𝐓𝐎𝐎 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 » ғᴀʀᴋʟᴇ ᴍɪɴᴋᴜs

fifteen--heritage

ten more chappies left :(

also thank u so so much for 20k reads! that's crazy oml

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"the statue of liberty, the great lady of new york has been speaking loud and clear since 1885. anybody know what she's trying to say? misha?" the entire class looked to misha as mr. matthews called on her. she smiled awkwardly. farkle smiled back before speaking. "should i just talk?"

"no, i'm sick of people thinking farkle's smarter than i am," she said sternly. zay laughed to himself, "here comes fun."

farkle looked at misha with an offended expression. "name one thing about the statue of liberty that you know that i don't." misha shrugged. "easy. she was a gift of friendship from...cathy."

"we got her right after..." farkle began the next fact, but misha interrupted. "cathy didn't want her anymore," she spoke proudly.

"what does she stand for?" matthews asked the class. once again, misha yelled out. "because cathy took her chair."

farkle smiled. "boy, that cathy, huh, what a hoot."

"she's not real, genius; i made her up." misha looked to riley and scoffed, loudly whispering "i'm so smarter than him."

the entire class heard her remark. farkle looked at her, adoration in his eyes. "you are, you really are," he said half sarcastically.

"welcome to cultural week, people," mr. matthews turned the attention away from farkle and misha and back to the actual class. "the school is throwing a cultural fair to celebrate who we are and where we came from. anybody here taking part?"

surprisingly, a boy named nigel raised his hand. nigel was a slender boy with a quiet personality. misha and nigel used to be friends, but they grew apart. she secretly felt guilty, knowing it was her fault.

"my grandma's gonna have a booth at the fair, mr. matthews."

misha frowned. she'd met nigel's grandma many times. she was a wonderful woman, who made amazing food and told great stories. misha wondered if nigel ever told her how she ditched him for riley and her friends.

"she was originally from cambodia. she escaped and lived in the philippines, then she came here," he informed the class. "did you know that about him?" mr. matthews asked the class. the majority shook their heads, or said no. misha stayed still and quiet.

she hadn't even thought about nigel. she swallowed. farkle looked at her, knowing she was worried. he mouthed the words "are you okay?" misha nodded in response. he sent her a small smile, not getting one in return.

"here's your assignment," mr matthews said, followed by a loud groan from maya. "everybody look around. do we know each other's stories? do you know your own? our stories are what make us part of a community. i want you to come in tomorrow and share your heritage with us. share your story."

"do i even have a story?" riley groaned. "you have a wonderful story, riley. it's time you found out what it is." class dismissed.

misha went home right after school. farkle and her agreed that because of the project, they shouldn't hang out until it was finished. misha did her other homework until her dad and miles got home.

"hi, dad!" she waved to miles and her father. "can you help me with a project?" he nodded and miles scurried off to his room.