Minkus {•Riarkle•}

Growing Up

Lucas passed the maze of hallways, looking specifically for a short blonde that he knew was his tempered friend, Maya Hart. He had gone through, pretty sure seeing the same ten drawings at every turn. He had looked and searched for about ten minutes before he found her paused in front of one of the arts.

"Maya, there you are!" Lucas sighed in relief as he went to her. She looked over to him, her face looking serious and as if she had been broken away from a trance. "Hey, Dr. Marbles is here, we need to catch up with Riley and Farkle."

"I kind of don't feel like it," Maya spoke softly, turning back to the masterpiece in front of her.

"Is something wrong?" Lucas asked.

Maya shrugged and gestured to the piece ahead, "this is my art piece."

Lucas turned to face what she was talking about and he was stunned at what he saw. The piece was light, not having any shade darker than the solid yellow of the main figure's hair. The figure had their back turned but arms were spread out angelically to see fair skin and the dress of pure white. The surroundings were detailed small flowers, creamy peach roses. The only other apparent figure in the drawing was the solid black stiletto of another body.

"Wow..." Lucas said, breathless over such beauty.

"You like it?" Maya Hunter spoke from behind her younger self and the boy next to her. She turned her head and then back to the painting.

"What's this supposed to be?" Maya asked to her older self.

"It's what I want to be when I grow up. That's what this whole exhibit is about. Even though I'm almost thirty-five, I've been through a lot and I'm still growing. I'm not finished with my life just yet..." she reasoned.

"You want to get married?" Maya asked to the artist.

"Of course not," she laughed and shook her head looking at the painting again. It wasn't hard to understand why people would think that as it was a painting of a female's backside standing in an aisle with blonde pinned up in an updo and wearing a flowing white dress. She was staring at the back of a black figure that that had no face, but the outline could be a man's (she wouldn't confirm nor deny). By just looks, it looked like a wedding scenario but only the artist knew of what more the art held.

"What...do you want to be when you grow up?" Lucas asked his friend's older counterpart.

Hurt flashed over Maya Hunter's face as her eyes glanced at her art once more before she stated, "I want to move on with my life...have a happy ending, or even a decent one... I just want someone to be there for me at the end."

The younger Maya softened her features as she looked back at the painting which she still only partly understood. Obviously this was inspired by something she hadn't yet experienced in her lifetime, but it was nerve-racking knowing that something big happens to her life to affect her in such a massive way. Maya wasn't ready for it, and she was sure it wasn't ready for her...

"Why didn't you stay with her?" Maya's voice was stone cold as she looked at her future self taking in not the look of herself but the sight of a woman incomplete.

Miss Hunter looked at the teenager confused. "What are you taking about?"

"Riley," Maya said firmly. "You were supposed to be there for her, follow her through life and everything that stands in your way! She was the one who was supposed to be there at the end."