Falling Into Place

Chapter Two

"How ya doing?" Maya asked Riley. They sat down at a Lunch table and Maya had noticed her friend had been unhappy for the past few weeks. Riley had been sleeping a lot more than usual, not getting her usual A's and B's on her papers and assignments, and she had been staying home a lot.

"I'm fine." Riley said, taking a bite of her mashed potatoes.

"So you're not upset that Farkle moved and doesn't go to school with us anymore?" Maya asked, being very blunt at this point.

"What? why would I be upset?"

"Do you not remember what happened over summer?" Maya asked, sipping her water.

"Nothing. Nothing happened..." Riley admitted.

"Exactly Riley, and it's tearing you up inside that you really liked him and then you guys bro-"

"Yes! Okay, you're right, Maya. I'm upset that he... broke up with me," Riley started through grinding teeth. "I'm upset that he didn't give me a reason, I'm upset that he left."

"I know, honey. I know exactly how you feel, but there's always someone out there that will come along and fix what's damaged." Maya rubbed Riley's shoulder and smiled, reassuringly.

"How can you be so sure?" Riley asked, laughing in disbelief.

"Lucas." The perky blonde stated simply. She bit into her peas and smiled.

"Not everyone can have a prince charming." Riley teased.

"But you're a princess remember? You have to have a prince out there somewhere, but no princess found a prince by sitting and wallowing in self pitty."

"That's how this princess intends to do it." Maya chuckled at her friends plans for love and finished part of what was on her tray.

The bell rang, and Riley walked to Mr. Matthews class, taking their seats and waiting for the bell to ring so class can begin.

"The untouchables." The teacher began. "The untouchables were the lowest of the low. No one wanted anything to do with them, no one came close to them."

The back door of the classroom opened and a boy walked in. Tall, dark hair, freckles, glasses... No one said a word.

"Mr. Matthews?" He asked, walking to the teachers desk.

"Mr. Moore?"

"Yes sir." The new kid nodded. Mr. Matthews took the piece of paper from his hands and pointed him to the empty seat behind Riley, where Farkle would've sat.

"In India, the caste system played a big part of someone becoming an untouchable. You were born into it, and very, very rarely did someome marry into a higher level, especially an untouchable."

Riley was taking notes, as was Lucas, but Maya was distracted by the new kid, she was almost intrigued by him. The way he dressed in khakis and a dress shirt, his hair that was fixed almost perfectly, and his glasses and freckles. There was no doubt in her kind people were going to pick on him and bully him.

"People didn't believe that the untouchables," adding air quotes around his words, "were worth noticing. They didn't think they were human. They were basically thought of as the scum of the earth, or at least their country."

"Why would someone be thought of that way?" Riley asked, not even bothering to raise her hand. She couldn't wrap her head around how people could treat other people so poorly. She had the same problem when they were learning about slavery, she didn't get it.

"They didn't have money, or nice things, Riley. They were dirty and just weren't as well put together as the richer people of India."

"But what if it were the other way around?" Maya interupted. The whole class got quite. There was no tapping of students pencils on desks, or the clicking of people writing. Silence.