"Dad?!" Riley had exclaimed, nearly in horror upon seeing non other than her father's face, looking at her from the principal's chair. As if she thought that high school wouldn't be trouble enough, now she has to live with knowing that her father- her father will know where she is at all time. But maybe it couldn't be so bad. Riley is a good girl, she always has been. Maybe it'd be all right. Besides, there is always the fact that Cory had indeed wanted an upgrade in his job for the longest time.
With the panic now fading from her veins, she took a deep breath. "You're-"
"Principal Cory!" He replied with gusto, and such a bright smile on his face.
"You'd be Principal Matthews." Farkle corrected him, only to have the new principal stare him down. "Yes sir."
"You got promoted?! This isn't even the same school!" Maya shrieked, imagining what it'd be like if any of her grades started slipping, or if she wanted to skip school or a class. The terror on her face said it all.
"You should've seen my schools, Maya. This is normal for us!" Cory's grin only seemed to widen with the blonde's response to the situation. "I'm the scarer!"
"What?" Maya blinked her eyes.
"Instead of the scaree! This is a big moment in my life... Monumental!" He stood up, hands against the table.
"How did this even happen?"
"Well, you ask yourself that, Maya. I scared you instead of you scaring-"
"No, I meant how did you wind up here?"
"Good luck." He shrugged his shoulders, hands up in the air, proving his answer.
Now Riley smiled. Honestly, she was proud of her father. She was nervous, and possibly scared, but she was proud. Beyond it. "What's it like being a principal now?"
"So far? Normal. It's not bad."
"Do you like it?"
"I love it!" He replied with a wrinkle to his face.
Riley only giggled, nodding her head. "I-"
"So now you're in charge around here?" Maya interrupted, her hand up, silencing her friend.
"I am. Mostly."
She squinted her eyes and bit her cheek. "I'm watching you."
"Yeah okay. Have fun with that, Maya. I'm the man in charge now! You don't have a say, I've got a say."
"We always have a say, Matthews, you know that."
"I know that." He looked down, shuffled his feet a bit, then looked back up at the four. "So-"
"Daddy, why didn't you tell me you worked here when me and Farkle found our way here first? Why was it a secret?"
"Because I hadn't started yet. And I didn't want to tell you for it to be a surprise. Everyone likes surprises right?"
"I like surprises." Riley admitted, a nod to her head once again.
"Do you all have your schedules?"
"No, we just got here like a minute ago." Maya replied, arms crossed.
"Elinor, could you get them there schedules?"
"Of course." They heard the redhead talk for the first time, and she didn't have a strict, harsh voice like they would have thought. It was soft. Maybe she'd be nicer than she looks upon first glance. Holding out her clipboard just enough for her to better see it, she slid four paper slips off the board, handing them to the young four.
"What about Zay and Smackle? Don't they need theirs too?" Riley asked with concern, hoping they wouldn't have forgotten about the other two in their group.
Nodding, Elinor then handed them two more. Apparently she just keeps extras around. Maybe she knows how clumsy or forgetful students can be.
Taking the papers, Riley kept them folded under her arm, then reading over her own schedule. English was first. English was easy. Now, that thought might seem to follow along, but it wasn't so. She was terrified of getting adjusted to new teachers. What if none of them liked her, or didn't let her speak? None of the teachers, worst of all, were her father. She stopped herself from frowning, pressing her lips together and taking a deep breath.
"Go on, you guys. You know I'll be seeing you later." Cory told them, before guiding them out the door. His daughter had tried to protest, then barely lifting her feet off the ground, just in a mere shuffle. But her father had eventually managed her out the door. "Good luck!" He called to them, watching the foursome leave the hallway.
Riley had her face wrinkled up, just like a baby would. She turned to Maya. "Why do we have to have high school?"
"I ask myself that same question every minute, kid." Her arm laid across the brunette's shoulders, and she took a deep breath. "It won't be so bad. It's not so bad this far, right?" Maya took on a more serious expression, her eyebrows high and furrowed. She was worried about her friend. Sometimes the blonde would come off harsh and cold, but she was one of the most caring people you could meet.
"I thought you hated the idea of Dad being our principal?"
"Nah, I don't hate it." She replied, pressing her lips together. Deep breath, then she answered. "I'm just... conflicted-"
"For why?" Riley had interjected. "For why are you conflicted?"
"I'm proud of your Dad, don't get me wrong, but with him being all high and mighty now..." Maya sighed. "Now I'm even more worried about him failing me. What happens if I go too far again, Riley? What if there's no coming back from it?"
"It won't happen. He wouldn't do that."
"But what if it does? What then?"
The brunette glanced around, a small smile appearing on her face. "Then we'll all be right here for you. Forever and always, Maya."
She let herself smile in response, nodding her head silently. Riley was right- they're her best friends. And they always will be. A weight of sorts lifted from the short girl's chest.
"Ring power." Riley held up her ringed hand, the other laying on her friend's shoulder.
"Ring power." Maya finished, holding onto the taller girl's hand, nodding once more.
"Good." She released the other's hand, now looking down at her schedule again, as if she had possibly forgotten something. "Now come on, it's time for our first class."
"What is it?" Her light blue eyes widened with surprise, which made Riley believe that she had completely forgotten about having the paper at all.
"English..? Didn't you read yours?"
"That's why I keep you guys around." Maya replied confidently, and her friend sighed.
"Why don't you read more?"
She only blinked in response, shaking her head. "I just, ya know, don't like it all too much."
"That's all?"
"That's all."
But to Riley it didn't seem like what Maya had said was all that laid there. She knew that her friend knew how to read, as she's seen her do so before. But she always seemed so unfocused. She always dropped subjects too easily, and that was starting to worry her. She only knitted her eyebrows together, breathing deeply and focusing once more on her schedule, with a small map of the school covering the back.
"Okay," she finally said, dropping the subject of Maya's inattention. "this way."
"You're leading the way again?" Farkle asked, watching as the brunette had stood in front of the group, assisting them through the hallway. She only nodded, a proud grin on her face. She knew that she was good at taking directions, and was quite fond of her ability to. "I love it."
Riley turned her head back to look at him and found herself laughing. "I know you do. Do you want to help me lead? We could be leaders together!"
Farkle was quick to nod his head, stepping forward with her as the two led on. Smackle had noticed his action and looked back at Maya, as if asking her what she had thought of their new leadership. But it was probably nothing, it was just them being them, she was mostly sure of that. Maya, noticing short brunette looking toward her, smiled and shrugged, trying to answer whatever it was that she possibly could have been asking.
The leaders of the group did as they should and led on, occasionally peeking back at the other four, making sure that none of them had strayed. Of course they hadn't, because Riley and Farkle took their new jobs very seriously. Maya now stood like a guard, a near march in her step, arms crossed over her chest. They were moving too slowly, just possibly, but that wasn't their greatest concern. Luckily, the first class was ten minutes away. There was no way they'd be late on their first day.
Riley strode through the hallways, Farkle confidently by her side. So far, much to her surprise, barely anyone seemed to take any notice to them( besides a few stray glances or stares. perhaps that was due to their odd way of how they were currently walking ). Riley was relieved. During the beginning of the day, she was quite worried about the amount of new students to old students ratio. She knew that they were with the new ones, and according to everything she's ever watched or read, in high school they don't take new kids lightly. But so far? Everything was normal, like they were going to their old school. She couldn't help but feel ecstatic.
Looking over her shoulder, she glowed with happiness, smiling at her friends.
"Almost there, honey?" Maya asked, hands now shoved into the pockets of her jeans.
"Almost there indeed!" And as Riley replied, she once again focused ahead of her.
"Thank god. This whole walking when you only got a couple hours of sleep thing really isn't my favorite." She said to herself.
"Only a couple hours?" Lucas interrupted her, looking at the blonde. "Why did you only get a couple hours of sleep? You texted me at midnight saying you were going to."
"I said I was gonna, that doesn't mean I meant it."
"Why couldn't you fall asleep earlier?"
"I was nervous, okay? New school, new us. Things happen. I was just nervous."
"Do you promise to get better sleep tonight?"
"Yeah, okay sure, Moral Compass. I'll try to."
"You have to."
"How would you make me do that?"
For a minute, the blond thought to himself, before nodding. "I'd lay on you."
Maya furrowed her crystal eyes, sighing. "Fine, you win."
Lucas grinned to himself. He knew that he'd be able to correct her sleep schedule, one threat at a time. Honestly, Maya loved seeing the more abrupt version of him. New and improved? Not so much. He was always a great guy, but she had to admit how cute she found his petty thread to be.
"Stay focused you guys!" Riley told them, keeping forward. "Armies with focus are the best armies."
"We're not an army." Maya replied, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Why not? We've got enough of us." Farkle said, pointing out the obvious. Riley only chuckled, nudging him with her elbow.
"Having a lot of friends is a good thing, Farkle." She corrected him, even though the statement he had made wasn't entirely a bad one.
He held his arm, rubbing where she nudged. "I know that. I was just saying we could have a real army."
"If we try hard enough, I think so too."
"We could do anything."
"I could even be a princess?!" Riley gaped at the idea, giving her open-mouthed smile, gazing off in the distance at only her imagination.
"You'd be the best one there ever was." Farkle nodded, very confident in his answer. She grinned widely, brightly, and he loved every second, just like always.
The next few moments passed by in near silence, aside from the sounds of marching feet, quiet chattering, and a few "sorry"s from Riley's part, when she had accidentally brushed a few students shoulders. And even though they really couldn't have cared less, she still apologized far more times that she had needed to. But that? That was just her.
The next minute passed, and they were by the English classroom. It was still four minutes before they actually had to arrive at the class, so they stared at the clock. Four minutes passed with them just staring, silently. And waiting. Four minutes seems like so long when you had nothing to do. Of course they could have just gone inside before it was time, showing up early, but they, especially Maya and Zay, would have hated to have a reputation set for themselves. So they waited. And waited.
What felt like a century had passed and the time had finally come. The other students had already poured in, and now it was their turn.
When they first entered the door, the teacher put her hand on Riley's shoulder, announcing to the class that they had not one, not two, but six new students in this class.
"We have these new ones today.." She said, guiding them to stand in front of her desk. "Ms. Riley Matthews here is the principal's daughter," to which the entire class went silent, as if they had to be on their best behaviors with her around. She liked that. "and then we have Ms. Maya Hart, Mr. Lucas Friar... and..." She eyed them, before checking behind her desk, pulling up a slip of paper and reading it over. "Isadora Smackle and Farkle Minkus?"
"Yes, ma'am." Farkle replied to her, nearly embarrassed to have his name shouted throughout the entire class. Riley put her hand on his shoulder, offering him some kind of support.
"Minkus? As in of Stuart Minkus?" The teacher asked, well aware of whom his father was. And also how incredibly strange the last two students' names were.
"Who else?" He turned to look at her, and she raised her eyebrows in reply.
"You may take your seats, children." She made a shooing motion toward their backs, and they squinted at the classroom.
Something was off. And that something they were incredibly aware of what it was as soon as they took their spots. The seating was wrong. Oh, the seating was very off for them. Riley was up front, directly in the middle. Farkle was three seats behind her, to the left. Maya was behind Smackle, and they were in the back right. Lucas and Zay sat next to each other, in front of Smackle. And it was wrong.
Riley fidgeted in her seat, trying to find the best way to find comfort like this. This class was worse than she thought it'd be. As she tried to listen to Mrs. Abernathy discuss the importance between the differences of your and you're( even though they had learned this all much earlier on ), the brunette found herself looking over her shoulder more than usual, attempting to find her friends' faces in the crowd of strangers. For the eighth time she heard their teacher explain the difference. Your and you're and abbreviations and anything in between it.
She huffed quietly, crossing her arms over her desk and laying her head between them, trying to cut her mind off from any anxious or nervous thoughts, which was more difficult than she would have thought.
Farkle, in particular, had noticed his friends unhappiness with this situation. He glanced around the room, noticing Maya pick up on it too. They shared looks, before she nodded at him. At him? He had no idea what he could do. It's not like he could be like her and set the sprinklers off the first day here. He could find something else to do, and he could be casual about it. He could- he could- "Mrs. Abernathy!" He shot up, eyes wide as platters. Riley heard his voice, sitting up properly in her seat, listening to what he was saying.
"Mr. Minkus? Is there a problem?"
"Yes..?" He then nodded his head quickly. "Yes, yes- there is a problem!"
"What is it?"
"The... the... I have to change seats!" When Farkle had said that, Riley laughed, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
"And why is that?"
"Because I have to!"
"You and I both know that that is not a reason."
"The... air here... Yeah, the circulation is all wrong. And the lighting! Ohhh.. The lighting is really bad for my.. asthma."
"Lighting does not affect asthma, Mr. Minkus."
"No, yeah, I meant... Something else."
"Which would be?"
"Can I change my spot or not, m- ma'am?"
Mrs. Abernathy sighed, squinting her grey eyes at him. "Where exactly would you move to?"
"By Riley! By her, up there. Right there. The light's better, you can see it."
She groaned, eventually realizing she would not leave this room without him shutting up. "Fine." She retorted, pointing her finger toward the chair right to Riley. "John, please move yourself."
Farkle collected his books hastily, swinging his backpack back over his shoulder and passing by the other student, who nearly shoved pass him to reach his new seat. Yet the brunet stayed with a smile as he laid his books out on his desk. "Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate this."
"I'm sure you do." She replied, pushing her dainty glasses back up on her stout nose and returning her focus to the blackboard.
Sitting quietly, Riley looked over at Farkle, knitting her eyebrows together in confusion. Although she was more than glad that he had moved his position to be next to her, to make her feel more comfortable, he still had risked getting in trouble. She couldn't understand why he'd do that- his reputation is one of his most important things. Catching his eye, she silently asked "Why did you do that?", only mouthing.
He carefully eyed Mrs. Abernathy, as she had her eyes on behind her, before turning back to Riley. "It was important."
"You could have gotten in trouble." She finally spoke, only in a whisper, just loud enough for Farkle to hear.
"This was more important."
"Why?"
"Because the lighting and circulation was bad back there." He replied jokingly, which made a smile quickly jump to Riley's lips.
"Air circulation affects you pretty badly, huh?"
"I am a hamster."
Riley scoffed out a laugh, before covering her mouth with her delicate hands.
And so this period passed by faster than she had thought it would after Farkle kindly changed his spot. They learned that Mrs. Abernathy was not so horrible. Maybe she wasn't their favorite teacher, but she wasn't too awful. After the bell tolled, they all stood from their seats, only the six new students had decided to wait until the others had left before they made their move- a similar decision to when they were on the subway.
Finally reaching out of the room and into the hallway, they sat on the bench outside of the classroom, taking respective deep breaths. Maybe the class itself hadn't been difficult, and maybe Mrs. Abernathy wasn't out to ruin their year, but emotionally? It was... new. And new, while it is great, is hard. Incredibly so.
Riley glanced to her left, then right, smiling widely as she watched her friends relax. She laid her arms against their shoulders( or tried to, the two on the ends leaned in ), then looked up at Farkle, who was standing up as there wasn't enough room for him to sit on the bench. She raised her eyebrows, her best gesture to tell him to hug her. She only had two arms, how would she have hugged him all the way up there?
Farkle, catching her drift, nodded. "Ohh, right. Okay then." Then he bent himself over and tried his best to wrap his arms around the five on the bench.
Riley grinned, sitting up straight as she could, in attempt to make it easier for him. Or, to get closer to him. One of those is it. She looked up at him, his head laid sideways on top of hers.
When he adjusted his head position, he saw how happy she was. He laid his forehead on hers, his own lips being pulled into a smile. "You needed a hug?"
"I wanted one." She corrected him, gently nodding, her brown eyes gazing into his blue. "Everyone likes hugs!"
"We do." He replied honestly, before Maya spoke up.
"I can't breathe." The blonde had said, even though she quite obviously could. "And I need to talk to Riley."
"Me? Why?" Riley turned her head to her friend, just as the hug was broken and she took her hand.
"Right now, honey, come on." Maya then dragged her, down two hallways, and then stopped. She looked at the brunette intensely, studying her very being and everything she stood for. Riley just stood awkwardly, tilting her head.
"Why are you staring at me?"
"Honey, what are you doing?!" She asked, almost in a shriek, her hands gripping at the brunette's shoulders.
"Doing what?"
"And you're oblivious?!" Maya blinked her eyes, sighing and hugging her.
"What am I doing, Maya? I'm confused."
"I know you are." She had pulled back, moving Riley's dark hair from her face, now cradling her head like a mother. "I can tell you are."
"Confused?"
"Mhm."
Riley furrowed her eyebrows, breaking Maya's cradle. "Please, I want to know what I'm doing wrong."
"Why can't you see what I see yet?"
"See what?!" She was frustrated now. Maya knew something that she nearly refused to tell her friend. Why was she hiding this? "If it's something important, I want to know."
"Riley-"
"Sisters tell each other everything. Tell me."
"You made the eyes."
"What?"
"The big, puppy dog-baby eyes. The lovebird eyes. The lovey dovey ones."
"The- the eyes? At who?"
Maya swallowed, smiling sadly. Emotions were hard, and they went unknown. Except for Maya. She knew her best friend well enough to see this.
"Peaches..." Riley stuck out her bottom lip, pleading. "Please?"
"I can't say it, Riles."
"You can and you have to."
Maya watched her, squinting her eyes, chewing on her lip. "I-"
"Maya-"
"What if-"
"Maya-"
"You're just a baby-"
"I'm fifteen."
"A baby!"
Riley groaned, laying her head on Maya's shoulder.
"Do I have to tell you?"
"Yes."
The blonde sighed, closing her eyes. She nearly was in disbelief that she knew Riley's feelings better than Riley knew Riley's feelings. Her closed eyes closed tighter, throwing her head back with a groan.
Riley only blinked, eyebrows raised, awaiting an answer from Maya.
"Okay. I'll only tell you because you don't know. But don't expect me to try and stop whatever you're feeling, Riley."
"I won't." Her eyebrows now furrowed. "Is it that bad?"
"It's... It's Farkle, honey."
Riley's expression dropped, her face went blank. She breathed, before smiling again. "It's not Farkle."
"Why would I lie to you?"
She pressed her lips together. She wouldn't. Not about this. "I- I don't-"
"Riley, I saw it." Her voice was the softest that she's heard it in a long time.
Riley's eyebrows furrowed together. "I look at everyone like that."
"You don't. It was there."
"Can we- can we go? I- I don't- It's a few minutes away from Math class and-"
"Riley," Maya took her hands. "are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I just need to- I'll- I'm going to-" Riley held her hands over her mouth, making herself stop talking. She felt like she'd be sick. Breaking away from Maya's gaze, she hurried back to the bathroom, locking herself in a stall, and laying her head against the wall. Her eyes closed and she sank down. She was glad that these bathrooms were nice, with actual walls and doors.
Bringing her knees to her head, she held onto them. Riley didn't know what to think. She had felt certain things that she couldn't explain, but to her? Maybe they meant nothing. She held onto her breath, furrowing her eyebrows together, she was thinking over how serious Maya was about what she was telling her. Farkle's her friend. Isadora Smackle is Farkle's girlfriend. Her stomach sunk and she breathed. Jealousy. She did feel jealousy. For them?! She wanted to yell. She's already how her and Maya are with Lucas, and that's painful enough. She doesn't need to be feeling anything about anyone. Not anymore.
But she knew herself well enough. She couldn't do that.
Farkle's smile flashed into her mind, and she frowned. No, he deserved better. Someone who wouldn't leave him high and drying, like she'd always done. She knew he used to love her, used to like her. But now? He's moved on. He's had help moving on. And he didn't need her for anything she may or may not have wanted. Tears flooded into her eyes and her lip quivered. She pressed it against her teeth, sighing shakily.
No. She didn't like him. She didn't like him. She didn't like him.
Salty tears fell fast from her dark eyes, sliding down her cheek. Riley hastily wiped them away, her entire body was shaking. She fell lower to the ground, her shoulders against the bathroom wall.
She didn't like him.
