The bell rang as the three girls stood by their lockers. "Talk to him," Maya slowly stated to Riley, who was texting Noah. Noah happened to be just by them, sitting on a nearby bench next to Lucas. "Why? We have a great text relationship,"
Taylor tapped her sister's shoulder with a small smile. "You know what's better than a text relationship?" She asked with a smug grin on her face. She leant against Riley slightly as she waited for a response. "What?" The older girl asked, sounding genuinely curious. Maya stepped forward a bit and made a hand motion. "Talk to him,"
As the three spoke, Lucas had decided to go to class. "Watch your sister," Taylor looked to Maya confused but received a shove instead. She stumble into Lucas, a nervous smile settling on her lips. "Hi. This seems to keep happening," she said as she pointed to Maya. The Texan boy glanced to Maya before looking back to Taylor. "That it does,"
"I'll see you in class," she smiled again before walking back over to the others. If looks could kill, Maya would've been six feet under. "See, you can do that but better. He's right over there," the blonde avoided Taylor's deadly glare by turning to the older Matthews twin. "Noooo! Too complicated over there. Lots can go wrong over there. The only thing that can go wrong over here is if I go over there," Riley explained before going back to texting him.
Maya, seemingly having enough, points Riley in Noah's direction, and the brunette walks over. Riley attempts to say "Hi" at least two times and "hello" once to the boy, but only mouths it. Noah seems to take no notice whatsoever to the girl and Taylor sighs. Maya rolls her eyes before mouthing "Talk to him".
The brunette leans forward and sniffs Noah's neck before going back to Maya and Taylor, the latter hitting her head against her locker. "How'd I do?" This caused her sister to take her head away from the metal door and turn to her. Maya looked at Riley with an expression of pure disbelief, "You smelled him,"
"Yup,"
"You smelled him is what you did," Taylor made weird hand motions as if that would help her understand the situation better. She looked to her twin and gulped. "I have failed you," she stated making Riley shake her head. She went back to her phone but not before saying, "I walk through life, the way I walk through life,"
Maya looked at the girl with the disbelief still clear on her face, "Can we please talk about this?" Riley texts something before both Taylor's and Maya's phones go off. They looked to each other, simultaneously saying, "Nope,"
*
Cory looked at his class, looking like he was annoyed but also not. "You guys don't connect with each other. It's like you can't exist without these. You use emoticons rather than emotions. You're an unfeeling generation of zombies," at this both Maya and Riley mimic zombies, trying to eat Taylor's brain. She dramatically placed a hand on her head like a damsel in distress as the class laughed. "Stop eating her," Cory told them before the door swung open to reveal Myzell.
"You're late, Miss Myzell," he told her and she stared at him unemotionally. He voice was flat, with no sign or hint of any kind of feeling, "My goldfish died," Taylor's eyebrows raised at the tone of voice. The girl seemed to not care one bit. Cory turned to his students, gesturing a hand towards the girl at the door, "You see? This is what I'm talking about. Miss Myzell has clearly suffered a tragic loss. Yet, she does not seem in touch with her actual emotions!" Taylor nodded along at the explanation, agreeing with every word.
She wasn't on her phone often, preferring to read or sit and draw or throw a tennis ball or bouncy ball around. She wasn't truly one who was into social media or texting all night long. She valued her time and sleep and believed it was wasted by trying to be like everyone else in society.
"Excuse me? I am crying my eyes out. I'm gonna have to leave class early," the girl at the door said before turning and walking out the room, slamming the door behind her. Cory looked at the empty space in a mixture of happiness and shock, "Oh, she actually made it out the door this time," Myzell appears in the doorway, a smile on her face as she looked to her teacher, "I actually made it out the door this time!"
"Nice one," Taylor high-fived the girl as she passed, proud of the happy girl. She sent a small smile to Maya who nodded to behind Tay. The brunette turned, curious, to see Lucas sitting there staring at her, a light blush on his cheeks. She spun round with a pink now dusting her cheeks.
"Dad, adjust and deal. Cell phones have been around for, like, ever," Riley cut in and Cory turned to her with a surprised look. Taylor copies her father, a hint of a smile on her lips. "It'll amaze you to know that there was a whole world before you and cell phones," Taylor looked to her dad with a questioning gaze. "Can we go back to that world? It's sounds fun," he smiled at her and ruffled her hair as Riley rolled her eyes.
"And it'll amaze you to know that I have 394 friends in here," she tapped her phone screen as Taylor looked to her. "And I'm amazed that you believe that," Cory smiled at his daughter before walking over to the chalkboard and drawing a line across it. "This is a timeline of all human existence. Starting here," he points at the start of the timeline, "is everyone who ever lived, laughed, loved, and understood the value of life. The cellphone era, which begins right around here," he draws a line almost at the end of the timeline, "pretty much destroys all of that. Way to go, you," Taylor laughed at her father as everyone seemed to stare at him weirdly.
"Sir, if I may take a different position?" Taylor turned round face Lucas, giving him a smile that was cut short by her father turning her head to face the front. "Yeah, save me, Mr. Friar. Do I go too far?" He asked as Taylor glared at him. He smiled at her innocently to which she crossed her arms at. "Always, sir," Taylor snorted at the sentence, muttering an "After all this time? Always," under her breath as Lucas continued.
"I understand your point, but I use my phone to video chat my old friends and to find out what's going on in Texas," he explained and Taylor nodded at his reasoning, understanding his point of view. Maya, as usual, saw an open opportunity to tease the boy. "Yeah. How else can he keep tabs on all the hoedowns and cattle pageants?"
Riley, always the kind soul, scolded the blonde, "Maya!" Lucas quickly cut in with a smirk on his face that made Taylor blush and smile. "It's okay, Riley. I'm unaffected by Maya's views of country life. As my Uncle Buster always says, 'Be like an eagle and soar above the mockingbird.'"
Taylor bit her lip before leaning toward Maya with her own little smirk. "You're the mockingbird," she taunted making the blonde who only responded with a small "I know," before turning to Lucas, "It kills me that I can't get to you," Taylor changed her smirk to a grin as Lucas answered, "Sorry, ma'am," whilst tipping an imaginary hat.
Maya simply shudders in annoyance and turns away as Farkle raises his hand, "Farkle time, sir?" Cory smiles at the boy, excitedly exclaiming, "Oh, I love Farkle time," he quickly moved to switched places with the boy. "With all due respect to history, Mr. Matthews, what's important to our generation will be on this side of the timeline, when Farkle and technology rule. And I will easily be able to make another one of you," he pulls a strand of hair out of Riley's head.
"Ow,"
"And another one of you," This time it's a strand of hair out of Maya's head.
"Ow,"
Taylor stared confused between the three, holding her hands up, "Wait, so now there's four of them and one of you?" She pointed to said people and Farkle nodded with a look of awe. "That's awesome. The future, you can't escape it, I am Farkle!" Cory switched back places with the boy, turning to the class with a large grin, "The assignment, you can't escape it, I am teacher! Okay, so here's what we're going to do, guys. We're going to split into teams and discover whether or not new technology has made us better people. You'll do presentations on your findings. And here's a twist. No computers,"
Taylor seemed to be the only one who smiled at the news and, her knowing her dad so well, pulled out her phone. Farkle, however, did not seem to be fond of the idea and instead called out a confused, "What?!" The man simply carried on talking, ignoring the shocked student.
"We're going old school. You're going to do your research at the New York Public Library," at this, the blonde turns to her best friends, an outraged look on her face, "Where?!" Taylor laughed with a shake of her head and continued to listen to her father who had carried on talking, "And here's another twist because I trust you not at all. Give me your cell phones,"
So many people in the class complained but Tay was not one. She had immediately placed her phone into the bucket with a smile and watched as her sister and friends struggled to. By the time her dad was back at the front of the class, everyone was sulking slightly from the loss of their phone. "Okay, so our teams for this assignment. Maya,"
Farkle ran forward and sat on Maya's lap as Riley got up and sat on the blonde's desk, doing jazz hands.
"What up!" Maya pushed the boy off her and grabbed Riley by the waist and pulling her onto her lap. Slightly confused but not overly shocked, Cory turned to his other daughter, "And Taylor, you will be with..." he stopped when he saw his daughter smiling to the boy in the seat behind her, "No! No! No!" The bell went and everyone began to leave. Cory looked to Lucas and asked him, "Why did you have to come here?"
"Sorry I make you uneasy, sir," Lucas made his way out of the class and Taylor just pointed at her dad with a smirk, "Ha," all of them looked to the door to see Noah standing there. "Hey Riles, you wanted to walk with me?" When the smiling girl nodded, the father seemed to be under some sort of extreme stress. "Oh, Dad, we don't even have our phones. I mean, what could possibly happen?" Riley tried to reassure making Taylor laugh uncontrollably as she watched her sister leave.
Taylor walked out to see Maya smirking as she approached Noah and Lucas, who were talking. "Hey, Mr Matthews, you comin' with us to the library tonight?" The younger Matthews girl smiled at that, remembering when Maya had started using the nickname. Noah would always blush but not as bad as Riley. "Sure, if that's good with you guys,"
"Well, seeing as how you're going to work with Riley on her assignment, I guess we should find out if it's okay with her," Taylor smiled mischievously as she turned to her sister, "Riley?" The girl in question just stood still in some shock which they were all used to. "Riley, any thoughts on this that might come out of your mouth in word form? No, because you don't have your phone anymore, so what are you going to do to communicate, I wonder?" Maya held her hand out to Taylor, the two smirking at the awkward girl.
Riley puts two thumbs up making both of them shake their heads, "Oh, look at that. Two thumbs up from Riley," Maya waved her hand towards the girl as Taylor pinched the bridge of her nose. Riley smiled widely making Taylor smile falsely at the boys as she put her arm round the girl, "And a smiley face,"
*
The two girls had arrived home some time earlier and Taylor had to explain to her mum why exactly her sister was sulking. The girl herself explained how unbothered by it she was and had even started drawing with Auggie. The boy had decided to tell his sister all about his day, "It was a good day. And then my friends treated me nicely. And then my teacher measured us and then I'm growing. And then Jenny Lewis loves me. I think because I'm growing," she laughed, ruffling his curls making his face squish up.
"It wasn't a good day. And then my friend pulled my hair out. And then my teacher took my phone away. And then my teacher was also my father," Taylor rolled her eyes at Riley before sarcastically smiling, "At least you're growing," Riley pulled a face at her sister, Tay quickly doing the same as Auggie giggled at their behaviour. Topanga grinned at her daughters, heading to the fridge to grab something, "Honey, please don't come apart. Look at this as a beautiful opportunity to spend time with your family,"
In response, Riley sat opposite her two siblings, Auggie immediately saying, "Hello, Riley," Taylor watched the two interact with a faint smile. The younger two had always begged Riley to play dress up or colour with them but Riles had always declined, opting to spend time on her phone. "How you doing?" Riley smiled to Auggie who grinned leaning forward as he laid down his red pencil, "Want to hear about my day? It was a good day,"
Riley dramatically stood up and slammed her hands on the table, "Mom!" Taylor rolled her eyes once more at her twin as she pulled Auggie into her side. Their mum simply copied Taylor's action of rolling her eyes at the girl before saying, "Forgive her, Auggie. She misses her telephone," the curly haired boy, sweet as ever, looked to the oldest of his sisters and grabbed one of his favourite toys, "Well, then she can have mine," The middle child smirked at Riley as she watched her click a button with a disappointed frown. "The cow goes..." Taylor and Auggie turned to each other before saying "'Moo!'" the girl simply doing it to entertain the youngest. The brunette looked to her mother, stressed and almost heartbroken, "I'm not gonna make it," Topanga smiled at her, wrapping her arm around her shoulders, "That's what they think,"
"She can't," Tay said in time with her father as he walked into the room and she began to colour with Auggie again. Their mother looked down to her oldest, desperation swirling in her eyes, "Honey, please don't make your father right. It's no good for any of us when your father is right," that made Taylor silently cackle and Cory nod, "She's right," Riley groaned in annoyance as she looked to her father, obviously not fond of the lesson and homework they had been given, "Why are you really doing this?" Taylor looked to her dad, curious to also hear the answer. Their father never taught a lesson without having a reason behind it. "Because I want you and your friends to become human beings. And I believe that by doing this, you guys can learn to become real human beings,"
A buzz rang out through the room before they all heard a familiar blonde's voice, "Hey, losers, it's Maya," Taylor jumped up and headed across the apartment to the button in order to buzz her in, a smile playing on her lips at her father's words, "Except her," Tay turned around to see Auggie smiling brightly to her already. She pulled a stupid face making him burst into giggles as she finally sat next to him, ruffling his hair. "You know what? I am going to do this. I can get through this whole thing without making a text or a call. Come on up," Riles spoke through to Maya who had probably already started heading up to the apartment. A sudden smirk came onto Taylor's face as she looked to her dad, he didn't know. "Of course you can, sweetheart. And you know what? You're already a wonderful human being, but every so often, little tests like this are gonna come up," Riley looked to her mother, a frown etched on her lips. Taylor glanced between the two, a entertained expression taking over her face. "Why?"
"Because it's your father's job to give you little tests. And maybe along the way, you guys are going to learn a little bit more about yourselves," the mother wrapped her arm around the oldest as Taylor stood from her seat next to Auggie, backpack in hand. She knew Maya would be here any second and then the boys almost straight after, they were never late. The door opening and closing brought her attention to her blonde best friend, "Yeah, like I've learned that I'm actually really okay with all of this," Taylor reached across and high-fived Maya with a bright grin adorning her features. Taylor knew that Maya didn't really have a good phone like everyone else. She also knew that Maya also didn't like using her phone much because of this and always made an effort to not get her phone out around the girl, not that it was that hard. Topanga, however, did not know this and simply asked, "You don't miss your phone, Maya?"
"I was the only one in class without a smartphone anyway, and now I kind of feel like everybody's even," as Maya talked, Taylor had put her bag on and walked round to hug Maya round the shoulders, both smiling widely. The intercom buzzing once more cut them off, a familiar voice speaking, "Farkle," Riley rolled her eyes calling, "Be ready in a minute," even though they wouldn't hear her. Taylor rolled her eyes at her older sister and turned to start making her way to the door when the intercom buzzed again, "And Noah,"
"Ready now!" Riley shoved past a laughing Taylor, Maya being dragged along. Taylor pointed to her dad's fallen face as she giggled, "You did it to yourself,"the intercom buzzed once more and a Texas voice was heard, "And Lucas," Taylor pressed the button, leaning close to the machine as she spoke. "Heading down now," and with that she left, a goofy grin adorning her features.