Charlie really is a jerk, huh? (Well, at least in this fic.) Originally I wanted him to be Riley's male counterpart and be all positive and smiley, but it was hard to make him look like a bad guy. On with chapter six!

Chapter Six

"Ow," Riley said, rubbing her head as she left her room to go to the kitchen. She had gotten home way past midnight last night from the party. She remembered the events of the party perfectly fine, but she was unsure of how she got home. She woke up at around 11 am.

"Sounds like you have a hangover, Peaches," Maya observed, sitting at the kitchen table. She was resting her chin on her hand, amused by the sight of her hungover roommate.

"A hangover? Oh no," Riley sat beside Maya. Riley placed her head in her hands. "I don't feel good, Maya."

"Maybe you shouldn't have drunk so much," Maya pointed out, rubbing her best friend's back. "Do you remember anything from the party?"

"I remember most of it, yeah," Riley nodded her head. She weakly smiled, "I had fun."

"I'm glad, Peaches," Maya replied. "You really needed this."

Riley remembered the text she received before she decided to get drunk last night then frowned.

"Now let me help get rid of your hangover," Maya offered, not noticing Riley's frown. She got up and got Riley a glass of water. Riley quickly downed the liquid. Then Maya made some chicken noodle soup for herself and Riley. All the while, Riley had eventually rested her head on the table and closed her eyes. She groaned every once in a while to express the pain resulting from her headache.

"So what happened?" Maya inquired when she returned back to the kitchen table with her and Riley's soup. "Meet any cute guys?"

"Huh," Riley said, taking a mouthful of the broth. "I made some friends. I danced with said friends. I drank. A lot. Spent some time with Lucas and Zay. Oh, and I made a pact with Lucas."

Maya's face lit up, interested in what Riley had gotten herself into.

"We made a pact to stay single for the year," Riley shrugged.

"What, why?" Maya scoffed. "That sounds dumb."

"I'm okay with it," Riley said. "I think it'll be good for me. Focus on school, no distractions by boys. I have the rest of my life for love."

"I guess that sounds like you," Maya tilted her head. "I have a question, by the way."

"Shoot," Riley urged.

"I don't ever recall you ever drinking that much that you'd get a hangover," Maya observed with a sudden look of worry on her face. "Did people force you to drink more? Was it Lucas? I knew he was no good. Riley, don't give in to peer pressure!"

"Peaches, calm down!" Riley said, taking a hold of Maya by the arm. "No one forced me to drink more. I wanted to."

"Oh?" Maya looked skeptic. She knew there must have been a reason for Riley to drink that much. "Are you sure about that?"

"Positive," Riley nodded.

"Riley…" Maya said sternly.

Riley bit her lip and furrowed her brows. She and Maya had a staring contest for about a minute before Riley caved.

"Okay, okay!" Riley threw her arms in the air in defeat. "Right when I got to the party I got a text from Monica."

"Who's Monica?" Maya inquired.

"Charlie's best friend since like forever," Riley replied. "I thought I told you about her before?"

"No," Maya shook her head. "Remember I told you not to mention anything Charlie related to me unless necessary?"

"Oh, right."

"So what did Monica say?"

"You're never going to believe this," Riley began. "But turns out Charlie being jealous of Lucas was total bullshit. I thought it was suspicious that he started getting jealous of him because the guy's so secure and arrogant."

"Oh, so you knew he was arrogant," Maya said. "Good."

"I did," Riley confirmed, nodding her head. "I just learned to see through that. But anyway yeah, so Monica texted me thanking me for being understanding. Understanding of what? Understanding that Monica and Charlie are dating now."

"What the hell," Maya muttered.

"That's not even the best part!" Riley was oozing with fake enthusiasm. "Apparently they've been together for a while! And she apologized for it. She said she felt guilty sneaking around behind my back."

"That jerk," Maya declared.

"That message really irritated me," Riley admitted. "So I drank my feelings away."

"That's understandable," Maya commented. "I'm really sorry, Riles."

Riley shrugged, "That's okay. I felt that I was losing feelings for him anyway since college started."

"Maybe this pact will be good for you," Maya replied. "Focus on yourself for a change."

Lucas woke up that morning with a small hangover. He had a slight headache that didn't bother him too much, so he didn't bother trying to cure his hangover. He left his room and headed to the living room to watch The Walking Dead. Ten minutes later, Zay had woken as well and joined him.

"That was some party, huh," Zay stated with a groan, rubbing his temples with both hands. He noticed how oriented Lucas was compared to him. "How are you taking this hangover better than me?"

"I didn't drink as much as you," Lucas replied, not taking his eyes off the TV. "Besides, I had to make sure Riley wasn't doing anything stupid."

"You sure you had fun last night?" Zay inquired. "Even if you were babysitting?"

"I wasn't babysitting," Lucas corrected. "She's my best friend and I care about her well-being. Plus, she had a new discovery last night about her breakup."

"And what was that?" Zay inquired.

"Turns out that jerk Charlie was cheating on her," Lucas replied rather tensely.

"Wow, you seem provoked by this," Zay observed with a smirk.

"She's my best friend and I care about her," Lucas repeated calmly.

"Well I think Riley was handling herself fine at the party last night," Zay said. "She didn't do anything crazy or something she'd regret."

"Yeah, because I was there to tell her to stop drinking so consistently. You were there, you saw how much she was drinking," Lucas replied. "She was taking shot after shot and if I drank any more than I did, I wouldn't have been able to help her back to her dorm. Hell, I probably wouldn't have been able to get myself back."

"I got home just fine," Zay crossed his arms over his chest, slouching in his seat. "What a gentleman you are."

"Thanks," Lucas replied monotonously. "I wonder how she's handling her hangover. There's no way she didn't wake up without one."

"Why don't you go visit her?" Zay suggested. "I mean, you're always together anyway."

"To study, Zay," Lucas reminded him.

"Oh whatever," Zay waved him off. "I'm fairly positive that you guys talk about things other than school. Otherwise, how else would you guys have gotten so close?"

"I don't like it when you play games with me," Lucas narrowed his eyes at Zay.

"You like it when I tease you, don't deny it, man," Zay replied.

"It depends on what it is," Lucas said.

Zay nudged him, "Thanks for hanging out with me last night though! When you told me you were bringing Riley I was so scared that you'd be by her side the entire night that we wouldn't be able to have our guy time."

"I told you," Lucas stated. "Even though I have another best friend doesn't mean I'm going to forget about you. Don't be crazy, Zay."

"Thanks, man," Zay fist bumped with Lucas. "I should probably stop teasing you about Riley since all you guys are ever going to be is best friends."

"Yes, you should," Lucas nodded, "it's slowly getting annoying and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop."

"Yeah, yeah," Zay rolled his eyes. "How is she though? Did she seem like she was clearing her head?"

"Yeah, she seemed so stress free. So I made a pact with her," Lucas informed Zay. "Riley looked like she was having so much fun letting loose and clearing her mind that I didn't think she'd want distractions when it came back to her school work. I suggested that she should stay single for at least the school year so she could build a strong foundation for her college career."

"And she agreed?" Zay raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"She did," Lucas nodded. "Only if I did the same. She said it's only fair."

"Looks like you've already broken that pact," Zay chuckled. He was very amused when he realized something that Lucas had obviously forgotten about.

Lucas scrunched his face, "What do you mean?"

"You're seeing Missy, aren't you?"

Things are getting interesting! See you guys in a couple of days.