By the time she exited the subway, Riley was certain she was sick. She had almost sneezed her nose off on the ride to her stop, and Lucas's jacket was now streaked with snot, as it was the only tissue that had been available at the moment. She hesitated in the station as she still heard rain pittering on the streets above her, and her chills had yet to stop.

Riley reached for her phone in her pocket, supposing she could call someone to come rescue her with an umbrella. How about her dad? Nooo, not a good idea. Cory didn't know she had gotten detention yet, and she didn't want to have to face the situation just yet.

Suddenly, her best friend popped into her head.

Riley dialed Maya's number, listening to the rings as she waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?" Maya picked up after a few rings.

"Mayaaaa," Riley groaned. "Come help meeeee..."

Maya chuckled at her friend's dramatic, whiney tone. "Riley, where are you?"

"I'm at the subway station, stuck in the rain."

"Shouldn't you have been home an hour ago?" Maya asked, confusion evident in her tone.

"Well, yeah," Riley sniffled in order to avoid choking on her own snot. "But, I got detention."

"You? Detention?" Maya sounded flabbergasted. "What did you do?"

"I kinda fell asleep during class.." Riley said sheepishly.

Maya chuckled again. "Okay, I'll be there in a few."

Riley settled down on a nearby bench, wrapping Lucas's snotty jacket snugly around her body. She sleepily gazed out into space, listening to the beat of the street drummer a few paces away.

Next thing she knew, she awoke with a start at the sound of a loud pop! She lifted her head to see Maya leaning against an open umbrella, laughing. She had succeeded in startling Riley out of her sleep by loudly and intentionally forcing open the umbrella.

"You ready?" Maya said with a wide grin, trying to calm herself down.

Riley nodded, standing up, throwing her backpack onto her shoulders, and zipping up Lucas's jacket.

"What are you doing with Lucas's jacket?" Maya said, lifting one eyebrow as she watched Riley zip it up.

"I got cold, and he offered it to me." Riley said with a wide, sleepy grin on her face.

Maya smiled back at her, knowing that inside Riley was the happiest girl in New York.

The two ventured through the rain, Maya gripping the umbrella tightly as the wind tried to rip it from her hands. Riley trembled, inching closer to Maya and hoping to snag some of her body heat.

When they finally stepped inside the apartment complex, stomping off the rain and shaking out the umbrella, Maya turned to Riley. Something was definitely different about Riley.

First off, Maya had found her asleep in the midst of a noisy subway station, and she almost never saw Riley napping. Ever. Secondly, she had been sniffling like a determined bloodhound following a rabbit's trail the entire way home, along with a couple of sneezes here and there. Finally, she looked a little pale and abnormally run-down, and her eyes were vacant of their usual ecstatic gleam.

"Riley, look at me." Maya said. She reached for Riley's forehead and gently pressed the back of her hand against it, then drew it back and continued to shake out the umbrella. "You are sick."

Riley sniffled again, stirring up a sneeze by doing so.

Achoo!

"No, I'm not." Riley said stuffily.

"Yes, you are." Maya grinned at her friend's useless attempt to cover up the fact that she was under the weather.

Achoo!

Maya gave a smirk to her friend that said, 'I told you so..'

"Alright, fine," Riley said, smiling as she sniffled. "You caught me red-handed."

"More like red-nosed, Rudolph." Maya teased, eyeing Riley's irritated nose.

"Thanks for taking me home, Maya." Riley said.

"Your welcome." Maya said cooly, closing the umbrella. "Take care of yourself, alright?"

"Alright..." Riley smiled, heading for the elevator.

Riley took her key out of her backpack as she reached her apartment, unlocking the door and slowly twisting it open. She recoiled as she waited for her parents to bombard her, asking her where she had been and what the heck had caused her to get detention.

Oddly, the apartment was silent and barren. No Topanga hovering over the stove cooking dinner, no Cory sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper, no Auggie hard at work in his coloring books. Just silence.

"Mom? Dad?" Riley called out.

Riley discovered a note on the kitchen table and her sleepover bag sitting in the floor. She picked up the note, examining her mom's hand-writing.

"Riley, your father and I will be out of town until tomorrow afternoon; we had to help out a friend in Philly on very short notice. Auggie is down the hall, spending the night at Ava's, and I figured you would want to have a sleepover with Maya, so I packed your stuff. If you need anything and Maya's mom isn't home (she'll probably be with the nightshift at the diner), you can go to Ava's mom or call us. I love you!"

Riley sighed as she put down the note. She really wasn't feeling well, and she knew Topanga was the only person who could make her feel better. But, Topanga wasn't here, so she would just have to make-do without her.

Riley put her backpack and Lucas's jacket in her room, then realized she should probably search for some cold medicine. Heading into the bathroom, she did a double-take as she noticed herself in the mirror: she looked awfully pale.

Riley hoped and prayed that there was some medicine in the cabinet as she rummaged around, but was only able to fish out a box of Band-aids. Sighing, she placed it back in the cabinet, and as more cold chills flooded Riley's nervous system, she figured she should at least grab a thermometer.

Finally, ready to leave, Riley threw her bag over her shoulder and headed out the door. If she couldn't have her mom by her side when she was sick, Maya was definitely the next best thing she could have.