Where We End Up

Chapter 2—What Do I Do?

A/N: So I think I'm going to put a minor warning here. I know the story is already rated T, but from here on out, the story's going to...tug a little on the characters' innocence, meaning a few issues will be touched upon that may appear to be on the dark side. The story will still include the comedic and friendly type genres that the show has, but the way I'm writing this story out, it may not seem like it at times. This is a lot longer than I expected it to be, but nevertheless, I hope you enjoy!

(Oh, and also, to address a question by BubblePop234 in the reviews, there isn't one specific ship that will be written about, it'll be more like a little bit of everything. I think in terms of ships, everyone's going to be satisfied in some way. A little Rucas here, a bit of Lucaya there, some Riarkle, some Rilaya, etc. Hope that answers your question good enough, haha.)


Just like in Riley's mind, the thought of what Mr. Matthews was trying to teach them in relation to Belgium 1831—the lesson that was somehow avoided all year—took root into Lucas's mind. Who were we? Who are we? Personal revolution? What did that mean exactly? What was defined as a person's own personal revolution?

Lucas tried to shake away the questions from his head. He was letting school get to his head. He needed a break before he could actually start thinking about what that all meant.

Closing the door, Lucas walked over to the baseball field outside of the school where Billy was waiting for him. Lucas glanced up at the sky, noticing that it was partly cloudy. Over in the distant west, it was sunny. Right up above, there were a few gray clouds, probably hinting at a few showers.

"What's up, Billy?" Lucas greeted his friend. From his backpack, he began to take out the baseball they always used when playing catch.

Billy looked in Lucas's direction, handing him one of the two baseball mitts in his hand. "Hey, Lucas." His tone seemed oddly didn't seem as upbeat as it usually was most days. That day wasn't one of most days, however.

"Say, I got to tell you something," Billy said, as they started to play their game of catch, throwing and catching the ball back and forth, back and forth.

"Sure," Lucas replied, catching a fast ball in his leather brown mitt. "What is it?"

"You know how my dad got that new job in Virginia?"

Lucas paused for a second before he made another throw, then saying, "Yeah? You said you'd be staying with your aunt, right?"

As Billy caught the ball, he said what Lucas feared, "I was."

Their game stopped momentarily.

"Was?" Lucas asked. "Who are you going to stay with then?"

Glimpsing down at his shoes and then back to his friend, Billy said simply, "My parents."

Lucas couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So...you're moving?"

"Yeah. I'm moving." Billy waited for an additional response from Lucas, but nothing came.

Moving? Billy was moving? Didn't Billy know what it was like to move? The pain that came along with it? Everything that he was going to be missing out on in the future?

For a moment, Lucas was puzzled. "Wait, why can't you stay with your aunt? Does she not want you with her? Is that it?" There was a bitterness sensed in Lucas's voice, but he couldn't help it.

"No, no. My aunt wants to go with my parents. So, I have to, too."

Lucas walked up to him, still in disbelief. "There's nowhere else you can go? At all?"

His friend shook his head. "No."

An idea popped into Lucas's head. "Well, what if you stay with me?"

"Lucas."

"No, I'm serious! There's a guest room in my apartment and—"

"Lucas," Billy stopped him. "I'm moving. To Virginia."

It finally started to sink in. Billy, one of his closest friends that he made in New York, was moving away. He wasn't too sure how to process this information.

"Come on, man. It's not so bad."

Lucas nodded at this. "I guess."

"You like it here, don't you?"

"What? Yeah, of course I do."

"And didn't you move here from Texas, away from a life you liked?"

There was another pause. "Yeah."

"Then it won't be so bad."

"How are you so calm about this?" Lucas couldn't help but ask. Yes, he did know what it was like to move. But the reason that he did wasn't because of the fact that one of his parents got a new job. "What about our team?"

Then, Billy seemed to be the one that was baffled. "We'll always be a team, right? I'm still going to visit, you know. And don't you go back to visit Texas sometimes?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"Then stop worrying! I thought you would be the one to understand most!"

Lucas said nothing. And then, "I didn't move here for good reasons." He realized that Billy wasn't around that one time part of his secret-self slipped during one of Mr. Matthew's classes. That he never told him about anything that happened that day.

"What are you talking about?"

It took him a moment, but he finally admitted, "I-I was expelled."

"What? You?" Lucas felt the guilt of previous lies he had once told to everyone, the ones where he seemed to be this Mr. Perfect back in Texas and then here in New York. "Ranger Rick expelled from his old school?"

Lucas rolled his eyes at the nickname. "Hey, come on, only Maya gets to call me Ranger Rick. But, yeah, I made a mistake. I was expelled and sent to New York to live with my mom."

"And you didn't tell me any of this because...?" Billy gave Lucas a look, knowing that he evidently lied, but wasn't too sure as to why he did.

"I didn't want anyone to know. About anything. That's the truth." Inside, Lucas couldn't help but feel the guilt piling up, but was also subconsciously relieved that his friend didn't press for further details.

"And you're worried that, what? I'll get into trouble in Virginia or something?"

"No...I don't know. I guess the thought of moving just..." Lucas shook his head of the despicable memories he had there. There were some good ones thrown in there, but most of the recent ones were not worth remembering.

"That bad, huh?"

"Uh huh."

"Look, I'm gonna be okay. You'll be okay. The team's gonna be okay. Everything's gonna be okay. I'm not even moving until the end of summer."

Steadily, Lucas decided that it was best for him to accept the fact that his friend was moving. He was still going to visit, but Lucas was going to make sure that they never truly lost touch like he did with some of his old Texan friends. "Yeah, you're right."

Billy nodded, knowing Lucas may still be a little upset at the news, but that he would also move past it as well. "Thanks. So how about we finish this game of catch?"

"Yeah, sure." Lucas backed up several feet away, and restarted their game, making the first throw to Billy.

During the rest of their game, however, Lucas still couldn't shake the old memories of his Texas life out of his head. He had told Billy the truth, but really, no one knew the whole truth.

The truth was back in Texas, he was not Lucas Friar: a hoedown loving cowboy known for pleasant manners and polite ways. He was Luke Friar, a badass whose anger and temper never ceased to help him get his way.

Nearly everyone back in Texas called Lucas by his former nickname, Luke; only a select few called him Lucas. Both of his parents, Zay, and a couple of other of his best friends. Otherwise, he was known as Luke Friar.

It had just happened all so fast. Sometimes he regretted the mistakes he had made. Every time the thought of moving, the thought of Texas, anything that connected back to his old life was brought up in whatever way possible, Lucas's memories would trigger a certain shame in his stomach. At times, Lucas thought that if he could rewind the clocks to before he made that mistake, then he would still be living in Texas, and he would still be enjoying every second of it.

But, he was here in the big city. And there was nothing he could ever do about it.

Even on his way to Riley's after his game of catch with Billy, he couldn't shake the memories for some reason. Up to this point in time, there was a part of him that still wasn't over what happened, and how it all went down.

He knew it was all because of that test. The history final exam at the end of 7th grade, that was. More so, he should have known to study more, to actually do the homework, to have asked for help, to have done something.

Lucas, or rather in this case, Luke, did do something about it. And he always scolded himself for being such an idiot for it.


"I need your help," Luke had told Zay that day before the final exam.

Zay shut his locker and the two began to walk towards their bus outside of the school. "With what?"

"A plan that'll help us both not flunk history."

Luke wasn't sure what inspired him to come up with the idea for this specific plan, but at this point with both him and Zay at solid D minuses in history class, he was desperate. Luke was sure that their teacher already thought it was too late for them to improve their grades up to a B minus at the least. Extra credit was no longer an option for the year. The only way for their grades to shoot up that high in the books was to completely ace their final exam. However, judging the way they worked in the class all year, it seemed unlikely.

He would have done anything to get out of that funk. He was sure Zay would, too.

While walking out the building, Zay tripped, but not on accident. Although he immediately picked himself back up, Luke glared in the direction of the person he knew tripped Zay.

"You got a problem, Matt?" He asked the black-haired boy. Matt was one of the guys that picked on Zay every now and then for whatever reason, and while Zay assumed it as no big deal, that Lucas need not get involved, he still did so anyway. Every time he did, Zay would still try to stop him. Matt was even much taller than Luke, having hit his growth spurt before him, but that didn't stop him from sticking up for his friend.

"Nah, Lucas, come on, let's go." Zay tried to push him towards the buses waiting outside, away from Matt.

Luke bit his lip, sending daggers at Matt, along his other buddy, Adam, who were still snickering at their immature trick. He had to resist the urge to give the two a piece of his mind. It just wasn't right to him. It wasn't right that Zay was going to let Matt and Adam bully him all the time and for them to always get away with it. This had been going on for so long. Even with Lucas's occasional threats, it was no use. It wasn't fair to him, to either of them.

"Fine," Luke finally said.

As they boarded the bus, Luke began to tell Zay of the plan he had come up with, as if it was foolproof. He was so sure that this was the one way to help their grades in that class. If they were to fail every other class on their schedules, at least history would be the one good grade on the report card. So their entire 7th grade careers wouldn't be total failures.

When they were alone getting off at their bus stop, Zay questioned, "So, how exactly are we going to break into the school?"

"Easy. My dad has a special key that will unlock every door in the building." Luke knew that having his dad as the principal had its disadvantages, but also its advantages as well.

"And how do you plan to get his keys?"

"Well, he goes to bed at 8:30 every night. And once he's asleep, I guarantee that his keys are kept in his night drawer. I grab the keys, you meet me outside of the house, we bike to the school, get into Mrs. B's classroom, take the answer key, and get back home. Simple."

For a minute, Zay thought about it. He was hesitant, but he was desperate like Lucas, too. Then, "All right. I'm in. But, you sure you got this?"

"Absolutely."

And for the first few steps of the plan, he did. At precisely 9 o'clock, Mr. Friar turned in for the night, not bothering to disturb Lucas who was supposedly studying in his room. Just to make sure, Luke waited an additional twenty minutes just to make sure that his dad was asleep.

It was so easy to him, especially with his dad being a deep sleeper. Very carefully, Luke slid open the one drawer of his father's night stand in the dark, feeling for where the keys were in it. He never took his eyes off of his father to make sure that he didn't peek open one eye, as if he was testing his son. But he didn't. Luke snagged the keys, making sure that any tracks of his presence were erased, along with placing a dummy of himself in his bed in the case that his father checked up on him at night.

Heading out of the house with his bike, he made sure that he had everything with him in his spare backpack: his father's keys, flashlights, spare batteries, and gloves.

Earlier on, he and Zay decided to meet at the back of the school, which luckily for them, was where Mrs. B's classroom was located. So through the streets of Austin, Texas, Luke rode solo on his red bicycle, not running into a single person in the streets on his way to the school. He saw that by the time he got there that Zay was just outside the door waiting for him, and his bike ditched somewhere.

"Hey, you got the keys?" Zay asked once Luke caught up to him.

Luke nodded, "Yeah." He reached into his backpack, pulling out the keys, and specifically the one that unlocked the school doors. They made sure that they both had gloves on, and that their flashlights worked before heading inside.

In a cinch, the two made their way through the school, also making sure that they locked the doors behind them as well, knowing that they could sneak out the window in their teacher's classroom to get out. However, once getting to Mrs. B's classroom, Luke thought he heard something as he twisted the key into the lock.

Squeak, squeak. Squeak, squeak.

Instantly, he realized that he forgot that the janitor tended to work during the night, and that the cart of cleaning supplies he always rolled along made a squeak with every turn of the four wheels.

Zay noticed his expression, whispering, "What?"

"Janitor," Luke snapped out of his trance, quickly opening up the teacher's classroom, and pulling Zay in with him, making sure to lock the door, but accidentally slamming it while doing so.

He sensed it. He sensed the janitor's immediate suspicion. Fear began to pound through his veins. The janitor was going to come in here. He was going to find them.

However, Luke wasn't going to give up just yet. Spotting the closet next to the door, he said, "Come on, in here." Again, he pushed Zay, only this time into the closet.

"Dude, no, I'm claustrophobic!"

"No time for that!" And in the closet they went. The two made sure to turn off their flashlights, and to keep as quiet as possible.

Within the matter of a minute, the door creaked open.

Squeak, squeak. It was him; it was the janitor. Luke's eyes shut tight in the dark closet, his heart beating faster and faster, hoping that the janitor wouldn't look for anything suspicious in the closet they were in.

Squeak, squeak. Both of the boys were so afraid of getting caught, that they held in their breath for as long as possible. The janitor's steady footsteps didn't make things any easier. For a moment, Luke and Zay thought that he stopped in front of the closet they were in, wondering whether to open it or not, but eventually resisted. They didn't know for sure, but it was the last thing he did before he finally left the classroom.

Squeak...squeak...

Squeak... Squeak...

The two boys didn't move a muscle even after the janitor was gone. There was always the possibility of him coming back. They waited at least ten minutes until they decided that it was safe enough for them to come out of the closet.

"All right, forget the flashlights," Luke said, stuffing his in his backpack. "Too risky."

"Man, I'm just glad to be out of that closet."

After that, the two began to rummage through the teacher's desk, looking for wherever the answer key to the test might be. Luke and Zay were careful not to drop anything that they touched, and if the key wasn't there, all the belongings were put back into place.

Luke began to grow frustrated with himself with the search; it was impossible. How could they ever find it before they had to make their way back home? It was getting late.

"Anything?" Luke asked Zay, speaking for the first time in a while.

"No, nothing," Zay said. He sighed. Then, "Wait a minute."

"What?"

"Mrs. B was a gymnast?" Zay held up an old picture in his hands, looking at it through the moonlight. "No way. I had no idea she could be that flexible."

"Dude, put that back." Though, part of Luke wanted to look at the picture, they really needed to find the key.

Finally, as Luke opened the last unsearched drawer of Mrs. B's desk, the first thing he saw made his heart jump. It was a yellow folder labeled in red: History Final Exam. This was it! This was what they needed!

"Zay, I found it! The key!"

"Whoa," Zay said, relishing their accomplishment.

"Okay," Luke looked at his watch, knowing that a watch would be handy for the night. "We got to get going. Like now. Come on. Out the window."

As Zay opened the window and let himself out, Luke made sure that everything in the classroom was in place before he left as well. The closet was closed, the desk was as if it was untouched, and the classroom door was locked.

Luke grinned to himself. This was it; they had the key and they were actually going to get away with the whole thing! And so out the window he went. As Luke made sure to close the window, he heard a shout, and then a thud; he suddenly fell to the ground.

But just like that afternoon at school, it was no accident.

Luke found himself pinned nearly face down on the grass. He ended up dropping the folder containing the answer key which was several feet away. He couldn't see who it was that had pinned him, but the moment the person started to speak, he knew.

"Well, look who fell out of the hell hole. What's a Babineaux without a Friar?"

Luke's blood boiled with anger. He growled, "What are you doing here, Matt?" Several feet away, pushed against the brick wall, was Zay. "And bringing your lousy minion, Adam, to do the dirty work for you, too?"

"What am I doing here?" Matt said, not even addressing his so-called minion. "I think I'm doing myself a little justice. Keeping all that is good and well in the world in perfect place."

"You stalked us here," Zay bit back.

"As if the world revolves around you and only you doesn't it?" Luke added on.

"Yeah, actually, I think it does," Matt replied ever so casually. "And in my world, there are these two unfortunately pathetic people in it. Can you guess who they are, Friar, Babineaux?" Without an answer from either Zay or Luke, he directed his attention toward the dropped folder on the ground. "And what do we have here?" He picked up the yellow folder containing the exam key, beginning to look through its contents.

"A final exam answer key, I see." Matt smirked. "Well, I could definitely make use out of this. But first..."

Matt let the folder fall out of his hands and back onto the grass, and with Luke still under his control, kicked him on the side just below his rib cage, resulting in a groan from Luke. That only made him angrier. He then picked him up by the back of his shirt, nearly tearing at the fabric and shoved him against the wall next to Zay. His lips curled into a devilish smile.

"What do you want from us, Matt?" Luke stared at him dead in the eyes.

"Oh, not much. Just a certain history exam answer key."

Luke scoffed. After all the work they had went through to get that? "No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said no. Are you hearing me loud and clear, Matt?"

Matt tightened the grip he had on Luke, making him wince a little. "Well, I don't think you're hearing me loud and clear, Friar." He gritted his teeth. "Shall we make this easy or hard? Don't think the black wuss beside you will make a difference."

At his last words, Luke had finally had enough. He had had enough of Matt's likings and behaviors and wanted to put an end to all of it, especially when it came to Zay. Matt had pushed way too far this time.

The entire time, Zay hadn't said a word. He only watched, helpless, and continued to be.

Not able to take it anymore, Luke began to muster all the remaining strength he had. He couldn't hold the anger seething beneath his veins any longer. He couldn't help it. Taking both of Matt's wrists at his will, Luke twisted them until he knew that he was in pain from it. Luke knew that despite the height difference Matt had on him, Luke was much, much stronger.

He managed to push Matt off of him from the wall and onto the ground, leaving burning, red hand marks. Quickly, Luke attended to Adam who still had Zay up against the wall.

Matt yelled, "Get him!" But, he was a second too late as Luke punched Adam hard on the nose, causing him to let go of his friend.

Luke only said two words before continuing. "Run, Zay." It was for his protection, of course. He was tired of seeing Zay get picked on by Matt and Adam. Enough was enough. He would deal with Matt himself this time.

As soon as Luke said that, Zay sprinted off, giving his friend a worried look, but knew that he should get home solely for his safety. But at the same time, he still felt guilty for leaving Lucas alone. Zay took off on his bike toward home, but not before looking back at Luke and Matt now physically fighting, along with Adam chasing after him. He pedaled as fast as he could.

Matt rose onto his feet, but was quickly knocked down again by a punch in the face and a kick in the shin from Luke. Luke's anger exploded with fury.

With Matt now pinned to the ground by Luke, he said, "So what exactly do you have against Zay? Or as you like to call him, a black wuss?"

He lifted Matt up by the collar of his shirt, who of course didn't have an answer. Then, "So let me make myself loud and clear, Matt. You keep yourself and Adam away from Zay."

Matt answered simply, "You wish," and began to fight back, who shoved Luke back a few steps. Both recovered quickly.

Luke charged first throwing another punch, but this time, Matt managed to block it. Matt then aimed for Lucas's stomach and punched him hard there.

Luke stumbled back, but then grabbed Matt and pushed him against the wall and threw several jabs at him. Face, chest, stomach. Matt managed to do the same to Luke.

The two continued to fight and fight for who knew how long, neither of them backing down.

That was until finally, Luke had Matt pinned down to the ground again. Luke could clearly see the damage done to Matt's face. Black eye, bleeding tooth, plain exhaust. He said, "How clear am I now, huh?"

No answer.

"Good," Luke growled. He finally let go of Matt, proceeding to get the answer key on the ground and go home, wanting to just leave Matt where he was.

However, as he picked up the folder, he noticed a light flash upon him holding it. His eyes widened, his body frozen in place.

"Lucas!" A voice yelled.

Luke couldn't believe it. This was it. He was caught. Him and Matt both. He said to the figure with the flashlight, who was walking toward him. "Dad?"

As his dad got closer to the scene with Matt still on the ground and Luke holding the folder, he looked at the two of them, almost confused. "What the hell is going on here?"

There was no answer yet again. Instead, Luke asked, "How'd you know I was here?"

Mr. Friar looked at his son, unsure what to really think at that moment. "I didn't. The janitor called me. Said someone broke into the school. Or at least that's what he saw on the security cameras."

That was where the plan wasn't as foolproof.

"And by what I'm seeing here...," His eyes averted from his son, to the exam key, and to Matt, he said, "I'll talk to both of you first thing tomorrow morning in my office."


Luke wasn't surprised when he was expelled from school. Under the circumstances—breaking in, stealing the test, getting into a fight—there was no way around expulsion. He realized that he made a big mistake and was now being sent to New York to live with his mom. This wasn't what Mr. Friar had wanted at all; in fact, he wished that his son could have been let off with a suspension instead. But there was nothing to be done about Luke's set punishment.

He had no idea what became of Matt and Adam. But, he had told the whole truth to his father. Everything. And by saying that it was his fault for causing the entire mess, Mr. Friar decided that Zay would be let go in terms of a severe punishment.

At least Luke didn't have to take the test. Due to his additional failing grades, Luke instead had to repeat the 7th grade when he got to New York.

He was going to miss living in Austin, Texas. He was going to miss the annual Old Settler's Music Festival and he was going to miss playing baseball with his friends and he was going to miss living in the comfortable house he lived in. But maybe moving to New York was what he needed. And what Luke needed more than anything at that point was a fresh start.

Over the next few months, Luke had adjusted to living in the big city with his mom in their apartment. At first, he thought that maybe things were going to get worse. While Austin was a city of its own, it didn't compare to New York.

Luke had decided he was going to stay out of trouble in the meantime. He rarely left the apartment, mainly because he had gotten a head start on some of the material from the past year. He hadn't made many friends, but he did bond with his mama. That first day of the new year, he thought it wasn't going to be so bad. Maybe New York was going to be better than Texas.

On the subway, he was content, reading a book, minding his own business. At least until a girl came up to him, introducing herself immediately.

"Hi, I'm Maya!" She said. "You're really cute; we should hang out sometime." He had to admit; she was kind of cute. Fierce, straightforward, and cute. It seemed to be going well already. "You make me happy, you don't pay enough attention to me. This isn't working out; it's you, not me. But we can still be friends. Not really."

And that seemed to end just as quickly. However, he saw the blonde girl walk towards a brunette, in which she then pushed in his direction, resulting in the brunette landing on his lap.

"Hi! We were just talking about you," the girl said to him. "You used to go out with my friend, Maya."

Luke nodded in amusement at the girl's bubbly personality. To him, there was a different appeal to this girl. There was a certain innocence that she had, something he no longer owned. She was cute too in her own way. She wasn't as fierce or straightforward as the other girl, but to him, she did seem like that caring kind of person.

He introduced himself, "I'm Lucas." Luke officially decided that his old nickname was no more. He ditched it. Maybe his real name, Lucas, along with the new identity he could create for himself here in the big city would reflect better for the future.

It did.

However, his previous alias as Luke Friar and the whole secret of his life in Texas was what later nearly begin to rip the fabric of his newfound friendships. Hints of who he really was popped up now and then, but Luke thought he had to hide his old life in its entirety, otherwise losing everything he eventually gained.

He was going to be the future moral compass, Ranger Rick, Lucas Friar.

And just the thought of it all caused Lucas to realize that that, what could be defined as his own personal revolution.

He began to proceed to climbing up towards Riley's bay window.