This oneshot is a little word barf-y, but here it is anyway. I hope you enjoy!

"What, you gonna go cry to your daddy?"

When Maya came to school that day, that average Tuesday, she hadn't been expecting to hear those words. They bit into her skin, and she felt like she was burning as they engraved themselves into her arms and she felt an urge to tear at her skin to get them away. She knew she was trembling and she could feel her face heating up at her rage built.

"Shut… Up…" She hissed out, hands balling into fists as she glared up at the tall dark haired boy with all the fire in her being, surprised when he didn't burst into flames.

It hadn't started out bad, just another stupid kid who picked on others to feel better about himself. She could usually handle those kind of idiots, but this one had been smart. He'd known ways to make his words into torture weapons; she would have been impressed if not for the fire coursing through her veins and etched upon her skin as her face heated with embarrassment and fury at his words. He was an artist of sorts, and if not for the way he used his skill, she would have respected him. It had started with a few jabs about her height, but it had gotten worse when he began to insult her friends and finally, her family. And she didn't even know his name so she had no fuel to fight him back, so all the shaking blonde could do was glare at him with every ounce of her anger as he laughed at her.

Suddenly, she felt the presence of three tall people join her on her right and left shoulders. Without looking, she knew it was Lucas, Farkle and Zay.

"What's your problem, Ryan?" Farkle spat, the anger apparent in his voice. So Ryan was his name. It didn't help her much, but at least she had a new name for the punching bag in the gym. Ryan gave the boy a sickly sweet smile.

"Nothing, Minkus. Just having a little conversation with my good friend here. You know, asking her how her dad is doing and things like that. But you wouldn't understand that would you, being a robot and all. " She could feel the three boys at her sides stiffen. Farkle's face wrinkled into one of disgust and Zay raised an eyebrow with incredulity while she could feel Lucas' hand twitching near her own, clenching and unclenching quickly and she knew he was about to leap ahead.

"You'd better step back, pretty boy, you're just this far away from getting expelled, aren't you? They let you off with a warning last time, but do you think they'll be so lenient now?" So he knew everything about her friends too, huh? This bully had done his homework. Fan-freaking-tastic. She turned her head towards the Texan and put her arm out in front of his chest to stop him. He shot her a quizzical look and she could see that his pupils had dilated and his gaze had darkened dangerously. His jaw tightened when she shook her head and he looked down at the ground, breathing heavily to calm himself. She swore there were holes burning into the tiles.

"Hey man, leave them alone will ya?" Zay chimed in, putting a hand on Lucas' shoulder in an attempt to help him balance his rage.

"You guys are pretty close, huh? She's doing you guys 'favors' in your spare time too I bet, am I right? How does it feel Friar? Your girlfriend spends just as much time on you as she does on both of your best friends. Seems like just the thing considering who she's related to." Ryan said, ignoring Zay completely. Ryan's friends 'ooh'ed and high fived behind his back as he simply smirked cruelly down at the blonde. Lucas' gaze shot up from the floor and he lurched forward, throwing caution to the wind (because he honestly didn't care if he got expelled this time, he wanted to see that boy bleeding out on the floor at this point) but a thin hand gripped his shoulder. He jumped and whipped his head around, fully intending on punching whoever it was, assuming it was one of Ryan's goons sneaking up on them. But he froze when he saw a pair of brown eyes, usually so peaceable and doe-like, narrowed into threatening slits. Slowly moving aside, he let her through, where she gave Maya an empathetic look before steeling her gaze again when she turned it back on Ryan.

"So, Ryan. What about me, you got anything on me? You seem to have studied up on the rest of my friends. Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for a bunch of nothings, you have some secret obsession with us?" Maya's eyes widened just the slightest bit. She really was influencing Riley. And she couldn't say she wasn't proud. But her pride faded back into anger when the dark haired boy opened his mouth again.

"Oh, you, honey? How could I possibly make any more of a fool out of you than you make out of yourself? And don't you flatter yourself, its not like its hard to see what issues you guys have, everyone knows exactly whats wrong with each of you." Maya shuddered. His manner of speaking vaguely reminded her of the tone Lucas took when they played their little game, but the Texan's voice held a joking quality while Ryan's had obvious malicious intent. But Riley stood her ground, pleasantly surprising her friends.

"And pray tell, how exactly have I made a fool out of myself? Don't hold back, tell me exactly what you think of me. It'll just show me how much you feel the need to compensate." The four of them were taken aback. This was their Riley who had been squealing about the tiny gummy bears her mother had slipped into her lunch just an hour ago. This was their Riley who had panicked when she had received a B on her AP English essay. This was their Riley who almost cried when her brother didn't want to play with her. This was a Riley that was throwing heavy hitting blows at a big league bully. They were impressed to say the least.

"Well, where to begin, Miss I-can't-walk-in-a-straight-line-unless-my-friend-is-holding-my-hand? We could go on and on about your little goody two shoes act, but that would be too easy wouldn't it? And who could forget how you act like you're high all the time; really, hon, stop smiling so much, it can't possibly be good for you." Her four friends looked as if they were about to murder someone (which they were) but when Farkle placed a hand on the brunette's shoulder, she brushed it off and gave them a smile that said "I got this." And so they stepped back. Something big was going to happen, Riley was a go big or go home kind of girl. If she was going to take this guy down, it was happening in a big way.

"And lets not skip over the fact that all your friends are just trash you picked up on your way home as a project to fix up." At this, the brunette's smile faded into a dangerous glare. There was a standstill, Lucas, Maya and Farkle held their breath in anticipation and took another step back, while Ryan and his goons were blissfully unaware of what they were about to unleash. And then it happened.

Slap.

The boy lurched into the lockers with the force of the slap, a shocked expression evident on his face. He hadn't been expecting Smiley Riley to fight back at all, much less violently. She took a step forward into his personal space, using her natural height and heels to her advantage.

"Now you listen here, Ryan." Riley's voice dropped to a dangerous low and Maya was mildly shocked and weirded out when the shudder she had once used when Lucas got into a fight came out of Farkle's mouth.

"I'm going to say this once but you need to hear it. Maybe my friends and I are trash, but not nearly as bad as you are. You're the kind of trash that stinks so bad that your dad would take the trash out a couple days early so that they don't have to deal with the stench up until collection day. You're the kind of trash that starts infecting the trash around it. But see, me and my friends are high quality trash, premium trash, the kind of trash that your mom might look at and put in the recycling bin just in case. We're the kind of trash that's useful and has an effect on the world while you just rot in a dump." Ryan's smirk was beginning to return, thought it was a good effort, Riley's speech wasn't as intimidating as she would have liked. But suddenly, her foot shot out and the heel of her pump jammed into the boy's foot, eliciting a high pitched yelp. If it weren't for her pinning him to the locker with her forearm against his neck (a move Lucas had taught her), Ryan would have keeled over in pain. Riley's voice dropped to a threatening whisper.

"Now I know you didn't pay any attention to anything I just said and you probably were about to say something else about us. But if you won't listen to logic, maybe you'll respond to a threat. You crossed a line you know, when you messed with Maya like that? And when you cross a line in our group, you mess with us all. And maybe you aren't afraid of me, heck, you honestly shouldn't be. But if you managed to make me angry enough to hurt you, you can know for sure that Lucas is about to kill you. So I'm letting you go. But just know, that now that you've crossed this line, theres no going back. We can't hold each other back forever." And with that, Riley dropped her arm and took her foot off Ryan's. The boy looked at her in rage and mild fear. After looking around to confirm that his friends had dispersed, he sneered at them.

"You just wait until your friends aren't around," he growled. "Then you won't be so lucky." Lucas almost killed him right then and there, his lips pulled back in a snarl, but Maya had a tight grip on his bicep and tugged him back. A deadly smile of her own split her face as she approached the dark haired boy.

"Oh, sweetie. You lay a hand on me and you know whats coming after you. And not just Lucas, Zay too. He was Lucas' right hand man back in Texas, you think he doesn't know how to hurt you? And Riley. You know she can hurt you can't she? And the thing you don't know about Farkle, is even if he isn't strong, he's smart. And guess who knows were every pressure point in your body is? Don't you see? You're outmatched. You really shouldn't have crossed that line. Have a nice day, Ryan." She waved sweetly and he shot her a glare. Knowing that for the first time ever, he had lost, the boy limped away, his foot still smarting from where the heel of a pump had been moments before. Once he rounded the corner, Riley turned to Maya with a grin on her face as though nothing had happened.

"So, did you want to come stay at my house for the weekend?" The other four blinked at her incredulously.

"You… you can really get over something like that so quickly?" Farkle asked, speaking slowly as he tried to understand the brunette's quick change of mood. Zay's jaw had dropped and he was staring at the girl like she had grown a second head and Lucas could do nothing but stare at her, still seething with rage because of Ryan's words. Maya had her arms wrapped around his arm still, attempting to calm him down so he didn't go punching through the nearest wall. Riley merely shook her head, a smile still firmly planted on her face.

"Well I'm happy because I don't think we'll have to deal with him again, we scared him pretty bad don't you think?" She looked at each of them. Farkle and Zay remained confused while Lucas' scowl had not left his face. But Maya returned her smile, albeit hers was much smaller though just as genuine.

"Riley's right." The boys stared at her like she was insane, but Maya maintained her grin.

"How else would you know who your real friends were if bad things didn't happen every once in a while? If there was any doubt in my mind that you all are real friends, its gone now. Thank you." As understanding crossed his face, Farkle smiled back and Zay nodded, a pleased grin splitting his face. And though it was half hearted, Lucas smiled down at her as well. The boy wrapped his arms around her torso protectively and kissed the top of her head.

"Well the next person to cross a line is definitely gonna pay." She smiled at his protective tone and crossed her arms over his.

"I know they are. Thank you, all of you, for being there for me. It really means a lot to me." Riley smiled and joined the hug, bringing Farkle and Zay with her.

"We're always here, Peaches. We'll never leave."

"I know."

They all knew. It didn't matter who crossed that line, they were there for each other. And the next person to cross, was going to pay.

I just have this head canon on how Riley would be really intimidating but also kind of her goofy silly self when she's mad at someone and I saw a text post about the "high quality trash" thing and it just seemed perfect. So there it was, hope you liked it!