A series of snippets from the lives of the characters. Takes place throughout highschool mostly. Probably nothing too shippy, mostly friendship and family. Any ideas or suggestions more than welcome. Thanks in advance for any feedback :)

What's it Taste Like?

This oneshot is a homage to when Cory and Shawn had their first brush with alcohol. History repeats itself when Riley and Maya get drunk; like father like daughter. Without further ado here we go:

Truth be told, neither Riley nor Maya got invited to very many parties. It's not that they were unpopular, they just kept to their own close-knit group more often than not. So when the invite finally came, needless to say there was some excitement.

"Maya this is it, it took us until our senior year but we are finally doing this. We're going to a party, like a real one!" Riley babbled on excitedly, as the two made their way up the driveway.

"I dunno Riles, it'll probably be lame,"

"No Maya, really, this is it. I'm ready to party and have the absolute time of my life,"

"Whatever you say!" Maya chuckled, stepping up to the door and opening it. The duo walked in, taking in the atmosphere. It wasn't anything too spectacular, just a few different groups of people mingling and having a good time. They recognized pretty much everyone from school, though there wasn't anyone they knew particularly well. Just then like clockwork, their classmates Sarah and Darby appeared from the kitchen to greet them.

"Hey guys! Glad you could make it," Sarah greeted.

"Yeah, there's beer in the fridge, cheap stuff sorry," Darby laughed, then turning to Riley. "Don't worry Riley, there's soda in there too!"

And just like that the two were gone. Before Maya could even comment, Riley was already off on a rant.

"What, I can't drink beer? What, I'm too good for that? You know Maya, I can be fun. I can be wild. I'm a party girl. I can do whatever I want!"

"Riley I don't think she meant-"

"No, you know what? I'm done. I'm done being safe, predictable, good Riley. I'm drinking, it'll be fun" Riley announced to her best friend proudly, ready to take a plunge.

"Woah woah Riley, you don't do underage drinking. I mean, hey if you want a beer I'll get us one, I'm not gonna miss out on this. But is this really want you want? I don't want you regretting anything," Maya responded, trying to look out for her friend. Maya was pretty much down to try anything, but Riley was a different story.

"No need Maya, I came prepared!" Riley told her as she reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels.

"What the hell? Riley where did you get that?!"

"My aunt Morgan's when I was there the other day, she didn't even notice it was gone,"

"Wait, you KNEW you wanted to drink!? Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?!" Maya demanded to know, half excited and half concerned. She had never even had alcohol before, and here was her very 'rule-abiding' friend wanting to try it first. What was wrong with this picture?

"I knew I wanted to do something fun for once in my life. I'm tired of everyone expecting me to be old reliable, I'm having fun. End of discussion!" Riley answered, ripping the cap off and taking a swig.

The taste hit her like a ton of bricks. It burned all the way down and was the most vile thing she had ever tasted. She gagged, before biting her tongue and swallowing it down. Her whole body almost felt like it was on fire.

"Holy shit Riles," was all Maya could say before Riley passed her the bottle. As grabbed the bottle from Riley, she commented "So let me get this straight...Riley Matthews is trying to get ME to underage drink?"

"C'mon Maya, you're not going to let me outdo you are you?"

Maya smirked and sniffed the alcohol. Cringing, she had to ask, "What's it taste like?"

"It's honestly the most horrific thing I've ever experienced."

"Oh, good," Maya replied sarcastically before taking a big swig herself. She too had a similar reaction to Riley, gagging.

The two continued passing the bottle between eachother for a while.

At some point, they had left the party and were walking down the sidewalk, both pretty intoxicated by now. They were linked arm in arm, definitely not walking in a straight line.

"Y'know, most of the night I was so sososo worried about getting caught, I dunno what I was so worried about!" Riley slurred, so very proud of what she had accomplished tonight.

"See Riles? Doing bad things every one in a while ain't bad,"

"Ain't ain't a word Maya" Riley giggled, before continuing "Besides, IIII was the one who got YOU to do it,"

"Well played Matthews, well played," Maya beamed, actually proud that her friend was the one to instigate this fun adventure.

"LOOK MAYA! A SHOOTING STAR!"

"Riles, that's a plane,"

"Well, I'm wishing anyway!"

"Wait, who's twisting?"

"No, wishing!"

The two girls completely lost it in a fit of giggles with that. After laughing until they were out of breath, they stepped over to the curb to take a rest. They sat in silence for a few seconds before Riley spoke up again.

"This is so great, I only did this cause I didn't want anyone to think I was lame uncool Riley, but I mean this actually turned out to awesome,"

"Who cares what people think Wiley?" Maya responded.

"Wiley?" Riley giggled, getting distracted by Maya's drunken mess-up.

"Sorry, I think I'm pretty intoxicated here," Maya laughed, then putting an arm around Riley. "But no, seriously...drunk you, not drunk you, good you, bad you, I don't care I love all of you. You're my best friend!"

"I don't know what you just said but I think it was a compliment," Riley admitted.

"Yeah it was," Maya replied with a sleepy laugh. "I just love you!"

"I love you so much Maya, like for real. You're like the most important thing in my life,"

"I'd take a bullet for you, you know that right?" Maya told her best friend, not breaking eye contact.

Riley didn't answer, only smiled and tackled her best friend to the ground. They were both lying on their backs at this point laughing.

"I love you so much," Riley finally responded. The two just laid there on the sidewalk looking at the sky for a while. Riley shifted slightly and heard the now empty bottle of Jack grind on the pavement.

"Oh, this. Whatdowedo with this? She slurred.

"Oh I got that!" Maya said as she grabbed it and stood up. She meant to throw it up in the air gracefully, but it ended up being thrown pretty hard. She couldn't see where it went, only heard it break and as if on cue, police sirens turned on. There had been a cop coming just as the bottle was thrown.

"Oh shit,"

"What in the hell were you two thinking?!" Topanga grilled the two seventeen year olds. They were back at the Matthews apartment sitting at the kitchen table, now mostly sobered up and feeling pretty crappy. Neither one answered her, so she pressed on.

"Not only do you guys drink at this party, but then you decide to go wandering around? Are you out of your minds?! You could've gotten in serious trouble or seriously hurt!"

"Mom, we're sorry, we're stupid," Riley apologized, looking down, but holding Maya's hand under the table.

"Yeah, you were," Topanga agreed angrily. Cory was standing next to her but hadn't spoken at all yet. This was all very familiar to him. Because of that, he wasn't sure exactly what he should say.

"Riley I didn't think you fell for peer pressure, that's why I never ever worried about you going to parties. I trusted you to make smart decisions. And Maya, what happened a friend helping a friend out of trouble, not into it?" Topanga continued.

"Wait what?" Riley asked, finally looking up.

"You know better, getting a friend to make poor decisions with you is NOT helping them out of trouble, it's helping them into it," Topanga pressed on at Maya. Maya's eyes widened, understanding what was going on. She stayed silent.

"Mom, she didn't-" Riley started but was cut off.

"Riley." Maya stopped her, not wanting her friend to continue. Riley always had her back, Maya would do the same. Maybe Riley could get less blame out of this if her parents thought she was the instigator.

"I just-" Topanga was about to continue, but Cory was the next to interrupt.

"It was your idea wasn't it, Riley?" Cory asked softly but seriously.

There was a pause, and Maya answered.

"Mr. Matthews, me. I wanted to try-" but Cory put his hand up to her, telling her to stop, never taking his eyes off Riley.

"Yeah dad, it was me. Maya was just along for the ride to make poor choices with me," Riley admitted immediately, not wanting her parents to think poorly of Maya when Riley herself was just as guilty.

Cory nodded, and looked to Topanga. "Sound familiar?"

Topanga sighed and added "She is definitely your daughter. Maya you know I didn't mean to assume, I'm sorry,"

"It's okay Mrs. Matthews, any other time you would have been right," Maya joked back, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Riley, Maya... this was stupid. You're so lucky that police officer found you and let you go. You better not ever pull this again. I'm sure you're aware how grounded you are," Cory told them.

"Yeah dad I know," Riley sighed with relief. Guilt tripping worked better with her than any yelling would have, and her parents knew that.

"You guys better go get some sleep, sleep the rest of that alcohol out of your system. We'll talk about this in the morning," Cory told them.

"Oh you bet we will. We're not done," Topanga added.

The girls nodded and headed off to get some much needed sleep. The morning was going to be rough.