GIRL MEETS THE NEW YEAR

Part 1

"5…4…3…2…1"

The fireworks sounded as Riley stood from the bench, her horn in hand, as she quickly tried to escape.

"Riley still loves Lucas." Farkle exclaimed, for everyone on the roof to hear. Riley stopped moving, not making eye contact with anyone.

Lucas & Maya's glanced shifted to Riley, both shocked & confused. Riley took a few more steps towards the door, before tuning around. "Happy new year." she said softly, before bringing the horn to her lips.

Yogi was the first to speak. "Thank you for a wonderful evening." he said quickly, before grabbing Darby's hand & running towards the door. The rest of their classmates followed, leaving Riley, Lucas, Maya, Farkle & Smackle.

"I'm sorry, guys." he said to Lucas & Maya, before turning to Riley. "I did the right thing. I hope you can forgive me." He grabbed Isadora's hand & began to leave. "Happy new year."

Maya began walking, hoping she would be able to follow Farkle & Smackle. But, she had no such luck.

"Maya." Riley said, Maya spun to face her.

"I'm gonna go home & let you 2 sort out…whatever just happened." Maya said, trying to hide any signs of emotion from her face. She turned around again as Riley jumped in front of her.

"But this involves you, too." Riley said, tossing the horn on the nearest bench. "Talk to me, Maya."

"You want me to talk to you? You want me to tell you how I feel about this?" Maya asked.

"Yes." Riley said, a hopeful smile on her face.

"You're a hypocrite, Riley Matthews." Maya snapped. Her & Lucas' eyes widened. "You are the biggest hypocrite I have ever met."

Riley shook her head, a nervous smile on her face. "I don't understand."

"You didn't talk to Lucas for nearly a week when you found out about his past. You were upset Farkle didn't tell us he was being bullied right away…but when it happened to you, you lied about it for weeks." She listed, using her fingers. "You got your feelings hurt when I kept my feelings for Lucas a secret - to protect you." she added. "You lied right to my face that day in Texas. You told me you saw him as a brother. You sat there & told me to be honest with you about my feelings…when you did the exact opposite."

"You stepped back for 2 years, Maya." Riley began. "I wanted to do the same for you."

"But, I didn't want you to do that. I would do anything for you, Riley. I want you to be happy, you deserve to be happy. I stepped back because you liked him first. That didn't mean you had to do that for me." Maya explained.

"How else were you suppose to figure out if you really had feelings for him." Riley defended, gesturing to Lucas, who was still trying to wrap his head around this whole situation. "If I hadn't done that, you would still be confused. I wasn't lying when I told you I want you to feel whatever you feeling, Maya - you deserve that."

"Riley, you would be with Lucas right now if you were just honest with me." Maya said. "None of this would've happened if you had just told the truth."

"We don't know that." Riley exclaimed, immediately. "I see that he cares about you, Maya-"

"He doesn't want to go out with me. He's not going out with me - he's never going out with me." Maya exclaimed, sounding like she was trying to convince herself of that statement. Riley felt a sense of Déjà vu at her words, remembering the first time she said them to her.

"Maya." Lucas said, finally speaking.

"Ranger Rick, stay out of this. I'm not ready to talk to you, yet." she said, turning to face him for a moment. Lucas listened & she spun back to her best friend.

"Riley. I love you & I never want to hurt you, or keep you from someone that makes you happy." she began. "So, let me go home & leave you 2 alone."

"But-"

"Riley, I'm going to be okay, no matter what happens after tonight." She lied, with a very convincing smile. "You wanna know why?" Riley nodded. "Because I know that this," she began, gesturing between them. "is forever."

"But, it's really out of our control, at this point." Maya said.

Riley raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Whatever happens next, is up to Huckleberry." Maya said, turning to the boy.

"Me? Why is it up to me?" he asked.

Maya sighed, walking towards him. "I want to apologize to you." she began.

"For what?" he asked, confused.

"None of us have asked you about how you feel. & I wanted to, everyday since we got back from Texas. I wanted to ask you how you felt about me & Riley." she explained. "But, for the first time ever, I was scared of you. I was scared of what your answer would be."

"So, I made an end of the year resolution. I told myself that if at Midnight, you were with Riley, I would step back & let you both be happy. But, if you chose to be with me, I would let myself be happy." Maya turned to face both of them. "Farkle told us tonight that 'who you're standing with at midnight is how you'll spend the new year.' What they don't tell you is that it could be more than one person." she said, forcing a smile.

"I still don't get how it's up to me." Lucas said, confused.

"You get to decide what happens next." she said.

"You want me to pick between you to?" he asked.

"No, I'm not forcing you to pick between us, because that would be wrong. All I'm saying is that…Riley & I can go back & forth about what we want, but…you need to decide what you want."

She stepped back. "I'll let you guys talk this out now. I'm sure Lucas has a lot to say." She turned on her heal & made her way to the door.

"Peaches?" Riley called, Maya spun around. "Happy new year."

Maya forced a smile, before walking out of sight.

Lucas sighed. "Why would you lie to me?"

"Because, I wanted Maya to have a chance to figure out how she felt." Riley said.

"That didn't mean you had to give me mix signals." He said. "You made me think you saw me as your brother…do you know how that felt?"

"Trust me, Lucas. I know how you felt." Riley said.

"Were you ever gonna tell me the truth?" he asked.

"Eventually, yes. I told Farkle I needed some time, for me, you & Maya." she explained. "He gave me until midnight tonight."

"How long has Farkle known?" he asked.

"Since we got back from Texas." she admitted.

"All of this could've been avoided if you were just honest, Riley. Everything's a mess right now." he sighed.

"How do you feel about me, Lucas?" Riley asked.

"I like you, Riley. I do." he said.

"& how do you feel about Maya?" she asked, nervously.

Lucas didn't exactly know what to say to that. "I'm still not sure about that." he admitted. "I do care about her, a lot. I want her to be happy."

"But, how does she make you feel?" Riley asked again. "You can tell me, Lucas. I want to help you figure this out."

"She's fun to be around. She makes me laugh, even when she's making fun of me." he admitted. "She's one of the only people who doesn't expect me to be Mr. Perfect. Which, makes me feel a lot better."

"I never expected you to be Mr. Perfect." she defended.

"You kinda do." Lucas said.

"Name one time!" Riley scoffed.

"When you found out about who I use to be, you didn't talk to me for a week." he explained.

"Well, that's because…because-"

"You thought I was Mr. Perfect." he said. Maya heard her sigh. "It's okay, Riley. I made all of you believe that's who I was."

"Tell me more about Maya." she said, changing the subject.

"I think she's beautiful." he said.

"Blonde Beauty." Riley muttered, talking a seat on the bench. "That's how you described her to Zay."

"I don't even know when things changed." he admitted, joining Riley on the bench. "When I moved here, you were the only girl I was thinking about. Then, suddenly, I was thinking about Maya, too."

It was quiet for a few moments. Neither of them knew what to say next. Well, Riley did - she just wasn't ready to say it. She didn't want to admit that what Maya said was true.

"Maya was right about everything she said tonight." she began, Lucas turned to face her. "We never asked you how you felt & I'm sorry for that." she stood from the bench. "You have some decisions to make, Lucas."

Lucas stood up with her. "But, I don't want to hurt you, or Maya. How will I know what the right thing to do is?"

"You'll know." Riley smiled, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. "Happy New Year, Lucas." she spun around & walked off the roof, leaving Lucas standing alone, with only the sound of the fireworks.

Lucas only stood there for another minute or 2. He exited the building, with only 1 destination in mind.

Maya's window.