Words [Riley Matthews]

40 ~ forgiveness project

Maya, Riley, and Gabriel were able to sort things out between them. Maya and Gabriel explained everything to Riley that happened between them. They could tell Riley wasn't convinced by their story but went along with it. 

The three of them and the rest of their friends sat in their seats in Cory's classroom.

"All through history, countries go to war," Cory said. "That's what we normally study in here. But today, we're going to talk about peace and forgiveness and how we get there. Every once in awhile, I come up with a good idea."

"WHat could it possibly be that I haven't already thought of?" Farkle asked.

"Farkle, I forgive you," Cory said.

"What did I do?" Farkle asked.

"I forgive you too," Zay said.

"What did I do?!" Farkle asked again, this time raising his voice.

"I forgive you, Farkle," Caleb said, placing his hand on Farkle's shoulder.

"What did I do?"

"I feel better now," Cory said.

"Yeah, me too," Caleb agreed.

"Same here," Zay said. 

"How do you feel?" Cory asked Farkle.

"I'm sorry for every time I've hurt you! What did I do?!"

Cory:

"Ladies and gentlemen, today we're going to begin the forgiveness project," Cory said. "Our history isn't just about what we've done. How we grow comes from the repair of what we've done and how we forgive what was done to us."

"Hmm, we're in," Riley said. "What do we do?"

"Everyone take out a piece of paper," Cory said. "So this isn't your laptop or your cell phone. You've got unlimited characters here. As many words as you want," Cory handed out red envelopes to the class. "The impact will last longer than six seconds. And I guarantee you, it's never going to disappear. So pick up a pen. Express feelings. This is one of the most important things you're ever going to do. You're about to forgive someone."

"What's this got to do with history, Matthews?" Maya asked.

"It gives you a chance to change it," Cory said.

"Like when I forgave Auggie for biting the face off my Beary - the Bear bear," Riley said.

"That wasn't forgiveness, honey," Cory said.

"Why not?" 

"Because you haven't gotten over it," Cory said. 

Riley shows her Bear - the - Bear bear that Auggie chewed on.

"This is the first thing I see every day," Riley said.

"So is there anyone in your life that you want to forgive? Change your history. Go," Cory instructed.

Gabriel lifted his pencil. This is the first time in his life he has no idea what to write. He knew who he wanted to write this too but he didn't want to say.

"Maya, no one in your life you want to forgive?" Cory asked. 

"No," Maya said.

"Don't you think now would be a good time?" Lucas asked.

She gave Lucas a stare.

"You and your mom are in a good place," Riley said. "You're strong, Maya. Don't you want to forgive him one day? Why not now?"

Maya laughed as she started to write. Riley chuckled along. Maya handed Riley the note.

"Ahem," Riley cleared her throat. "'Riley, butt out. I am serious. Butt your butt out,'" Riley turned to Maya. "I forgive you.

"Mr. Miller?" Cory said.

"Yeah?" Gabriel said, looking at his teacher.

"Are you okay?"

"Y - yeah," Gabriel stuttered. "I'm - I'm okay."

***

Gabriel witnessed what happened to his friends when they forgave the people they wanted to forgive. Seeing what happened made him nervous. He still hadn't given the person he wanted to forgive the letter just yet and he's worried that something might go wrong.

"Hey, Dad," Gabriel said, nervously. 

"Hey, Gabe," Grant said.

"Um, so in my history class, Mr. Matthews wanted us to write a letter to someone," Gabriel said.

"Okay," Grant said, taking off his glasses and set it down on the table.

"And, I decided to write the letter to you," Gabriel said.

"Really?" Grant said surprised.

Gabriel nodded.

"You look scared," Grant said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just worried about your reaction," Gabriel admitted.

Grant took a deep breath.

"The project is called the forgiveness project," Gabriel told his father. He held out the letter for his father to take and read.

"Forgiveness project?" Grant asked. "You're forgiving me?"

"Read the letter," Gabriel said. "I explain everything in it."

"Alright," Grant said, taking the letter from Gabriel.

"I'll be in my room if you want to talk to me after you finish," Gabriel said. 

"O - okay," Grant said.

Gabriel went back into his room. He sat down at his desk and started to write in his journal. There was some much on his mind that he needed to get down into paper. Gabriel would never straight up tell someone how he feels. He would indirectly express his feelings through characters. 

In the case of writing the letter to his father, he struggled at first, but he managed to do it. He was able to write down everything. 

Grant knocked on Gabriel's bedroom door and entered. Gabriel turned around in his chair. 

"Hey," Grant said, softly.

"Hi."

"Why didn't you tell me this all yourself and not through a letter?" Grant asked.

"We're not close as we used to be," Gabriel shrugged. "And you make more time for Justin and Emma than me. When Mr. Matthews told us about the project..."

"You felt like it was the perfect opportunity to tell me," Grant finished.

"Yeah."

"Gabe, I'm sorry that I wasn't a great father to you the last year or so," Grant said. "I promise you I will be better."

"Why? Why did you push me away?" Gabriel asked. "I needed you and you weren't there."

"The thing is, you remind me so much of your mother," Grant said. "Whenever I look at you, I was always reminded of her. It was hard for me to look at you because of that. I'm really sorry. If I could, I would turn back time and change everything."

"Really?" 

"Yeah," Grant nodded. "I don't expect you to forgive me or anything, but how about, you and I go out for dinner? Just you and me?"

"What about Justin and Emma?"

"I already spent enough time with them," Grant said. "It's time for you and me."

Gabriel smiled a little. 

"Alright."