The first time Lucas had ever encountered Riley Matthews was at the science fair in eighth grade.
He remembered her brown hair neatly woven into a single braid down her back and the dark blue sweater with the white collar she'd worn that day. Did he remember his own project or anyone else's, for that matter? Not at all.
But that was the first day he realized how much science meant to her.
She had enthusiastically explained what she'd done to the class. She'd been permitted to go down to the elementary schools and see how the kids had been influenced by gender stereotypes, holding up different pictures in no particular order and seeing how they answered when she asked if a particular career was a picture of a man or woman. Lucas recalled how surprised he'd been at the results.
But that's another story entirely.
Their grade had left John Quincy Adams only a few months after that, heading off to one of the most daunting places they'd go to in life — high school. But everyone seemed to cling to what they were good at or what was familiar. For Lucas, that was football and choir, though he'd never admit the latter to anybody. And for Riley, that was science.
They officially met freshman year, being lab partners in Chemistry. Lucas didn't struggle too much with the class though that might have been because Riley explained everything in such a simple manner.
"You'd make an amazing teacher one day," he admitted to her, flashing a sincere smile towards her as he worked through a couple of equations their teacher had assigned them to finish during class.
She had flushed a bright red at his words, her expression growing bashful. "Thanks," she replied, looking down as a smile overtook her lips. "I've never really told anyone, but that's — well, that's what I want to do one day."
"You're already one step ahead of most people at our age," he grinned at her, reaching over to poke her playfully. "Most people don't even know what they're good at."
"What about you?" she asked, seamlessly diverting the focus, her cheeks a rosy color. "What do you want to do?"
He chewed on his lip, considering if he wanted to tell her. She'd told him, so it was only fair, right? And it wasn't even too personal of a confession.
"I want to be a veterinarian," he eventually revealed, his cheeks turning a light pink. "Back in Texas, I helped one of my horses give birth, being the only one around at the time. But once it was over and the doctor had finally arrived, I felt this sense of pride at helping out. It gave me this inspiration to solve something I never knew I needed to solve. And long story long, that's how I figured out what I wanted to do."
"It's a beautiful story," she reassured him, an affectionate smile brushing across her lips, gone before he could dwell on it. Pausing before she spoke again, she continued. "I really like talking to you, Lucas."
"I really like talking to you too, Riley," Lucas responded, the same fond grin running across his face.
—
She introduced him and his best friend, Zay, to her friends in the middle of freshman year. The four of them were a closely knit group, Lucas and Zay could tell, no matter how different they were. And it seemed like no one would be able to be apart of it. The two Texans managed it, however, and they gained a circle of friends who would unknowingly teach them life lessons they'd never forget.
Maya Hart taught them that it was okay not to always follow the rules. Farkle Minkus taught them that it was okay to want to know more. Isadora Smackle taught them that it was okay not to understand everything.
And Riley Matthews taught them that it was okay to love.
Lucas found another side entirely to the intriguing girl he'd known since eighth grade. She wasn't just a woman of science, but she was also one of the most loving and compassionate people he'd ever known.
"What would life have been like if we'd met earlier?" he asked her one day as they worked on some of their homework. "How would things be different?"
Riley tilted her head as she thought, twirling a strand of hair on her finger. "The hypothetical isn't really something I like thinking about," she admitted, lifting her shoulder in a shrug. "I prefer to think that the world is the way it is for a reason. But I'd like to hope that we'd still be friends. Maybe we'd even have become friends earlier, in middle school."
"With your father as our history teacher?" he mock-gasped in horror, laughing.
She shoved him, rolling her eyes. "He wasn't that bad," she protested, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. "And he's our history teacher this year too. It isn't too awful."
Lucas raised an eyebrow at her, recalling the crazy lessons he'd put them through both last year and this year. "I remember it a little bit differently."
"Oh, hush you," Riley scolded, her lips twitching as she tried not to laugh. "You'd say the same thing if he was your father. Especially because he just appears out of nowhere. You never know where he's coming from, whether it's from the right, the left, from behind — "
"Or right next to you," a new voice spoke up, sounding amused. Lucas sunk back in his seat, trying to hide as much as possible. Mr. Matthews had arrived sometime while they were talking, and the former Texan got the impression that his friend's father wasn't his biggest fan.
Riley jumped slightly, not having expected him to come in. "This is why I need to be able to lock my door," she groaned, pressing a hand to her forehead. "My family are pigs."
"Thank you, Riley," her father commented, choosing to mainly ignore the comment. "I'll leave you two to your history homework, which I'm sure is the most compelling one to start. And no funny business." He flashed a suspicious look over at Lucas, causing the teenager to lean back a bit, caught off guard by it.
"Ignore him," she reassured him after the door closed behind Mr. Matthews. "He's just protective."
He shrugged, still off balance. "Does protective translate to hate me in Riley-speak?" he asked, kind of joking, kind of not. "Because I'm pretty sure I'm getting strong dislike vibes from him."
"Hush," she scolded, her lips twitching in amusement. "But back to chemistry, why do you think that atomic size decreases left to right across a period?"
Lucas shrugged helplessly. "Because the nucleus is getting larger while the number of shells isn't?"
"That's right!" Riley exclaimed, grinning widely at him. "See, you're not so hopeless at this."
"Thanks, Riles," he spoke, matching her smile in its width and genuineness. "Thanks for helping me with this."
—
Lucas had to say, he hadn't expected to be taking the same subway as Riley and Maya.
He had been running late that morning and had to walk to a different station to catch another train that would take him to school. The stop right after the one he'd caught brought the two girls along with the stream of people.
Neither noticed Lucas right off the bat, so he just waited for the next stop to be able to carefully walk over. The problems popped up, however, when Maya noticed Lucas looking in their direction and a mischievous look flashed on her face for a split second.
Riley seemed to notice the expression as well, reaching out her arm to try to stop her. The blonde just shook her head, taking her best friend's hand off of the bar keeping her steady on the subway and pushing her in Lucas's direction.
She flew towards him, her hair floating almost as if she was truly able to soar through the air. He tried holding his hands out to catch her and prevent her from getting hurt, but perhaps that wasn't the best solution on a speeding subway. They collided, and Lucas groaned at having the air completely knocked out of him.
Quickly, Riley sprung off of him, heat rising to her cheeks as she realized what had happened. She opened her mouth to speak, but the train bumped slightly, and she stumbled and grabbed his arm to keep steady.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, eyes glancing over him to make sure there weren't any deathly dangerous injuries. "I tried to stop her, I — are you okay?"
Lucas waved her concerns away, hoping she wouldn't be too worried. "I'm fine," he promised her, moving over a little to give her somewhere to sit. "What about you, are you okay?"
"I'm alright," she squeezed his hand gently, smiling softly at him. "Just caught off guard."
He hesitated for a moment at that before proceeding with his words. "Not to throw you under the bus even more," the former Texan hurriedly affirmed, nerves showing in all movements, "but would you like to hang out later?"
"Why would this throw me — oh," she froze, her eyes widening in surprise. "Um, sure. We can go to Topanga's and maybe play video games after?"
"You're on," Lucas agreed, his features relaxing and a hint of teasing entered his voice. "I just hope you'll be alright that I'll be winning everything competition based."
"Dream on," Riley sung, tossing her head back in laughter. "Don't cry too much when I crush you."
—
She stared at the screen, the controller falling out of her hand onto the couch. "You did not just do that."
"Do what?" Lucas asked distractedly, not tearing his eyes away. He had just bounced up to first place in Mario Kart, and he wasn't giving up the lead so easily to Toad right behind him.
"I know you didn't just blue shell me on our date," she snapped, eyes turning directly to him. "I was in first! You blue shelled me! On Rainbow Road!"
He glanced at her quickly before groaning in frustration at the ink that had just covered his screen. "I know. But now I'm first."
Riley scowled, picking up her controller again as the surprise disappeared and was replaced with determination. She had moved back to sixth in the moments she'd stopped playing, and she now only had a lap left to catch up.
"Giving up?" Lucas teased, chuckling as he navigated around banana peels to collect a mystery box. "Are my Mario Kart skills too refined for you?"
She didn't respond, moving up to second once again, and she pulled out a blue shell of her own. As they approached the final stretch of the level, she threw it at his Yoshi, increasing her speed and winning the race.
"So refined," she finally replied, a triumphant grin stretched across her face. "Your skill was at the perfect level."
He groaned, flopping back in his seat. "Fine," Lucas bit out, conceding the victory. "You're better at Mario Kart than I thought."
"If it makes you feel better, the physics in this game are extremely inaccurate," she placed a hand on his shoulder, her lips curving up in amusement. "And the depth perception makes most jumps almost impossible."
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, a twitch of his lips being the only sign that he was more amused than he let on. "I let you win."
"No you didn't."
—
"Happy birthday!" the five of them whooped in Riley's direction at lunch. She looked startled but happy as she hurried to join them at their table.
"Thank you, but you didn't have to," she tried to explain, but Maya firmly shook her head.
"You deserve it," she told her best friend in a tone that didn't invite argument, and Lucas couldn't help but agree.
Their little friend group had coordinated their gifts. They'd all chipped in for a charm bracelet, and bought their own charms to clip to the bracelet. Maya had bought a lightning bolt charm, Farkle had gotten a test tube charm, Smackle chose a charm of a pair of high heels, Zay got a cookie charm, and Lucas had picked a silver heart charm.
Riley had turned the bracelet around, correctly guessing who had given what charm. When she pointed out Lucas's charm, Zay and Maya had grinned mischievously while Farkle and Smackle had exchanged a knowing look. Lucas wanted to bang his head on the table at their friends' reaction. Was it really that obvious that there was an understanding between him and Riley?
Her mini lunch party had been complete with a cupcake Zay had brought that his grandmother had baked. "This way you don't need to steal one of my cookies for your birthday dessert," he explained, shaking the container holding his cookies.
"Thanks Zay," Riley hugged him, beaming. "And tell your grandma thank you from me!"
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled pulling away from her hug. But he didn't seem that disgruntled, more like he was joking, Lucas thought.
They sung Happy Birthday to her, holding out the last note as she blew out the one unlit candle. Riley broke the cupcake into six pieces, handing one to each of them. Lucas grinned at her as she handed him his piece, his cheeks turning a light pink as their hands brushed during the handoff. "Thanks," he murmured.
"Of course," she responded, giving him a brilliant smile.
They ate their individual servings, sharing funny stories of Riley from over the years. Maya and Farkle in particular regaled them with knee-slappers, the Halloween party where Maya and Riley had first met Farkle being the front-runner.
"I almost died!" Riley cried out in protest as they told the story in fits of laughter.
Maya shook her head. "All you had to do was lift your head," she reminded her best friend before breaking into giggles once again.
"Oh hush," she groaned, crossing her arms stubbornly.
The bell rang, and they began clearing the table and heading off to class. Riley and Lucas began walking to English together, stealing small glances at each other as they did so. Before they entered the classroom, she stopped suddenly and turned to him. "Thank you for the charm," she whispered and quickly kissed his cheek before running in to class.
Lucas touched his face in a split second of disbelief before a wide grin split across his face. Riley Matthews had just kissed his cheek.
He didn't know he could feel so happy yet confused at the same time.
—
They started dating at the end of June.
Sophomore year had ended, and Lucas and Riley had been spending way more time with each other than usual. Sure, most of it had been due to Lucas getting a job at Topanga's, but Riley had started coming by way more often than she normally would have.
And if she only really stayed around for longer than she should've when Lucas was closing the shop up, no one commented. Much.
It was on one of these closing days, as Lucas closed up the register and turned the sign, that Riley kissed him. It was sudden for sure. One minute Lucas was switching the sign to the closed side, and the next he was kissing Riley Matthews. Her lips are soft, he reflected as her hands slipped into his.
They broke apart after a second, and his eyes were bright with only the slightest hint of confusion. "What was that for?" he murmured, still holding her hand. It was short but sweet, and Lucas knew he could easily get used to the feeling.
"Well you weren't making a move," she told him softly, a breathy laugh slipping out of her lips. "It's been months since our date. Statistically, you'd have made a move by then. I had to do something, or this would have just been glances and giggles."
"Not just glances and giggles," he protested, unable to stop smiling. "I gave you the heart charm for your birthday."
Riley rolled her eyes fondly. "Yes you did," she breathed, pulling him close once again. "And it's something I'll forever cherish." And when she kissed him again, Lucas decided to stop protesting and remain in a state of pure happiness.
It took up until the beginning of August before their friends found out, however.
They'd agreed not to broadcast their relationship, wanting to just keep it between themselves for a bit. That hadn't really stopped the curious looks from Farkle, but Riley had already known that he'd figure it out on his own anyway.
Their group of six were hanging out, deciding to put in a few movies to watch. They'd started with Beauty and the Beast, all six agreeing that they could never go wrong with Disney.
The ballroom scene sent Riley into full romance mode, Lucas shaking his head fondly at her. "You can never get enough of this, can you?" he asked her fondly, whispering to try not to disrupt the movie.
"Not at all," she shook her head in such an adorable manner that he dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head.
He hadn't, however, taken their friends into account. Farkle looked smug while Zay and Maya were staring at them with open mouths. Smackle, on the other hand, had just given them a knowing smile before turning back to the movie.
"Dude!" Zay cried, his eyes darting back and forth between Lucas and Riley. "You guys lost me ten bucks!"
"Which these two now owe me," Farkle cut in, holding out a hand to Zay and Maya. "I called it for over the summer."
Maya shook her head as she passed five dollars to their genius friend. "I thought you guys would have gotten together around Riley's birthday," she grumbled. "The charm was a dead giveaway."
"We would have, but this one here was keen on waiting," Riley revealed, her eyes dancing in amusement as she gestured towards Lucas.
"I was waiting for reassurance," he crossed his arms, stubbornly set in his ways. "Isn't that what a scientist is supposed to do anyway? Wait for verification that their hypothesis is correct?"
"Through experimentation, yes," she giggled, curling up in his side. "Which came from me, I might add."
"Fine, okay," Lucas mock-grumbled, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "You experimented, I waited for you."
"Good," Riley teased, reaching up to peck his cheek. "I'm glad you know what really happened.
He shook his head fondly, but as they continued watching the movie, and he held Riley in his arms, Lucas couldn't help but think that this was exactly where he wanted to be in life.
—
Hello, hello! I've been gone for a bit, I know, but I'm back with this quick one shot! Maybe not quick, I've been writing this on and off for the last year. But you know, creativity takes a while, and I finally finished it! Anyway, I hope you guys liked it, and leave a favorite or review if you did! Or drop me a PM! All of the above works. But anyway, I'm off to go back to my little writing den. Bye for now!
-Icehale