nods to encourage him to continue, wanting to hear more. “Anyway, that was all.” Lucas dismisses, turning away almost self-consciously. Hew feels like he’s talking too much.
“More.” Riley encourages, nodding with a soft smile.
“Did you know that a baby horse stands in the first hour after it’s born?” Lucas tells her.
“Really?” Riley asks, surprised and a little amazed by the new information. “I’d liked to have been there for that.” She admits softly.
“The coolest thing I’ve ever seen and I was a part of it.” Lucas murmurs, nodding to himself as he remembers one of his better memories from Texas. “Riley.”
“Lucas.”
“I’ve never told anyone this before.” Lucas starts.
“Yeah?” Riley prompts, hope building in her chest.
“I think someday I might like to be a veterinarian.” Lucas admits.
“That’s cool too.” Riley grins.
“I delivered this beautiful palomino. I’d show you her picture but I don’t have my phone.” Lucas explains.
Riley nods along with his words. “That’s okay. Just…” she sighs happily and rests her head on her hand as she gazes at him. “Keep talking.” She encourages, smiling softly as he grins back at her, settling in to do just that.
“There is no connection you can make with any screen that compares to the moment you understand only human beings have souls.” Maya reads sceptically.
Serena looks confused. “Not sure that’s true. If souls are real, all living things probably have them, or at least all animals.” Serena shrugs.
“I have a soul.” Farkle speaks up with a slight shrug.
“No.” Maya rejects.
“I do!”
“No.”
“I do!”
“No.” On her last no, Maya squints her eyes at him and shakes her head.
“You believe in souls, Farkle?” Serena asks, curiously.
“Did you think I wouldn’t?” Farkle asks.
“Kinda. I figured you’d be the ‘I’d need proof’ type.” She comments.
“I kind of thought that too.” Mason admits, looking up at him curiously.
Farkle nods slightly, understanding where they’re coming from, and decides to explain a little more about his beliefs. [A/N: I believe he’s later written as Jewish but I’d stopped reaching by that point, and know nothing about being jewish so, yeah, I’m easy way outing this.]
Later that night, as they leave the library, assignment complete, Serena sighs slightly as she steps outside, seeming to relax more as the cool New York air hits them and she turns her face up to the night sky happily. “I’ve always loved nighttime.” She muses before turning to Mason with a pleading look.
Mason sighs and holds his hand out. “Fine, I’ll dance with you beneath the moonlight.” He jokes.
“Yay!” Serena cheers and takes his hand, starting to dance down the street with them. Lucas laughs softly at his friends. Riley, Farkle and Maya also watch them, amused but somehow not surprised.
Towards the end of the night, they’d all come together to explain what they’d done, and somehow Riley thought they all had a couple more friends now.
“I always loved the night too.” Maya admits. “It’s…”
“Quiet?” Serena suggests, noticing she seems to be struggling with the word.
“Peaceful?” Mason suggests.
“Helps you think?” Serena offers another suggestion.
Maya quietly nods, all of the above.
Serena and Mason smile back.
“I coloured a new picture.” Auggie informs his parents as Corey picks him up and sits him on his knee.
“Stay like this forever.” Topanga requests.
“Would you please? That’d be great.” Corey agrees, hugging Auggie.
“The picture’s over there.” Auggie points to a spot on the wall. “Mommy, daddy, Auggie, and no Riley.” Auggie shrugs with a smile.
“Uh Auggie, I don’t know if you—”
“It’s beautiful!” Topanga interrupts her husband, grinning falsely. “I think that’s what you’re supposed to do. I have no idea.” She admits to Corey, shaking her head.
“and look at the ‘refrigerator.” Auggie points out.
“The new one?” Topanga turns to look, dread filling her as she looks at the scribbles all over the new refrigerator.
“That’s our trip to the jersey shore.” Auggie claims, still pointing at it.
“It’s beautiful. It’s beautiful. I think that’s what you’re supposed to do.” Topanga repeats like a mantra, resting a hand on Auggie’s back, silently directing him towards where their bedrooms are. Corey winces behind her.
Just then Riley enters the apartment, smiling softly, pleased with how her night was gone. She has two new friends and she finally managed to talk to Lucas, all without her phone. She leans against the door as her father squints at her curiously, wondering why she’s doing that.
Topanga smiles back at her daughter from where she’s wiping Auggie’s drawing off the fridge.
“How was your night, Riley?” Corey asks her finally.
“Thank you for sending us to the library.” Riley responds softly.
“Really?” Corey lifts his eyebrow. This is his daughter. The girl who mere hours ago was claiming that she wasn’t going to make it. Why the change?
“Yes. Lucas and I did really well on the assignment. I think that we connected.” Riley admits walking over to her dad.
“What do you mean, connected? What are you talking about? How did you connect?” Corey asks, arms crossed as he looks at Riley, confused.
“We talked about stuff that was important to us—too important to text.” Riley explains. Topanga smiles proudly as she returns to wiping down the fridge. “Did you know that when you listen to someone, they’ll tell you stuff?”
Corey slowly turns away from his daughter as realisation hits him. “Oh, boy.” He puts his hands on his hips as he realises he did this.
“Friends talk to each other, but real friends listen. Maya knows how to draw and I know how to be a real friend. You’re a good teacher, dad. You can keep my phone as long as you want.” Riley assures, grinning happily, still on cloud nine from her amazing night, as she hugs her dad happily before heading to her room.
“Congratulations, Corey.” Topanga rests a hand on Corey’s shoulder.
“What did I do?” Corey demands.
“You just taught our daughter how to feel.” Topanga points out, proud of him.
“I did that?” Corey asks, not happy with this turn of events.
“You did.” Topanga nods.
“I didn’t mean to do that.” Corey insists.
“Well, you did.” Topanga shrugs.
“She has feelings now?” Corey checks.
“Mm-hmm” Topanga hums and nods, smiling.
“How many?” Corey asks.
“All of them.”
“Well, put them back.” Corey tells his wife.
“We can’t do that.” Topanga tells him.
“I have a way.” Corey decides.
“There’s no way.”
“I have a way.” Corey insists.
The next morning, they’re all back in class. Serena and Mason are talking to Lucas and Farkle, or rather Mason is talking to them, talking about a video game all three of them like. Serena is only half-listening as she absent-mindedly doodles in her notebook.
Corey arrives and, after first greetings, jumps into the first order of business- giving the class their phones back. “Here you go—take your phone. Take it now. Very good. Here’s your phone. Good, great, nobody talks to nobody. No more feelings. Thank you.”
The class stares at him blankly.
“Well, somebody’s lesson backfired.” Serena comments, not even looking up as she continues to doodle in her notebook. Mason chuckles in agreement. There’s only one reason he’d be so eager to give their phones back so quickly.
Mr. Matthews glares at her but she doesn’t see it, as Mason swallows his laughter to avoid the same fate.
“Okay, guys, the great technology debate. Let’s boot it up!” Mr. Matthews moves on to the real topic of their lesson as Maya, Riley, Farkle and Lucas get up and head to the front of the classroom.
“I have always believed that technology would help us fulfil our potential as a species. But when Farkle does rule the world, no matter what devices we come up with, we should also never forget what we can do with a pencil, a piece of paper and our own imaginations.” Farkle explains as he takes Maya’s drawing, which he’d folded up and put in his pocket out and shows it to the class, including a curious Mr. Matthews.
“I’ve been keeping this in my pocket where my phone used to be. I keep looking at it. I’m fine.” Farkle explains, turning the drawing so he can look at it as Maya smiles at him and, more specifically, her drawing in his hands.
“Thanks, Farkle.” Maya smiles at him.
“Look in my eyes.” Farkle demands.
“No.” Maya looks away with an eyeroll and makes immediate eye contact with Serena, smiling amusedly at Maya and Farkle’s antics. Maya finds herself freezing slightly as they make eye contacts, expression softening slightly. She tries to look away and succeeds… only to lock eyes with Mason, looking between the two of them amused. She quickly looks away before she can get stuck again, opting to look at no one instead.
“I thought my whole life was in my phone, but it turns out that I don’t really have any friends in here. And you don’t need your phone to connect with your real friends.” Riley explains, as Mr. Matthews gives a slightly proud half smile.
“Allow us to demonstrate.” Lucas announces as he and Riley turn to face each other.
“Hi.” Riley greets.
“Hi.” Lucas greets back as they look each other in the eyes. They both then turn back to their class to continue their presentation.
Later that night, Corey was at the library, looking for Maya. He’d asked her to meet him there. He was holding a box with a new smart phone in it, one he planned to give to Maya. Now he just had to find her. He approached one of the shelves and pushed aside some books on a shelf slightly above his head.
“I’m not that tall.” Maya states.
Corey pushes aside some books on one of the bottom shelves.
“Really?” Maya asks, annoyed.
Corey stands up straight and pushes aside some books to reveal Maya’s face.
“How you are doing’?” she greets with a smile, leaning on the shelves in front of her.
“You will keep an eye on Riley at all times. You will send me message alerts. You will send me pictures.” Corey instructs.
“You’re really scared, aren’t you?” Maya notes with amusement.
“I’m a father.” Corey states confirm softly.
“Yeah. They’re just friends.” Maya claims.
“Believe me, I know the story.” Corey tells her.
“But you’re forgetting I don’t have the technology.” Maya points out.
“Now you do.” Corey tells her, placing the box on the shelves. Maya comes around the bookshelves to take the box, opening it and taking out the phone inside.
“You got me a phone?” She asks him, surprised and trying to hide how much she appreciates it.
“My motives are completely selfish.” Corey insists. He remembers Shawn and how he always hated people giving him stuff, seeing it as pity.
“I’m not sure they are, Mr. Matthews” Maya doubts, looking back at the phone in her hand.
“Well, I also got you these” Mr. Matthews gives her a pack of coloured pencils.
“coloured pencils?”
“Yeah, you let me know everything that’s going on with Riley. And if something beautiful ever happens, paint me a picture.” Corey encourages.
Maya smiles softly at the coloured pencils in her hand, beyond grateful as she turns to leave.
When she gets home she sets up her new phone and transfers all her contacts, making sure to send a text to each one so they know her new number.
Then she sits by her window and starts to draw. She doesn’t really know what she’s drawing at first. And then, it’s done. A familiar street in nighttime New York. Serena’s black hair flying and blue eyes shining as she dances down the street with Mason, his green eyes squinted in laughter, head tilted back as his dark brown hair sways in the wind.
Maya stares at the picture in surprise. Of all things to draw… but they’re her friends now. Maybe. And they look happy. So, it’s as good a subject to draw as any.