p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"strongOverview:/strong emIn the middle of her freshman year of high school Riley Matthew's mother gets a once in a lifetime opportunity to run her firms London Office. Much to everyone's surprise her mother accepts the job, forcing Riley and her younger brother Auggie to leave behind everything they've ever known. Almost three years later the Matthew's family moves back to New York and Riley comes to realize a lot has changed in the time she's been gone./embr /strongChapter One:/strong "emThe British Are Coming."/em/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;" /p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""We will be making our decent into John F. Kennedy International Airport in approximately five minutes. Please fasten your seat belts and make sure your trays are clear. Please do not leave your seats until we are safely in the boarding zone. Thank you for flying Virgin Atlantic."/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Riley scanned the crowd of passengers around her, her eyes landing on the stewardess that was still standing towards the front of the plane. She studied the woman's face for a moment. She seemed exhausted. Though who could blame her? Riley had only been on this plane for roughly 8 and a half hours give or take and she was about ready to finish landing the plane herself./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Her eyes roamed around the cabin, trying to place where her father and brother were seated. Somehow they booked the tickets wrong and the three of them got separated on the plane. Her mother was still back in London handling some last minute details, apparently she was to fly out tomorrow morning to make it back to New York in time for the first day of school./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"A young girl who was probably around the same age of her brother Auggie, sat next to her with wide eyes as she studied the dark sky. Next to her was who she presumed to be the little girl's mother. Riley watched as the woman's hands trembled as she checked their seat belts. She was a nervous wreck the entire flight which really put a damper on the whole experience./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"The plane tilted slightly to the left and began a slow and steady turn. Down below, the ground looked like square plots on a huge map of some kind. Gradually, everything began to come into view./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"As they neared the ground, small cars heading down long highways of black ribbon came into view, as well bright lights and various buildings of different sizes and shapes. The New York City skyline was one of her favorite sights. When you're down there it's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle, the crowded streets and loud noises but up there in the sky, it almost looked peaceful./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"A sudden bump told her the landing gear was released. The woman jumped slightly at the sound./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"In attempt to avoid having her ears pop, she sticks a piece of gum into her mouth, having read it helps release the pressure, all though she wasn't sure she entirely believed that./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Rooftops whizzed by as the aircraft made its final turn onto the waiting runway and ended with a mild rumbling as the tires kissed the tarmac. A loud rush of air giving pressure to the brakes slowly brought the plane to a steady speed. They were finally at the arrival gate./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Home sweet home." She murmurs under her breath as she unbuckles her seat belt and peaks out the window, unaware of what's to come./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"–/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"The sound of his alarm clock screeching wakes Lucas from his sleep. Groggily he gets out of bed and yanks open the blinds of his bedroom window, letting the early morning rays shine into the dark room./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Get up." He says half asleep, smacking the sleeping boy on the top bunk upside the head as he makes his way towards their shared bathroom./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""I'm serious, Zay." Lucas calls out again, mouth full of toothpaste. "It's our first day of senior year I don't want to be late because you need your beauty sleep."/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Zay reluctantly pulls his covers off him, leaping onto the carpet before trotting into the bathroom and joining Lucas at the sink. "It's not beauty sleep if you're already beautiful." He says as a matter of fact./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"The two boys had been living together since sophomore year of high school. Back then, Zay's parents decided the big city wasn't for them so they moved back to Texas. The plan was for him to tag along but he made up some lie about how leaving halfway through the school year was unfair to him although Lucas thinks he just secretly loves New York, not that he'd admit it./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"In the end, the Friars decided to take Zay in and let him crash at theirs up until they graduated and would head off to college. Since they grew up together in Austin, they already felt like brothers so the move wasn't as awkward as you'd think./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Hey can I borrow your black v neck?" Zay asks, scanning through his lack of options./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Go for it." The dark haired blonde says, pulling on his socks./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Zay rummages through the drawers struggling to find what he was looking for but he does come across something he thought Lucas got rid of a long time ago. "Seriously, bro?" He shakes his head, holding the now faded color leaf into view./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Put it back." Lucas warns him, trying not to overreact./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""I don't know why you still have that thing." Zay continues, "It's been three years Luke, Riley's still in London and you have a girlfriend, my friend – a hot one at that."/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Lucas rolls his eyes before carefully snatching the withered leaf away from his judgmental friend. He places it back into his top drawer and slowly closes it before returning his attention to the boy./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"A part of him agreed with Zay. He wasn't sure why he was still holding on to something that reminded him of his past, of her. She had given him that leaf during one of their school trips in ninth grade. It was the same trip they started their short lived relationship./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"As they wander down the stairs and out the door towards the subway he can't help but think of how much has changed. The truth is, in the beginning there was six of them. Lucas, Zay, Farkle, Isadora, Maya and Riley. Each of them were polar opposites, having close to nothing in common but somehow the friendship worked. He never said it out loud but he always suspected the success behind it was all because of Riley./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"She brought them together, made sure they were making the right choices, being considerate of each other's feelings and quite literally forcing them to spend time together even when that was the last thing any of them wanted to do. She was the glue that held them together, for Lucas she was more than that. She was the sun. Always warm and inviting, always trying to find the good in people, people who didn't deserve it./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Needless to say her family's move abruptly ended their relationship./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Since Riley left, he sort of immersed himself into the "jock world" there at Abigail Adams High School. He bulked up, practiced endlessly and went out for two teams, football and baseball. Lucky for him Zay was already on the baseball team so he had a friendly face to turn to during that time. Unbeknownst to him, this new world he was living in consisted of one thing other than sports and that was partying./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"The jocks at their school were known for throwing ragers and since he was one of them now he was expected to attend and have a good time. Zay fit in perfectly, he's always been the life of the party and has always known how to work a room so it was no surprise to him that his best friend loved every second of it./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Lucas, however, has a past and it seems to him that the longer his sun stayed away, the closer he was to becoming that person again./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Although Zay had his reservations about how friendly and bubbly Riley was he couldn't help but fall under her charm as well. The girl had a way of making you feel special. She was always encouraging and didn't confine herself to a box. She would figuratively (and literally) color outside of the lines and that was Zay's favorite thing about her. She celebrated the fact that she was unique and reminded her friends that it was okay to be different./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Without her there, Zay lost sight of who he was. He stopped dancing and making music and allowed himself to get swept away in the partying lifestyle. He just stopped caring./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Unfortunately, out of the six of them he and Zay weren't the only ones to experience a drastic change. Riley's best friend, or former best friend, Maya was always the rowdy one. She was a rebel at heart, never one to follow the rules or excel in any school work./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Riley was her lighthouse. Always there to keep her from danger or getting herself into trouble. She believed in Maya and knew she had so much potential to become someone great, she just needed her to believe it too./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"And for a while she did. She allowed herself to believe in hope but then, as luck would have it, the very person who inspired hope in her life was sent to live in a different time zone. To say the long distance put a strain on their relationship would be an understatement./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"They tried their best and for the first couple of months everything was going fine. And then slowly but surely the time difference took its toll, they had less and less to talk about and eventually they just stopped talking. There was no big fight or dramatic falling out, they just became two different people. They were living in two different worlds./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"In Maya's world she didn't suddenly transform into a model citizen who got good grades and stayed out of trouble. Instead, she became this amplified version of the person she already was. She was careless with reckless tendencies, she started hanging out with a completely new crowd at school and spent most of her time in detention or the art wing./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"This time around there was no Riley there to stop her or bail her out. She was on her own and she hated it./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Their other two friends Farkle and Isadora have stayed relatively the same, personality wise. They're both still intimidatingly smart, both still excelling in their studies. The only difference now is the company they keep./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Not feeling comfortable around Lucas and Zay's jock friends, or Maya's artsy juvenile friends, they find comfort in the students who actually share the same interests, and are just as academically inclined as the two of them./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Riley wasn't there to push them out of their comfort zone so they stuck to what they knew./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"The six of them were now just a distant memory of a life that felt a million years away./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"–/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"To Lucas' surprise, he and Zay have first period together: American history. They maneuver their way around the crowded halls to their lockers to drop off the gear they brought along with them for practice later./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Charlie Gardner, Lucas' longtime rival is leaning up against the lockers chatting to Zay when the bell rings and the three boys all head in the same direction. Turns out, Charlie had history first period as well./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Lucas tries his best not to scoff as the shaggy haired boy heads to the back of the class, and he and Zay take the two seats in the middle. As he's getting situated he looks to his left and see's Farkle and Isadora sitting towards the front./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"They slightly acknowledge him with a head nod and turn their attention back to the conversation they were having. The late bell rings and the teacher, Mr. Martin, waltzes in closing the door behind him./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"He scribbles something on the board and spins around to greet the class. Halfway through his clearly rehearsed introduction he's interrupted by the door opening./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Maya walks in and groans heavily at the sight of her former friends, taking one of the only available seats at the head of the class./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"After forcing the students to introduce themselves, Mr. Martin begins his lecture. He gives a brief summary of what's to be expected of the class and passes out the syllabus for the semester./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""So –." He claps his hands together while addressing the class. "Who can tell me about the American Revolution?"/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Without raising her hand, Isadora blurts out the answer. "The American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place between 1765 and 1783 during which colonists in the Thirteen American Colonies rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy, overthrew the authority of Great Britain, and founded the United States of America."/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Very good." He turns his back on the students and writes something else on the board. "Who can tell me who this guy was?" He motions to the board where the name Paul Revere was scribbled across it./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""The British are coming! The British are coming!" Zay mocks, causing most of the class to erupt into laughter./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Care to be a bit more specific Mr. Babineaux?"/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Not giving Zay enough time to answer, Farkle chimes in, a condescending tone to his voice. "He was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, and a Patriot in the American Revolution and is best known for alerting the colonial militia to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord."/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""I'm sorry Mr. Minkus I didn't realize you changed your name to Mr. Babineaux."/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Another knock on the door interrupts him and he sighs in frustration as he heads to the door. From the other side he's handed a slip and a small smirk forms on his face./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Looks like you were right Mr. Babineaux – a British invasion indeed." He walks to the front and reads out the card. "Class we have a transfer student joining us all the way from London…Riley Matthews."/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"The mention of her name causes the six of them to stare in shock as the door opens and the oh so familiar brunette walks in./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;" /p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""We will be making our decent into John F. Kennedy International Airport in approximately five minutes. Please fasten your seat belts and make sure your trays are clear. Please do not leave your seats until we are safely in the boarding zone. Thank you for flying Virgin Atlantic."/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Riley scanned the crowd of passengers around her, her eyes landing on the stewardess that was still standing towards the front of the plane. She studied the woman's face for a moment. She seemed exhausted. Though who could blame her? Riley had only been on this plane for roughly 8 and a half hours give or take and she was about ready to finish landing the plane herself./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Her eyes roamed around the cabin, trying to place where her father and brother were seated. Somehow they booked the tickets wrong and the three of them got separated on the plane. Her mother was still back in London handling some last minute details, apparently she was to fly out tomorrow morning to make it back to New York in time for the first day of school./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"A young girl who was probably around the same age of her brother Auggie, sat next to her with wide eyes as she studied the dark sky. Next to her was who she presumed to be the little girl's mother. Riley watched as the woman's hands trembled as she checked their seat belts. She was a nervous wreck the entire flight which really put a damper on the whole experience./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"The plane tilted slightly to the left and began a slow and steady turn. Down below, the ground looked like square plots on a huge map of some kind. Gradually, everything began to come into view./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"As they neared the ground, small cars heading down long highways of black ribbon came into view, as well bright lights and various buildings of different sizes and shapes. The New York City skyline was one of her favorite sights. When you're down there it's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle, the crowded streets and loud noises but up there in the sky, it almost looked peaceful./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"A sudden bump told her the landing gear was released. The woman jumped slightly at the sound./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"In attempt to avoid having her ears pop, she sticks a piece of gum into her mouth, having read it helps release the pressure, all though she wasn't sure she entirely believed that./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Rooftops whizzed by as the aircraft made its final turn onto the waiting runway and ended with a mild rumbling as the tires kissed the tarmac. A loud rush of air giving pressure to the brakes slowly brought the plane to a steady speed. They were finally at the arrival gate./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Home sweet home." She murmurs under her breath as she unbuckles her seat belt and peaks out the window, unaware of what's to come./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"–/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"The sound of his alarm clock screeching wakes Lucas from his sleep. Groggily he gets out of bed and yanks open the blinds of his bedroom window, letting the early morning rays shine into the dark room./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Get up." He says half asleep, smacking the sleeping boy on the top bunk upside the head as he makes his way towards their shared bathroom./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""I'm serious, Zay." Lucas calls out again, mouth full of toothpaste. "It's our first day of senior year I don't want to be late because you need your beauty sleep."/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Zay reluctantly pulls his covers off him, leaping onto the carpet before trotting into the bathroom and joining Lucas at the sink. "It's not beauty sleep if you're already beautiful." He says as a matter of fact./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"The two boys had been living together since sophomore year of high school. Back then, Zay's parents decided the big city wasn't for them so they moved back to Texas. The plan was for him to tag along but he made up some lie about how leaving halfway through the school year was unfair to him although Lucas thinks he just secretly loves New York, not that he'd admit it./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"In the end, the Friars decided to take Zay in and let him crash at theirs up until they graduated and would head off to college. Since they grew up together in Austin, they already felt like brothers so the move wasn't as awkward as you'd think./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Hey can I borrow your black v neck?" Zay asks, scanning through his lack of options./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Go for it." The dark haired blonde says, pulling on his socks./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Zay rummages through the drawers struggling to find what he was looking for but he does come across something he thought Lucas got rid of a long time ago. "Seriously, bro?" He shakes his head, holding the now faded color leaf into view./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Put it back." Lucas warns him, trying not to overreact./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""I don't know why you still have that thing." Zay continues, "It's been three years Luke, Riley's still in London and you have a girlfriend, my friend – a hot one at that."/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Lucas rolls his eyes before carefully snatching the withered leaf away from his judgmental friend. He places it back into his top drawer and slowly closes it before returning his attention to the boy./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"A part of him agreed with Zay. He wasn't sure why he was still holding on to something that reminded him of his past, of her. She had given him that leaf during one of their school trips in ninth grade. It was the same trip they started their short lived relationship./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"As they wander down the stairs and out the door towards the subway he can't help but think of how much has changed. The truth is, in the beginning there was six of them. Lucas, Zay, Farkle, Isadora, Maya and Riley. Each of them were polar opposites, having close to nothing in common but somehow the friendship worked. He never said it out loud but he always suspected the success behind it was all because of Riley./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"She brought them together, made sure they were making the right choices, being considerate of each other's feelings and quite literally forcing them to spend time together even when that was the last thing any of them wanted to do. She was the glue that held them together, for Lucas she was more than that. She was the sun. Always warm and inviting, always trying to find the good in people, people who didn't deserve it./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Needless to say her family's move abruptly ended their relationship./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Since Riley left, he sort of immersed himself into the "jock world" there at Abigail Adams High School. He bulked up, practiced endlessly and went out for two teams, football and baseball. Lucky for him Zay was already on the baseball team so he had a friendly face to turn to during that time. Unbeknownst to him, this new world he was living in consisted of one thing other than sports and that was partying./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"The jocks at their school were known for throwing ragers and since he was one of them now he was expected to attend and have a good time. Zay fit in perfectly, he's always been the life of the party and has always known how to work a room so it was no surprise to him that his best friend loved every second of it./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Lucas, however, has a past and it seems to him that the longer his sun stayed away, the closer he was to becoming that person again./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Although Zay had his reservations about how friendly and bubbly Riley was he couldn't help but fall under her charm as well. The girl had a way of making you feel special. She was always encouraging and didn't confine herself to a box. She would figuratively (and literally) color outside of the lines and that was Zay's favorite thing about her. She celebrated the fact that she was unique and reminded her friends that it was okay to be different./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Without her there, Zay lost sight of who he was. He stopped dancing and making music and allowed himself to get swept away in the partying lifestyle. He just stopped caring./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Unfortunately, out of the six of them he and Zay weren't the only ones to experience a drastic change. Riley's best friend, or former best friend, Maya was always the rowdy one. She was a rebel at heart, never one to follow the rules or excel in any school work./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Riley was her lighthouse. Always there to keep her from danger or getting herself into trouble. She believed in Maya and knew she had so much potential to become someone great, she just needed her to believe it too./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"And for a while she did. She allowed herself to believe in hope but then, as luck would have it, the very person who inspired hope in her life was sent to live in a different time zone. To say the long distance put a strain on their relationship would be an understatement./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"They tried their best and for the first couple of months everything was going fine. And then slowly but surely the time difference took its toll, they had less and less to talk about and eventually they just stopped talking. There was no big fight or dramatic falling out, they just became two different people. They were living in two different worlds./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"In Maya's world she didn't suddenly transform into a model citizen who got good grades and stayed out of trouble. Instead, she became this amplified version of the person she already was. She was careless with reckless tendencies, she started hanging out with a completely new crowd at school and spent most of her time in detention or the art wing./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"This time around there was no Riley there to stop her or bail her out. She was on her own and she hated it./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Their other two friends Farkle and Isadora have stayed relatively the same, personality wise. They're both still intimidatingly smart, both still excelling in their studies. The only difference now is the company they keep./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Not feeling comfortable around Lucas and Zay's jock friends, or Maya's artsy juvenile friends, they find comfort in the students who actually share the same interests, and are just as academically inclined as the two of them./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Riley wasn't there to push them out of their comfort zone so they stuck to what they knew./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"The six of them were now just a distant memory of a life that felt a million years away./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"–/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"To Lucas' surprise, he and Zay have first period together: American history. They maneuver their way around the crowded halls to their lockers to drop off the gear they brought along with them for practice later./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Charlie Gardner, Lucas' longtime rival is leaning up against the lockers chatting to Zay when the bell rings and the three boys all head in the same direction. Turns out, Charlie had history first period as well./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Lucas tries his best not to scoff as the shaggy haired boy heads to the back of the class, and he and Zay take the two seats in the middle. As he's getting situated he looks to his left and see's Farkle and Isadora sitting towards the front./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"They slightly acknowledge him with a head nod and turn their attention back to the conversation they were having. The late bell rings and the teacher, Mr. Martin, waltzes in closing the door behind him./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"He scribbles something on the board and spins around to greet the class. Halfway through his clearly rehearsed introduction he's interrupted by the door opening./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Maya walks in and groans heavily at the sight of her former friends, taking one of the only available seats at the head of the class./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"After forcing the students to introduce themselves, Mr. Martin begins his lecture. He gives a brief summary of what's to be expected of the class and passes out the syllabus for the semester./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""So –." He claps his hands together while addressing the class. "Who can tell me about the American Revolution?"/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Without raising her hand, Isadora blurts out the answer. "The American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place between 1765 and 1783 during which colonists in the Thirteen American Colonies rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy, overthrew the authority of Great Britain, and founded the United States of America."/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Very good." He turns his back on the students and writes something else on the board. "Who can tell me who this guy was?" He motions to the board where the name Paul Revere was scribbled across it./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""The British are coming! The British are coming!" Zay mocks, causing most of the class to erupt into laughter./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Care to be a bit more specific Mr. Babineaux?"/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Not giving Zay enough time to answer, Farkle chimes in, a condescending tone to his voice. "He was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, and a Patriot in the American Revolution and is best known for alerting the colonial militia to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord."/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""I'm sorry Mr. Minkus I didn't realize you changed your name to Mr. Babineaux."/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"Another knock on the door interrupts him and he sighs in frustration as he heads to the door. From the other side he's handed a slip and a small smirk forms on his face./p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;""Looks like you were right Mr. Babineaux – a British invasion indeed." He walks to the front and reads out the card. "Class we have a transfer student joining us all the way from London…Riley Matthews."/p
p style="margin: 7px 0px; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"The mention of her name causes the six of them to stare in shock as the door opens and the oh so familiar brunette walks in./p