A Cafeteria Confrontation
Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. So I had originally planned to work on something else but decided to go ahead and work on this instead. Fair warning to Rucas shippers as this is NOT gonna be much of a happy occasion between Lucas and Riley as this is set during the cafeteria scene during Secret of Life and I've never quite agreed with how Riley was acting towards Lucas. And before anyone claims it, I am NOT out to take Riley's head and nor am I a hater. With that said, on with the show.
Lucas Austin Friar could hardly believe the way Riley was acting towards him after Zay's spilling of the beans. Thankfully he hadn't spilled more as this whole thing could have been a lot worse even though Riley was making it out to be some huge deal that just needed to be left alone. It didn't matter if they really knew one another or not and yes, he got that real true friends talked to one another about things but damn, what he had done back in Texas and even some of the things before it just wasn't stuff he was proud of or even want to talk about if he could help it. The fact that Riley Matthews, one of the most understanding people he knew couldn't quite seem to grasp that aggravated the crap out of him and he was honestly thankful for what Maya had done during the whole conversation. As if she hadn't been around, he likely done would have blown his top at the brunette and gotten into a big heap of trouble. And Lord knows his momma would NOT be happy over that.
The less said about his dad the better. "Wait a minute… My father KNEW about this!?" Came the question from the very girl he was getting aggravated with as she stood up at their table with Maya and him looking on.
Letting out a sigh, Lucas decided that he'd just about had enough and stood up himself. Something Maya instantly saw and was feeling a little worried as she could tell how annoyed and unhappy he was looking with her best friend and she wasn't sure she could blame him for that at all. Uh-oh, this just might get ugly.
Riley looked at him in slight confusion while wondering why he just stood up as well. Was he planning to walk away? Cause that was not the way to handle this at all as he needed to be open about things instead of keeping it in. How could she have a relationship with the guy she really liked, especially as he was her first crush and not know everything about him? You need to be open about things in order to have a successful, long lasting relationship like the one her parents have. "Yeah, your dad knew about this Riley. But he let us be friends anyway as he KNEW I needed a fresh start, even if he was a little hesitant in regards to you and I bein' more then friends. My momma and him are old friends and she came to him about me as she was worried like crazy about me back when we still lived in Texas."
Well, that was surprising to hear for the brunette but why never tell her? She just didn't get it all. "I did bad things back in Texas, things I'm not proud of. Especially the thing that got me expelled for a whole year. So can you really blame ME when I clearly DON'T want to talk about it with you or anybody else? Which… Apparently you don't seem to get that at all. Even when I CLEARLY mentioned the first time that I'm not proud of what I did."
Riley was definitely not happy with where this was going and the look on her face showed that quite well but Lucas wasn't exactly caring much at that moment as he was just fed up with how she was being with him. His rising voice had also pretty much gained the notice of everybody else in the cafeteria and Maya was staying silent as there didn't need to be any input from her. Yeah, she wasn't liking the fact that Riley was getting torn into like she was, but even she knew the girl wasn't being all that fair to their Texan friend. Some things just didn't have to be talked about unless you could really and truly trust and feel comfortable enough t do so with that person and she totally got where Lucas was coming from. She had always known the guy was more then he seemed with how he was able to give as good as he got whenever she tried to irritate him in their little game and Zay's showing up just confirmed what she had been thinking about the guy. Did it make her like him any less? Heck no!
Though she did not want to see her best friend and the Huckleberry lose what they had, friendship or otherwise over this whole mess. One of the teachers was heavily considering interfering before the scene could get potentially ugly. "Not everything is about you Riley and not everything is as clear cut and simple as Apple pie like you seem to think it is or can be. I didn't and still don't wanna talk about what happened and you should respect that and leave it be instead of actin' the way you are."
The teacher wouldn't have to do anything as Lucas Friar walked away after that, leaving the Matthews girl and her friend behind. Riley was just stunned as could be and honestly feeling hurt by Lucas' words. The fact that Maya hadn't said anything during all that bothered her too but she would have words with her dad over this whole thing to try and understand it all. In the end, things were thankfully able to get settled to a degree and Riley apologized for how she was acting towards him and he gave an apology as well for how he had handled things in the way he had after his annoyance and anger got the best of him. Though she wasn't sure things would ever really be the same between the two of them again. Especially when he told her that only she could decide if whether or not he was worth it to her.
Author's Notes: If you're reading this, then you aren't entirely in a full on rage over what I've written. I'm also considering having this tie into my 'A Mother's Concern' one-shot as well since that has Lucas' mom and Cory knowing one another.