She looked him in the eye, and they just stared, trying to read each other, yet completely understanding what the other was feeling. Finally gaining her composure, she smiled, genuinely. He gave her a look of wonder, and they sat down. As they did their research, he began to speak, talking about his life in Texas, and of the adventures he had on his ranch. She looked up and listened intently, savoring every word. When they began to pack up, Lucas noticed his name written on the top of a piece of stationary. Curious, he picked it up, asking what it was. Riley's face immediately flushed red. He began to read. As he read, the shade of his face slowly began to match that of Riley's. On the stationary was all of Riley's feelings, most of which were directed towards him.
Dear Lucas,
As I write this, I am in seventh grade, and I believe you will never read this. But if you ever do, I want you to know that, as I write this, I am also discovering myself, and coming to a full clarification on my feelings. You should know that I have had a lot of time to come to this clarification: I really like you. And when I say that, I mean the "really like" that all great love stories have. But I'm not so sure that I love you. Yet. But I really like you. And that's good enough for me.
Sincerely,
Riley
She waited for a response, close to tears. He slowly handed the letter back to her. "I believe this belongs to you."
The next day, as the inseparable foursome walked down the hallway, they were greeted, none too kindly, by none other than Missy Bradford. "If I wanted to see a pathetic group of humans, I would just watch any of One Direction's music videos."
Riley just grinned and kissed Lucas on the cheek, causing him to blush, whispering, "Shall we go to class?"
Missy was dumbfounded. She couldn't believe that a pathetic little child could get the boy she had been crushing on for years. As Maya and Farkle walked down the hall, hand in hand, Lucas pulled Riley aside and asked an important question. "Why?"
"Simple," she explained, "Missy wants you. You hate Missy. If you have me, then she'll back off. If anything, she'll try to scare me, and my biggest fear already became a reality."
"What was your biggest fear?" He questioned, genuinely not sure.
Her face turned a deep shade of red. "You, reading that letter."
As they walked into class, Cory picked Riley up and carried her into the classroom. He then commenced to shut the door in Lucas's face, screaming, "Not today Chachi!" Lucas simply made his way to the other door of the classroom and let himself in. Cory started lecturing about World War II, but Riley was too busy thinking about Lucas, and Lucas was too busy thinking about Riley. But their thoughts were nowhere near similar.
In Riley's head, all of her miscellaneous thoughts circled the one question. Was I being too straightforward with Lucas? But in Lucas's head the thoughts were the exact opposite. What does Riley think about me? Does she not understand the feelings I have for her? I don't think I expressed them clearly enough. I need to be more straightforward with her.
"Mr. Friar!" Lucas snapped out of his thoughts, unsure of what caused him to do so.
"If you're done daydreaming," snapped Cory, "I'd appreciate it if you could tell the class, who was the leader in Germany, causing the Second World War."
"My apologies, sir." He responded, "Adolf Hitler was the leader of Germany during the Second World War. He was a dictator that wanted everyone to look the same, act the same, and be the same."
