Girl Meets Maya's World: Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Gossip Put to End

"It couldn't be" Lucas said. "Who else would it be?" I asked. We both looked around, nobody said anything. Lucas finally released Farkle. "That couldn't happen guys, think about it" Farkle said. "You think about it, Farkle. It's a 7th grade girl at our school, who else would it be?" I asked. "I-I guess your right, it's the only thing that makes sense" Farkle sadly agreed. We all went to Mr. Matthews history class.

When we all walked in, no teacher was there, not even a sub. Every student was there, no desk was empty except for one. Riley Matthews. She was still gone. If it was not Riley who got attacked, than it was someone in another grade 7 class because every girl in our class was here today, besides Riley and every girl was healthy and completely normal. "It could be someone from the other class" Farkle tried to keep his hopes up. Both me and Lucas looked at him, we doubted it. "Good Morning, can I have your attention for the morning announcements" the intercom said. "Girls basketball tryouts will be today after school. Donations for the 'Feed a Child This Christmas' food drive will be accepted until Friday. And after the bell can all Grade 7 homeroom's please remain in their homeroom classes instead of proceeding to Period 1, thank you" the intercom announced. "Why are we staying here?" Farkle asked Lucas. "I don't know, buddy" Lucas replied. "Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding!" went the bell. All Grade 8 and 9 classes proceeded to Period 1 while Grade 7 classes stayed where they were.

Right away, the principal came down into our classroom and everything went silent. We had no teacher with us during homeroom, yet nobody fooled around during the time, even though there was no teacher and it was basically a free-for-all. "Good Morning, Grade 7's" the principal said. "Morning" we all said in unison. "So, some of you might have heard that someone in our school, in your grade was the young student on the news who got attacked" she said. It was silent, nobody said anything. "You may have heard the rumors, you may have not. But I am going to put an end to these rumors and tell you who it really was" the principal said. Everyone sat there in silence. This was the big moment, the moment we find out who it really was. The next while of our future depends on this here moment, right here, right now. "The student who was attacked, was somebody in our school" the principal said. Some students started whispering amongst themselves. "Quiet! This is a serious matter, Grade 7" she said. It was silent as the principal waited for everyone to calm down once again. "It was somebody in Grade 7" she explained. My heart was pounding out of my chest, I felt like throwing up, I was afraid to here the name. I have always been dying to know who it was, and now that it is the moment I find out, I kinda got that feeling like I didn't wanna know anymore.

"There is a reason I came to your homeroom first" the principal said. "It was someone in this homeroom class" she said. That set it off. Nobody else was absent in this homeroom, except...."Mr. Matthews, your usual teacher is not here today because it was his daughter and your classmate who was in this accident" she said. The room went silent. Several students glanced at Riley's desk. "No, no, no! This can't be! W-Why didn't I do something sooner!" I thought to myself. "I will now go and tell the other homeroom classes, and you guys head off to your first period" she said. Everyone got up from their desks and walked out of the classroom. I ran into the bathroom and threw my stuff on the floor of my stall. I sat down on the closed toilet seat and started softly crying to myself. How could that happen? To my best friend? Who would every do such a thing? What did she ever do to those stupid teenagers!? I was crying and crying and I couldn't stop. At this point, my face was as red as it is after I run the beep test and my face was soaked in tears. I finally decided to wipe myself off and go to class. I grabbed a piece of toilet paper and wiped my eyes.

I grabbed my stuff and walked out of the bathroom. Farkle and Lucas were sitting on the bench in the hallway. I dropped my books on the floor and sat in the middle of them. Nobody said anything, we all just hugged each other and tried to not cry. A few minutes later, the principal came out to us. We all looked up at her, neither of us were up for this talk right now. She sat down beside us, but a reasonable distance away from us. We all sat so close to each other, our arms around each other. "I know this is hard for you three" she said to us. I was starting to tear up, but I didn't want to cry in front of our principal. Lucas pulled my head down onto his shoulder and rubbed my hair so I wouldn't cry. That would've been embarrasing, but either way, it wouldn't have mattered. "I know she is a very good friend to you guys and you all look out for each other" she said. "I know that was hard for you to hear and it is going to take some time to heal" she said. "But she is not dead. She is recovering with her family right now. Mr. Matthews is not at school and won't be for a fair amount of time" she said. "It is hard for her family, like it is hard for you guys too" she added. "I know you guys are going through a rough time, trying to even process what has happened" she said. I couldn't help it anymore, tears rushed down my face, talking about it wasn't making it easier. Farkle had his hand on my back, but he was thinking of Riley too much to huddle up to me. I tried to stop crying, but tears just kept falling. Lucas gently wiped them away, and hugged me tight. He knows that Riley is my best friend and it is hardest for me right now. "If you guys are really feeling like you cannot focus, it would be okay if you wanted to just go home for today. I understand you are going through a rough time" she said. I lifted my head up and looked at Lucas. He looked down at me and Farkle looked over at us. We were each looking for an answer as of what to do. "Would you guys like me to call your parents?" she asked. Lucas pulled my head back down and nodded to the principal. "Very well, pack you bags and don't forget to bring all your homework" she said. She stood up tall and walked away to her office. I started crying harder and harder. Farkle gently let go of me, startled by that. Lucas hugged me tightly and told me it would be okay. "N-No I-It won't" I stuttered through my tears. "Shh, it's okay" Lucas said rubbing my hair. We all got up and went to our lockers. We grabbed our bags and went down to the office.

I told the principal that I had the key and I was to just go home. Farkle and Lucas called their parents and they came and picked them up. I walked home in the freezing cold weather. I was relieved when I got onto the subway. I was sitting by a 30-year-old woman on the subway and I wad still red in the face from crying. "Are you okay, dear?" the woman asked. I nodded my head. "Are you sure?" she asked. "Yeah" I said with a crying-like voice. It came to my stop and I got off. I ran to my house and tried to open it with the key. The door was once again, frozen shut. I ran to the back of the house and filled the bucket with boiling water. I was crying my eyes out, not silently at all. I was a mess, a huge mess. When I finally got it open I threw my stuff onto the ground and ran into my room. I flopped onto my bed and started crying my eyes out. I wanted nothing to do with nobody at the moment. I was crying so hard, harder than I ever have.

Later that day, my mom came home. "Hey, Maya" she said. "Hi" I said sadly, sitting on the couch, wrapped up in a big blanket eating marshmallows. "What's the matter?" she asked sitting beside me. "I left school this morning, before even first period and you didn't even know" I said. "Oh, I was at work" she said. "Why did you come home?" she asked. "You were right" I said. "What do you mean?" she asked. "About the girl on the news, it was someone I know" I said. "Oh, someone from your school?" she asked. "Yeah, but not just someone I know" I said. "What do you mean?" she asked again. "It was someone I care about, it was my best friend" I cried. My eyes started watering up. "Riley?" she asked. I nodded my head and tears rushed down my face. "Oh, Maya. I'm so sorry" she said. "I just wanna be alone" I said. My mom was disappointed. She didn't like it that I was always embarrased of her. "O-Okay" she said getting up and heading upstairs.

Later that night in bed, I was thinking about Riley, worrying. I just knew that at that moment, she was home with her family. Her dad had her safe and probably was doing everything to help her feel better. The image of the teenagers abusing her was what was keeping me down, know that it happened. "What can I do?" I kept asking myself. I was thinking of what to do, I couldn't just be a guilty bystander. Then I had an idea. I knew exactly what I was going to do. I laid in my bed and looked up at the roof. I had no other choice at this point. Nobody gets to do that to my best friend. I knew exactly what I was going to do.