A/N: Hey, guys. Pebble here. Well, I'm at my father's, without access to my tablet. So I can't work on my other stories. *sigh* So, I wanted to write, and this is what happened. I got this idea, and it just flowed from there. Enjoy, and I'll try to update my other stories as soon as I can.

Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World or any of its characters.

~~~ Riley's Point Of View~~~ Chapter One: Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows

In my whopping twelve-year-long experience with the world, I've learned that life is a very strange thing. One moment, it's all sunshine and lollipops and rainbows. You could be the happiest person in existence, with not a care in the world. Then something happens, and storm clouds roll in, the lollipops disappear, and the beautiful colors of the rainbow are completely swallowed by the darkness. You can become sad, or angry, or depressed just like that, in only a matter of seconds.

That's how the day started; sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows galore. If I had known at the time I woke up that morning how quickly and unexpectedly the day would spiral out of control, maybe I might have been able to brace myself, be more prepared for it. But of course, that's not even close to how the world works, and I was left jumping out of bedwith a smile on my face that morning, thinking that it could very well have been the best day of my life. Boy, was I ever wrong.

It had started out as a normal morning. I had woken up in a particularly sun-shiney, rainbowey mood, with a cloudless blue sky just outside of my window, the sun shining as brightly as ever. There was no mistaking it, no need to check the weather channel. It was going to be a warm, sunny day, not even the slightest chance of rain. Maybe not in the physical world, I would later think upon reflecting back on that day, but emotionally? There was a category-five hurricane.

"Morning!" I exclaimed happily as I emerged from my room, all but flying into the dining room. A let out a contented sigh as I surveyed my family. My wonderful, loving family, gathered at the table for breakfast. Dad reading his newspaper, Mom airplane-feeding Auggie a spoonful of soggy oatmeal, ignoring his protests of wanting to go to Farkle's for breakfast. I tried not to giggle. Life couldn't have gotten much better than that, could it? "It's such a beautiful day, isn't it?" I asked, twirling into my seat, a grin a mile wide stretching across my face..

"Someone's in a really good mood today," Mom said, smiling at me.

"Oh, really?" I asked, not really thinking before I spoke. "Who?"

Mom just shook her head with an exasperated sigh and continued feeding Auggie. I felt my face grow hot as I realized that she was talking about me. "Oh." I gave my best effort to laugh it off. I succeeded, and somewhat forgot about it as the intercom buzzed.

"Hey losers, it's Maya," the familiar voice of the best friend I could ever have rang throughout the apartment. I stood up and danced my way to the door. I pressed the button, called "Come on up!" and went back to my seat. Just as soon as I was seated, the door swung open, and there stood my BFF, dressed in a simple navy blue pullover hoodie, ripped-up blue jeans, and a pair of boots, her backpack slung over one shoulder, looking a little too light for something that should have been carrying a huge load of books.

"Hey, Maya!" I called, patting the empty seat next to me.

"Maya, oatmeal," my mother said instantly. Maya opened her mouth to protest as she sat.

"No thanks, Mrs. Mathe-"

"Maya, sweetie, I think we've had this conversation before. I wasn't asking."

Maya brushed her golden blonde hair out of her eyes and smiled, accepting the bowl of oatmeal without any further protests.

The morning continued on in an ordinary manner, Maya and I finishing up our food, Dad leaving for work, and Auggie watching Mr. Googly. I had just inserted my last spoonful of oatmeal into my mouth when Maya stood up abruptly.

"It's seven o'clock, Riles. You ready?" she asked.

"Hold on," I choked down the soggy food as fast as I could. "Now I'm ready," I jumped up, and led the way towards the door, picking up my two-ton backpack with much effort. My arms screamed in protest as I flung the bag around my shoulders. It instantly weighed me down, forcing me first forwards, then backwards.

"Hey Riles," Maya began, evidently holding back a laugh. "Have you seen my books?"

"Hm, let me check," I grumbled, putting my bag down and pulling out a horde of books that did not belong to me. "Are these your?" I asked, trying my best to sound mad. Maya snickered, not taking me seriously. I didn't blame her, though. There was no way I could be mad at her for something so small for more than about two seconds. I am such a softie at times. Or all the time... Well, anyways...

"Thanks," Maya said, sarcasm dripping from her voice as I handed her the books. I rolled my eyes, picking up my now lighter bag and heading out the door.

The sun shone down on us as we approached the school. Overhead, the sky was clear and blue, not a single cloud to be seen. A cool, steady breeze blew through, blowing my brown hair into a mess. I would have to brush it later.

The front entrance to John Quincy Addams Middle School was crowded. I mean, really crowded. No one wanted to be cooped up inside on a beautiful day like this.

Well, at least no one with the exception of Maya. She made it fairly clear that she did not want to be outside when she grabbed on to my wrist and dragged me up the steps and into the school without even acknowledging my protests. I swear, if I had fallen, she would have probably kept dragging me without giving me a chance to stand, she was in such a hurry.

"Maya! What are you doing? I know how to walk!"

Maya paused, glancing at me with a smug look on her face. "You sure about that? After this morning, I wasn't so sure."

Not sure how else to react, my awkward self decided to stick my tongue out at her. "I had your books in my backpack! Let me guess, you didn't do the homework?"

"How could I?" Maya asked as we approached our lockers. "You had my books."

"Maya, if you don't want to fail, you have to do the homework," I told her, dropping all of my books into my locker and selecting the History one for first period, placing it back in my bag. "Homework's a grade, too, you know. A big part of it, too"

"I still don't see the point of homework," Maya pointed out. "Why can't we just get all of our work done at school?"

"You're not thinking of starting another rebellion, are you? Because if you do, I take absolutely no responsibility if you burn down the school."

Maya snorted. "Yeah, right. Like I didn't learn my lesson the first time. Come on, Riles, you don't really think I'd be stupid enough to do it again, do you?"

I shrugged. "You were stupid enough to do it the first time." I said, surprised that the words actually left my mouth. I had always thought that the homework rebellion had been a stupid idea, but I guess I'd been blinded by wanting to be like Maya that I wasn't listening to myself. Now I had actually admitted it. I have to admit, I was kind of proud of myself.

Maya was dumbfounded. For once, she didn't have a smart comeback, which was almost odd. She paused, her eyes darting around as if she were physically looking for a comeback. Her shoulders slumped when she failed to find one.

"Fine," she mumbled, obviously suppressing a grin. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"

I opened my mouth to reply, only to be cut off before I could get more than two syllables out. "Yeah, you-"

"Hey."

The sweet southern accent in his voice made my heart melt. The butterflies in my stomach began to flutter as they realized his presence. I turned to him, my voice catching in my throat.

"H-hey," I said, stammering as I met his striking green eyes. The butterflies went wild.

"What did I miss?" Lucas asked, leaning against the lockers casually. He had been absent for a few days because of a family emergency he had to attend to, back in Texas. Luckily, everything had ended up alright, and he was back in New York.

"Howdy, Ranger Rick," Maya said in her fake southern accent. "Did ya enjoy the rodeos back in Texas?"

"Ha, ha," Lucas deadpanned. "Hey, Maya. It's nice to see you, too."

Maya grit her teeth. "Why can't I get to you?" she asked, clenching her fists in frustration. Lucas shrugged, tipping his imaginary cowboy hat in that way that always seemed to get on Maya's nerves. I laughed, leaning against the lockers to watch.

"I'm terribly sorry, ma'am," he said, leaning down so that he and Maya were eye to eye. "But I'm afraid I don't know how to answer that question."

Maya scoffed and turned back to her locker, grabbing her History book and shutting the door. She shoved the book into her bag with an irritated glare at Lucas. I had to shake my head at her; as much as she pretended not to like him, they had proven their friendship too many times before. But, of course, they always had to continue their little game.

It's not like I thought that Maya might have like-liked Lucas. One, even if she did, knowing her, she would get over it, especially since she knew I liked him- she was just that kind of friend. But as much as she tried to hide it, it was incredibly obvious (at least to me) that she had a crush on Farkle.

Every time she was near him, there was a different attitude. She was always the same old Maya, but she showed more signs of protectiveness when she was around him. She always seemed to be watching out for him, like his personal bodyguard. Anything regarding Farkle was automatically made her business. And then there were those little things, the the things that only a best friend notices. Little changes of facial expression, tone of voice, you know, those kind of things.

Besides, the way she beamed when Farkle said that he like her drawing, back during that No Cell Phones assignment kind of said it all, don't you think?

Speaking of Farkle, the little guy showed up at about that moment, with his flirtatious greeting of "Hello, ladies," to which Maya and I replied with our usual "Farkle."

The four of us got the things we needed and walked towards my father's classroom. The boys had just entered when I felt something light bounce off the back of my head.

I paused and turned around. A piece of crumpled up paper lay on the floor. Janitor Harley wouldn't like that, so I picked it up.

"You coming, Riles?" Maya asked, pausing to turn to me with a confused look on her face. I nodded.

"Yeah.. I'll be in in a minute," I said somewhat absentmindedly. I she hesitated for a moment, then went in.

I un-crumpled the paper. Written on it in red ink was a note... addressed to me. Or, at least the nickname only Maya ever used for me, on very rare occasions.

Dear Little Plant,

Why do you even kid yourself? Lucas will never like you! He deserves a lady, like me. Not an immature little baby like you. Why don't you go stay in that locker and leave the boys to the big girls?

Not your friend,

Missy

I grit my teeth, crumpling up the paper again, tossing it into a nearby trash can with surprisingly good aim, at least of awkward little me.

"The truth hurts, doesn't it?" a voice from behind me asked. I knew that voice. No one else had that same snotty, arrogant voice.

I whirled around. There, standing behind me with her trademark, ugly pink sweater, her straight brown hair tucked behind her ears with a headband, and an evil smirk on her face, was Missy Bradford.

I rolled my eyes, trying to just let it roll of my back like Maya does. "I loathe you," was all I said before entering the classroom.

The first bell hadn't even rung yet, and someone had already put a damper on my good mood. Granted, it was just Missy, so I could handle her, but still. I would later learn that this was just the calm before the storm.

A/N: So what'd you think? Pretty good for a first chapter, eh? Please, let me know what you think!

~Pebblemist~