Chapter 1

It was Friday morning and Riley Matthews was in a great mood. Scratch that. She was in a magnificent mood. This weekend was going to be absolutely incredible and it was almost here. She couldn't help but sing to herself as she collected the books and papers strewn across her bed and tucked them neatly into her bag. All of a sudden, she heard the window open behind her and, in a fit of exuberance that only Riley can pull off, she whipped her head around before shouting "Maya!" and tackling her best friend in a tremendous bear hug sending the two of them collapsing into the window seat in a fit of giggles.

"Hey, Riles. What's with the early morning sneak attack?" Maya said with a chuckle.

"Oh, Peaches. It's Friday and the sun is shining and the weekend is coming and I just think it's going to be a beautiful day!" Riley stood up and lightly spun back over to her bed to finish packing up her bag for the day.

A knowing look suddenly flashed across Maya's face. "Oh, I know what this is all about." Maya said as she walked over to her best friend. "Somebody's one–year anniversary is tomorrow..." she teased Riley in her best singsong voice.

Riley turned to face her friend and sheepishly admitted, "I know…" with a goofy grin on her face. "I just can't believe it's been a year since Lucas and me became, well, Lucas and me. I don't know if it feels like we were all at the ski lodge just yesterday or a lifetime ago!"

"Tell me about it. So do you and Ranger Rick have anything special planned for your big day?"

"Just a standard Riley and Lucas date night only this time we'll be a couple who has been together for one whole year. One year! Can you believe it, Maya? When did we get so old?!" she asked with large questioning eyes.

Maya shook her head. "Aw, sweetie. We're not old yet. I'll be sure to let you know when your gray hairs start coming in." She said as she reached forward and gently brushed aside a few stray hairs which had fallen across her best friend's face.

"Promise?"

"You know I do." Maya reassured her friend before plopping back down in the window seat. "Hey, now that it's been a whole year since the Ski Lodge do you think that Josh and I can finally…" Maya trailed off into her own fantasy world while Riley zipped up her bag and grabbed Maya's arm, dragging her out the window and off to school.

After school, Maya practically skipped into Topanga's Café. "Happy Weekend!" she exclaimed to no one and everyone as she and her friends took their usual spots around the coffee table. Farkle and Smackle shared the oversized chair on one end while Zay plopped down in the other chair. On the couch, Riley took her favorite seat - right in the middle, sandwiched between her two favorite people on the planet. With Maya on one side of her and her boyfriend on the other, Riley's world was absolutely perfect.

They sat and chatted for an hour, relishing the carefree mood of a Friday afternoon. Everyone rolled their eyes when Farkle complained about his hypothesis being disproven during a lab project in science class… everyone except Smackle, of course, who consoled him instead and helped him begin developing a new hypothesis to test next week. When Maya and Zay traded impressions of the health teacher, Ms. Appleton, everyone else laughed so hard tears sprung to their eyes… everyone except Smackle, of course.

But mostly, they fed off the unbridled enthusiasm and joy for life that oozed out of Riley with every word she spoke. When she stood up to go get a drink from the counter, Lucas lept to his feet at the opportunity to grab a minute of precious one-on-one time with his beautiful girlfriend. He took her hand in his as they walked over to place an order.

"One hot cocoa, please." Riley requested with an electric smile plastered to her face.

"Make that two, please." Lucas added before turning to face Riley. "So, Riley… I was thinking…"

"Well, what'd you go and do that for?" she responded with faux outrage before looking in his eyes and finding a serious look gazing back at her. "Oh, no. I'm sorry, Lucas." She stuttered out in a panic. "Just look at me and my big mouth going off before my brain catches up. What's wrong?"

He softly squeezed her hand. "Everything's fine." He reassured her before his own nervous babbling took over and he spurted out, "It's just that I was wondering what you wanted to do tomorrow night. You know, to celebrate. That is, we're going to celebrate, right?"

"Of course! It's not every day we get a one-year anniversary. In fact, I think we only get one of them. Well, unless we get married, then I guess we get another. How does that even work? You just get a totally new anniversary…" she trailed off as Lucas gently pressed a finger to her lips.

"Riley, stop. Focus. Do you have any plans for how you want to celebrate?" He asked before carefully releasing her lips.

She furrowed her brow and replied, "I guess I hadn't given it much thought."

"Well, I have a plan. You see, my parents are going to a concert tomorrow night and I thought, maybe, if you wanted to come over we could spend some time that's actually just us. You and me. No parents or anyone else to worry about. I mean, if you want."

"I think I'd really that, Lucas." She smiled at him in a way she hoped disguised her nerves at the thought of what it might mean for she and Lucas to have an apartment all to themselves. Just at that moment their drinks arrived and the two of them made their way back to the couch and their friends.

She took her seat and her head automatically fell to Maya's shoulder as she began to wonder what exactly might happen tomorrow evening. As quickly as her nerves began to rise, she felt Maya reach out and gently stroke her arm in that familiar way which always put her at ease instantly. Everything was going to be okay.

A few minutes later Riley was taking a big sip of her cocoa when her phone rang. "Ugh, who is calling me? You're all here and I've finally convinced my parents to just text." She looked down to discover it was her mom.

"Hi, Mom." She answered as her friends continued chatting around her. Almost instantaneously the energy in the room shifted. Her friends stopped talking immediately as they noticed Riley's face fall and her exuberant energy vanish.

"Okay, I'll be right there." She said without emotion before quickly gathering her things and standing to leave.

"Riles, what is it?" asked Maya.

"I don't know. It's just my mom…" Riley's voice broke with a panic and fear that terrified her friends. "I've never heard her sound like that. She said to get home so she can tell me what's going on."

"I'll take you home." Lucas offered immediately.

"No. Thank you, but no. I just need to go." Riley said and then practically ran out of the café in the direction of her apartment.