Hi! So this is my first story on this site and I'm excited to see how it turns out so I'd really appreciate some feedback on it! Thanks for reading and I really hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 1
*Riley's POV*
They say the most drama-filled time of Middle School, or perhaps your entire schooling, is the second half of Grade Eight. But as I walked through the front entrance to John Quincy Adams Middle School, I certainly didn't feel any different
"You know what Maya? I think this is going to be a great semester for the tHiwo of us," I said as we walked down the corridor.
"And what makes you think that?" Maya asked.
I really couldn't explain it. "I don't know, I just feel like it will."
Maya rolled her eyes. "Okay Riley, time to hop off your cloud of happiness and join us in the real world. Not everything will turn out as you hope and you have to be prepared for that, don't you?"
"Can't I have a little bit of hope?" I asked, slightly teasingly.
"Hope's for suckers," Maya replied but she began to laugh a bit. I was glad that she no longer believed that. I loved the new Maya who had hope.
Just as I slammed my locker door shut the bell rang. First period was History class. As we waited for Mr Matthews— who unfortunately also happened to be my father— to unlock the door, Farkle and Lucas joined us, both looking very excited. "Hey guys!" Lucas said. "How were your holidays?"
"Oh they were brilliant! How were yours? Did you go back to Texas?" I asked.
"I did, my father and sister are still living down there so we spent Christmas with them," Lucas replied.
"Wait, you have a sister?" I asked. How could I not have known that? I'd known him for about a year and a half.
"I certainly do."
"So Ranger Rick? Have your gone back to all your Ol' cowboy ways now that you've spent the last couple of weeks in Texas?" Maya asked teasingly. We all laughed.
"You know what? I have a really great feeling about this semester," Farkle said just as Dad turned up.
"Me too!" I said, high-fiving him.
Maya rolled her eyes again. "Oh god, not you too! I've already heard Riley going on about how happy she is to be here and 'la la la la, life is great'."
"And what's so bad about that Miss Hart?" Dad asked as he unlocked the door.
"Nothing Mr Matthews, but you never know when life's going to knock you down and you have to be prepared for that!" Maya replied.
"My God, did Maya Hart just say something wise?" Dad said as we filed into the classroom and took our familiar seats. "Now before we begin you've all got new timetables as there have been some changes to classes, rooms and teachers," he said, handing out the pieces of paper to each student. "Now, Belgium 1831," he began.
Farkle made an excited sound from behind me. "Farkle? Since you've waited so long to finally learn about this, why don't you come up and teach the class?" Dad asked.
Farkle looked the happiest I'd ever seen him as he stood at the front of the class. "In 1831, the Belgian revolution began as the people of Belgium wanted to gain independence from the Netherlands-" he began.
"Wait, Mr Matthews, I have a question," Maya began. "When will we meet the real world?" Farkle looked like he could've stabbed Maya.
"Sorry Farkle, I guess Farkle Time is over," Dad said sheepishly, rubbing 'Belgium 1831' off the board. Farkle looked infuriated as he stalked over and sat down.
"When will you meet the real world?" Dad began. "Will it be in a couple of years? When you leave school? Maybe you've already met the real world? Well from my experience, I've found that it's around this age and this period of time when you start to realise what the real world is. And I pity you all. The real world is a dark and horrible place." He said as the bell rang. "Well! On that happy note, you homework is to write a one-page essay on what you think the real world is."