Ever hear of the song "I found" by Amber Run? Check it out. It's amazing! (:

Riley kicked at puddle of water at her feet. Umbrella in hand, beanie secure on her head, and Charlie's jacket hanging loosely around her shoulders, she waited at the entrance of her mom's café; Charlie was supposed to meet her there when he was done with tutoring.

The faint sound of laughter, familiar laughter, hit her ears and she ducked down behind a plant as Maya, Lucas, Farkle, and Zay turned the corner. She watched Maya glance inside, then frown, clearly hoping Riley would be there. She tightened her grip on Lucas' hand as he led her inside with Farkle and Zay trailing behind.

Riley turned to watch her friends from the window; they had chosen to occupy the same corner they always had. They laughed, Lucas joked, Farkle shook his head at the joke, Zay would give Lucas a high-five, and Maya would lean her head against his shoulder. It had made Riley sad that she couldn't find it in herself to want to join them; they were her best friends and she couldn't help but think she was being selfish for letting her own wants get in the way of her friendships.

She took a deep breath, stepped out from hiding, and turned on her heel to walk in. But she stopped mid-step; she couldn't do it. She couldn't fight the way her stomach sank at the sight of Maya and Lucas. She couldn't fight the feeling of her heart shattering in two. She knows it's stupid, especially because she was dating Charlie, but it wasn't a feeling she could just stop. Gripping the handle to her umbrella a little tighter, her knuckles were white and her hand was shaking. She tried convincing herself that it was from the cold, but she knew better.

Riley had meant to go in, she really did. Then Lucas had turned and nearly met her eye, and she ran. She bolted up the steps as fast as she could, not expecting a hand to shoot out and grab her arm. As she turned, she found Charlie holding on to her hand.

"Hey." He said over the sound of the rain hitting the pavement. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Oh," She shook her head. "Nothing, I just…I forgot I had to meet Caprice for our project."

"Oh, okay," He stepped underneath her umbrella with her, "I'll walk you then."

"Thank you." Riley smiled up at him and tightened her grip on his hand.

"Hey, what happened?" Concern filled Maya's voice as Lucas walked back into Topanga's, his clothes clinging to his body. "You're soaking wet."

"I saw Riley." He explained as he sat next to her, running his hands down his face. "I thought she might talk to me about the whole project thing, then Charlie showed up."

"Are you okay?" She put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "What did she say?"

"I didn't catch up to them in time." He sighed, catching the sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Maya."

"It's not your fault." She tried to convince him. "We'll have to keep trying. There's no other choice. Riley's our best friend and I won't stop until we get her back."

"Back from what, exactly?" Farkle asked. "From happiness? She likes being a cheerleader, Maya."

"That's not who she is."

"Maybe not then." He reasoned. "Maybe it is now. People change." He glanced at Maya and Lucas' hands. "Feelings change. She likes being around new people and let's face it, we're all going to move on at some point."

"But for now, we still have each other." She argued, glaring at the fact that he was indicating their relationship was the reason Riley doesn't want to be around. It was something she already knew, she didn't need Farkle to remind her.

"I think we should leave Riley be." Farkle didn't back down; Maya didn't exactly scare him as much as she did in Junior High. "When she's ready, she'll come to us."

"Farkle's right." Zay agreed, nodding his head. "Riley's a tough girl, she can handle whatever's thrown at her."

"She doesn't have to handle anything alone, she should know that." Maya turned her glare to Zay.

"She's not technically alone." Farkle mumbled. "She has Caprice and Charlie to help."

"I'm done with this conversation." Maya stood from her seat abruptly. "I'm getting a muffin. Anyone want anything?"

"Oh," Zay started, "I wan-."

"Nothing?" She interrupted. "Okay." Storming up to the register, she put her head in her hands and sighed; maybe they were right. Maybe Riley needed more space; although, she couldn't believe Riley needed anymore space than she already has. Was it all her fault? Can she really blame Riley for not wanting to be around? She supposed she couldn't. If the roles had been reversed, Maya knew she'd be furious with Riley. But the roles weren't reversed, and Riley wasn't the type of person to be angry at her best friend like that.

"Guys, tone it down a little, yeah?" Lucas asked Farkle and Zay. "Maya's feeling enough pressure without it being thrown in her face that Riley has new friends."

"Maya has to face facts." Farkle said. "She knows better than anyone that nothing's ever been simple with Riley. And this, you guys, it's not something Riley's just going to get over in a night."

"What do you mean?" Lucas didn't want to believe it, he refused; if he was hearing what he thought he was hearing, then it made sense. Why Riley was distant. Why she chose Charlie and Caprice instead of them.

Farkle looked back to see Maya still standing at the counter, talking with Mrs. Matthews. "I'm saying Riley still has feelings for you. And that you and Maya need to make a decision if you want Riley back. This isn't going to be easy, but nothing worth it ever is."

Lucas stared at his hands; Farkle was right, as usual. They couldn't keep pretending that everything would just work out, or that their relationship wasn't affecting Riley when it obviously was. "Riley's dating Charlie, she doesn't have feelings for me anymore."

"Riley isn't going to hold on forever." Farkle grabbed his jacket as he stood up. "She's choosing to move on and we can't fault her for that. I have to go."

"Where?" Maya asked as she made her way back up to them, muffin in hand.

"To meet some friends from my chess club." He grabbed her muffin before running off to avoid being beaten up.

"Hey!" She yelled after him, deciding to let it slide this time.

"And I don't like being a third wheel," Zay threw his hands up, "So, I'll see you guys later."

Maya and Lucas waved him off before sitting back down.

"Did you want another muffin?" Lucas asked her, to which she just shook her head 'no' and laughed.

A week later

"This is lame." Maya huffed as her and her friends shuffled along the bleachers of their gym; the school had a pep rally at least once a month, and every time it got a little more peppier, and made Maya a lot more annoyed.

"Where's Farkle?" She looked over at Zay, who shrugged.

"Over there." Lucas answered as he pointed across the gym.

Maya turned to find Farkle sitting with a group of people, joking and laughing; she wasn't sure why it bothered her, it just did.

The cheering of their classmates erupted and echoed off the gym walls when the cheerleaders made their entrance. They had gotten into formation with Riley in the middle and Caprice at her side.

Maya felt the jealousy inside her stir as Caprice gave Riley a thumbs up. The routine was new, she noted; Riley was now being tossed around and doing flips in the air. A flier was the technical term in cheerleading, and Riley was just the girl for it.

After the pep rally, Lucas held onto Maya's hand on the way to her locker, staring at the ground and hoping to run in to Riley. He knew it wasn't going to happen, but as luck would have it, there she was. She stood in front of the gym doors with Caprice and Heather, laughing and smiling. But, he noted, there was something different about her smile this time; it looked forced.

Maya had yet to notice Riley just to the right of them, but when she felt her arm being tugged, she turned back to find Lucas staring at Riley. She opened her mouth to speak, only for her to feel his grip tightening on her hand. She winced and looked back to her best friend.

Charlie had come running from around the corner, picking Riley up and spinning her around as usual. Apparently, Riley's new position on the team was a surprise to him and he once again voiced how proud he was of her. His teammates all gathered around them, the seniors ruffling up Riley's hair; they'd considered her a little sister since Charlie had joined the team. In all the excitement Charlie had leaned down to kiss her on the cheek, and Riley being Riley, turned her head at the last second. Their kiss was a surprise to both of them; it being their actual first kiss. Riley was a shy girl and Charlie never pushed.

Charlie had started to pull back, nervous because the last thing he wanted was Riley thinking he wanted to rush them. But it was Riley who held on to his jacket and kept him in place. The cheerleaders squealed, the football team whooped and hollered, and Lucas nearly lost his mind.

Maya looked down at her feet with a frown firmly in place. Tears brimmed her eyes but she refused to allow herself to cry, she wasn't like that. So she tugged on his arm lightly and pretended she didn't even notice his sudden change in mood.

"Come on," She smiled sadly at him, "Or we'll be late."

"Right." He answered stiffly before walking off with her.

Riley was not a brazen girl, but she wanted to convince herself that she could move on from Lucas. She didn't want to think that she used Charlie to do that, but she kissed him because she had to start somewhere; Lucas had been acting strange lately and she didn't want to keep thinking about it. Her kiss with Charlie helped her forget that Lucas had even existed, or she had hoped it would. It was a nice kiss, gentle, but she had expected to feel butterflies, or even a small flutter. But when she found that she felt nothing, it made her want to cry; it wasn't fair of her to do that to Charlie.

She pulled back and threw her arms around his torso, burying her face in his jersey. She felt his arms wrap around her and squeeze her close, kissing the top of her head.

"Are you all right?" He whispered.

"I'm fine." She lied, and she knew he could tell that she wasn't okay.

"Let's get to class." Charlie pulled back to look at her face and sweep the hair out of her eyes. "We'll talk about it later."

"Thank you." Riley sniffled. "For everything."

He simply smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, leading her away from their friends and to class.