Riley and I are in Art class, my favorite one and also the only one I'm good at
"I'm better than you now. I am Riley, the artist, and you are Maya, the artist's best friend" I chuckle
"Thank you for working on light and shadow, Maya" Ms. Kossal says to me and I smile
"Yeah, I look around outside now. I watch the light move during the day. Thanks for teaching me that, Ms. Kossal" I notice that her eyes are starting to get watery, did I say something wrong?
"Hey. Are you okay?"
"I get emotional when I'm around talent" she looks at Riley's painting and takes a deep breath
"And now I'm fine" Yeah, mt best friend is not the best painter ever
"Come on!"
"What did I tell you about only using purple?!"
"Are we gonna do this again?"
"Why is everything purple?!"
"Because you hide the purple from me and I find it!"
"Are you finger painting?"
"I believe you favor Maya over me"
"Oh, yeah? Well, let's explore that. Let's see if I have unfairly judged you. Today's assignment was the doorways of New York"
"Yep. Yep"
"You were asked to specifically focus on-"
"Unique doorknobs. Uh-huh. Yeah"
"...And paint it from memory"
"I did"
"You painted a cat!"
"It's a door" honey, it's not a door
"It's a cat"
"The whole thing's a door" she pretends to open her painting like it's a door
"Anybody home? Okay, I'll come back later. Don't let the cat out"
"Maya has something very special, Riley. She paints from a place that few of us are able to reach"
"That's because she has an awful life" I smile to cover the pain that her comment caused me
"I love it when I'm reminded"
"Take a look at Maya's work" Ms. Kossal holds my painting to show it to the whole class. I'm still not comfortable with her showing my paintings to everyone, it makes me feel insecure, what if someone doesn't like it?
"I want to know what's behind that door"
"So does the artist... Because I think it's been closed to her up until now" I look down, she's right
"I'm gonna get you in that door, Maya"
"Oh, I know you are, Riley"
"Good. Because it's Maya's last painting" What? What does she mean?!
"W-wait, why is it my last painting?"
"Well, it's your last one for me, you beautiful girl" She's seriously scaring me right now
"What's going on?"
"Our school is running out of money. They're cutting art and music classes, effective after the next school board meeting"
"What? How will Maya learn? What comes after light and shadow?"
"What about you, Riley?"
"Who cares about me? I stink. What about Maya?" Farkle joins the conversation
"And what about drama? My one-year suspension from not being able to audition for any of the plays ends on Tuesday. I'm gonna be Pippin!"
"They're not putting on Pippin"
"I'm gonna be Pippin in whatever they're doing" Zay includes himself as well
"Nobody better cut my ballet. Yeah, that's right-- Ballet. That's why I'm so sinewy"
"Sinewy?"
"Hey, you spend your time hitting baseballs, I spend my time lifting beautiful girls. Ms. Hart? Shall we dance?" I glare at him
"We shall not"
"Ballet, gone. Art, music... Drama, dance, all of it, gone" This is the end of me, the end, how could I ever think to pursue art?
"Maya?" I fake a smile
"It's okay, Riles. Just another door closed" after this class finishes we head to History's, maybe Mr. Matthews has a lesson about this! He always knows everything
"The Dark Ages-"
"They're cutting art class and you want to talk about the Dark Ages?" I ask in disbelief
"The Dark Ages was a time of cultural deterioration"
"What does that have to do with me?"
"The Dark Ages was the decline of the creative spirit of an entire continent"
"What about me?"
"The Dark Ages is when they cut the art class at this middle school right now. And you, Maya Hart -Yes, you, Maya Hart, the one I'm looking at right here- Can't paint anymore"
"You know, a good teacher lets the students get there on their own" his daughter raises her hand
"Daddy?"
"Riley, if you put another purple cat on our fridge, I swear I'm moving to Brooklyn"
"Scratch my nose. I won't be dry until math, and Mrs. Kravitz scratches my nose like she doesn't want to" he sighs and scratch it
"That's like a daddy would"
"So... Why were the Dark Ages dark, Pippin?"
"People lost interest in art and music because it was taken away from them"
"Well, I don't want that for Maya. I want Maya to be happy" What did the cowboy say? I turn around to look at him. His glaze meets mine and I loose myself in another world, another universe. That intense green is reading me, my soul, my secrets, my-
"Hey, Maya, it looks like Lucas here's gettin' all fired up on your behalf" I'm snapped out of this daydream by Zay's comment thankfully. I can't let myself develop a deeper crush on him
"Thank you, Lucas. But it's just an art class"
"I feel bad. They're taking away something you're very good at" I try to look away from him but there's something that is stopping me from doing so
"You've never said that to me before"
""I've said it"
Yeah, but not, like straight to my face when you were looking at me. I can't remember you actually m-"
"You're a great artist, Maya" I'm speechless right now, I don't know what to say
"Well, he lookin' at you now"
"You have a real talent. And I want you to be able to get better and share it with people" I get lost in his eyes for another good minute. Should I reply? How? What should I say? Forget about it, I notice that we're both glancing to our lips form time to time, what does that mean? I mean, I perfectly know why I'm looking at his lips but why is he doing it too?
"Now they're just lookin' at each other and not sayin' nothin'. Are they saying anything? No? Well, I wonder that they're thinkin'" I look away as I bite my lower lip
"I don't want them to take away your art class, Maya" I can feel Riley's glare, it's really stressing me out
"Bay window! Bay window right in five hours"
"Okay"
"Who's gonna do something about art class?" I reply to Lucas
"I'm sure that'll be Riley"
"Nope"
"Well, I know you guys would like me to step in here-"
"Nope. This is bigger than you, Dad"
"You're right. This is. In fact, this decision comes directly from the New York City school board"
"That's not what I'm talking about. If they're gonna put us in the Dark Ages, then who's gonna get us out?"
"Ah. Funny thing about that. You know who did get us out? Artists"
"Ah"
"Michaelangelo, Da Vinci... There was an explosion of creativity called the Renaissance. Maya, I would think you'd have something to say about that" I smile
"Cut the art classes; don't cut the art classes. What have I ever been able to do about my life? And now my little purple friend will go crazy"
"Not this time, Maya. You're the artist, and I'm just the artist's best friend"
YOU ARE READING
Girl Meets World | AU
FanfictionWhat if Riley had an older brother? Would relationships have been the same? Would the story have been different? Would've the ships remained the same ones? (This story contains serious topics like alcohol and sex. read at your own risk)
