A/N: Hey all! So here's the beginning of my latest multi chapter fic. This AU is a bit on the personal side with me, and I thought that if certain things happened, Riley would feel similar to how I did. What Riley goes through here is a mixture of what I experienced in high school and some fiction, so if there's any resemblance to any other fics I apologize; I'm only trying to mirror most of what I've gone through. This fic will feature mostly Riley, Lucas, and Maya. Not so much Farkle…sorry about that, guys. Out of the chapters I've written so far he's only in a few, but I'm trying to work on that. I'm probably going to update this about once a week, so please don't beg me to update sooner. I'll update when I'll update. I love you guys, but I have other things that come first, unfortunately. Alright, without further ado, chapter 1!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters to Girl Meets World, only the plot line

Another day in these halls, another day feeling so lost and utterly alone, Riley thought as she walked into John Quincy Adams High School alongside her best friend, Maya. Maya was one of the few people Riley could really talk to about what was going on in her life, but they didn't have much time to hang out during school. All they had was the preparation period before classes began, homeroom, and lunch every other day if Maya could get out of study hall.

The two friends headed to their lockers, picked up the books they needed for first period, and headed to their spot by near the gym. They only had a couple of minutes before they needed to head to class, but that didn't stop them from spending as much time as they could together. Not too long after they sat down on the floor, a lanky young man came rushing up towards them and plopped himself right next to Maya.

"Hello lady," he said as he looked into Maya's eyes. When Riley saw Farkle, a wave of sadness overcame her. No matter what she did to ignore it, it always found a way to come back at the worst times. But like every time this happened, Riley pushed her emotions farther down into the figurative box that they belonged in, locked it for now, and faked a smile.

Maya rolled her eyes, "Hi Farkle." Maya had been friends with Farkle for a long time. Riley never really got to know him like Maya did. Sure, she considered him a friend, but she wouldn't be as close to him like Maya was. Riley had a sneaking suspicion that it was because Maya had a crush on him. She could never get Maya to admit it though. Maya would always say that being with a nerd like him would ruin her reputation. But Riley knew Maya; she could see it in her best friend's eyes that she liked him. Whether or not Maya would do anything about it was a different story.

"So, what are you two lovely ladies doing later tonight?"

"Hanging out at Riley's house," Maya responded, knowing Farkle wanted to hang out with her later. She did enjoy spending time with him, but time with Riley always came first. Riley was like the sister she never had (okay, that wasn't fully true; they considered themselves to be sisters, despite not being related by blood), and always did her best to find time to spend with her.

Farkle nodded slowly, slightly disappointed in Maya's response, as the warning bell rang. "Well, I'll be seeing you two later!" he said just before he hopped up and bounded down the hallway for his first class.

Riley shook her head as she and Maya rose to their feet. "Do you think he'll ever calm down one of these days?" Riley asked.

Maya shrugged as they headed down the hallway. "Maybe, who knows with him?"

Riley paused before saying, "You didn't have to say that, Maya."

Maya gave Riley a questioning look. "Say what?"

"That we're hanging out later. All we're doing is talking over Skype; we're not exactly hanging out."

Maya sighed. "Yeah, so? It's still technically hanging out to me even if my mom won't let me come over on a school night."

Riley shrugged as they approached her study hall. "I'll see you during homeroom."

"See ya then, my little plant," Maya responded as she continued down the hallway.

Riley stepped inside the classroom and sighed. Whoever thought having study hall was a good idea must be an idiot, she thought as she took her usual seat near the front of the classroom. She wished that she could have done her own schedule. All the students were allowed to do was pick the classes they wanted to take, and then their counselors took it from there. If anything, Riley wanted a study hall at the end of the day so she could get as much work done before heading home. But that wasn't the case, so Riley dealt with what she had and made the best of the situation.

Since all of her homework was done, Riley reached into her bag and pulled out a book, The Count of Monte Cristo. It was one of the books they had read in English class two years ago. Usually, Riley never cared for the books that the English teachers chose, most of them were rather dull in her opinion. But this one turned out to be one of her favorite books ever. Okay, that may have been a stretch considering all the books she owned and loved, but it was pretty close. She wished that they had read the full version in class, but they didn't have the time. When she told her dad that she loved it so much, he surprised her the next Christmas by getting her the full version of the book. Now, she was able to read the bits that were removed from the school's version.

Riley opened her book and began to read. She was towards the end of the book at one of her favorite parts: the trial of Viscount Andrea Cavalcanti, or as he's about to be revealed: Benedetto, son of Villefort. Once her eyes hit the page, it was like she was in a different world. No longer was she in the classroom, she was in the courtroom watching the trial unfold and seeing how it affected each of the main characters.

It didn't seem like the entire eighty minutes had already passed, but the bell rang and dismissed everyone to homeroom. Riley stayed seated for a couple minutes longer and finished the final chapter before she went and met Maya in the library. Once she was finished, Riley snapped the book shut, picked up her bag, and headed out of the room.

When she entered the library, she found Maya seated atop many of the bean bag chairs that the library had for the students. Riley walked up alongside the bean bag mountain and plopped herself right next to her best friend.

Maya held a few quarters in front of Riley's face. "Coca?" she asked.

Riley shook her head. "No, not today."

Maya placed the money back in her pocket and gave her friend a concerning look. "What's wrong with my plant? Whenever she dismisses chocolate there has to be something wrong."

"Nothing that you don't know already. Besides, I'd rather talk about it over Skype than here."

Maya wrapped her arms around Riley and nodded. "That's understandable. I wouldn't want to talk about it here either."

"It's just when Farkle came to see you earlier, it reminded me of it."

Maya's shoulders drooped slightly. "You could have told me that, I would have told him to scram."

Riley shook her head. "No, I couldn't have. He's one of your friends. You have the right to spend time with them too instead of hanging out with me all the time."

"But you shouldn't have to keep all those feelings bottled up all the time."

Riley shrugged. "I don't. I have you to talk to and my books to read."

Maya nodded. "I know you do. Promise you'll tell me what you're feeling during our chat tonight?"

Her best friend sighed as the bell rang. "Don't worry," Riley said. "I will."

Maya smiled. "Good, I'll see you then."


Riley sat at the end of the lunch table, another book in hand, trying to ignore the conversations that were being carried out throughout the group of friends. Their words were filled with inappropriate jokes, curses, and gossip… all were things Riley didn't want to hear. She didn't mind the swearing so much if it was once in a while, but that wasn't the case here. It made her so uncomfortable. Why do I even sit here?

At one point during the lunch conversation, Riley heard someone mock people about living a modest lifestyle as if it were the worst thing in the world.

Before she knew what she was doing, Riley snapped. "And what's wrong with that?!"

Everyone at the table shifted their focus to her, and Riley felt about two inches tall after she realized what she had said. "Calm down Riley," a girl named Pam said. "We were just joking around about it, that's what friends do," she explained, but the way she said it made Riley feel that she was being sarcastic about the whole thing.

Riley opened her mouth to respond and defend her reaction, but everyone had gone back to ignoring her and continued their previous conversations. So with that, Riley picked up her lunch bag and walked to an empty table to finish her lunch in isolation. Once seated, Riley opened her book and proceeded to reread the first chapter of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Every once in a while, Riley would glance up at the table she had left. Everyone at the table continued on their conversations. No one noticed that she left; no one came over to where she was to see if she was okay.

Do they even care that their words hurt me more than they realize?

A/N #2: Alright, there's chapter 1; we'll find out more about what's upsetting Riley in the next chapter. I'd like to thank Pebblemist of Lighclan for convincing me to post this fic. I was on the fence on whether I'd post it or not, so make sure to thank her cause otherwise you wouldn't be reading this right now :) If you could take a moment to leave a review that would be great. Until next time!