Girl Meets Him

Girl Meets True Maya

"If you choose to live next door to a volcano, why should you be surprised by the destruction that comes with it?" Uncle Cory asked.

"Because they lived next to it so long."

"Maybe they forgot what it was."

"Because it's not."

"What?" Uncle Cory asked.

"'Cause you've always lived right next to it, and you have faith that it would never do anything bad to you," Riley explained.

"Where is she?" Uncle Cory asked.

"She's cutting school?" Lucas questioned.

"That's what she decided to do," I reasoned.

"Our question for discussion is... There's a whole world out there, Pompeii. Why live next to a volcano then? Huh?"

"Farkle."

"The soil from volcanoes grows the most beautiful flowers," Farkle stated.

"Deep down, Maya is beautiful," Lucas said. "So is the 'splody part of (Y/n)."

"Okay, calm down," Riley joked.

"You live in Ireland. You learn that there's over three hundred days of rain a year. On the other hand, it's one of the most beautiful, green places on Earth. And places, like people, offer wonderful peaks and valleys. Now, what makes these wonderful peaks and valleys?"

"Volcanoes," I realized.

"Right. It's up to you to understand what you've chosen to live with. Learn from Pompeii. As you live next to each other, understand that every once in a while, things explode. That's nature. And that's human nature."

~~~

Farkle grabbed me from my apartment. I was nervous in the back of a police car. The officer led us into the park. I noticed the new mural and the statue. It was definitely new and different from the park setting.

"I had a brick in my hand," Maya said.

"Why?" I breathed.

Maya looked at the statue of five kids. "Because somebody went after you."

"Who, Maya?" Uncle Cory asked.

"These two girls I used to know," Maya admitted. "I could have been them. Riley, I would have been them. But, I'm not. Because they think having a brick and hammer makes you strong. And as much as I wanted to throw the brick through a window, I know that if I did that, that's what would make me weak. I'm strong... because there's something inside me that stops me now. You know? It knows how important you've been in my life, and it'll never let me do any real damage as long as I live. That part inside me... I'm gonna call it Dorothy."

Riley smiled. "Call it whatever you want. I'm just glad that you didn't do anything bad."

"Yeah," Maya agreed. "How come I ain't bad, Matthews?"

"The friends we choose can have the most profound influence in our entire lives, one way or the other," Uncle Cory explained.

"This way," I breathed.

"I'm proud of you, Maya," Ms. Hart said.

"What happened to the girls?" Farkle asked.

"Oh, well, I might have had a brick and a hammer, and I might have swung them over my head a little bit, and ran, like, right towards 'em like I was-"

"Maya?" Lucas cut her off. "So, you're Maya again?"

"Well, they seem to think so," Maya admitted. "They ran away so fast."

The officer stepped in front of us. "My park. I watch this park every day."

"I'm sorry," Maya said.

"You know, I'm not going to give up on that Carla and Renee. And I don't want you to be like them, okay?" the officer questioned.

"I can't," Maya assured him. "Dorothy won't let me."

"New York code one-four-five. Vandalism. I'm gonna write this one up. Then I'm gonna put it into a folder. Then I'm gonna misplace the folder. And if I never hear from you two little hoodlums ever again, that folder remains misplaced."

"I'm a hoodlum," Riley commented.

"Why are you giving me a break?" Maya questioned.

"My park. I look at this park every day. I have hope for this park, too. Thank you."

Aunt Topanga stepped forward. "Thank you."

"Hey, sometimes the system works," the officer joked.

The officer walked away. Farkle wrapped his arm around me as we stood with the girls.

"Thanks for putting my head back on," Riley teased.

"You, too," Maya replied.

~~~

We went to the park the next day in the sunlight. Farkle and Lucas were looming over the statue, and Riley and I were on the sides of Maya on the bench. I stared at the statues in wonder.

"Huh."

"Yeah."

"Before I knew you-"

"You always knew me," Riley and I cut her off.

"When I was real young, I used to come to this park and look at this statue and wonder if I would ever have friends as good as these. That would hold hands with each other and smile. I used to wonder what it was they were so happy about. Now I know."

The three of us took hands, then joined the boys. I stood between Farkle and Riley in front of my statue. I laid my head on Farkle's shoulder, just like my statue. And I smiled, just like the statue.