When Riley and Robyn walked into class that morning, Maya was already busy passing around her polaroid pictures.
"There's one of the band, and a couple of me just playing around with the lights. Oh, and one of Lucas and I."
Robyn slid into her seat coolly without looking at her. She tried to turn the noise off all around her. Drown out every sound. Riley watched her intently, frowning a little.
"Right, Robyn?" Maya asked, pulling her unwillingly back into reality.
"Hm?" she asked, feigning disinterest.
"The concert," Maya said flatly. "It was great, right? We were dancing, like, the whole time. My legs are still sore. Didn't you have any fun?"
"Robyn dancing? Now that's something I'd like to see," Zay said from the seat behind her, trying to lighten the mood.
"Me too," Farkle agreed. "But knowing her, it'd be the last thing I saw."
The boys chuckled, but Robyn didn't react.
"What's your problem?" Maya asked finally.
"I don't have a problem," Robyn mumbled.
"No? You're sure acting like it. If you didn't want to go, you could've just said so. I can take a hint, okay?"
"Whatever," Robyn sighed, glaring up at the ceiling.
"At least Lucas was there to act like a normal, fun human being." Maya tried.
"Hey…" Lucas replied, looking between Maya and Robyn with worry in his eyes.
"Now Lucas dancing is something I don't want to see," Zay said, shaking his head.
"At least I'd live through it," Farkle laughed, high-fiving Zay.
Their laughter faded away as Cory walked into the room, and Robyn was able to turn the volume down to zero during his lecture. All the while she could feel everyone's eyes on her, but she just sat as still as she could, willing their attention away. As soon as the bell rang, Riley grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hall.
"What are you doing?" She asked, exasperated. "Just because you get jealous doesn't mean you can act like a jerk!"
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"Maybe not! But I know what being a good friend looks like, and right now you're doing the opposite. You can't push Maya away just because you know she can take it. I've been there. Let her in, Robyn. Don't be afraid."
Robyn pushed past her with a click of her tongue, then fell back into her routine. Class after class. Bell after bell. Hiding in the library through lunch, then finally, thankfully, back home where she could sit in silence for a while. Riley stuck to her routine with homework at Topanga's, so Robyn had the room to herself for a while. She scrolled through her phone, scowling at Maya's Instagram post of her and Lucas at the concert, conveniently forgetting to mention her being there at all. She tossed the phone away, just staring at the ceiling.
There was a soft knock at the door before it creaked open.
"Go awa-" Robyn started, before an upside-down Auggie appeared before her eyes. She rolled over so that her head was no longer hanging off the bed. "Oh, Auggie," she said. "What's up, buddy?"
"Second grade is ridiculous. This math stuff is the worst. I don't want to be an adult," he said, crossing his arms. "Can I run away with you somewhere? Or at least borrow a treasure map or something? You know all the best spots."
Robyn smiled, a gesture that felt foreign to her after her long day, and pulled Auggie up on the bed with her. "Tell you what. You hang out right here with me, and I'll help you out with all that icky math homework, and then we can make ourselves some sundaes. Extra sprinkles."
"You're an excellent negotiator. Mommy would be proud," Auggie said, shaking her hand.
"I learn from the best," Robyn said with a smirk.
The two worked through the problems for a while until Auggie felt confident enough to try a few on his own. As he practiced, he spoke up again. "Where'd you go last night?"
"Nowhere. Bed."
"I saw you, silly."
"And how did you do that?" Robyn asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Your light shined into my window while you were crawling back to your room."
"Ah," Robyn said. "You caught me, huh?"
"Cops and robbers," Auggie agreed, nodding seriously. "So fess up, where'd ya go?"
"A concert. With Maya…and Lucas," Robyn added with distaste.
"Whoah!"
"Whoah is right."
"You think I'll be as cool as you when I'm big?" Auggie asked, looking up at her with his big, curious eyes.
"Oh, a million times cooler, for sure. And a math genius. You got them all right, Augs."
"I did?"
"You did!"
"Sundaes!" Auggie leapt off the bed and ran towards the kitchen, waving his arms like an animal. Robyn chuckled, picking up his papers before she got up to follow him. Before she could leave the room, Topanga slipped into the doorframe.
"A concert? Whoah," she said, a smirk on her face.
"Grounded?" Robyn asked, feeling the smile slowly melt off her face.
"Don't tell your father, and it's a no. I like how sweet you were to your brother. I like to see you come out of your shell. If you can keep that up with all of us, I'll keep my mouth shut."
"Sundaes?" Robyn asked with her best puppy-dog eyes.
"Oh, yes, definitely sundaes." Topanga said, following behind her to the kitchen.
Robyn slipped her phone out of her pocket, quickly texting a single sorry to Maya, mentally cursing herself for getting so touchy.
/
At Topanga's, Riley felt like she was accidentally taking sides in a new war zone. Maya was quiet, but clearly fuming, posting her photos across her social media to shove her fun in Robyn's face. Lucas watched her, alternating between concerned stares and grimaces as his phone popped up with a new notification every few minutes.
"50 likes," Maya proclaimed in the silence. Then, a little later, "100 likes." Each new milestone was like a fresh victory for her.
"Anybody got the answer for #10? I'm not getting any of the numbers in the options," Lucas sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"It's 58. Here, lemme show you," Farkle said, walking over to help.
Riley looked across the room to Zay, who'd also been uncharacteristically quiet. She knew by looking at him that he could detect the growing feud between Maya and Robyn. The only difference between him and Riley, though, was that he didn't know why there was a feud to begin with. And everyone knew it wasn't like Riley to be any good at keeping secrets. Suddenly, Zay's eyes locked with hers.
"You wanna take a breather, Riley?" he asked, nodding towards the door.
"Some fresh air would be nice, yeah," she tried her best to make her smile seem believable, but inside she felt her panic hit a new high.
"Wait, can I come?" Lucas asked, standing up quickly.
"150 likes," Maya chimed in.
"I haven't finished the problem, though," Farkle said. "I can't just give you the answer."
"Right," Lucas said, slowly sinking back down into his seat. "Nevermind, then."
Riley breathed a sigh of relief that poor Lucas was trapped inside with crazy Maya. It was hard enough keeping herself from bursting with Zay onto her, but there was no way she'd be able to keep anything from the cowboy if she was around him long enough.
Once they were out the door, Zay stretched his arms, then nodded back inside in Maya's direction. "So what's up with that?" he asked. "You know, don't you?"
"I do, but I really, really can't tell you."
"Oh really?" Zay smirked. "And how long do you think that's going to last?"
"Not long if you pressure me." Riley whined. "Please don't make me tell."
"I'm not gonna force you. But is there any way I can help? Talk to Lucas maybe? Crack a joke? I'm lost here."
"I think this one is just going to have to work itself out," Riley admitted. "Honestly, I'm not sure what to do either."
"Well, at least we're both in the dark then."
"If I can, I'll tell you as soon as I have permission."
"Fair enough. Back to the madness?"
"Let's do this."
As the two walked back in, Maya stood and pumped her fist in the air. "200 likes! Oh, and what?" She sat back down. The others turned away, already tired of her antics, but Riley kept her eyes on her, watching as she mouthed her sister's name. Robyn. Riley smiled a little. Whatever had gotten through to her, she was just glad she'd come back to reality.
/
Maya stared at the single-word text from Robyn, feeling her anger melt suddenly into regret. She should've realized sooner, she thought. Something was up. And now she definitely had to see what it was.
"I'll be back in a bit," she said, heading out the door. "Don't wait up for me."
