PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE!
AN/1: This is events a few years into highschool and this is as if Ski Lodge NEVER happened, but Rucas still decided to date.
AN/2: Okay, it's my first GMW fanfiction. I love the characters, but if I make them seem OOC (especially Farkle ) then you guys can give me some critique on how I can make them seem more like the actual characters (I feel like I'm gonna suck writing Farkle). It's a Lucaya and Riarkle fanfiction, but it starts out with Rucas and Smarkle (because every ship deserves a chance).
Rated T for language and themes.
Chapter 1
"Maya, wake up! You're going to be late!" Katy yelled from down the hall.
Maya groaned, burying her head into her pillow. "Five more minutes," she mumbled, drifting to sleep once more.
The blonde could hear her mother stomp from down the hall, and knock on her door, yelling at her to get up. When Maya didn't respond, Katy tried opening the door, only to realize that it was locked. Maya smiled as she heard her mom bang on the door once more. She knew her mom was going to force her to be up early for her first day of her junior year, so she locked the door on purpose not to be disturbed.
"Riley and the others will be here soon, so you better get your lazy butt up and get ready! Don't make me break down this door!"
Maya snorted as she got up and threw off her covers. She knew that her mother would never have the guts to break down the door, because that meant explaining to Shawn how the door was broken down in the first place, and having to buy a new one. And they both know that they don't have the time or the money to buy a new door, as ridiculous as it sounds.
Maya opened the door, and cocked her hip while Katy gave her the stink eye. "I'm up, I'm up. No need to get your panties in a twist," Maya walked past her mom to get to the bathroom.
"The only panties that will be twisted are yours if you don't hurry up and get ready!" Katy shouted after her, while Maya just waved her off with an evil smile.
That was pretty much their relationship. Katy would yell at Maya, Maya would say something sarcastic and inappropriate, Katy would use the joke as a threat, and at the end of the day they would share a laugh at their ridiculousness and go buy ice cream or something.
Ever since Maya's dad Kermit left, Katy wasn't really there. Maya constantly depended on the Matthews to take care of her most of the time. But when sophomore year came around, Katy seemed to be there more and more, and Maya couldn't be happier. After all, who was she going to make inappropriate jokes with besides Zay? Riley was way too innocent to make those kinds of jokes with, especially since her father keeps pulling her out of Sex Ed. Farkle would turn it into something boring, and Smackle would probably find a way to direct it to her and Lucas, much to his chagrin and everyone's amusement.
Maya came out of the shower, a towel wrapped around her head and body when there was a knock on her door. Katy sighed as she shooed Maya into her bedroom, "See? This is why you need to get up earlier for school. Now everyone is here, and I'm pretty sure no one wants to see you naked."
"Their loss, I would enjoy this body." Maya smirked while she flipped her hair and closed her door. Katy rolled her eyes as she opened their apartment door, which revealed a beaming Riley and the rest of their gang. Riley marched into their living room, looking around for the blonde in question.
"Where's Peaches? I want to see my Peaches, where's Peaches?" Riley whined, turning back to Katy.
"Hello to you too, Riley," Katy smiled while Riley grinned sheepishly and hugged the older blonde. "She's getting ready so expect her in a few more minutes. Would you guys like anything to drink?"
"Yeah, some bleach would be nice this morning," Zay joked. "I can't believe summer is over and we have to go back to hell."
"Come on, Zay. School isn't that bad, stop being so over dramatic," Lucas rolled his eyes.
"After all, education is the foundation of our lives," Farkle added, "Without an education, how would you be able to succeed in life?"
"Duh. Win the lottery," Zay rolled his eyes. "Sure, the chances of me winning are small, but go big or go home, amiright?"
Maya came out of her bedroom barefooted, as she searched for something. Riley dropped her bookbag on the floor and cheered. "PEACHES!" She jumped on Maya's back, which caused the blonde to fall down flat on her face with an "oof," and Riley right on top of her.
"Riley, get off me. You're crushing my back." Maya said irritated.
"Heh, sorry." Riley got off her best friend and lent her a hand, pulling Maya off the floor. "Can you believe it? We're finally in our junior year, the best year of our lives!"
"That's what you said last year, Riley." Lucas said with a raised eyebrow.
"I always thought that senior year was the best year of our lives," Smackle added, running her fingers through her glossy hair.
"Every year will be the best year of our lives, because I have you guys by my side." Riley hugged Maya close. "With friends like you guys, I don't have to worry about a thing."
"Aw, honey, you're getting all sappy again." Maya smiled sweetly.
But Maya knew that Riley was right. Ever since she met her best friend in the bay window, every day was like a new adventure for them. Then four more entered their circle, and they've been super close ever since. Sure they've had their ups and downs, but their friendship has always prevailed no matter what happened, whether it was a love triangle, or a ridiculous argument. Maya couldn't have asked for better friends.
She had all she needed: the joker, the moral compass, the optimistic sunshine, the geniuses, the rebel. If that's not a diverse group of friends, then what is?
"You guys are a bunch of big saps," Katy commented as she entered the room with the shoes Maya was looking for a minute ago. "Y'all better leave before you kill me with your sappiness."
Maya threw on her new flats, and grabbed her bag off the couch. "Yeah, yeah. Love you too, Mom."
"Aren't you going to eat before you leave?"
"I bought donuts for us to eat, Mrs. Hunter," Lucas assured her. "You don't have to worry about a thing."
"Thank you, Lucas. Have fun at school guys!" Katy waved as Maya and her friends stepped out into the apartment hallway.
"Bye, Mom! Love ya!"
Farkle practically dropped to his knees and kissed the school grounds, "Oh sweet school, how I've missed you so!"
"Ew, Farkle, the floor is dirty." Riley made a disgusted face.
"I know, but how could you not miss a place like school. It's like a second home for 180 days of the year," he beamed as he stood up.
"Yeah, it's another year that I get to make fun of Heehaw, too." Maya grinned, nudging Lucas with her elbow.
"You make fun of me every day." Lucas deadpanned, sidestepping away from her.
"Even better!" Maya laughed, and Lucas couldn't help but smile.
Zay shook his head, still eating his donuts. "Shouldn't we pick up our schedules and see which classes we have together?"
"I doubt we're going to have that many classes together," Riley frowned. "Farkle and Smackle chose all the AP courses this year. I only chose like two."
"Riley, come on, it can't be that bad." Maya rolled her eyes as she went on the line to pick up her schedule.
"Maya's right, Riley. I'm sure there's nothing to be afraid of." Lucas reassured her and Riley nodded with an unusually large grin on her face.
Maya rolled her eyes at their sappiness. Lucas and Riley have been dating for a while now (one year to be exact), and it's like things have never changed between them. Riley still acts like her goofy self from seventh grade around him, smiling almost always too brightly and blushing ninety percent of the time. Lucas always gives her these reassuring smiles and cute little hugs and all the mushy stuff.
Maya didn't mind not having a boyfriend. As long as Riley was happy, she was happy. And she wanted nothing more than to see Riley be happy. Her happiness came before Maya's after all. She wouldn't change that for the world.
Besides, Maya's pretty sure that even though they seem like that cute adorable couple, they're like freaks in the sheets. Speaking of which…
"Have you two done it yet?" Maya asked.
"Done what?" Riley said, randomly poking Lucas' stomach.
"You know, the monster mash, the no-pants dance, butter the biscuit, hot yoga?" When neither of them caught on to what she was getting at, she sighed. "Have you two banged yet or what?"
Zay coughed on his last donut, whereas Smackle and Farkle's eyes widened. Riley and Lucas grew beet red in a second.
"M-Maya! That was so random and totes inappropriate!" Riley shouted, appalled.
"You're not denying it~" Maya said in a sing-song tone, biting her lip. "I bet you guys are like freaks in bed."
Zay waggled his eyebrows suggestively, "Yeah Lucas, I even bought you all those condoms a few weeks ago."
"ZAY!" Lucas put a finger to his lips.
"You have condoms?!" Riley was on the verge of fainting.
"I don't even want them!" Lucas raised his hands defensively, "Zay just came over one day and dumped several boxes of them on my bed! I swear I didn't buy them!"
"Why didn't you tell me?!"
"I didn't think I should!"
"Lucas, that's not an excuse! You should have told me about this!"
"Oh yeah, Riley, because that wouldn't be awkward at all. 'Oh, hey Riles, Zay just came over and dumped a load of condoms on my bed, now I don't know what to do with them!'"
The entire student body was dead silent and Lucas and Riley both wished that they were invisible at this point. Lucas covered his face in shame and Riley hid her face behind her hair. Maya and Zay were both trying so hard to contain their laughter, and Farkle and Smackle stood off to the side, pretending they had nothing to do with them.
"…so you two haven't had sex yet?" Maya asked.
Riley and Lucas slowly turned their heads towards her, both with narrowed eyes and a scowl on their faces. Maya faced the other way and picked up her schedule and walked as far as she could from the raging couple.
"Okay, so the only classes we have altogether are art, history, lunch, and math?" Lucas asked.
Everyone nodded in agreement, pretty happy about the arrangements that they have. Those four classes were the only classes they had together as the six friends. But besides those courses, they either had a class with someone else or just by themselves, except Farkle and Smackle, who had the same exact schedule.
Riley held onto Maya, "No! I don't want to leave Peaches! We've been together since birth!"
"First grade," Maya laughed. "And we haven't had the same schedule for a few years now, so you should be over it by now."
"I know, but it's like they're cutting off my oxygen supply. I need my Hart to live!" Riley grinned at her pun.
Maya patted the tall girl's head, "Har har, very funny, Riles. Come on, at least we have first period together. History with your father, remember him?"
"Who?"
Maya laughed as they walked towards their history class, nostalgia hitting them for the fifth year in a row. Mr. Matthews was writing something on the board. Cory turns around and throws his hands up in the air when he sees the same students he's had in his class for so many years.
"Jesus Christ, how long must I put up with you kids?!"
"Until you get sick of us, sir," Lucas replied.
"Who says I'm not already sick of you people?" Cory sighed, "Well, since this is obviously the same group of kids for the past couple of years now, I'm going to skip the introductions and get right into the lesson."
The kids groaned and Cory mimicked them. "Yeah, yeah, complain all you want, but this is happening." He looked at the six friends and raised an eyebrow at their seating arrangements.
Maya was sitting behind Lucas, and Riley sat in front of him. In the next row, Zay sat behind Farkle who sat behind Smackle.
"Change." Cory started. "I know I've probably taught this lesson a hundred thousand times already, but we just don't get enough of it. Everything around us changes; people change, our environment change, our lives change…"
"Why does your dad teach the same lecture over and over again every year?" Maya asked.
Riley shrugged, opening up her lunch bag and taking out the contents. "I don't know. It's like he feels as though he has to, otherwise we would never really understand it."
"Yeah, but he says the same lecture about change almost every year. I just want to…change that." Maya's blue eyes brightened when she said that, "Ha, see what I did there?"
Riley chuckled, "Maya, it's not like he talks about change all the time. It's only when he feels like something big is going to happen to us."
"Yeah, like if Zay will finally get a girlfriend." Farkle joked.
Zay rolled his eyes, "I think I like being the flirt of the group, thank you very much. What about Maya? She's not seeing anyone, and no one pressures her into dating."
Maya rolled her eyes, "I'm not interested in going out with anyone at the moment. Besides, dating is not exactly my forte."
"But you're Maya! The rebel, the badass, the Blonde Beauty," Maya and Lucas fought the blush coming onto their faces. "Who wouldn't want to date you? Come on, what was the last date you went on?"
Maya thought back, "I guess it was two months ago with…Brandon? The rebel? It was a fun date, but he didn't say much and we both knew that it was only going to be one date anyway. No hard feelings."
"Two months ago?" Riley was kind of shocked, "Maya, the last time I went on a date was much more recent than that!"
"That's because you're dating, honey." Maya gestured to the Texan sitting right next to Riley.
"Oh, yeah. It feels like a dream sometimes," Riley giggled.
"As you tell me everyday, Riles," Maya gave a tight-lipped smile.
"Aw don't worry, Shortstack," Lucas smiled. "I'm sure you'll find the perfect guy soon."
Maya made a face at the nickname, "Whatever, Huckleberry. You guys know how I feel about change. It's not a good feeling either. I just hate how everything that we know of will change at some point in our lives. Why can't everything just stay the same?"
"If everything stayed the same, the world would be a dull place," Smackle pointed out. "Change, good or bad, happens all the time. It's nothing to worry about."
Maya frowned and looked at her food, which hasn't been touched. "That's what I'm afraid of," she whispered.
No one seemed to hear her.
Ever since Maya's mom married Shawn Hunter, their family has been living almost exactly like Riley's. The only difference was that Shawn wasn't Maya's real father, but she still loved him regardless. They moved out of their crappy old apartment into a small condo, with wide space and two bedrooms. Maya wasn't sure if they were planning on having kids in the future, but she figured by the time they did she would already have moved out.
When Maya got home, the first thing she did was take a nap. Since it was the first day of school, she didn't necessarily have any real assignments other than to have her mom sign a couple of forms from the teachers. She threw the contracts onto the kitchen counter and face-planted onto the couch and tried to take a long nap.
Not even a half hour later, there was a frantic knocking on her door, and Maya chose to ignore it at first. But then it came to the point where the person wouldn't stop knocking, and it forced Maya to get up and stomp to the door and pull it wide open. She was about to yell at the visitor when she realized it was Riley, and the brunette did not look happy.
Riley stormed into the room and sat on the couch, a very scared look on her face. Maya, confused, sat next to her best friend and stared at the side of her face. When Riley didn't respond to that, Maya inquired that the situation could be serious.
"Honey, what's wrong? You don't seem to care that I'm staring at you like a hawk." She joked.
Riley turned to Maya, her scared look turning serious. "Maya, I'm scared."
Maya raised an eyebrow, "Of?"
"I'm scared of my relationship with Lucas."
Maya rolled her eyes. Not this again. "Riley, for the last time, Ranger Rick is harmless. What could he have possibly done to make you scared of him?"
"He has condoms, Maya. Condoms! I'm not ready to take that step, and it's way too early in the relationship to even think about stuff like this."
Maya shook her head and gave an amused chuckle, much to Riley's annoyance. "Oh my God, Riles. A lot guys have condoms, it's not something to be afraid of. Hell, I bet even Farkle has condoms just for 'science.' And you heard Lucas; Zay gave him those condoms, he didn't expect them and he didn't want them-"
"But he still has them! If he still has them, obviously that means he might want us to do the…monster mash, or hot yoga, or whatever!" Riley huffed, shaking her head. "I don't want that. I don't want to rush things."
"You guys have been dating for a year, if you guys love each other so much, this shouldn't be such a big deal. Sure, you're not married or anything, but it would mean something, right?"
Riley bit her lip, and averted Maya's gaze. Maya sighed, "Okay, what now?"
"He hasn't told me he loves me yet…" Riley said.
"…what?"
"I've told him that I love him about a thousand times!"
"And?!"
"And…all he does is smile at me and kiss me. And it hurts to know that he doesn't say it back, but I pretend it doesn't matter and I just smile back." A tear rolled down her cheek.
Maya wiped Riley's tear away and hugged her. That's weird; the two have been dating for a year and Maya has seen them nothing but happy. But she guesses that there wasn't happiness on both sides of the relationship; Lucas doesn't say that he loves Riley, and Riley is tired of pretending that she's okay with it.
She loved them both, but Riley's happiness overpowers everything, hands down. Maya couldn't bear to see her best friend cry over a boy, no matter what happened between them. The Riley Committee was created to protect her best friend, and that's exactly what Maya was going to do.
