(AuthorNote- I'm skipping Girl meets Crazy Hat, since I can't find a transcript for it. Also it helps the calendar line up....)
"How do you know Lucas?" Farkle demanded. We were sitting in my bedroom again after dinner.
"He goes to school with us... Sits next to us every day." I said, trying to avoid the question.
"You know what I mean Kenzie. You knew him before he came here. How?" He paused. "Unless.... No.... You weren't really in Houston, Texas, were you?"
My mouth felt dry. "N-not exactly no..." I mumbled.
"You were in Austin, Texas where Lucas lived, weren't you?"
"Y-yeah."
"Why didn't you tell me!? Or Maya!? Riley? The Matthews family!? Anyone! Why would you keep this a secret?" He exclaimed.
I paused, taking in a deep breath. "It's not a big deal... I wasn't the same person back in Texas. Lucas wasn't either. Some things happened there that I don't want to talk about."
"Like your mom dying of cancer?" He asked softly.
"Y-yeah." I lied.
"You could have told me you know."
"I'm sorry...." I said, fidgeting with my thumbs.
"You're different now, Kenzie. You may hide it, but I can see it in your eyes. We both know something happened in Texas you're not telling me." He said, looking into my eyes.
"A lot of things happened in Texas." I stated blankly, looking down.
He sighed, frustratedly. "I'm gonna go... See you at school tomorrow..." He said, before climbing out the window.
~<3~
(Nov. 1) "Fear is never a reason for quitting; it is only an excuse" ~ Norman Vincent Peale
Fear. Such a little word with such deep meaning. You can be afraid of literally anything. People are afraid of the dark, clowns, Doctor Who monsters, bugs, the list goes on and on. Yesterday was Halloween, a night based on fear (and candy... Fear and candy). Let me just say that we overcame tons of fears last night.
~<3~
Farkle and I still hadn't talked about last night. You could tell he was upset with me just by looking at him. Speaking of Farkle, he was currently hanging on Mr. Matthews in history class. "No no no no no!" He yelled.
"Let go, Farkle. It's only gym class." Matthews said, trying to get him off.
"They throw things at me!" He yelled back.
"Who?"
"Maya!" Suddenly the sound of thunder filled the room.
Maya shook her head. "I'm the pitcher."
"They make me stand there in front of everybody!"
Riley sighed. "He's the batter."
"There's a guy behind me in a mask!"
Lucas frowned. "That'd be the catcher, sir."
"And then somebody screams."
Cory frowned. "That's Makenzie. She's the umpire right?"
I frowned and shook my head. "No, that's him." I said, at the same time that Farkle said, "No, that's me."
Cory shook his head. "I'm still not gonna write you a note for gym class, Farkle. It's softball. What could possibly go wrong in softball?" The thunder crashed again as Farkle jumped onto Matthews's back piggyback style.
"Get off!" He exclaimed.
Now it's time for gym. Yay.
~<3~
"Batter up!" Coach Gleason yelled. Farkle looked at him nervously.
"It's raining outside. Why are we playing softball inside? We should be playing dodgeball. No, wait! What am I talking about? We should be square dancing. Yeah! We should be swinging our partner!" To demonstrate, he grabbed my hand and proceeded to try and square dance with me.
Coach Gleason shook his head. "You should be swinging your bat, Farkle. Get in there! What are you afraid of?" No offense to Coach or anything, but he reminds me of Coach Hedge in the Heroes of Olympus series. I can never take him seriously because of that fact.
Farkle whispered. "I'm afraid of getting hit by the ball, coach."
"You're afraid of getting hit by the ball?" Coach said loudly.
"I'm also afraid of public humiliation." He whispered again.
"You're afraid of public humiliation? Quit your bellyaching. She throws straight as a rope."
To demonstrate, Maya hurled a softball to the catcher so fast, it hit his glove with a crack. Riley started to sing.
"Check, check, check her out. Check our little pitcher out!" She cheered.
"Riles?" Maya questioned..
"All right. Third base. I'm ready." Riley said, then turned to Lucas. "What hand does this thing go on?"
Maya looked at her with comfusion. "You know what hand it goes..." Then she stopped, watching as Lucas went to Riley and helped her. "Oh..."
I smirked. "I am such a proud friend right now."
"Thanks." Riley said dreamily.
"Yeah, okay." Lucas said, obviously knowing what she was up too. Riley then proceeded to slap Lucas from behind with her glove.
"Yeah, I did that." She said confidently, before walking back to her spot.
Farkle turned to Coach. "Why do I have to be up?"
"Why does anybody have to be up, Farkle? Why does anybody have to be anything? Why do I have to be a gym teacher? I could be a ballerina!" He tried to twirl like a ballerina. "Doo, doo, doo! Doo, doo, doo! Don't work, do it? Know why? 'Cause I'm a gym teacher and you're up!" Yep, Coach Hedge all the way.
Farkle got up to bat and grunted as Maya started to throw. Maya threw the ball which hit the edge of Farkle's bat as he quickly posed, as still as a statue. "Wait, can he do that?" Maya yelled.
Coach shrugged. "He's in the batter's box."
"Ball one!" I yelled. Farkle screamed as Maya threw again. "Ball two!"
Lucas stepped forward. "He's rattling my pitcher, Coach. He's doing it on purpose. He's an evil, genius mastermind."
"Yeah?" Coach asked, looking at Farkle's scared pose. "I don't think he is." I started to snigger a little.
Maya was about to throw another pitch when the lights in the gymnasium suddenly turned dark. Farkle faked sadness and started to walk out. "Aww, too bad. Darn. Heck. See you in science, suckas. And let me tell you something, Maya, you ain't all that. I would've hit the next one right out of the pa-" the lights suddenly turned back on and Maya was standing in front of him. "You look pretty."
"Move." She growled.
"I'm good right here." He said
"You wanna spend the rest of your life scared?" Coach asked.
"I was planning on it, sir."
"Get in the box, Farkle."
Farkle walked back to batter's box about to face another pitch from Maya. "Time out." Lucas suddenly said. He walked over to Maya. "All right, you're done, Maya."
"What?"
"I'm taking you out."
"You're not my type." I laughed at that.
Lucas sighed. "I'm taking you out of the game."
"What?!" She exclaimed. Then an idea popped in my head and I ran to Riley to whisper it in her ear before going back to my spot.
Then the both of us sang in unison. "Maya, Maya, say goodbye-a!"
"Girls!!"
"Yes?" We said, turning to her innocently.
She turned back to Lucas. "What do you think you're doing?"
"You haven't thrown a strike. I think Farkle's in your head, kid."
"But he's all "Wah! Wah! Flah!"" She exclaimed frustratedly.
"I know how to pitch to him, Maya. I know what to do. Take shortstop." She grudgingly gave the ball to Lucas.
"Okay, Lucas, nice and slow, okay?"
"Yeah. How's this for slow?" He threw the ball at Farkle, hard. The ball hit his arm and he dramatically screamed 'Why...?' Lucas then looked at him calmly. "Hey."
"You did that on purpose." The boy accused.
"Yeah, I did."
"Why would you do that?"
"I did it for you, Farkle."
"You threw that as hard as you could?" He asked skepticall.
"Pretty much. How do you feel?"
"Im... fine." He chuckled. "Doesn't even hurt, really."
"Right." Lucas said, obviously glad Farkle caught on.
"Huh... Thanks a lot."
"Anytime. Trick or treat Tonight?"
"Absolutely."
Coach Gleason turned to Farkle. "You got hit. Get to take your base, Farkle."
Farkle shook his head. "Don't want it, coach." He pointed to Maya. "You. Bring it."
Maya took the ball back from Lucas.
"Farkle, Farkle, gonna sparkle!" Riley and I cheered. Yeah, we had a late night cheer session where we came up with cheers for our friends's names. Because that's what you do after eating lots of donuts.
Maya threw the pitch and there was a crack as Farkle hit the pitch. Yup, that's my cousin. Even if we weren't talking to each other, I was the proudest cousin alive. He overcame his fear.
~<3~
Riley turned to Maya in the hallway. "So, Halloween sleepover at my house to do candy trades?"
"Its a tradition." I said shrugging.
"Yeah, except... why don't we do it at my house?" Maya asked. Riley screamed as a locker door flew open revealing a scary mask. Then suddenly Coach ran out in a tutu yelling "Doo doo doo!", and a disturbing shadow appeared. Then we realized it was only Cory.
"Yeah, why don't you guys sleep at Maya's this year?"
"I like Maya's house."
Riley scoffed. "Because we've already agreed to have it in my room every single year forever."
Maya frowned. "Why are you so afraid to sleep over at my house?"
"I'm not."
I coughed out "liar".
"You've never made it through a whole night there." Maya complained.
"Tell her that's not true, Dad."
"I can't, Honey. I'm the one that has to get up in the middle of the night and get you when you secretly call me."
"Why doesn't Topanga take a turn?" I asked.
"You don't wanna see a sleepy Topnaga." He said shaking his head.
"I wake up every morning and you're not there. It makes me feel bad." Maya said sadly.
"I would never make you feel bad." Riley said frowning.
"Then I want you to stay one night... all night... Tonight."
Coach ran past us again in his tutu yelling. "Doo, doo, doo!"
Cory handed an overnight bag to Riley and I. "Riley, get over this fear."
"Wait if thought that we were sleeping over at the your house, why do you have bags's ready for us, Matthews?"
"Maya suggested I bring them."
"Because you want me to grow out of this?" Riley asked.
"Because I want to sleep."
"Could you at least drive me there?"
"To Maya's House of Horrors?" He asked as thunder struck and suddenly he was gone.
"Funny, Dad. Dad?"
"Let's go." Maya and I said, dragging her out of there.
~<3~
The three of us sat in Maya's bedroom. Riley was curled up on the bed in the corner of the wall, while Maya and I were sitting on the floor. "All right. How's it going so far?" Maya asked Riley.
"It's good. I'm good. A little bit noisy."
"Different part of town." I explained. Riley sighed, looking at the window before screaming as a small furry creature crawled out from under the bed.
"What's that? What's that? What's that?"
"That's Ginger." Maya said, picking Ginger up.
"Hi, Ginger. I'm Riley." Riley said sweetly. Bad move Riley... Ginger isn't a people person. She tried to bite me once. Sure enough, Ginger hissed at her. "I don't know how to tell you this, but your new cat's possessed."
"It's a ferret." I told her.
"I don't know how to tell you this, but your new cat's a ferret." She grabbed Ginger and put him on Maya's bed. "Here you are, Ginger."
"I wouldn't do that." Maya warns,
"Does he let you know when he needs to pee?"
"That's why I wouldn't do that."
"Oh, I get it now." Maya picked up Ginger who had just peed on Riley's pillow. Maya and Riley were sharing a bed while I slept on an air mattress on the floor. Apparently I roll in my sleep.
"Okay, bye-bye, Ginger." She said putting her back on the floor. Riley quickly switched pillows with Maya when she wasn't looking.
"Okay, Riley, I'm gonna turn off the lights now." We had decided to go to bed early without telling Riley so that we could be done with this.
"No! I don't like it completely dark. I like it just a little bit light."
"No problem. Watch." She turned off the lights. Riley looked over to see a red light on Maya's wall with a bunny silhouette. "Aww, baby bunny." The silhouette got bigger. "Baby bunny growing."
Then she saw what appeared to be a ghost silhouette. "Guys!"
"Come here." I told her, directing her to the window. "They opened a new bunny mart across the street."
"Oh."
Maya nodded. "All you're seeing is the shadows of the neon sign where the little bunny gets bigger and bigger."
"Oh."
"Can we go to sleep now?" We asked.
"Yeah. It's just shadows. Shadows can't hurt me. Your house is nice and I am safe." She got into bed with Maya and removed her pillow, since Maya had ended up switching them back. "I'ma be okay. I'ma be okay, I'ma be okay." I looked up at the red light to see a shadow moving. "Something else is here, something else is here. Goodbye, Riley, Goodbye, Riley. Goodbye, Riley, it's gonna eat me now." Then she saw Gammy Hart and screamed. "Girls!"
"No, it's me, Gammy. Come on, give me a hug."
"Hi, Gammy Hart. How have you been?"
"Well, I'm still kicking, Ri-Ri. The old Grim Reaper has gotta move a lot faster to catch up with me. Yeah. Not Today, Sammy." She said laughing as I furrowed my brow in confusion. Then she left.
Riley sighed. "Maybe if I didn't see the shadows, I could actually go to sleep."
"Fine. Anything to get you to sleep." I said getting up to cover the windows.
Riley looked at us, holding her phone. "You know, girls, if it would be easier for you, I could always call my father and- " She put her phone to her ear quickly, "Save me, Daddy. She has scary bunnies."
I grabbed Riley's phone. "Hi, I'd like to order a large pepperoni piz- Rude! He hang up on me."
"You're gonna make it through the night, you're gonna stay at my house and you're gonna be comfortable." Maya told her.
"I don't understand, because I really like it during the day."
"So as long as this curtain is up..."
"I'm gonna be okay. I promise."
"Good." We said in unison.
"Just shadows. Shadows are just shadows. They can't hurt me. No problem at all." Then I saw a freaky person shaped shadow through the curtain on the window and screamed, causing Maya to notice and scream too. "Okay." Riley agreed before screaming with us.
Maya removed the curtain and we saw two monsters. "Boo!"
We screamed again. "Ladies." One of the monsters said, and that's when it hit me.
"Farkle!" We all yelled.
"Trick or treat." Lucas said.
"Why are you screaming?" Farkle asked. "You scared us."
"I'll show you something scary." I said, stepping towards him before Lucas held me back. Yes, Farkle still hasn't talked to me and it's bothering me.
"What are you guys doing here?" Maya asked.
"We were passing by on our way home. We thought we'd say hi." Lucas explained.
"In the middle of the night?" Riley asked.
"It's a quarter after 7:00." He replied, confused.
Riley sighed. "Then why'd you two have me go to sleep?"
"Trying to put ourselves out of our misery." We groaned.
"What are you scared of Riley? It's great out here." Lucas said, smiling.
"There's nothing to be scared of." Farkle reassured her.
Gammy Hart suddrnly opened the door. "I hear boys. You got boys in here?" She growled.
"They're outside." Maya said gesturing to them.
"Oh." She said, her demeanor getting friendlier. "Oh, hiya, boys!" Sge laughed.
"Scary old lady." Wow Farkle...rude much?
"Farkle. Oh." She chuckled.
"Come on, Lucas. Wanna learn how to attract older ladies?" OK I'm still not sure we're actually related.
"No." Lucas said as he and Farkle left.
"Bye, guys." Riley said, waving.
"See ya." Maya said.
"Asta la vista." Yes I'm weird I know.
Riley sighed. "You know what?"
"What?" We asked.
"You don't actually need to cover the window."
"Why not?"
"I was actually scared of Farkle until he took his mask off. And when he did, it was just Farkle."
"Yeah. Farkle's not scary at all." We said together.
"No, and neither is your neighborhood. Once you take its mask off."
We looked out the window. Maya sighed. "It's actually kind of pretty. I never noticed that before." Riley nodded.
"Yeah. I like your house, Maya."
"Thank you, Riley. That makes me happy."
Riley chuckled. "Good."
"So you wanna go to sleep now?" I asked.
"In a little bit. You mind if we stay up awhile?"
"Wgy? Are you still a little bit scared?" Maya asked.
"Not anymore. I just wanna see what happens next." Riley said, smiling. You know what. So do I Riley, so do I.
What do you guys think about this chapter?
What do you think will happen with Farkle and Kenzie?
Will they make up?
What do you think really happened in Texas?
Hope you liked this chapter. See you soon, Cassidy.