Sorry it's taken me so long to update... But here's a new chapter! J hope you enjoy it and please leave a review if you do!

Chapter 4

*Riley's POV*

"You seem to be in a good mood Riley," Maya said as we boarded the subway. I was happily humming to myself.

"I am. Life's pretty good at the moment," I replied. Maya rolled her eyes at me.

"And there you go, jinxing yourself again. Anyway, do you want to hang out at Topanga's tonight? We could ask Lucas and Farkle too," Maya asked.

"Can't. I have detention after school today," I said, annoyed.

"Oh," Maya said uncomfortably, maybe she thought it was her fault I got detention. Which it wasn't. "Thanks for sticking up for me yesterday."

"Maya, you've thanked me at least ten times since it's happened! I just hope that teacher gets fired, he shouldn't be allowed to be so mean to kids," I replied as we got off the train. It was a short walk from the subway station to the school.

"Hey Riley. Hey Maya," Lucas greeted us at our lockers.

"Hey Ranger Rick," Maya replied as the bell rang. We had History first, as always. When we walked in, Dad was sticking up pictures on the board.

"Who are they?" Dad asked, pointing to the pictures once everyone had sat down. "Farkle?"

"Emperor Nero, Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Laden," Farkle replied.

"Good. And what do all three of these men have in common?" Dad asked. This time I put up my hand. "Yes Riley?"

"They were all horrible people who committed terrible acts of cruelty," I replied.

"Very good. Nero was an emperor of Rome, he burnt down entire cities and killed thousands of people. You all know about Hitler, he killed thousands of Jews and basically started World War II, and Osama Bin Laden was behind many terrorist attacks— including 9/11— that killed thousands of people. Humans can be cruel people, but what drives someone to be cruel?" Dad asked.

"Jealousy," Billy said sheepishly.

"Revenge," Maya added.

"Their family," Lucas said.

Dad nodded. "Excellent. You might notice that even here, in John Quincy Adams Middle School, some people can be very cruel towards others." He said as the bell rang.

"Well that was a weird lesson," I said as we left.

"Yeah but it's true. There are a lot of cruel people in the world," Maya commented.

"I think it's interesting. What does cause people to become so mean," Farkle said. I noticed Lucas looked quite ashamed for some reason.

"Oh crap! I just realised I forgot my Science book," I said. "I'll catch up with you guys in a second, I'll just go get it."

I rushed over to my locker and opened the door. Around the corner I could hear two people talking, which wasn't really unusual. "Oh my god, she's so annoying!" One voice said. I must confess I really like eavesdropping on other people's conversations. But I hated when people talked about other people behind their backs.

"I know, she's so weird too. And a bit of a nerd as well. I can't see how anyone could stand to be around her. I can't even stand ten minutes in the same room! The second voice said.

"Who're you two talking about?" A third voice asked.

"Ugh, Riley Matthews," the second voice replied.

My heart plummeted.