A regular person would stay home during a thunderstorm.
But since I hung out with Riley and Maya, being normal was not an option. So we had to take the subway during the biggest thunderstorm of the year- all because they wouldn't cancel school for a rain day.
As we entered the subway, I noticed the lady that always sat on the same bench wearing the same hat every day.
"There she is again," Riley said.
"Crazy Hat's always here," Maya added. Crazy Hat eyed some people as they walked in front of her bench like they were something strange.
"What do you think her deal is?" Riley wondered aloud. "Former movie star? Olympic figure skater?"
Maya and I nodded to ourselves. "Bum on the bench," I deduced. Riley pushed some wet hair out of her face.
"But look at how she looks at everyone," she said. Crazy Hat kept looking warily at the people who walked by her. "What goes on in a head like hers?"
I shrugged. "I guess we'll never know." Maya took it upon herself to find out. "Hey Crazy Hat- what goes on in your head?"
"Aaand the adventure begins," I muttered. Crazy Hat looked over at us.
"You and you and you. Come over here. I'm gonna teach you about life," she said. Maya willingly walked over and sat down but Riley stayed behind. I followed Maya.
"Can't," Riley said. "Stranger. If you want me to sit on the bench, I'm going to need three forms of identification." She held up three fingers. An officer behind us had overheard, because he assured Riley that she was alright.
"Okay, Copper," she grinned.
"That's Officer Copper to you," he told her gruffly. Riley came to sit while the officer talked to Crazy Hat.
"Mornin', Evelyn," he greeted. Oh, so that's her name, I thought. "Never gonna stop raining, is it?"
"That's okay, Eugene. These three little dollies are about to give me one of their designer ponchos," she said confidently. I pulled one of the bright green trash bags out of Riley's backpack.
"They're garbage bags," I explained. "You hafta cut a hole in the top." Officer Eugene smiled knowingly at me.
"Ah, so you can breathe." I shook my head. "So that the garbage man doesn't throw you out," I corrected.
Maya smirked. "That happened."
"I was yelling- he didn't care," Riley sighed.
"We rescued her from the truck," I grinned at the memory.
Evelyn looked at us strangely, but we didn't stop telling our garbage tale. "They chased me all the way to 33rd street. One of them even had to talk the driver into believing that I was actually in the garbage bag," Riley recalled.
Officer Eugene looked impressed. "Wow, now that is a friend. Me, I don't chase nobody for nothin'."
Maya looked up at the officer. "Well, what if I stole a banana?" She asked. Officer Eugene frowned.
"Then I'd be very disappointed in you," he warned. Maya dropped her gaze and looked shamefully at the floor. "Okay..."
Evelyn decided to speak up. "I have observed that you three are very good friends."
"Don't miss a thing, do ya Crazy Hat?" Maya deadpanned. "No I don't," Evelyn agreed.
"Now you're about to be late for school and I'm about to be late for addressing the United Nations!" She declared. Wait. How did she know about school? Eh, whatever.
I handed her the green garbage bag. "Now have a good day, dollies. Be good people, learn all you can." With that she got up and shuffled off.
Riley turned to Maya and I. "How does that happen to someone? Do you think that could ever happen to us?" Riley put out her hand to make her point as she spoke, and right when she finished someone put a used tissue into her hand.
"Well, at least nothing worse than that could happen," I tried being positive. I should've eaten my words, because as they left my mouth Riley was picked up and dumped into a trash bin.
"HADLEY!" She shrieked as she was helplessly discarded. Maya and I exchanged a glance, and I went to pick up her bag.
"MAYA!" She yelled and we walked after her. "Yeah okay."
-
Today Mr Matthews was preaching about-
"Belgium. 1831."
"NO!" Riley protested. Mr Matthews tried again. "In 1831, Belgium-"
"NO!"
Mr Matthews blinked. "Riley?" He asked concernedly.
"What's my thing?" She asked breathlessly in return.
"What's your thing?" He repeated.
"What am i gonna be, Dad?" She asked. It turned into a full out Riley's Problem Turns Into A Lesson situation from there. However, Farkle had a lot against it.
He slammed his fist on the desk and blabbed something in an entirely different language.
"Calm down, Farkle. You're speaking in Dutch again," Mr Matthews told him. Farkle slapped himself and I winced. He tried to speak again, except this time it wasn't English either.
"No no," Mr Matthews chuckled. "You slapped yourself way too hard- you went all the way to Spanish!"
Farkle hit himself again, and this time it was English. "My education should not be based on your daughter's moods!" He protested. Mr Matthews put his up in defeat.
"Neither should mine, but it is." He stepped forward a little.
"Guys, a daughter asks her father, "what's my thing?" This question will resonate in the hearts of all parents from the moment it's asked until the day their child feels comfortable in the world.
"Pretty soon you're all going to join the work force.
What's your thing? What do you aspire to? How will you affect people? That's the only history that matters," he smiled as he ended off.
"Thank you, daddy," said Riley, relieved.
"Thank you, daddy," Farkle whimpered too.
Then, Mr M decided to split the class into companies. "We'll see if anyone's got anything to worry about, okay?"
I could tell Farkle was smirking from behind me. "Excellent," he drawled, mimicking a cartoon character I couldn't quite place.
"What will our companies be?" I asked. Mr Matthews shrugged. "Doesn't matter." He looked around for something to use, and finally grabbed a muffin that was sitting on his desk.
"Uh, muffins, okay? You and Farkle are going to be Hadley and Farkle's Muffins. That'll be your thing for this week."
When he turned to Maya, she simply told him, "I've already got my thing. Hadley and Riley are gonna be a success and I'm gonna sponge offa them until they get sick of me."
"I will never get sick of you," Riley and I said in unison. Maya put her hands behind her head. "I am set for life!" She declared. I smiled and laughed a little.
"Alright!" Farkle said loudly, rubbing his fingers together. "Let's get out there and make some money! Cash, cabbage, cheddah cheese!"
"Those are your values, Farkle?" Mr Matthews asked surprised.
"What else should a company value more than profits?"
Lucas turned around in his seat to face Farkle. "Well if I had a company I'd treat my employees right and make sure we did well with our customers," he said.
Farkle smiled and pointed at him. "You are everything that's wrong with this country." I raised my eyebrows.
"Woah. Them's fighting words," I smirked. Mr Matthews looked down at my worrying mess of a brother and told him that he had a company too.
"Hart, Matthews & Friar Muffins," he declared. "Three of you, because you'll need all the help you can get," he added a little more quietly. I pretended not to hear.
He then went on to explain how it was going to work: the two competing companies would hire the rest of the kids as employees. Everyone else in school would act as our customers.
"Let's see what happens," he grinned.
"Here's what happens," Maya said confidently as she swiveled around to face me. "We crush you." Farkle must've seen it coming, because his instant reaction was, "We will be bajillionaires, and you will eat your words using plastic cutlery."
I don't like this new side of Farkle's personality. What gives? It's just a muffin competition... Nevertheless I acted like the nice girlfriend I had to be."You're cute when you're menacing," I assured him. He blinked with his mouth hanging wide open.
"I don't know what to do now," was all he could manage. I let him look like a dying fish for about five more seconds until the bell rang. I got up to leave while Farkle stayed behind, probably for good ol' Belgium. Usually, I would either sit with him or hang around outside waiting for him to learn the secrets of the universe one by one from the old man in the cave from the Zelda games that was Mr Matthews.
As horrible as I knew it was, I didn't bother to wait up this time.
-
By the next day it was time to sell our muffins to the unsuspecting New York population. People kept coming back for more and more muffins from our stand, but Maya, Lucas and Riley weren't having much luck. Our sales jar was filling up by the milisecond, and even though I was occupied with selling them, I couldn't help notice how white the muffins were.
Eventually we hit the last muffin. "Last muffin from this batch!" Farkle called to the (holy cow that is one big crowd) mass of students. Everyone groaned.
"Why are their muffins so white?" Maya asked suspiciously from the other side of the hall.
"Believe me, I don't know either," I replied. I was about to sell the last one to this girl for the regular dollar price until Farkle snatched it out of my hands.
"Hold on- I don't think so." He smirked.
"What are you doing, Farkle?" I asked.
"It's the law of Supply and Demand, Hadley," he explained like I should've known it before. Yeah, well, sorry honey, I don't spend hours mulling over law books like you do. "We supply, they demand. Let's see what our last muffin is worth to them!"
He raised the powdery looking thing high up in the air, and barely a second later people were screaming their offers.
"A dollar and a quarter!"
"Dollar fifty!"
The offers kept coming and coming until Maya had had enough. "Hey!" She was talking over the shouts. "What's so great about their muffins?"
"We've got plenty of muffins right here!" Riley protested. The kids looked over at them, then turned back to us.
"Two dollars!"
"Two fifty!"
"I'LL GIVE YOU MY BROTHER!"
-
After our first round of selling, Mr Matthews called for progress reports. Maya, Riley and Lucas started first.
"Hart, Friar and Matthews report- we started with a hundred muffins, each made with all natural and organic ingredients," Riley began.
"And you selected these ingredients because?" Mr Matthews asked expectantly.
"...because that's the right and responsible thing to do," Maya added. Mr Matthews looked really amused and asked her if she "really believed that?"
Frustrated, Maya threw down her arms and went, "I don't know, you spend a day with this guy." She gestured towards Lucas and he just kinda went with it.
"So far, we've sold fourteen muffins at a dollar each," he continued.
"Okay, how much did they cost you?"
Riley and those two exchanged glances. "They didn't cost us anything to make," she told her father. He narrowed his eyes, confused.
"But how is that possible?" He asked. Lucas did the thing where he scrunched up his face. It's his thinking face, don't question it.
"Well, my aunt bought them for us," he admitted weakly. "She wanted us to sell healthy food."
"Ohhh, so that explains all those pink boxes lining the walls," I snickered. "I thought you ordered roses and daisies because you were getting into flower arrangement again."
"THAT WAS NEVER A THING!" He cried in retaliation. Maya tried to stifle a snarky comeback, resulting in a snort. "I stand by our product, sir," Lucas continued.
"So do I," Maya agreed. "They're everywhere." She walked over to one of the Leaning Tower of Muffins that filled the room.
"How are your profits, Friar?" Farkle asked, grinning maliciously. Mr Matthews kind of lost it then, yelling stuff about how he taught his class the way he did.
"So...how are my profits, Friar?" Lucas repeated expectantly. "Yes!" Mr Matthews replied, frustrated.
Lucas smiled nervously and opened the little progress binder he was holding. "Well, Lucas has those right here, Dad," Riley said. All three of them paused for a bit, and after a quick glance inside Maya said defeatedly, "None."
Farkle cupped a hand around his ear. "I'm sorry what?" I glared at him but he took no notice.
"None!" Lucas repeated again, louder this time. "And it's not right sir, our muffins are good for you!"
"I'm sorry wha-"
"FARKLE!" I yelled and he shut up, looking down at his desk.
"None," Riley replied, clearly agitated. She was already really mad, I could tell. Her voice was considerably higher, making it more shrill and headache-inducing than it already was.
"Can't even give 'em away," Maya grumbled as she threw one of the reject muffins towards the class. Some kid at the back must've thrown it back to her, because it hit her square on the forehead. Farkle inhaled loudly from behind me as he stood up.
"Let's talk about a real make-believe company," he suggested as he confidently strode up to the front. I reluctantly followed, ways of breaking up with him bouncing around in my mind. Seriously, I'd been thinking about it for three days ever since I received his note. Today's fiasco made me finally decide that I was going to end it. But when?
"Farkle's Muffins," he announced as he pushed Riley, Maya and Lucas out of the way.
"Hadley & Farkle's Muffins," I corrected and he half-smiled at me. I felt very spaced out and thought it was best to just keep talking to play my break-up thoughts off.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," he said and I ignored it. "Unlike our competitors, our muffins are through the roof. And so are our employees." Mr Matthews looked over to see a bunch of the other kids bouncing off the walls on an amazing sugar high. They were tapping their hands and feet, smacking pencils against the tables and moving up and down. It was like watching them do a video game combo.
'Why are they like that?" Mr Matthews seemed disgusted and a little shocked.
"They ate the product, sir," Farkle replied nonchalantly.
"Hadley?"
I threw my hands up in defeat. "I have no idea. He made the muffins and brought them here. I just sold them because I work for him." And I also date him, I thought, and right then, he decides to put his arm around me. I quickly ducked out of his reach. I was not a supporter of PDA around adults, let alone teachers. I tried changing the topic.
"Why are they so white, Farkle?" I asked, picking one up. The frosting, as I presumed, crumbled off the top and onto my finger.
"Because- they're a hundred perfect carbon, hydrogen and oxygen."
"Uh, explain that to the non-scientists, Farkle." He then reached into the box and pulled one snow-white muffin out.
"Sugar! They're all sugar! Just one big sugar cube!" He yelled to everyone. I looked down at the white dust on my finger and licked it off. Yep. Pure sugar.
"What?" Lucas demanded. "Ours are oatmeal, honey and locally harvested berries!"
I was about as furious as Lucas was by then. I pulled on Farkle's shoulders to make him face me. "Farkle, you said all natural!"
"SUGAR!" He cried.
"You said organic!"
"SUGAR!"
"You said delicious!"
"SUGAR!" The class shouted in response. I glared at all of them. "It wasn't for you!" I turned my anger on Farkle.
"Farkle, we're a business. Businesses don't just mislead their customers for money!" I fumed. To fuel my fiery passion of hatred, he decided to go, "HA!" right in my face. Lucas must have seen the look of doom on me because he came over and stood behind me in case I had to be restrained or something. Believe me, it had happened before.
"We're done, Farkle. These muffins are pure evil," I said, grabbing one and almost crushing the sugary life out of it. He stared back with equal force as he leaned his full weight on the desk.
"You know how you succeed, sweetie? You give the people what they want." He deadpanned. "That's why we're a success, and they're not." He took one of Maya's muffins and tossed it into the class, resulting in a strike on Maya's forehead.
Maya turned to complain to Mr M. "This isn't fair Mr Matthews! I had to listen to Lucas and Hadley's aunt go on about 'good eatin' and 'wholesome living in the natural cornucopia of the earth's bounty'!"
"Have you ever even heard us talk?" I shot back. I was returned with a "HA-HURRRRR!" She went on to lament about how it wasn't fair.
"What isn't fair?" Mr Matthews asked.
"That I'm not on their team!" Maya said.
"Maya, what we did isn't okay!" I retorted. "But I didn't know and I'm not going down with him! I'll talk-"
"To who?" Farkle cut in. "To everyone who loves our muffins? Enjoy the taste of success, Hadley. It's sweet."
"Not to me, I seem to have a horribly bitter taste in my mouth!" I snapped angrily. Lucas put a hand on my shoulder as if to say quit while you're ahead. "Riley, you guys played fair- we didn't! You have integrity, but we don't!"
"And what does that get them?" Farkle asked. "We can buy and sell their business. In fact, I like the sound of that. Yeah... I propose a merger between Hadley & Farkle Muffins and Hart, Friar & Matthews Muffins."
"Why the merger, Farkle?" Mr Matthews asked.
"We both have something the other party doesn't, sir. They have integrity, we have our success. I'm buying it!" He declared. Lucas was still very defensive.
"My integrity is not for sale!" He objected, despite Maya being totally on board with the merger.
"Maya!"
"We owe your aunt a hundred bucks."
"Put 'er there, partner!" Lucas said immediately, shaking Farkle's hand. Farkle grinned triumphantly, proceeding to explain that our new company would be called Farkle. When we objected, Farkle pointed to us and asked, "What's the first thing that happens after a merger, daddy?"
After Riley repeated it, Mr Matthews was all like, "Downsizing. When two companies come together, employees become vulnerable."
By the time I looked down to check where Farkle was he had his feet up on the teacher's desk and had switched the nameplate to read his name.
"Lucas, fire half the company. Start with Riley and Maya, but keep my girlfriend," he ordered.
"Why do I have to do that?" He asked, narrowing his eyebrows.
"Because you're all full of that Texas gee-whillyker hooey," he explained "You charm people. Hadley'll be the face of the company, and I'll be the behind the scenes hermit-genius."
When Lucas turned to Mr Matthews for his input, all he did was shrug and go, "How do you argue with that?"
"Always liked you, Matthews," Farkle said approvingly. "You got moxy!"
"Thanks, chief!"
Lucas slowly walked over to Riley. "Riley?"
"Yeah?" She asked dreamily.
"You're fired." And her expression dropped completely.
"Fine," she said and walked out the door in a huff. Maya and I stepped forward.
"Hey," I said, getting Farkle and Lucas's attention. "If she goes, we go too. I don't care if I'm your girlfriend or if I'm your anything, Farkle, but today was uncalled for."
As I left, I heard Farkle say, "Friendship, love and loyalty are for the weak."
Yeah, that'll do it. We're over.
-
"I gave my whole life to that company," Riley lamented as she walked into the subway with us. "What happened? I can't even keep a fake job. Oh no- all my fears are realized- I'm going to end up here!"
"Don't go crazy," I told her. Just then, someone dropped another used tissue into her box. Maya nodded, contemplating the situation.
"Now go crazy." Riley walked off towards Crazy Hat's bench, mumbling stuff about being fired and all that.
"Ah," Evelyn sighed as we sat down with her. "The box of shame. What happened?" She inquired.
"Class project. Fake business," I explained. Crazy Hat had this weird look, like she was judging the very look of me. She probably was.
"I got fired," Riley added.
"Not so terrible!" Crazy Hat assured her. "I've been fired myself once or twice!"
"Yeah, but not from fake businesses," Riley said.
"I think you could call them that," Crazy Hat replied. "Now I come down here and watch people coming and going, giving their lives to fake businesses." She stood up abruptly. "Gotta go. Gotta meeting."
Maya smirked. "With squirrels," she said in a high voice. I couldn't find the energy or will to laugh at it even though I wanted to. Ever since I decided I was breaking up with Farkle all I've been thinking about is how and when I'm going to end it. And whether it's a good idea...I found myself comparing it to a wound. You gotta rip of the band aid at some point, right? Then it stings a little but over time you'll be okay.
I barely noticed Riley getting up and talking to Evelyn. I saw her press a note into her hand. Huh. I guess the tissue wasn't tissue after all.
Evelyn left after exchanging a quick glance with Copper Eugene, and Riley jogged back to the bench. Maya ran off somewhere while I just sat and watched.
"It's just us!" Riley said exasperatedly. "It's just us on the bench! No jobs, no future, no dollar because I gave it to her! What am I going to do about my mid-afternoon snack?"
Maya was over at the trash bin digging around."I got pizza crust and a shoe!"
"What size?" Riley asked hopefully.
"Ten."
"What a terrible world," she sighed, leaning back into the bench.
Half hour later, we were still there. Maya was watching the trains, Riley was probably sleeping and I was thinking of ways to tell someone you don't want to date them anymore.
"Hey, Farkle, you're clinging to me an awful lot and I think we should go slow?"
"Hey, Farkle, I think I don't like you anymore?"
"Hey, Farkle, I'm sorry I ever agreed to date you because now I know it was just a dumb crush?"
I decided against all of them, pushing the thought out for the time being. That's when Evelyn came over.
"Been looking at the people, huh?" She asked and Riley nodded in agreement.
"Hey, Hat," Maya greeted her, smiling with the right side of her mouth. "You're a sight for sore eyes."
"How'd your meeting go?" Riley asked. The older woman's face seemed the brighten a little.
"Oh, y'know, I yelled at everybody..." She started making weird noises and clawing at the air. "...and they're all running around, scared of me."
"Sounds like fun," I said. I was speaking for the first time in the three hours we were sitting in the subway.
"It's more fun when I come down here from my building," she said, walking around the bench. She sat down and I scooted over to make room. Riley was a little surprised when she heard it was Evelyn's building.
"Oh, your building," Riley repeated. Evelyn seemed to puff with pride as she straightened her vest. "It was named after me," she explained.
Maya nodded, seeming to take in everything Evelyn said carefully. "The Crazy Hat Building?" She guessed. Evelyn seemed to ignore her.
"I sit here looking at all the people because it turns out people are the key to your own happiness," she said, changing subject. "I watch them enough and I start thinking about what I can do for them."
I blinked, fully shocked by the Grammy-worthy speech she just made. "What you can do for them?" I repeated dubiously.
"Mhmm!" Evelyn smiled as she leaned in closer to me. She kept talking. "Now you've been looking at all these people. What do you see?"
As if on cue, two girls came stomping down the steps, closing their umbrellas. They ran to the trash bin and stuffed them inside. Wasteful little Deku Scrubs, I thought.
"I see a bunch of wet people who could probably use some umbrellas," Riley said quietly.
"Yeah," Maya agreed. "And not the no good kind some Farkle sells on the street to make some cash, cabbage, cheddah cheese."
Evelyn made a grunt in agreement. "You saw all that just by looking a little. What's a Farkle?" She asked.
"Farkle is my clingy boyfriend who I'm going to break up with," I said in a rush. I guess I couldn't contain it anymore. I had to get it out of my system.
Riley and Maya both looked at me in shock, but thanks to the three-second attention span I could change the subject. "Did you know that some people won't protect themselves from the storm but will keep their morning donut dry?"
Evelyn nodded in approval, completely oblivious to my boyfriend statement. "That is a very good observation," she complimented me. "Now what are you gonna tell your class about this, hmm?"
Maya scoffed. "Nothing. I'm not going back...I'm tired of being humiliated." I patted her shoulder awkwardly.
"Tough," Riley agreed. "You know what? We're going to go back. Crazy Hat goes into buildings and screams at people. You're not humiliated!"
Evelyn them made a roaring sound, and Riley mimicked it, followed by me. "Okay, rawr," Maya said, following suit. Evelyn leaned in to her ear.
"THAT WAS TERRIBLE!" She screamed and Maya raised her eyebrows challengingly. Riley didn't seem to care, because she them picked up her Box Of Shame and left. Maya and I shrugged and caught up with her.
-
We held a class presentation the next day. "Here's what's real," I began. "It's been raining for like, what, six days? And people are wet and cold out there and they need something to keep them safe from the storm. We know how to give it to them."
"What if every single subway stop in New York City was stocked with donated umbrellas?" Maya suggested.
"The Friar, Matthews & Hart Umbrella Foundation, Riley announced proudly. "It's non-profit-"
"WHAT?!" Came Farkle's voice. I shot him a look and signaled to the girls to keep talking.
"When you come into the subway station you leave an umbrella in the stand," Maya explained.
"And when you leave the next station, there'll be one waiting for you!" I finished. All three of us picked up binders from the front desk.
Maya mimicked the deep, passionate voice of a TV announcer. "The Friar, Matthews and Hart Umbrella Foundation."
"We got you covered," Riley smirked. I thought it was all going well until-
"There's no money in umbrellas," Farkle objected, a smirk plastered onto his face.
I raised my eyebrows, setting the binder down. "No, there's people to keep dry," I countered.
"Our company makes a profit, Hadley," he reminded me.
"Yeah, but at what cost?" Riley said, stepping in. "Look at your customers."
A kid in the back was lamenting about her crashed sugar high. "How could something that tastes so good make me feel so bad?" She moaned.
Maya and I smiled. "What goes up must come down, Farkle."
Maya picked up one the healthy muffins and tossed it into the rows of students. She held her arms up, waiting for the impact, but it never came because the girl caught it. She slowly took a bite, and her expression changed. I could tell she thought it was really good. It was, actually. I may or may not have sneaked some while in an anxiety attack about Farkle.
"At least I was up!" Farkle protested. He just doesn't take a break, doesn't he? "What do you have besides an idea?"
Suddenly, Evelyn spoke up from the doorway. "They've got an investor!" She declared. Maya, Riley and I exchanged worried glances.
"Oh no," Riley said.
"She followed us," I sighed. However, Mr Matthews wasn't at all fazed by her sudden appearance. In fact, he even seemed to recognize her.
"Evelyn Rand!" He exclaimed. Maya blinked. "Wha- you know Crazy Hat?"
Mr Matthews' eyes widened. "I know she's the chairman of the board of Rand Industries," he told us. "You guys walk by her building on the way to school."
"She really has a building?" Riley said nervously.
"With her name on it."
Evelyn smiled. "You'll usually find me on the top floor of my building going 'RAA RAA RAA!'" She chuckled as she walked over to us. "You three dollies wanna know how I got my name on the building?"
The three of us nodded eagerly. "I do!" Mr Matthews chimed in.
"By knowing a good idea when I hear one," she continued, setting her purse down on the table. "So, I made out a check to the three dollies!"
Riley grinned widely as she received it. "You can do that?" She asked excitedly.
"I can do whatever I want. Now, you three- I want you to go get some umbrellas, go put 'em in the subway stations, you start. The people will do the rest," she instructed us. "I believe in them- I watched them! Now...which one is your boyfriend, The Farkle?"
I looked over at him and he turned his head to the side, hiding his face. I snickered. Evelyn spotted him immediately and walked over, sizing him up. He sank down lower in his seat to try and disappear. I giggled and went to stand with him.
She leaned in close to his face. "STOP IT!" She yelled and he jumped a little. Well, the closest thing to jumping in a chair. Evelyn pulled out a dollar from her scarf.
"Now. Farkle. Here is one dollar. Somebody came by it by doing hard work! Not by pumping people up with something you knew would let them down!" She chided him, holding the crumpled bill out to him. "Don't keep the dollar. It won't fix you if you keep it! Pass it on- that's what changes you, Farkle. Take it from me."
Farkle grabbed the dollar and said something in another language again. Evelyn replied in the same language, and I smiled. Farkle smiled at me, and I squeezed his shoulder.
Evelyn walked over to Riley and Maya, so I joined them. "You three, don't worry so much about your future," she advised.
"Really?" I asked and Evelyn nodded.
"Really? Yes! You three dollies are gonna be just fine!" She assured us with a warm smile. She handed us her umbrella. "Now, here's your first umbrella."
She seemed to think for a second, the removed her crazy hat and put it on Maya's head. She gave us a thumbs up, and said a few final words to Mr Matthews.
"You really think you can make a difference in these kid's lives?" She asked.
"Yeah, I can. I'm their teacher," he replied fondly.
"Good for you," was all Evelyn said as she walked out the door, shutting it behind her.
Lucas got up suddenly and approached us. "Riley," he began. "If it's at all possible- I'd like to help out with your company."
"Aww! You're as sweet as sugar, aren't you bro-bro!" I cooed. Riley whispered something in Maya's ear, and motioned for me to follow.
"Miss Matthews says you're fired," Maya told my brother. He smiled at Maya.
"HA-HURR!!!"
-
Now, if you go down to the New York subway stations, you'll find a whole bunch of people helping each other out, sheltering each other from the hard rainfall. And that's what's it's supposed to be, anyway. A good community with everyone's wellbeing at heart.
•••••••
Oh my god that took forever. Just a note that I will not be doing World of Terror because how does that even fit into the story? So, next up will be Girl Meets The Forgotten. Thanks for reading!