A/N: Hi!

It's been a while since I've posted anything, and I can justify it if anyone wants me to.

Nevertheless, I've been keeping up with GMW, and I don't like the turn it's taking.

The atmosphere is definitely different than in season one when I started "Hurt," so I wanted to begin a story with a new background.

The story will be from Riley's point of view. In this introduction, Riley is faced with a choice that will impact the rest of the story.

The catch? YOU get to decide.

I will be writing and uploading three chapters at a time, each corresponding with the three choices given. Read as how your decision impacts the rest of the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Girl Meets World.


I loved everything the way it was.

Maya, well, she was my best friend. She was always there for me, through thick and thin. We were inseparable.

And there was Farkle, announcing his change in attitude and being more chill, yet still being as big of a genius as he always was.

And Lucas, with our thing, which even if it wasn't an official thing, but was the best thing I'd ever had with a guy. It was irreplaceable.

Everything was perfect.

And then it all… changed.

I began to notice it. I guess that at the beginning, I kind of just convinced myself that it was nothing, that it was just their friendship getting stronger and that was it. And that was a thing I should be supporting, as their best friend. They never really did get along.

But it was more than that. It was so much more than that, and when I finally understood, it was too late.

I'd lost Maya. I'd lost Lucas. I'd lost them to each other.

I was sure the only thing stopping them from throwing themselves at each other was me. And that was a good thing. I didn't want them to know that I saw what they were doing… those stares that lasted too long, the teasing that was more than just teasing.

But there was nothing I could do to make it stop.

x x x

I'd kept this feeling inside for so long. I didn't realize how much it was getting to me, but it had been.

I knew I really needed to talk to someone about this, yet I still didn't. There was just something holding me back. Maybe it was because nobody else saw them being the way they were together.

Maya and I sat at my bay window after school on Thursday, after things had changed. I knew I shouldn't show her that I was affected by this, but as it got worse, the feeling I had of exploding just worsened and worsened.

"Riles, what's wrong?" Maya said eventually. I looked at her and put on the most sincere smile I could.

"Nothing's wrong."

Maya did kind of look unconvinced, but before she could say anything about it, the window opened.

Farkle slid in, but refrained from doing his usual, "Ladies!" greet. I didn't mind.

That was when I noticed it. The opportunity was right here, to finally talk to someone… maybe Farkle been seeing it too.

"Maya, will you please leave?" I asked. Her face fell.

"Wh-what?" she said quietly. She looked to Farkle, expecting him to disagree, but he just stared at her.

"Please, Maya, go," I said. She stood up, gave us both a hurt look, and left. Farkle stood up and closed the window.

I looked down at my lap.

"Riley?" he asked.

He knew something was wrong. That's probably why he came here, to finally talk to me. It was weird. I'd always had the feeling that he knew me better than even Maya and Lucas sometimes.

"Have you noticed it too? Lucas… and Maya?" I asked, looking over at him.

Farkle sighed.

"Yeah. That's why I came here. I had to talk to you about this. I'm sorry I've been putting it off so long," he said. I guess I was right. "But I've been trying to do whatever I can to stop it… it's not fair to you. I just can't believe that they aren't even thinking about you…"

That's when I lost it. But I knew it was okay, that I was breaking down in front of him. Farkle didn't care.

I felt my face heating up, and I burst into tears.

"This is so bad…" I said. "Why? Why are they doing this?"

Farkle had never really been a touchy-feely guy, but something must've sparked in him, because he stood up, knelt in front of me, and gave me a hug.

"It's terrible," he said softly as he held me. "What they're doing is terrible and how you're feeling is terrible."

He pulled away but kept his arms around me.

"But I'll help you through it. That's what I'm here for. Okay?"

I wiped my now drenched face with my sleeve and nodded.

It felt like I lost two big chunks of me, but I kept it together, because Farkle was here to try and fill both of those now empty spaces.

x x x

The next morning wasn't a good one.

Neither Maya nor Lucas was on the subway that morning like they usually were.

Maya's locker was close to mine, so it wouldn't have been weird if I'd seen her there. What I did see, however, was worse.

When I arrived at school and headed down the stairs to my locker, I stopped halfway down and hid behind the nearest wall.

Maya was there getting the books out of her locker, and Lucas was standing on the other side of her. They seemed to just be talking. But then, out of nowhere, Lucas grabbed her elbow, and pulled her close to him, so their faces were inches apart. Neither of them moved a muscle.

I wanted to run down there and stop them. I wanted to jump in between them and scream. But that would've been stupid.

I was hurt, though.

Maya's serious expression changed into a smile and she pushed him away. He raised his eyebrows and shut her locker, and she looked like she was about to punch him… but playfully.

The moment was over. I let myself finish walking down the stairs, but neither of them noticed me stop at my locker. I could feel my eyebrows curving upwards like they did when I wanted to cry, but I stopped myself.

I shut my locker once I had my books, but when I did, I saw that both Maya and Lucas were looking at me.

"Oh, hey," Lucas said softly, walking over to me. He looked at the books I had in my hand, and said, "I can carry those if you want."

I bit my cheek and shook my head.

"How long have you been here?" she said nonchalantly, slowly walking over to Lucas and me. I guess Maya could see that something was wrong, unless she just wanted to make sure her tail was covered.

"Oh, not long," I said, shrugging a shoulder. Maya looked at Lucas and Lucas at Maya, seemingly communicating with their eyes.

I kept a small smile on my face but felt the tears welling up in my eyes.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on mine. I looked over to see Farkle, cool looking as always, but with a sincere look on his face.

"We should get to class," he said. I nodded. He dragged me by the hand away from Lucas and Maya, but I couldn't help feeling a pair of eyes on the back of my head as we walked.

I just didn't know who's they were.

x x x

Throughout the rest of the school day, I acted like nothing had changed, and so did Lucas and Maya. At least, they did when I was around. Farkle stayed by me as to make sure I didn't see anything I didn't want to see. Part of me wanted to see everything, though.

At the end of the day, my dad kept us all in class a little later than when the bell rung.

"I almost forgot to do this during class," said Dad, standing at the front with a stack of papers in his hands. "We're going to have a field trip soon to the local zoo. It'll be an all day trip. I'll pass out the permission forms now, and I'd like you to please return those signed to me before next Friday."

When I got my paper, I saw that the trip was about two weeks from now.

"You guys are dismissed."

Dad left the room before anyone else could, and then students began to file out too. Lucas was slowly packing up, and Maya was folding paper in her hands.

"Are you coming?" I asked her, standing up. I already knew the answer.

"I… I need to talk to your dad about something. Go on without me today," she said, smiling. I frowned, but tried to not let it show. Slowly, I left the room.

I didn't go to my locker, though. I hid against the corner of the door. It was just Maya and Lucas left in the room, I was aware. Biting my lip and bracing myself, I looked through the nearest window back into the room.

There stood Maya and Lucas, facing each other, inches apart. Lucas was smirking, holding a paper in his hand. He held the paper high above his head, and Maya jumped up to grab it, but missed. He held it behind him, which caused her to lunge towards him. He used his free hand to grab her waist.

"You shouldn't be watching that," said Farkle, dragging me away. I felt my breathing begin to hitch, so Farkle brought me to the back of the school. It was gorgeous back there, and also a place where people rarely went. In today's case, it was just me and him back there.

"Riley…" he said, holding my shoulders.

"I can't… take it anymore…" I said, bundling my fists up as tightly as they would go.

"Riley…" Farkle started, tightening his grip and making sure we never broke eye contact. "We can do something about this. We absolutely can."

I nodded. This was the answer I was looking for.

"What can we do?" I asked.

"We can interfere and confront one of them… but the question is, who?"

I frowned. That was a harder question than I thought it would be. Who? It didn't seem like much, but this choice could change everything for me, for us, for the future.

I considered everything. What confronting who would do, how things would change. Once I reached a decision, I finally spoke.

"We should confront…"

1 – "…Maya," I said. "She's my best friend. Maybe if she saw how she was hurting me, she'd stop."

2 – "…Lucas," I said. "This all wouldn't hurt as much if we didn't have a history together, and if we didn't have a thing now. Maybe if he knew how I was feeling, he'd stop what he's doing."

3 – "…Neither of them," I said. "They're hurting me. They're hurting me so bad. And I know by doing this, I could lose them for good. But what kind of friend would I be to interfere with whatever they have?"


Now, it's your turn. Whatever choice you make in this first chapter will impact the rest of the story. The chapters that go with the first option (Maya arc) will be labeled with an "M", the chapters that go with the second option (Lucas arc) will be labeled with an "L", and the chapters that go with the third option (Neither arc) will be labeled with an "N".

What do you think of this idea and the story so far, and what did you choose? What do you think is gonna happen with your choice next? A review always helps!