Please read the reviews under CHAPTER 4 for an author's note.
Riley and Maya had arrived at school, lunches in hand. The subway ride was largely uneventful- the most exciting thing happened when Riley tumbled down the stairs and ended up in the garbage.
Maya tugged on her bangles. There were still thirty minutes until school started, and Maya technically could spill the beans. She had enough time. And she actually really wanted to. Honesty was the foundation of any friendship, right? She really didn't want to keep secrets from Riley, especially after she had made such a big deal about it during the whole Texas debacle.
Riley could very well just go with Lucas for the rest of her life. After New Year's, Maya had let Riley and Lucas get back together, and she immediately brightened up. All thoughts of depression seemed to fade the instant that Riley was back in Lucas's arms, even though that never actually happened. Rather, all thoughts of depression seemed to fade the instant that Riley was back openly staring at Lucas. It's not like Riley actually made any effort to distance herself from Lucas when she let Maya and Lucas try their hand at a relationship; in fact, Riley actually appeared even more in love with him at that time than she ever did. She sat closer to him, and she talked to him when they were clearly hoping to talk about themselves.
At any rate, everything was back to where it was before. As it should be, and as it always would be.
The girls went up the stairs and entered the school. With so much time before school, it was nearly empty. Teachers milled about the hallways, clutching lesson plans and coffee mugs. Mr. Matthews, Riley's dad, gave a nod to Riley and Maya before entering the teachers' lounge for some much-needed coffee.
"Can you believe that our tattoos came in on the same day?" Riley bounced towards her locker and dumped her books in. She twirled back to her friend. "You haven't let me see yours yet. Can I see it?" Riley tried to pry the bangles from Maya's wrists.
Maya heaved a big sigh. "I don't know, Riley. It's kind of a personal thing," she said apologetically. She got a pensive look and avoided Riley's gaze.
"Hey, Riley, would you care if the guy is someone close to you? I wouldn't want you to get hurt," Maya said as she sat down at the bench outside the history classroom. Pulling out a sandwich from her lunch bag, Maya took a big bite. She shot a glare at Riley, who already had an amused smile on her face. "Don't judge me. I get hungry easily."
Riley laughed. "Don't be silly! I would never judge you." She walked on over to Maya and laid her head on Maya's shoulder. The two best friends sat in silence for a while before Riley decided to speak up.
"And I want you to know that I would never be mad about who your soulmate is. The universe has chosen you two to be together! How could I ever keep you guys apart? You feel whatever you need to feel. It is my job to be happy for you," Riley gave Maya a beaming smile. "Is it Farkle? Zay? Charlie? Do you even know who it is yet? Mine hasn't come in all the way, but I am almost 100% that it is Lucas."
Maya shrugged. "No, I don't know who it is yet. I don't think it matters much at this point, anyways. We're still so young. We have the rest of our lives to find our soulmates."
Riley nodded in agreement.
"What would happen if my soulmate was Lucas?" Maya asked as she flicked some dust off of the bench nonchalantly. She had to give off the impression that she didn't care what Riley's answer was. Riley was naive, but she was very suspicious. Especially after what happened in Texas; if Maya let Riley know that her soulmate was Lucas, all hell would break loose.
Riley laughed and shook her head. "Why would it be Lucas?" She turned to Maya and raised her eyebrows. "He's mine. I thought that we already agreed on this." Riley shook her head and looked at Maya incredulously as if to question every action that Maya ever did.
Maya nodded vigorously, hoping to dispel any suspicion in those big brown eyes. "No, no- we did agree. It's just that I was thinking about what you said." Maya picked at the invisible lint on her clothes before continuing.
"You know, how you said that the universe chooses for you. How there is a special God up there who looks out for you. And how sometimes we can wish for something as much as we possibly can and it still doesn't happen. Do you ever think that you and Lucas won't happen? That what you wished for isn't going to work? Sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to. My life is a perfect example."
"But sometimes it does work out," Riley replied aggressively. "Dreams can come true- for the right people, at least. I am a princess to Lucas. I can get everything that I want because I deserve it. I might not be the center of the universe, but I am the center of yours and Lucas's. It couldn't possibly be you and him. The only thing that you have in common with is me. I can't count the number of times that you guys spent time alone talking. Oh, wait. That's because you haven't talked alone." Riley retorted.
Maya just rolled her eyes and looked away. There was no point in arguing with an angry Riley.
"Are you trying to tell me something? Do you still like Lucas?" Riley's voice grew and got higher. She stood up and pointed a finger at Maya. If Maya still liked Lucas, Riley didn't stand a chance with him. And she knew it, so she retaliated with her trademark Riley Matthews's passive-aggressiveness.
"Show me your tattoo right now! I have the right to know who it is! I am your best friend!"
Maya got up and glared at her. "Yeah, right! Like you've been acting like one recently."
Riley stared Maya down. "What is that supposed to mean? I've been nothing but supportive of you! Remember when your dad came back and you were told to forgive him? Or when you tried to give up on art? What about all of that? I am the best possible friend that anyone could have."
Maya rolled her eyes. "That doesn't count. You never helped me with any of that. You were always just being pushy. And you know how I respond to that. I dig my heels in even more. I wasn't listening to you; you didn't help me with anything."
Maya ran her hands through her hair. "And who calls themselves a 'best possible friend' anyways? Only someone who is self-righteous. Like you! Someone who believes that they are the best at everything and that everyone likes them. Someone who believes that they deserve everything!" Maya shouted at her best friend.
"Obviously!" Riley retorted. "I do my homework, I get straight A's, I take care of Auggie, I'm a great friend, and I always spend time to take care of your problems. Your many problems," Riley emphasized the last sentence. "I do everything right! I do deserve everything! I have done nothing wrong!"
Maya stomped her feet in agitation and huffed underneath her breath. "And I have?!" She was just about to fire a selective string of words when she looked up just in time to see Lucas descending the stairs. Oh no, Maya thought. She couldn't let Lucas know that they were essentially fighting about him, so she put up a brave front and greeted him.
"Hey, Huckleberry," she said to Lucas. "Would you care to talk to your darling here about the importance of being humble?"
Riley stuck her tongue out at Maya. "You can't call him Huckleberry! Only I can." She took Lucas's arm possessively and smiled sweetly.
Lucas shook his arm free of Riley's grasp and tried to keep his face from betraying his annoyance. "Riley, Maya can call me anything she wants. It's not like it means anything romantic."
Maya gave him a grateful smile.
Riley shot him a look as she prepared to interrogate him. The little jokes and nicknames had finally gotten to her head. "You know," Riley said as she circled her two friends.
"I could never get Uncle Eric's question out of my head. Why do you let her make fun of you? Tell me. Now." Riley demanded as she crossed her arms and stared at Lucas.
He immediately became shocked. The poor boy stammered for a few seconds before looking at the ground to recollect his thoughts. When he finally did talk, he got off to a rough start.
"Um, well," he started with a grimace.
Riley raised her eyebrows. "Come on, buddy. Let's go." She walked on over to Maya and sat down. "Dazzle me."
Lucas gave Riley a weak smile. "I like Maya," he said quickly. "You know, as a friend."
Maya heaved a gentle sigh that did not go unnoticed by Lucas.
"I like to please my friends, and this teasing thing makes her happy. And oddly enough, it makes me happy, too. Otherwise, I would never put up with it. I am, however, more than thrilled to be able to provide for Maya, the Amazonian warrior princess." He said with a smile.
Maya gave him a smile back. "Thanks, Ranger Rick. I am still kind of angry about being called a 'short stack of pancakes', though."
Lucas put his hands up in mock surrender. "Hey, a lot of guys say that to their girlfriends in the movies. I thought that it was a sign of affection," he shot her a smile and winked.
Riley got up again and stood between the two. It was time to get back to business.
"How come you didn't like it when I acted like this towards you?" She stared at him. "You know, when we went to Texas and I tried to act like your sister- like Maya." Riley gave a sickening smile over her shoulder to her best friend, who just grimaced in response.
"Well, that was different. I didn't like that kind of bantering because that wasn't you," Lucas replied earnestly.
"But it made me happy," Riley replied.
"No, it didn't," Lucas said forcefully. "It killed you inside. And it wasn't us. It made no one happy."
Riley gave him a shy smile. "Okay, then. I guess I could forgive you for that. Would you call me 'Princess Dancing Sunshine', Lucas?"
He smiled with sad eyes. "I thought we already went through this during the whole 'Maya goes wild' day. I would not call you that," he confirmed. Lucas shoved his hands inside his pockets and rocked back and forth. "It is rather much, don't you think?"
Riley gave him a sad smile. "And yet, you would call Maya an Amazonian Warrior Princess. I think I have all the information I need to know."
Lucas sighed. "Riley, wait! Let's be reasonable! That's not what I meant at all!"
She shook her head. "We have class now. If you have anything to say to me," she walked on over to the door. "We can talk afterward." Riley entered the classroom without a second look back.
Lucas glanced over to Maya, who had collapsed over her lap. Her arms hung limply by her legs, and her bangles clattered to the floor. She stayed there, too tired to move. The morning debacle had made her lose all her energy; it made her so tired that she didn't even notice that her bangles had fallen off and that Lucas could see her wrists. Thankfully, Lucas was a bit slow, so all he noticed was that her wrist was overly red. He didn't even think to check it for a tattoo.
Mr. Matthews stuck his head out of the classroom door. "Come on, guys. You don't want to be out in the hallway when the rest of the school storms in. Let's go."
Lucas obliged and walked past Mr. Matthews. Maya followed shortly after, stretching her arms above her head. The whole morning had passed by quite well, considering all that had happened. As she walked past, Maya put her hand over Mr. Matthews's face. She was just about ready to bag the morning as a success, why not have some fun? Life could only get easier now- nobody knew about her tattoo.
Until Mr. Matthews caught the word on Maya's wrist when she flung her hand onto his face.
Lucas.
Somewhere else in the middle school, Farkle was performing a science experiment. He wanted to test how the growth of algae would be determined by the amount and type of sunlight. Unfortunately, Farkle had fallen asleep at the table. Somehow, four hours was no longer enough for his teenage body. Suddenly, a slow burn crossed his wrist. Seven place-holders appeared with a faint outline of the name Smackle.