And Then She Stopped

chapter six

Maya's face was healing nicely- although there was still a very obvious scar- and she'd finally fully recovered her voice, and now when she saw Jeremy in the streets he wouldn't look her in the eye- guess he wasn't all that drunk after all. The one major this that Maya hated about this was how people saw her so much differently now. Lucas, Riley, and Farkle all danced around her as if she were this delicate little flower that they needed to be careful around because if they got too close she would wilt away. This was bothersome mainly because Maya spent her entire life leading people to believe she was this strong, secure, girl who didn't take any crap from anyone. Lucas hated the way things changed too, he hated how every time he looked at Maya's face, or thought about reaching for her hand, he was reminded that someone out there touched her, someone in the same state as him hurt her, and she wouldn't tell him who, so he couldn't do anything about it. Riley hated how closed up it all made Maya, she would try to deny it but Riley saw how often she flinched. If anything came her way she looked terrified as though she thought it was going to maul her, even if it was just Riley going in for a hug. Lastly, Farkle hated it because he saw how much pain both Riley and Maya were going though because of it. He only cared enough to look at the physical pain Maya was enduring but he saw the circles getting darker underneath Riley's eyes, he saw she worried that something would happen to Maya again. Mr. and Mrs. Matthews had of course offered medical help to Maya when she came to pick up Riley the day after the attack but she said she was fine, of course a few weeks later as she sat in her desk with her hand on her cheek feeling the scar she was wondering if she really was fine.

The seven minute bell rang and Maya grabbed her sketch book and headed out to the bus to go back to school. Lucas had been so stiff recently she wasn't exactly sure how to talk to him anymore. She climbed up the bus steps and made her way back to the wheel seat, sitting down and putting her feet up on the budge where the wheel was, Lucas – of course – slid in beside her.

"So..." She said looking down at her hands, "Are you going to Topanga's after school today?" He looked at her and tried to smile.

"Would you like me to go?" He turned to face the back of the chair in front of them, he missed her face, but he hated being reminded of how helpless he was sometimes. She leaned her head on his shoulder again, just like always.

"Yeah, I'd like you to come."

The bus pulled up in the bus loop of the school, everyone filed out and Maya started walking to Topanga's. It wasn't too far from the school, further than Riley's place, closer than home. When she finally got there and pushed open the glass door Riley was standing there waiting for her.

"Peaches."

"Darling." Riley stepped a little to her left and Maya could see a man sitting at the counter drinking a coffee, he turned around and grinned.

"Maya!"

"Shawn?" He got up and came over and wrapped her in a big arm, when they let go he held her face in his hands.

"What happened?" He asked brushing aside some of her hair.

"Nothin' I can't handle." She smiled up at him and he kissed her on the forehead, Katy came out from the back room with a pastry and handed it to Maya.

"How was school today sweetheart?" Maya stiffened as her mother moved in to stroke her hair, she stepped back slowly so that to not draw any attention from the situation.

"It was good mom, Mr. Matthews is an excellent teacher." The three of them; Riley, Maya, and Shawn, sat down on the couches started talking to each other, waiting for Lucas and Farkle to show up.

Farkle, Lucas and Cory all eventually came along. When Cory came in he swept Shawn away to wherever the adults always went. Conversation slowed, Riley wasn't talking to Lucas, Farkle wasn't talking to Maya, and it was kind of hard to keep a discussion going if only two of the members could talk at a time.

Eventually parents started arriving to pick their kids up, after Farkle and Lucas left it was just Maya and Riley again. Just the way they liked it, only the two of them.

"Listen Riles, I better head home before it gets too late."

"I understand." Riley smiled and placed her hand on Maya's knee, Maya got up to leave but on her way out she grabbed a ring that was sitting on the table, one that was not hers.

The walk back would've been terrifying, had Maya had anything to lose. Instead she wandered lost in her mind relying solely on muscle memory to take her back home. She fiddled with the ring as she walked, twirling it in-between her fingers, watching the way the street lights would reflect off the tiny surface. It wasn't a special ring, or one that would seem to have much value. It was an old metal thing that some kid probably got in a gum ball machine, but she liked it, she was fascinated by it. This was one of Maya's major problems, she found herself so boring and useless she took too much interest in other people's lives. She collected their "lost treasures" (as she like to put it) and gave each of them a story, imagining it was her own.

Where'd you get the ring Maya? Oh this old thing? I've had it for years, I won it at a carnival with my dad. We played one of those games where you try to knock down the cans – they thought I couldn't do it but I could. I only knocked a few down but I was little so they gave me this ring. I love this ring.

Clouding her mind with fake memories, when she got back she placed the stolen ring on her table along with a collection of other things she'd swiped; an old receipt, a broken plate, a door knob, the works. The way she saw it, she wasn't stealing. She was giving these things that had been abandoned a home, and they were giving her the ability to imagine a life where you weren't so worried about when your parents came home.

Maya opened up her Algebra textbook, these equations all made sense to her. Things like parabolas came so easy to her, but she didn't want anyone to know. So, she pulled out an old notebook and re-started the letters, with new inspiration from The Waves by Virginia Woolf. The first letter? To Riley of course, her partner in crime. She began with writing an algebraic equation, just as evidence that she could in fact do them – even the ones Farkle couldn't. Then she wrote, in metaphors and run-on sentences that mixed together in such a mess only Riley would understand them, if she even ever read them.

The front door slammed shut and Katy stumbled into the living room.

"MAYA!" She hollered, stomping her foot on the ground. Maya ran to her mother obediently and got worried as she was immediately hit with the stench of whiskey and nicotine. "Maya darling come here!" Maya took a few steps towards her mother, worried since she hadn't smoke since Kermit left.

"Mom, I'm here." She didn't exactly know what it was that made her parents hate her so much, especially when they've smoked a few and had quite the time at a bar, but she was constantly wondering what was so wrong about her that was so easily hate-able. She made a list, it sat in the drawer of her nightstand, it started out as a simple sheet of paper which has grown into 2 whole notebooks, filled with reasons she in unlovable.

"Maya darling," Katy stroked her face with her free hand, "You are a spoiled, worthless, brat."

Maya looked down at her feet. "I know mom." Katy spun around and raised an eyebrow.

"Was that attitude?"

"No mom." Maya started to step away, Katy lifted the empty wine bottle in her hand and smashed it against Maya's head, the glass shattered and Maya fell down to the ground unconscious. Katy knelt down and started crying.

"My little girl," She combed the glass out of Maya's hair with her fingers and held her close to her chest, "I wish I didn't have to discipline you."

AUTHORS NOTE: Hey guys! SO I know this chapter is kinda bad and a little weird like ? I know in the last chapter Maya got beat up and now her mom is smashing wine bottles on her head but I swear I'm not crazy it all has a key point in the plot and a bunch of this chapter is foreshadowing so please just stick with me for a little bit it will all make sense in the end and then maybe this won't seem as stupid of a chapter. Thanks! xx