Riley POV (they are 14)

My entire family was running around, excited for the next three weeks. Christmas break. And when I said entire family, I meant it. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, the whole package. Even some of my mom and dad's friends were here to stay.

I stood in the middle of the chaos, plugging my ears.

My cousins ran around screaming, Auggie included, yet everyone heard the buzzer that meant someone was here.

They all went completely silent.

"Whoa," Lucas said, "At first it was screaming, and now everyone's gone silent. Your family must have excellent hearing. Tell me, Mr. And Mrs. Matthews, are either of you related to bats?"

Almost everyone burst out laughing, only to quiet back down as Lucas began to speak again.

"So, Riley. Maya and Farkle are both waiting downtown at the movies, they sent me here after I lost a game of Rock Paper Scissors. You wanna come."

I looked down at my sweatshirt and sweat pants.

"Uh, yeah. I gotta change, though. You can come up and wait."

I buzzed him up, and waited a few minutes until hen reached my door. He knocked.

i quickly opened the door, pulled him inside, shut the door, and dragged him to my room. He only had enough time to flash a smile before I pulled him around the corner, my dad yelling, "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, MR. FRIAR!"

We entered my room, and I locked the door behind us.

"What was that about?"

"My entire family is made up of profesional interrogators. Not literally, but you get what I mean.

I opened my closet and took out a white sweater, jeans, and brown ugg boots.

Lucas raised an eyebrow at me.

"I'm going in the bathroom! Geez!"

I quickly got dressed, pulled my hair into a side pony, and walked out.

Lucas had his hands in his winter coat pockets, and was gazing around my room.

His eyes landed on a painting of a blond and a brunette sitting on a dock together, staring out onto the ocean. You could only see the backs of the two girls.

"Did you-"

"Definitely not. Maya painted that. I don't draw I sing. Well Maya can, too but-"

"I would love to hear you sometime."

"Uh, sometime."

We walked out of my room and towards the front door.

The screaming and running around had started again, and nobody gave us a second glance, besides my dad, who glared at us the entire walk.

I shrugged on my purple coat, and slipped on my white gloves and hat.

Before I could move to touch the handle, Lucas took my hand and laced my fingers with his.

He opened the door, and we walked out, my dad screaming, "HANDS TO YOURSELF, FRIAR!"

When he first took my hand, I thought it was just to make my dad mad, but after the door shut, he kept our fingers entwined.

We walked half the way to the movie theater, hand in hand.

"Uh, by the way, what movie are we seeing?"

"Death by Zombies 2."

I shivered.

"Maya picked that one, didn't she."

"Yup."

"Ugh. I'm freaking out already!"

He slung his arm around my shoulders, letting go of my hand.

"Don't ya worry, City Girl. It's just a movie, after all."

Before we turned the corner onto Main Street, he took my hand again.

Maya and Farkle were waiting outside the theater, talking.

"Finally!" Maya said.

Neither Maya, nor Farkle notice our hands.

During the movie, Maya and Farkle sat in front of us.

I was scared before the first two minutes were over, mostly because in the first two minutes, the movie was showing all the hordes of zombies eating people, animals, and even each other.

Lucas must have noticed me shaking, because he slung his arm around my shoulder and whispered, "It's just make-up. Don't worry about it."

That calmed me down, and I stopped shaking, but he didn't remove his arm from my shoulders.

During the movie, at certain parts I hid my face in the crook of his neck, until he told me it was alright to come out. Take the part where Lily Pattern's baby was being eaten my a zombie with one eyeball hanging out of the socket and no jaw, for example.

When the movie was over, Lucas and I put on our winter gear, and he entwined our fingers again.

Again, Maya and Farkle didn't notice.

"You two game for lunch at the diner next door?" Maya asked.

"Fine by me."

"Uh, yeah. Yeah sure."

We all walked out of the movie theater and into the diner.