Rilaya 100 One Shot Challenge

Connection

The doctor said she died instantly, she felt nothing, the combined effort of the impact of the crash and the branch from the tree caused her neck to snap.

Like a branch.

Like that branch should have.

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The day of the funeral there were oceans of tears shed and nearly the whole school was in attendance. They put the great mahogany box into the ground, and Riley Matthews was in her final resting place.

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The day after the funeral, however, was the day Maya Hart went to say her farewells. She hadn't been at the ceremony because she didn't want to make a scene in front of Riley's family. Especially since they didn't know who she was.
She came upon the plot, the shiny new headstone proclaiming the name of the body that the packed dirt concealed. She gently places her blanket-their blanket- onto the grave. After placing the daffodils, Riley's favorites, at the base of the headstone, she lays down on the blanket. She begins to speak.

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Meanwhile, Topanga Matthews is distraught. After her daughters funeral, she didn't leave Riley's room. She found Beary the bear and, after crying over him for several hours, decided that his place was with Riley. So she started towards the cemetery.

To her surprise, there was a blonde girl laying on Riley's grave. The girl was unfamiliar, and she seemed to be talking. To the looks of it, she had brought flowers and a blanket.

Perhaps this girl was a friend of Riley's, but why then had Topanga never met her?

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"- and there was the time that I snuck in through your window when your parents were asleep. Auggie almost caught us cause he had that nightmare, remember?" Maya laughed, "I hid under the bed and found your missing socks!"

Topanga approached with caution, feeling it was insensitive to ruin the moment by spying, but she was intrigued by this strange girl's words. Deciding to find out who she is, Topanga interrupts with a quiet cough, "Excuse me."

Maya sits up quickly, she's panicked and looks as though she's been caught in headlights, "Mrs. Matthews! I'm sorry, I- I'll just go, you should have this time to yourself-" Maya begins to pick up her blanket

"Calm down. I didn't mean to startle you, or interrupt anything. You're free to stay. In fact, I could use the company." Topanga smiles at the teenager

"Yeah, ok..." Maya lays her blanket back in its previous position, this time, however, she sits facing Topanga "Thank you, for letting me stay."

"Of course! May I sit, too?"

"Yeah, please do." Maya pats the blanket beside her

Topanga sets Beary besides the daffodils before sitting beside Maya. "I see you brought daffodils, Riley's favorite."

Maya looks at the daffodils and smiles faintly, "And you brought Beary, Riley would have wanted him here." She gently pats the stuffed bear's head.

Topanga looks at the girl quizzically, "I hope you don't mind my asking, but who are you?"

"Maya Hart," they shook hands, "and it's a pleasure to finally meet you Mrs. Matthews, even if these aren't the circumstances we had imagined." Maya looks at the headstone once again

Topanga had come here to drown herself further into her sorrows, but now she became intrigued by Maya's behavior "What do you mean? How did you know Riley?"

With a shaky breath, Maya responds "I'm- I was- her girlfriend. She wanted to introduce us when she was ready to come out, but, now we're here." She weakly gestures to nothing in particular

"You were Riley's... girlfriend?" Topanga never knew Riley was gay, "What about Lucas?"

Maya laughs, "Mrs. Matthews, I am Lucas. We created him as a beard, so Riley could talk about me without talking about me." She stops laughing, still smiling she adds, "Riley was Charlie."

Topanga is appalled. "So, Riley, my Riley, was gay? Why did she never tell us?"

"She was pan. She truly loved everyone. She never told you guys because she was scared. She thought you would hate her."

Every single homophobic thing that had ever been said by her or her family in Riley's presence rushed through Topanga's mind, Riley never joined in. "Oh, my lorde, she was scared of us, and we never knew." Topanga felt tears coming on, her own daughter, scared of her, "How long were you two together? How long did she know?"

"We got together October 14th, freshman year, and we were planning on getting married after graduation. She started coming out to people sometime during 8th grade year."

"Would you like to come over for dinner? I'd love to hear your stories, and I'm sure Cory and August would too."

"I'd like that, thank you."

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As they ate together, Maya told stories of her and Riley's antics. Sneaking in the windows and taking over the school, and with every story the Matthews felt the love pour off the girl, and the worse they felt that Riley thought to hide her from them. The Matthews welcomed Maya with open arms and invited her to meet the rest of their family, insisting that she tell the stories of her an Riley's love.