Author's Note: This came from me watching the pilot several times. I just felt like if Riley knew a bit about her father's life, she might understand things a bit better. Sorry this is so short!

Riley Matthews couldn't remember ever being so mad. Maya had been her best friend for years. Why was that so wrong? Sure, Maya might have made a mistake with that homework rebellion, but that didn't mean she was a bad person.

Suddenly, there was a knock at Riley's bedroom door. "Riley, may I come in?"

Her father's words startled her. "That depends. Are you my father, or my social studies teacher?"

Cory sighed. "I'm your father. I just want to talk to you."

"OK, I guess you can come in." Riley reluctantly got off the bed and opened the door. "What do you want?"

"Look, I know you think I don't understand your friendship with Maya, but you're wrong. I know exactly what it's like to have a friend like that."

"You do?" Riley asked as she walked over and sat back down on the bed. "Then why do you hate her so much?"

Cory sat on the bed beside his daughter. "I don't hate her. When I was your age, I had a best friend, too. Shawn Hunter. You've seen pictures of him, right?"

Riley nodded. She remembered seeing some old pictures and heard her parents talking about Shawn. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Shawn used to go too far, too. I once had to help hide him after he blew up a mailbox with a cherry bomb. He was always getting into trouble." Cory hoped telling this story would make Riley understand, but it didn't seem like it was working. "I know you want to be like Maya, but it doesn't work that way."

"Why? Because I have parents who expect me to be perfect?" Riley snapped.

"No. You have parents who love you. Just like I did. But Shawn, he never had a family. At least, not like mine. His mom ran away, and his dad left to find her. Shawn had nowhere to stay. Luckily, one of our teachers took him in. If Shawn hadn't had people around him who cared about him, I don't know what would've happened to him. And that could be Maya someday."

"So you're saying Maya's nothing but trouble?" Riley asked.

"No. I'm saying Maya needs you. She needs you to make sure she doesn't get herself in serious trouble. But you can't do that if you're too busy trying to be like her. You've got to be Riley."

What her dad was saying made sense. She should've stopped Maya before she set off the fire alarm and got detention. But she got too caught up in the moment. "I'm sorry, Dad."

Seeing Riley apologize, Cory felt his heart melt. She was growing up now. No longer a baby. But Cory always saw her as his little girl. "It's OK. This growing up stuff's hard. You're bound to make a few mistakes along the way," Cory said, as Riley hugged him around the waist. "But you're lucky, because you've got people who will help you when you need us. When I was growing up, I had Mr. Feeny next door. I used to talk all my problems over with him. I guess I'm your Mr. Feeny." Cory laughed, thinking of the way the tables had turned.

"Can I go call Maya now?" Riley asked.

Cory nodded. "But you can't stay on the phone for too long. I imagine she's being punished for what she did at school."

"Right," Riley said. "But I want to tell her that it's going to be OK, because, next time, I'm going to make sure she doesn't get in trouble like this again."

Cory couldn't help feeling a rush of pride at his daughter's words. He remembered wanting to help Shawn. He planned to make sure he stayed out of trouble for good. It hadn't worked, at least not without some help. But Cory was glad Riley had inherited some of this from him. Because, maybe, Riley was exactly what Maya needed

The End