"GIRL MEETS TRUE MAYA"

(primrose's outfit for this part of the chapter)

"Pompeii." Cory points at the word 'Pompeii' which was written on the chalkboard. He points at Lucas. "Lucas."

Lucas looks at him with furrowed eyebrows. "You mean 'Farkle'?"

Cory shakes his head. "I mean 'Lucas'. I want to see what you know."

"Okay," Lucas smiles. "Here's what I know." He pats Farkle on the shoulder. "Farkle."

Farkle looks back at him with a smile. "Why, thank you." He looks at Cory and explains about Pompeii. "Pompeii was an ancient village in Italy located near the beauty and culture of Naples. It was a resort town where the wealthy would go to soak up the sun."

"It was like the Hawaii of Italy." Lucas said.

Cory had an amused expression on his face as he nods. "Thanks, Lucas."

Lucas nods. "Call on me anytime."

Riley turns to Maya and Primrose with a smile on  her face. "Pompeii sounds so beautiful, girls. We should go there. We should go there and be calm."

"Let me tell you about a whole city that became very calm very quick." Cory said to the class. "Now, who here knows about Mount Vesuvius?"

"Mount Vesuvius was a pent up, boiling cauldron of 'I-wanna-do-something'." Maya answered with a grin on her face.

"Vesuvius sat quiet for a long time," Cory continues. "But then it did what volcanoes must do. It 'sploded!"

"Why do volcanoes have to 'splode?" Riley asked.

"Because if it doesn't it'll just blow up worse later." Cory replies. "Vesuvius wiped out the entire population of Pompeii. It was one of the greatest natural disasters the world had ever known."

Riley turns to Maya. "Okay, then do it right now. Do what you need to do to be Maya, but please don't wipe us all out, Peaches."

Primrose raises her eyebrows, tilting her head to the side when the fire alarm suddenly rings. Riley smiles. "That's it! Oh, a fire alarm! Ooh, you sassy troublemaker!" She stands up. "Fire alarm, everybody! Yes! Oh my gosh! This is bananas!"

Maya stands up. "You're blood pumpin'?"

"Oh," Riley nods. "It's so pumpin'."

"Good. I didn't do it." Maya shook her head.

"Yes, you did." Riley nods as everyone stands up. "Okay, single file, everybody! Choo-choo! Everybody find a safety buddy! My safety buddy is Maya! She exploded and now she's tired."

"Um, I didn't do it."

"Yes, you did!" Riley points at the blonde haired girl beside her. "But you can't do anything more for 3,000 years."

"Hello, students. Sorry about that. A little glitch in the system." The alarm was off as the man spoke over the PA system. "False alarm. Our mistake. Back to work."

"You didn't do it, Maya the Volcano?" Riley questioned.

Maya shakes her head. "No explodey."

"Do you need a nappy?"

"Wide awakey." Maya responded to Riley's question with a smile on her face.

Primrose sighs. "Let me guess, you're gonna wipe out the whole village?"

Maya nods. "And the neighboring towns."

****

"Explode!" Riley said to Maya. Lucas, Maya, Farkle, Riley, and Primrose sat at their usual spot at Topanga's later that day after school. "If you're going to explode, explode! Just do it. I can't wait. Explode!"

From her spot beside Lucas, Primrose furrows her eyebrows when Farkle started mimicking the sound of a volcano exploding. Maya looks at Farkle with furrowed eyebrows. "What are you doing?"

"Mount Farkleuvius has awoken in all it's bubbling glory." Lucas spoke in a bad British accent. 

A laugh escaped Primrose's lips when he said that. Farkle stopped, looking at Lucas with furrowed eyebrows. "What is that?"

Lucas grins, continuing to speak in a British accent. "That is my fancy British guy Mortimer."

Riley laughs along with Primrose. Farkle shakes his head. "It sounds like you're eating meatloaf."

"Meatloaf." Lucas spoke in a British accent causing Riley and Primrose to laugh again.

"Okay, thing #211 he can't do, accents." Farkle said.

"Oh, but it's so charming when he can't do things." Riley smiled.

Farkle furrows his eyebrows and points at Lucas. "He's a face! He's just a face! What's the matter with you?"

"Mount Farkleuvius sends two billion tons of burning lava straight into the air." Lucas continues speaking in a British accent. Farkle goes back to mimicking the sound of a volcano, doing what Lucas just said. "And right back down on his head."

Farkle stops, looking at him with wide eyes. "Why?"

Lucas looks at him with a glare. "Because you insulted Mortimer!"

"What's his last name?" Farkle asked.

"Twiggle-bottom-smythe." Lucas replied and Riley and Primrose laughed at hearing the name.

Farkle chuckles a bit and nods. "Okay, fine, I'll do it." He pretended to be sending the burning lava on his face and everyone, beside Maya, laughed.

"Maya, what's going on with you?" Lucas asked her.

"It's like I don't have a role here anymore." Maya replies, shrugging her shoulder as she stands up. She points at Riley. "Riley the Sweet," She points at Farkle. "Farkle the Genius," She points at Primrose. "Primrose the Fashionista." She points at Lucas. "Lucas the Good-"

Lucas groans. "Ugh, I thought that was gone."

"It's not gone." Maya shakes her head and points at herself. "I'm gone. I'm the one that's gone."

"Maya," Lucas stands up and walks over to her. "I've been down this road. Forget it. I missed a whole year of school because I thought I had to be something. That doesn't get you anywhere."

"Yeah," Maya nods. "And now you say 'please' and 'thank you' and what does that get you?"

Riley stands up. "It gets me to like him." She looks at Maya who now stood between where Farkle and Primrose sat. "Do you still like him?"

Maya shrugs. "I don't know what I like anymore."

"Woah." Farkle muttered.

"No 'woah'." Maya grabs a fist full of his shirt, pulling him up to his feet so he's standing in front of her. "No 'woah' while I'm trying to figure things out." In response, Farkle kissed her nose. Her eyes widen. "Woah."

Farkle smiles. "We're getting older. These are gonna be more unpredictable."

Maya lets go of his shirt, furrowing her eyebrows. "I'm telling Primrose!"

Farkle cheekily smirks. "I'm telling Primrose!"

"Primrose!" Maya exclaims, looking at Primrose as she points at Farkle who sat back down. "He kissed my nose!"

"Yeah," Primrose chuckles and nods. "I saw that, Maya. I'm not upset with him for doing that 'cause I know he cares a lot about me."

Farkle smiles at her. "You're the only one for me." Primrose blushes as she smiles back at him. "And you're the only one for me."

Lucas tilts his head to the side and looks at Maya with furrowed eyebrows. "Maya?"

"I need to know who I am before I know what I like." Maya replied. Her mother then comes over, telling the group that the cash register is short a hundred dollars. Riley thought that Maya took the money even though Maya wasn't the one who took it. Then Katy realized that somebody put two fifties under the whole drawer and forgot all about it. 

"I don't want my role with us to be somebody you think takes money or sets off fire alarms." Maya explains. She looks at each of her friends. "You think you know what I'm capable of?" She scoffs. "You have no idea what I'm capable of. You guys want the Maya back? The Maya I really am? You got her."

****

(primrose's outfit for this part of the chapter)

"If you choose to live next to a volcano, why should you be surprised by the destruction that comes with it?" Cory asked the next day at school.

Primrose couldn't help but notice that Maya's seat is empty, making the concern she had for the blonde grow. She should've known that Maya would cut school, but she was still a bit surprised. "Because they lived next to it for so long." Lucas replied.

"Maybe they forgot what it was." Farkle responded.

"Because it's not." Riley spoke.

Cory looks at her. "What?"

"Because you've always lived right next to it and you have faith that it would never do anything bad to you." Riley answered.

Cory points at Maya's empty seat. "Where is she?"

"She's cutting school?" Lucas questioned.

Farkle nods. "That's what she decided to do."

"Our question for discussion is:" Cory speaks to the class. "There's a whole world out there, Pompeii, why live next to a volcano then? Huh?"

"The soil from volcanoes grows the most beautiful flowers." Farkle responded.

Lucas nods. "Deep down Maya is beautiful."

Riley chuckles. "Okay, calm down."

"You live in Ireland. You learn that there's over 300 days of rain a year." Cory explains. "On the other hand, it's one of the most beautiful, green places on Earth. And places, like people, offer wonderful peaks and valleys. Now, what makes these wonderful peaks and valleys?"

"Volcanoes?" Farkle replied but it sounded more like a question.

Cory nods, pointing at him. "Right. It's up to you to understand what you've chosen to live with. Learn from Pompeii. As you live next to each other, understand that every once in awhile, things explode. That's nature. And that's human nature."

****

"Okay, where is she?" Primrose questioned. She was now at the Matthews' apartment, worried about Maya. No one has seen Maya all day and they had no idea where she was at.

"It's my fault. I'm not there to stop her." Riley frowned.

"It's not your fault." Katy shakes her head. She looks at Primrose. "It's not your fault either so don't even think that." She looks at the two girls. "You two are her best friends."

"I only wanted her to find herself." Riley said. "Not for her to explode."

"We don't know that she exploded." Topanga chimes in. "We don't know what she did."

A knock on the door is sounded and Topanga goes to answer it. "You can't be with her all the time, Riley." Cory speaks. "The job of being somebody's best friend is to make sure that even when you're not with them, you're still there."

Riley and Primrose turns around when the door opens, and their eyes widen at seeing a police officer with Maya. Cory shakes his head, looking at the two girls. "You have failed."

Katy looks at her daughter with concern. "Baby girl, what did you do?"

"New York code 145." The police officer answered.

Topanga closes the door, looking at Maya with wide eyes. "Vandalism?"

"What?!" Cory and Katy asked.

Primrose looks at Maya in disbelief and Riley looks at Maya with a frown. "Maya."

"You." Maya said to Riley, glaring at the brunette-haired girl. "You did this." She walks towards Riley, but the police officer stops her. "Put me in jail for the rest of my life and don't allow visitors or else she'll come and bring me a stupid lemon meringue pie!"

"It's for you and your jailbird friends." Riley glared back at Maya.

The police officer points at her. "You're the girl who's head she put back on."

Primrose furrows her eyebrows. "Um, what?"

The police officer points at her. "And your the girl who got covered with spray paint."

"They're my best friends," Maya points at Riley. "And that one ruined me!"

"Well, she's our best friend and we love her." Riley said and Primrose nodded in agreement. 

The door suddenly opens, revealing a worried Lucas and Farkle. "We couldn't find her." Lucas sighed. Then the two boys saw Maya and the police officer. "Looks like somebody found her." Farkle noticed.

"Maya," Lucas looks at Maya with wide eyes. "What did you do?"

"She did a number on a public park." The police officer responds, putting his hands on his hips. "A park on my beat. My park. I watch that park everyday."

"I'm sorry." Maya apologized.

The police officer looks at everyone. "You all care about this girl?"

Cory nods. "We do."

"Well, we're gonna take a little field trip." The police officer tells everyone. "I'm gonna show you all just what this girl did to my park. Let's go."

Once they get to the park, Primrose noticed the word 'hope' painted on a wall. "I had a brick in my hand." Maya admitted.

"Why?" Riley asked her.

Maya glances at one of the girl statues that looked like Riley in Primrose's opinion. "Because somebody went after you."

Primrose glances at the five somewhat small statues. There were three girls and two boys. She noticed one girl had flowers painted on her clothes. "Did you paint those flowers on her?"

Maya nods. "The flower I painted on her is called Primrose...The statue just looked incomplete without the flowers." She explained and a small smile tugged on Primrose's lips. 

"Who, Maya?" Cory questioned, referring to whoever went after the statues.

"These two girls I used to know." Maya answers. "I could have been them. Riley, Primrose, I could've been them." She looks at the two girls with teary eyes. "But I'm not. Because they think a hammer a brick makes you strong. And as much as I wanted to throw a brick through a window, I know that if I did, that's what would make me weak. I'm strong...Because there's something inside me that stops me now."

"It knows how important both of you have been in my life and it'll never let me do any real damage as long as I live." Maya continues and the two girls smile at her. "That part inside me...I'm gonna call it Dorothy."

"Call it whatever you want." Riley smiles at her. "I'm just glad you didn't do anything bad."

Primrose nods in agreement. "Me too."

Maya nods and smiles a bit. "Yeah." She looks at Cory. "How come I ain't bad, Matthews?"

"The friends we choose can have the most profound influence in our entire lives one way or another." Cory responded.

Maya wraps her arms around Riley's and Primrose's shoulder with a smile on her face. "This way." Primrose and Riley smiled at Maya.

"I'm proud of you, Maya." Katy told her daughter.

"What happened to the girls?" Farkle inquired.

"Oh, well, I might have had a brick and a hammer, and I might have swung them over my head a little bit and ran, like, right towards 'em like I was-"

"Maya?" Lucas finishes her sentence, looking at the blonde-haired girl with a smile, and Maya nods. "So, you're Maya again?"

Maya smiles, taking her arms off of Riley's and Primrose's shoulders. "Well, they seem to think so." She chuckles. "They ran away so fast."

The police officer walks over to stand in front of Maya. "My park. I watch this park every day."

"I'm sorry." Maya apologized, putting her wrists out in front of her for him to cuff her. The police officer instead takes ahold of her wrists. "You know, I'm not gonna give up on that Carla and Renee." He lets go of her and nods at her. "And I don't want you to be like them, okay?"

"I can't." Maya shakes her head. "Dorothy won't let me."

The police officer smiles a bit and nods. "New York code 145. Vandalism. I'm gonna write this one up. Then I'm gonna put it into a folder. Then I'm gonna misplace that folder." He looks at Riley, Primrose, and Maya. "And if I ever hear from you three little hoodlums ever again, that folder remains misplaced."

"I'm a hoodlum." Riley said.

Primrose chuckles and links her arm with Riley's. "We're both hoodlums." She commented and shared a smile with Riley.

Maya looks at the police officer with confusion. "Why are you giving me a break?"

The police officer sighs. "My park. I look at this park every day. I have hope for this park, too." He said and Maya smiled. The police officer sent her a smile. "Thank you."

Topanga steps forward, looking at the police officer with a thankful smile. "Thank you."

"Hey," The police officer shrugs. "Sometimes the system works."

Riley and Primrose let go of each other as Riley moves over to stand in front of the statue that looked like her along with Maya. Primrose stands beside Farkle, smiling as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him, and her heart skipped a beat at the action. 

"Thanks for putting my head back on." Riley said to Maya.

Maya smiles. "You too."