She sat in her room, in her pajamas. She'd finished her homework for the night, and she was just about ready for bed. She looked at the clock. 8:15. She couldn't go to bed now!

There was a knock on her window. She turned to see a familiar face. She opened the window.

"Can I come in?"Maya asked, franticly looking behind her shoulder. Riley nodded.

" Come on in."

"Thanks, Riles," she said, climbing in and closing the window behind her.

"Maya,what's going on?" Riley asked.

"Some guy. . . he followed me from the subway. . . I needed to get away from him," she told her, watching her brown eyes go from concerned to freaking out in less than a second.

"What?" Riley cried. Maya smirked.

"Just kidding," she said,grinning.

"What? Maya, why would you say something like that?" Riley said, putting her hands on her hips.

"I just wanted to see how you would react," Maya said smugly. Riley stuck her tongue out at her, earning an eye roll.

"Well, so much for going to bed early," Riley grumbled. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Oh, stop overreacting," Maya told rolled her eyes.

"I'm not overreacting," Riley protested. "I was ready for bed, and you woke me up.I won't be able to get to sleep in forever, now!"

"Aw, is Wiley a wittlele gwumpy pants?" Maya asked in a baby voice.

"Shut up!" Riley huffed. She met Maya's couldn't help but laugh at the funny face she was making. "Don't make me laugh, I'm still trying to be mad at you!"

...

"Girls Ask Guys Night Under the Stars?" She read the banner out loud. "Another school dance?" She turned to Maya. "Do you know what this means?"

"It means that you get to ask cowboy to the dance," Maya told her.

"Mmhmm," Riley said,pulling out her phone. "I'm going to text him now."

"Text who now?" A voice said. Riley turned to see Farkle standing behind her. "I'm standing right here, if you're talking about the Farlke,"

Maya rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. In your dreams."

Farkle let out a fake, exaggerated gasp. "But -"

"But nothing."

Riley rolled her eyes at Maya and Farkle's bickering. She began to tap out a text to Lucas.

Hey, will u go 2 the dance w/ me?

Before she could could press 'send', she felt someone tap her shoulder.

"Hey, Riley," Lucas said. Riley's heart fluttered. Her finger hit send.

"H-hey, Lucas," she stammered.

"Hey, Lucas," a snotty voice cut in.

"Missy," Riley groaned.

Missy paused to glare at her. "Um, you know that dance next Friday?" She asked Lucas.

Oh, no, Riley thought.

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, what about it?"

"It's girls ask guys," Missy pointed out. "I'm a girl, you're a guy. . . would you like to go with me?"

Riley never heard his answer. She turned around and ran to class, tears streaming down her face.

Cory was stunned to see his daughter in class so early. The bell wasn't going to ring for a few minutes. She was the first one there. And she was crying, too.

"Riley sweetie,what's wrong?" He asked, kneeling down by his daughter's desk with a look of concern on his face.

"Lucas. . . Missy. . . dance," she sobbed. "Can I be excused?" She asked as a bunch of students walked into the classroom, each of them staring at her.

"Riley, class hasn't even started yet. I can't-"

Riley looked up to see that Mayahad grabbed her father by his shirt.

"Please let her be excused," she begged him, all of her Maya toughness gone. It was clear she hated seeing Riley like this.

The bell rang. Lucas walked in, dragging Missy, who was clinging to his arm, and not looking too happy. Farkle walked in behind them, looking horrified.

"Now you may be excused. " Cory said, leading Riley to the door. Once she was outside, he turned to had her hand raised. He sighed.

"Yes, Miss Hart?" He said. Before she could open her mouth, he pointed to the noted and walked out to find her best friend stuffed inside a locker.

"Riley?" She asked. Riley sniffed.

" He's going to the dance with Missy," she whispered. "That stupid bulldozer in a pink sweater. . ."

"How do you know he said yes? You ran off before he answered." Maya pointed out.

"But he probably said yes. I saw them walking into the room together!"

"He didn't look happy. And besides, even if he was happy, that means he is really missing out."

Riley grumbled.

"Seriously, Riles. What guy wouldn't be lucky to have you? You're nice, you're funny, you're pretty," Maya 'booped' her on the nose. "Lucas is really missing out."

Riley sniffed. "You really think so?"

Maya nodded. "I know so."

Rileyclimbed out of the locker. "I'm ready to go back to class," she announced.

"Are you sure?" Maya asked. Riley nodded fimly.

"Yup," she said, taking a deep breath. She walked into the classroom and sat down, Maya right by her side. She ignored the curious stares of her classmates, and picked up on her father's lesson right away. It was review of the Civil , she actually was able to pay attention in all of her classes. In art, she let all of her anger flow into a piece of paper, scribbling out all of her frustration.

On the subway home from school, she didn't talk to Lucas at all, no matter how many times he tried to approach her. Every time he did, Maya took care of him for her.

She hardly ate any of her dinner, but since Cory had told Topanga what had happened, nobody tried to make her eat.

At 8:00, shelooked at her phone. Ten missed calls. All from Lucas. And he'd left a message with each one.

There was a knock on the window. She turned, expecting to see Maya.

She saw Farkle.