⌜ chapter twenty-three ⌟

"I knew I shouldn't have come here." Topanga says as she looks at a photo that she thinks looks like Cory. "I was supposed to come here with Cory; everything reminds me of him."

"Yeah, this probably wasn't the best idea." Letty agrees as she slowly wanders from one painting to another. "Eric was gonna bring me here, and now I..." She sighs as Jason walks over and wraps his arm around her shoulders.

"Am I not enough for you?" The older boy questions.

"You're annoying."

"It's my job, babe." He says, and she nods.

"Angela, I miss him." Topanga says as she looks at her own best friend.

"Topanga, Scarlett, you guys have been waiting forever to see this exhibit." Angela tries to reason with them.

"How could he talk to another girl all night?" She questions. "How could he kiss her?"

"He hates me, doesn't he?" Letty asks, her voice low as she looks at Jason.

"He told you it didn't mean anything." Angela reminds the blonde.

"How could it not mean anything? He kissed another girl." Topanga says as she turns to face her friend. "You don't kiss somebody and have it not mean anything. I don't understand that."

"No, he doesn't hate you." Jason tells Letty. "He found out something that he never thought was possible, and he's scared."

"Yeah — of me." The brunette says, and he sighs as he shakes his head. "You didn't see him the night that he found that stupid journal... You didn't see him the other night in Chubbie's."

"Should've left him up on those monkey bars."

"Oh, no. Please not the monkey bars story again." Letty and Jason speak in unison as they follow the younger girls, and Angela chuckles as she looks at them.

"Monkey bars." Topanga smiles as she glances back at her three friends. "I was in the sandbox and I saw the cutest little curly-haired boy on the monkey—" She stops when she turns around again and sees Angela and Letty saying the story along with her. "Okay, just forget it." The blonde walks away from them, and Jason starts laughing at the three girls.

"Hey, what if we find you someone that means nothing to kiss?" He suggests as he walks behind them. "Both of you — call it a step in moving on...and then I can go home."

"You like art museums as much as I do." Letty says as she turns to look at him.

"Yeah, sure. But I could do without all of the talk about the Matthews' dorks."

"Come on." She grabs his hand and pulls him to the next room.

"Van Gogh's brush strokes and choice of color emphasize his heightened sense of emotions." A girl ahead of them reads from the pamphlet in her hand before she and her friend walk away from the painting of the flowers.

"It's pretty." Letty says as she leads Jason toward it, and Topanga looks over at the older two who are walking with their fingers intertwined.

"Did you two ever date?" The blonde asks, and they both look over at her.

"If you wanna talk about emotion, check out the motion heading this way." Angela says, gaining everyone's attention, and they turn to see a boy about hers and Topanga's age walking their way. "Oh, Lord, I forget my name." She says, and Letty chuckles. "Hi, I'm Nancy or something."

"Is this really what girls are like?" Jason whispers as he leans closer to his best friend.

"Excuse me, is your name Topanga?" The new boy asks the blonde.

"Angela, my name is Angela." She says. "But I already have a boyfriend, but... Oh, her." She smiles as she looks at Topanga.

"Ange." The older girl reaches for her as Jason tries not to laugh at her.

"Yes, my name is Topanga." The blonde tells him.

"Well, I'm Ricky Ferris. I'm- I'm sure you don't remember me, but I certainly remember you."

"Oh, you two know each other?" Letty smirks as she pulls Jason with her to walk over to them.

"Sort of." The younger boy says. "You changed my life forever when we were about six years old."

"I did?" Topanga asks, eyebrows furrowed.

"She did?"

"Yeah, you ended my little league career." Ricky tells Topanga. "Hit me with a fastball so hard right on my left cheek." He pats his butt. "I think I still have a mark there, but you don't want to see that."

"I do." Angela says, and Letty turns to Jason as she tries not to laugh.

"You see, you were the one who helped me realize I was more of an artist than an athlete." He continues.

"Ooh, he owes you. Make him pay." She nudges Topanga.

"I'm sorry, and I promise never to hit you on the tush with a fastball ever again." The blonde tells the boy who obviously seems to like her.

"Normal people would've said butt — or even ass — but tush works too, Grandma." Letty whispers to the younger girl.

"It's so adorable watching the babies of species try to flirt." Jason laughs, pulling on Letty's arm as he moves so that Angela can't hit him for his comment.

"Well, why don't you make it up to me by seeing the Van Gogh exhibit together?" Ricky asks, completely ignoring the other three.

"Ooh, I think I should go check out that painting over there entitled Go With Him, He's Cute." Angela says as she turns away from them. "Scarlett, hell-spawn." She nudges the older two away from them as well.

"Did this friend's day just turn into a date for Topanga?" Letty asks after keeping an eye on the blonde and the new boy for awhile.

"I think so, mother-hen." Jason pulls her. "Look, more paintings."

"Seriously, did you two date at some point?" Angela asks as she looks at their hands, which are still linked together. "Are you dating now?"

"You've never held hands with your friends before?" Letty asks as she glances over her shoulder at the younger girl.

"No, I can't say that I have."

"Well, I do. I'll hold your hand too." She says as she reaches out toward her.

"Maybe later, we don't need to start a train in here." Angela says, and she chuckles as the three of them continue wandering around the museum.

The youngest isn't actually all that interested in the art, but she has nothing else to do the rest of the time that they're stuck there. She only came with them today because Topanga had an extra ticket and she didn't want to go alone. Running into the older two was a bit of a coincidence because Jason took Eric's ticket for Letty the same way that Angela did for her own best friend.

Topanga stays with Ricky until one of the museum workers tells them that they're going to be closing soon. As he's saying goodbye to the blonde, the other three hear him asking her out on a date. She's hesitant to go with him, but he's really sweet about the whole thing.

"Alright, come out." Topanga tells the three who are currently hiding behind a sculpture. Jason didn't want to, but Letty made him.

"You know we couldn't help overhearing." Angela tells her, a smirk on her face as the blonde turns to face them.

"Should I go out with him or not?"

"Well, he's gorgeous, cultured, sensitive artist type, wants to take you to a romantic French restaurant. Should you go out with him? Hm, let me think." She turns and looks at the older two.

"Yes." Letty nods as Jason drapes his arm over her shoulders.

"I don't know." Topanga sighs.

"You don't know what?" Angela questions. "He is everything you could want."

"He's not Cory." She argues, and Letty offers her a sympathetic look.

"No, he's not Cory."

"So, if I go out with him, then Cory and I are really, really finished, aren't we?"

"I don't see where it would help the relationship, no."

"I don't know what to do." Topanga says as she turns away from them. "I mean, Ricky and I talked all day. He knew so much about the paintings. That's what makes me want to get to know him better. He's so complex and interesting."

"Well, do you think Cory's complex and interesting?" Angela asks.

"Yeah, about as complex as buttered toast." Jason mutters, and Letty pinches his side to make him stop making rude comments. "Ow, you bitch."

"Yeah, but it's different." Topanga didn't hear the older two. She sits down as she fights through this in her head. "Even though I've known Cory all my life, how can I go out with another guy until I know what Cory feels about this painting?"

"Topanga, this guy swept you off your feet. You gotta give him a chance." Angela tells her as she moves to sit down beside her on the bench.

"Do we really need to be here for this?" Jason whispers as he rests his forehead on the side of his best friend's head. "I love the kiddos, but I don't care about their will-we-won't-we drama."

"Cállate." Letty elbows him, but the blow doesn't actually hurt his ribs.

"Maybe one day you won't be telling people that you met the guy you love on the monkey bars, but you met him in front of a masterpiece and he told you how he felt about it, and he swept you off your feet." Angela tells the blonde.

"I'm not leaving my feet for anybody until I give Cory a chance." Topanga says, and she offers her a small smile as she nods.

"Topanga, you can bring Cory here, but..." Letty starts, and the younger girl looks up at her. "I don't think it's fair to compare Cory and Ricky like this — not to either of them. From what I saw of the kid, they're nothing alike, so the painting won't mean to Cory what it does to Ricky."

"I have to try. I have to know." She argues, and the brunette nods. Topanga's fighting for her relationship with Cory — the method may not be the best, but she hasn't given up yet, and that's what matters the most.