Hello again! I hope that those who have read the first chapter have liked it so far. As I said last week, I will be updating every Sunday so watch out for new posts. I want to give a special thanks to everybody who has reviewed, followed, and favorited my story so far. It always puts a smile on my face when I read the reviews and see how many people are enjoying my story so far. It just makes me look forward to this even more. And trust me, there is a lot more to come! So last week, Riley got caught wearing makeup when her parents told her not to. This week, it's Maya's point of view, and something big happens to her. After this chapter, everything starts getting crazy! I couldn't wait to write this chapter so I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did when I wrote it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Boy Meets World, or its spin-off series Girl Meets World.
Maya's Point of View
Friday, February 13th, 2015, New York City
Present day, 7:10 A.M
I couldn't wait to get to the Matthews' apartment this morning. Shawn and Mr. Matthews were the life of the party. I noticed how recently Riley was acting weirder in the mornings than she usually did. It started about a month ago. I wondered if it had anything to do with Shawn? Anyway, this particular morning, it was snowing a lot. A big blizzard. No way was Mr. Matthews going to let us go to school in this kind of weather.
I lived in the apartment just above the Matthews' with my mom. It was strange for me to think of my mom as my guardian; sometimes I felt like I was the parent in our relationship. My mom's aspiration was to be an actress. I tried my best to be supportive, but really? What were the chances of her getting a job other than as a waitress? She wasn't the best mom, I had to admit that. But at least she stayed, unlike my dad, who left me and my mom for another family in god knows where.
Shawn once told me he would always look out for me and be there for me when I needed someone to talk to. Someone besides Riley of course. Riley was like the sister that I always wanted, but I knew that she wouldn't be able to understand my family issues. In her world, everybody was perfect, polite and happy. I always wanted to live in a world like that; believing in only good, but sadly I never did. Shawn, I assumed, understood things that even I couldn't get because ever since he came to live in the same building, he's told me about how he was abandoned by his mother when he was about my age. We had so much in common it was almost scary! But I would never take Shawn away from Riley. That was never my intention.
My mom left a note for me on the kitchen counter before she left for work this morning which read, "Meet me at the bakery after school. I have some very important news to tell you! Love- Mommy." Mom always tried to be cute by referring to herself in letters as "Mommy", but I never called her that. I took the note from the kitchen counter and put it in my backpack as I walked out of the apartment, locking the door behind me.
When I got to the Matthews' apartment, I greeted everybody by saying, "Hey losers!" in a joking way of course. When I saw Shawn sitting beside Mr. Matthews at the breakfast table, I said to him, "Hey Hunter", also in a playful way. I asked where Riley was, and Mrs. Matthews said she was probably still in her room. Then Mrs. Matthews insisted that I eat breakfast with them. That was Riley's mom. She somehow always knew that I never had anything to eat for breakfast at home, so she always made pancakes for me too. It was as if the whole family made room for me to be part of their family, but I knew deep down inside I was not part of their family because I was still a Hart.
I sat down next to Shawn as Mr. Matthews began to tell me about one of their crazy classic high school stories. This morning, they told me about how one time Shawn dressed up as a girl because Mr. Matthews was writing a school newspaper article. Mr. Matthews also ended up dressed as a girl but he was pretending to be one of those creepy, funny-looking old waitresses. They pulled out a black photo album and showed me a cut-out picture with an article beside it called "Chick Like Me".
"Wow," I laughed. "When you two go full out, there's no stopping you." It was a black and white photo, but nevertheless I still found it hilarious.
A few minutes later, Riley walked out of her room with her backpack on her shoulder. She sat down to eat breakfast too. I tried to get an excuse note from Shawn, but then Shawn went on to say that I reminded him of himself. Shawn then began to tell us about his old English teacher, Mr. Turner. I heard great things about the legendary Mr. Feeny, but nobody ever mention a Mr. Turner to me until that morning. When things got a little too serious, Riley pulled me out and we rode the subway to school. I was a little mad at her because I wanted to hear about Shawn's lost love story, but I guess Riley just didn't want to.
Because it was a snow day, I'd be lying if I said there was no problem when we traveled to school, because Riley fell multiple times. When we finally got to school, I asked Riley about the woman Shawn was talking about.
"Who was that woman Shawn was talking about anyway? An old fling?"
"Angela? I guess so." She shrugged her shoulders and then attempted to dismiss the matter by asking me if I did my homework. I didn't even know where I left my history textbook. She pulled it out of her locker. I told her I'd try harder and she pushed me inside of her dad's class. I went to take my seat and saw that Farkle was already there too.
"Hey Farkle Minkus." I greeted him adding his last name as well because it sounded so funny. I gave him a rare friendly smile. I think he took it a little too personally because his neutral look instantly became a dreamy stare.
"Hello my love. Love is in the air, we must celebrate tomorrow. How about we go out?" He said in a poetic and flirtatious way and winked. Yes it was true that at the beginning of the year, Farkle used to like both Riley and me the same, but a few weeks ago he realized he wasn't getting anywhere with Riley because of Lucas and so now he was focusing all of his attention on me. Great...
I shook my head. "Okay Farkle, this has got to stop. You know you're not my type." I was trying to let him down easy. "Easy" wasn't one of my strengths.
"I can be your type. What is your type?" He said this while crossing his arms across his chest seemingly interested in what I had to say. I thought about it for a second and then I shrugged my shoulders.
"I don't know. But when I find out, I hope by then you'll find someone too." And then I gave him the same rare friendly smile. It was like he wasn't even listening to me. He gave a deep and dreamy sigh as he kept staring at me. I turned myself to see Riley coming into the classroom, her face glowing. It took me a few seconds to realize she was wearing makeup. I was about to say something to her when Mr. Matthews began the class.
"Okay class," Mr. Matthews said in his 'teacher voice'. He then looked at Riley as if she were a stranger. A strange stranger. "Riley, are you wearing makeup?" He asked. I swear, at that moment, the powder wasn't really working for Riley's face, because she instantly turned red. Riley turned to look at me. My hands were tied, this time I couldn't help her. I think by then Mr. Matthews realized what he said and dismissed the issue. It was very unprofessional for a teacher to bring his own family matters into the classroom, especially when those family matters had to do with his daughter who was also his student.
Mr. Matthews cleared his throat. "What I meant to say is that I trust all of you did the homework. I want to give you an assignment for the weekend." Everybody in the class groaned. Except for Farkle of course. Mr Matthews ignored the groaning and continued. "History is very important and it affects everything we do. For this weekend, I want you all to talk to your parents and learn about their past and what they did when they were your age." For a brief second, Mr. Matthews looked at Riley. "Then, write a three page essay about the similarities and differences you have with them. It's due by Monday." The class groaned one more time before Mr. Matthews began with the day's lesson.
After school, I saw Missy Bradford flirting with Lucas. Riley was the first one to leave the classroom because of how embarrassed she was by her dad.
"So, you wanna go out with me tomorrow?" Missy asked while giggling and then she ran her hands up and down Lucas' chest. I almost threw up.
"Well, I'm going out with Riley tomorrow. Sorry Missy." Lucas shrugged his shoulders as if he really didn't care and as if what Missy was doing and saying had no affect on him. I smiled to myself for two reasons. Riley was going on her first date and Lucas just put Missy in her place. Missy's flirtatious smile suddenly dropped to a frown.
"Well, fine. It's your lost anyway." She flipped her hair back with the back of her hand and left the classroom holding her head up high. Lucas walked up to me.
"She should really get an ego-check." I nodded my head in agreement.
"You're telling me." I said. "Now, you treat Riley right on your date cowboy and you can have yourself a nice weekend." I said in my cowboy accent as I tipped my imaginary hat. I walked out of the classroom with a satisfied smirk on my face. I ran into Janitor Harley in the hallway as he was mopping the floors.
"Sup Harley. Have you seen Shawn anywhere?" In school, I was supposed to call Shawn 'Mr. Hunter' but that just sounded weird to me, and when have I ever followed the rules?
"He's in the art room talking to your art teacher." I furrowed my eyebrows. Why was Shawn talking to Ms. Kossa? "Hey, and if you're going to your friend's house, tell Baboon I said hi."
I laughed. "Why do you call Mr. Matthews Baboon?" Harley shrugged.
"Force of habit, I guess." And then he smiled at me. Little did I know that I was going to find out a lot sooner than I thought the reason why he called Mr. Matthews Baboon.
Right when I was about to walk into the art room, Shawn walked out.
"Hey Hunter." I said.
"Hey." He seemed distracted for some reason.
"I was wondering if you could drive me to the bakery? My mom told me to meet her there. She said she wants to tell me something important."
"Sure," Shawn was looking everywhere but me. He seemed nervous now and in a hurry. "Let's go."
Our drive to the bakery took longer than I expected. Traffic was everywhere. We could barley get through. The blizzard was getting worse. Shawn seemed very distant. He didn't say anything since we got in the car until I asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, Maya. I'm fine. I just want to let you know that I'm here for you. And your mom loves you a lot." I was surprised and confused. Shawn and my mom did not get along at all since they met. They could barely stand each other. They were so different. They tried to get along for my sake since I was really getting close to Shawn, but I never heard him need to reassure me that my mom loved me.
"What's this about anyway? And why were you talking to Ms. Kossa today?"
"I'll explain everything later." We stopped at a red light." He fished inside his pocket for his wallet and pulled out a picture and gave it to me. I recognized it immediately. It was the picture that the Matthews and I and Shawn took at the bakery in Christmas. I was about to flip the picture to read at the writing in the back when I realized that we had arrived at the bakery. I put the picture inside of my jacket. Before we got out of the car, Shawn asked if he could put his black photo album inside my backpack so that it wouldn't get wet. I accepted and put it inside my backpack.
We walked inside the bakery and I immediately spotted my mom in her blue waitress uniform jumping up and down in what looked to be excitement, hopefully. My mom was one of those people who did not care what anybody thought of her and what she did. It did wonders for her self-esteem. For me, not so much. I hurried over to her side.
"Is something wrong mom?" I said giving my mother a worried and concerned look. Mom was still jumping up and down. She was so excited and happy she almost reminded me of Riley when she got excited.
"Honey, I've made it! I auditioned for a show in California and I got the part!" She wrapped her arms around me. I stood there, frozen. I felt paralyzed. I couldn't move. How could she do this? I thought.
"What about school? I can't leave my friends." She took my hands in hers and gave me a big smile and tried to get me to be as happy as she was.
"You won't have to. I'm leaving you here so you can finish school and I'm on my way to Cali in two days! Aren't you proud of me?" I ripped my hands from hers.
"What? Who's going to take care of me mom?!" I didn't care anymore. People were staring at us, and I didn't care. This was unbelievable. Couldn't she see how much this was hurting me? Shawn walked up beside me.
"That was the reason why I was talking to Ms. Kossa, Maya. She was concerned about who you were staying with." Why did Shawn have to do that? Unless...
"What? You knew?" I asked incredulously, turning myself to face Shawn. I barely managed to keep myself from crying. I was close to tears.
"I'll give you a home Maya." He said. I couldn't believe this. My mom was leaving, and now... this happens. My eyes widened in realization.
"You wanna adopt me?" I asked. "You want to replace my mom? Do you think you can replace her?" Mom's smile left off her face.
"Maya, this is my big break. I thought you would be happy for me. I'm trying to do what I think is right. I had no other choice."
"No mom. I thought after dad left that at least you loved me enough to stay and take care of me. And now I feel like you're abandoning me too." Perhaps last year, this problem wouldn't have fazed me as much as it did now. I probably wouldn't have cared, because back then I had lowered my expectations for my mom. After all this time, did I really expect my mom to stay? I guess I did. Riley and Shawn filled me up with false hope that she wouldn't leave me.
"Please honey. Forgive me. Try to understand why I'm doing this. You're no good with me. Shawn will take care of you." Despite the fact that she was starting to cry, I shook my head and refused to accept what was happening.
"I can't forgive you Mom if you leave me." I turned to Shawn. "And I thought you said that you would always look out for me. You lied to me."
"Maya, I understand-" He tried to say before I interrupted him.
"How can you understand this? You don't understand me. You can't replace my parents, and you'll never understand me." I didn't know that I already began to cry until I felt my tears streaming down to my cheeks. I wiped the tears immediately with my sleeve. Before my mom or Shawn could make a move, I ran out of the bakery, still carrying my backpack and despite them repeatedly calling my name, I didn't look back.
The sky was gray, I noticed for the first time. It was probably 3:30 in the afternoon and obviously still snowing. I paused to look up at the sky when I was close to Riley's window. I was wearing my blue jacket and yet I was not wearing gloves or a hat. My hands were starting to turn red. I felt my body shiver as I put my hands inside my jacket pockets and felt something inside. I pulled out the picture Shawn gave to me. My anger told me to rip it up, but my heart told me to read the writing on the back. I flipped it and read: Maya, you don't have to be blood to be family. Love, Shawn. I shoved the picture back inside my pocket, too angry to think about the message.
I felt my head start getting numb so I put the hoodie of my jacket up to cover my head and was just about to throw a snow ball at Riley's window when I saw a figure climb out of her window and land on the fire escape in a tan trench coat. It was Riley. She climbed down the stairs as I waited for her. When she jumped to the ground, I saw she had been crying too.
"Maya? What are you doing here?" She said loudly. She wasn't wearing her makeup anymore. The wind was blowing harder and harder. I could barely hear her.
"What are you doing here? I was about to come up and see you!" I said, starting to feel the snow coming up to my ankles.
"Let's get out of here Maya. My parents don't understand me." She began to walk away. I couldn't lose her too, so I followed her.
"What happened with your parents?" I always thought Riley got along with them just fine. It was weird for me to think that I wasn't the only one who had family problems. We walked for a few minutes. Riley was silent. She didn't want to answer me. I had never saw this side of her. It was the side I feared she would become. Like me.
When the storm became unbearable, we quickly entered the first building we could get into. A building that was so familiar to me and now Riley would know my secret. An abandoned warehouse...
Author's Note: How did you guys like Girl Meets Crazy Hat? I can't wait for Girl Meets World: of Terror this week! Hope you liked this chapter! Can you guess where Shawn got the quote that he wrote to Maya on the back of the picture? Tell me in the comments if you remember from Boy Meets World! Next Sunday you will find out why Riley was angry with her parents which leads us into: time travel. Read and review!
Quote of the week:
"On the husband highway, there's very little forward traffic. Just a million well intentioned men backing up frantically." -George Feeny
-Mimi1239