Author's Notes: Please please please go back to read chapter six if you read it before I got to post the entire chapter. I promise you really do need to read it before this one. Anyway, thanks for reading!
Chapter seven Analyzing Patterns and Stuff
One thing that can be said for Isaiah Joseph Babineaux is that he wasn't always the most motivated person. Being the younger of two kids his parents always focused on his older brother making sure he got everything he needed to succeed. Looking back it wasn't always easy to get their attention especially when he had to walk behind a smart and charming shadow. Perhaps that's why he was always getting himself into some sort of trouble. But even then his parents were maybe a little too relaxed with him.
Luckily he had someone reigning him in every once in a while.
The day he met Lucas Friar, Zay was seven years old and running away from some eight year olds he had just made fun of. Well, not so much as 'made fun of' but completely humiliated in front of other third grade girls. But either way he was not about to get dunked in a toilet bowl like he had seen in a movie his brother watched the previous night.
It was almost summer vacation with just three days away from freedom which meant the annual Water Day was underway. Austin weather was already getting dry and uncomfortable which meant blasting the cooling system all day but to conserve some energy the school district adopted a fun way to cool off over six hundred kids in the school. The last week of school was made up of fun outdoor activities where they would play outside in the morning until about midday right before the sun could start to burn anyone. Right around lunchtime, they would be treated to ice cream or shaved ice then sent to the gymnasium to watch a movie.
What made Water Day special was that they were invited to a water war where no one was safe from getting wet. The teachers would give them all ten water balloons to fill up, access to a hose for thirty seconds in exchange for a quarter, and a small pail they could use for water. It was an unspoken but accepted rule that anyone could bring a water squirter of any kind from home as long as it didn't resemble a gun.
The different grade levels were usually kept separate but that year Zay watched as classmate after classmate was struck by a third grader with a water balloon. No one cried or complained so the fun wouldn't get ruined but it still sucked. Finally after noticing the three biggest perpetrators distracted with helping some girls to fill up their plastic pails, little Zay's mind he thought it would be really funny if he squirted them with his pencil shaped blaster below the waist in a specific area…
And thus began the sprint of his life before accidentally making a boy drop a water balloon when he tripped over his untied shoelaces when he ran into him.
The boy's green eyes scowled at first but then softened as he watched the other three boys round the corner hungry for revenge. The fierceness hadn't quite gone away because as Zay would later learn there was nothing Lucas hated more than watching bigger kids hurt on the little ones.
He wasn't mad about the lost balloon and even helped Zay shake off the kids. But the friendship wasn't truly cemented until after Lucas foiled those kids' plans to get Zay wet illegally on the very last day of school. They never spoke about it much but Lucas was the one that kept Zay in check from that time forward. At first, the older boy took care of him like a younger brother but right around the start of middle school it finally became more like a friendship of equals.
Not until after the thing that happened happened did his mom realize that she had been too relaxed with her son. Unfortunately, after his best friend left it was too late to correct course and give the power of balance back to his mom.
Funny how things work out though, or not depending on how you look at it. His Auntie Rayna got sick so his mom decided to move them up to New York to help her out. It wasn't that he didn't love her or anything but he really didn't want to move just for his auntie and on top of that it was just going to be him and his mother looking after her. There wasn't going to be any handing over responsibilities to his brother as usual because he also happened to be going off to college around the same time Zay was uprooting his life.
Sometimes things resolve themselves even better than expected and in Zay's case it far exceeded his expectations. Going to the same school and grade this time with his best friend was one thing but meeting another five people that he could trust and care about just as much as the boy who always watched out for him was incredibly lucky. They pushed him to be the best version of himself and he found that he wasn't complaining as much about trying new things anymore. And Auntie Rayna was a lot cooler than he had given her credit for so watching after her for long hours wasn't so bad either.
Though things got easier as time went by Zay still struggled with taking the initiative himself to pursue his goals without someone to lean on. That wasn't a bad thing but it would've been nice to know that he could do things on his own from time to time.
When Zay had signed up for theater class as an elective he thought it was going to be easy. He had prepared himself for memorizing small skits and performing them weekly. Nothing had prepared him for a true analytical approach to theater.
Like, every other time he signed up for a drama activity he was cast as a tree or some guy who had one line. Additional reading had never been required…not fair.
While his teacher fully acknowledged his aptitude towards comedy she pushed him to expand his range challenging him to jump into the mindset of different characters with complex lives that can't be waived away with comedy. It wasn't obvious in the beginning but after having been assigned two completely different monologues (both contemporary pieces, one comedic and one dramatic) Ms. Bills had been grooming him for a lead in the play.
The drama teacher liked to really explore themes and motivations. It was like she analyzed every word in a script and made sure that her students realized that no line was a throwaway nor an accident. Each character had something to say and she made it her job to help them understand what they wanted to share.
A recurring theme between the two monologues Zay had to present was that both wanted to make a girl happy. It was odd enough that they both had the same motivation but they even had the same plan only one was doing it in a hilarious clumsy type way while the other was pathetic albeit morbidly funny. Of course actually nailing the physical comedy involved in his first performance then picking the right volume and tone for his second one really won over his drama teacher when she was considering who to reward the lead role to.
Even though he felt the full support of his drama teacher Zay still wasn't too sure about the responsibility of carrying a play on his shoulders.
All things considered, he was only doing an okay job so far. It was nothing compared to Smackle who really had the analyzing her character thing down. He was certain she had all her lines memorized but didn't say anything so she wouldn't make anyone feel bad. Plus the only note she kept getting from the director was to tone it down from time to time whereas Zay kept getting "memorize the lines Mr. Babineaux it'll make it easier to find your cue" or "be more expressive, remember comedy is comedy when every choice feels like it's a life or death situation". And that was just the last rehearsal he had been to there had been harsher ones the previous times.
But he totally knew that memorizing lines should probably be first on his list which is why he made the effort to wake up at a ludicrous hour just so he could work on that. Smackle would have been more than happy to help run lines with him but he thought it would be nicer to do it with someone who didn't have his lines memorized as well as her own. So he asked the only other morning person he knew.
When he asked Riley for help running lines he was kind of hoping she'd suggest doing it at a later hour rather than at 7:00 AM in the theater room at school. That meant getting up at 6 possibly 5:30 if he wanted to look fresh. Like, maybe she would be busy with doing whatever it was she did with Farkle or Maya every morning. Sadly the date with his bed had to be cut short.
He managed to make it about seven minutes early. Thinking he had a little more time to go get breakfast from the cafeteria Zay was about to head in the opposite direction until he noticed a burgundy cardigan from the small door window. Sitting on an ugly old pale yellow couch their drama teacher kept around for a prop Riley was laughing at something she was reading on her phone.
Gripping one strap on his backpack he made his way inside the room catching Riley's attention. She immediately perked up lighting up the room with her big Riley smile, almost literally, her teeth were unnaturally white.
"Good morning," she piped, "I brought you a cupcake, I stopped by my mom's place and snuck a fresh one out of the oven,"
"Thanks," Zay said with a voice full of sleep, he could feel how frequently he was blinking. The heaviness in his eyelids were catching up to him. The cupcake wasn't warm, probably because it was just wrapped in two napkins and carried by Riley on her way to school, but that was okay he wasn't too picky.
"Where's Maya? I thought she was gonna come," he asked.
"She's eating breakfast at the cafeteria, I think," Riley responded, "That was a while ago, I wonder why she's not back," he let her ponder about their favorite blondie while he tasted the cupcake.
"This is pretty good," he continued now fully awake. There was a hint of coffee flavor in the cupcake so that and the sugary icing got his energy up. Popping in the last piece of cupcake from the liner into his mouth he said, "thanks for the help,"
"No problem, I'm really proud of you-you know," she smiled. "I know how much you wanted this and honestly I can't wait to see you on stage."
Zay grinned looking down at his knees. He glanced back up at his friend with a cheesy smile. There wasn't much for them to do now but practice so he took out a slim blue binder guarding the script then flipped to the page he wanted to go over.
"So I think I got this act memorized but I just want to make sure that I know when I'm supposed to talk. So imma talk," he said pointing at himself, then pointed at her and continued, "and you just respond with the next line. Sound good?"
Riley perked up sitting straighter then responded with a resounding "yup"
"Okay so yeah, cool," Zay rubbed his and heavily sighed one last time "thanks, Riley."
Riley watched him as he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then started reciting his lines. It struck her how similar it was to the time she and Maya had helped Smackle. Zay had a way of expressing himself with his whole self not just his voice like some people. She watched him as he would go from irritation to heart eyes in the subtlest of ways, he was really good in drama class but this was just something different. There were a few awkward pauses where he would try to remember a line or two but the overall feel was great. Much better than she could do anyway. He had her full attention and not only because she was trying really hard to help him but because he could command a stage if he wanted to.
Riley was clapping with more enthusiasm than a cheerleader at a home game where the team was winning. Zay would never admit it but it was great to feel validation like that every now and then. He bowed once then again soaking it in the only way he knew how with dramatic gestures so people wouldn't think he was full of himself. When the clapping subsided he took the script Riley was handing him to look at the circled areas that he still needed to work on memorizing. Satisfied with his progress he put the script away.
"By the way what were you doing while you waited for me to come in?" he asked with a little cynicism in his voice.
"Oh, Farkle was sending me some pickup lines he was going to use on Smackle. They're trying out some experiment where he tries his best to impress her with clever pickup lines," she said shaking her head. "I think its kind of cute though. Getting a do-over, only without the pressure of walking up to a stranger,"
Zay raised his eyebrows. He still got a chuckle out of that, it was fun to imagine a stranger trying to impress Smackle if he didn't know her well enough. She'd talk to an intellectual inferior but not because she was impressed. Their first meeting was kind of a disaster leaving neither of them impressed with each other but it worked out.
"Hey Zay, can I ask you something?" Riley said now suddenly looking concerned. There was a thing she did where her eyebrows came together and she had a hard line on her lips like she was incapable of smiling while someone was in need of help.
"Uh sure," he shrugged.
"You're really good so…why do you need me to help you?"
That question did something that rarely happened to him. It left him speechless.
"Don't get me wrong, I like helping you but why didn't you just ask Smackle or someone else from the play?"
Zay reached to the back of his head and fluffed his hair with his fingers. He angled his head to release some tension in his neck trying to stall for an answer. Riley was leaning back on the couch watching him intently. Sometimes it was great how patient she was for answers she wanted then other times he wished she would just say what she wanted to hear to spare him.
"I've never been much of a leading man," he drawled, "so, I figured if anyone could let me know if I was doing a good job at this it would be you."
The look Riley gave Zay was the same one she had whenever she looked at a picture of a puppy licking another puppy's ear. He wasn't mad at it.
"You're doing a great job," she said, "you don't need me to tell you your hard work is paying off."
"I kinda do,"
Riley repositioned herself on the couch she was still sitting on but put her legs up so she could sit cross-legged. She placed her elbows on top of her knees so she could rest her chin on her linked hands. When she said nothing Zay couldn't let the silence go on any longer. That position just made her look like she was waiting to listen to anything you said.
"Alright, in case you haven't noticed I don't try that hard in school. Me and Maya, we're peas in the same why-bother-trying pod," he sat himself down on one side of the couch sitting on top of one leg. "This is the first time I'm making an effort because I want to."
"But Zay you do so much for your classes, what about writing down every note Mrs. Talib makes in human geography? Even when she says something is only for AP you're already jotting it down,"
"Yeah that's not for me," Zay had to laugh at that one, "See I don't know if anyone besides me and Farkle have noticed but sometimes Smackle gets stuck in her own thoughts. When Mrs. Talib doesn't have an open discussion in class our girl doesn't focus as well so she misses a lot of what was discussed. Smackle's the smartest girl I know but the reason she studies so much is because if she doesn't pay attention in class then she has to teach herself on her own time, I'm just trying to help lessen the burden."
Her eyes widened at the revelation. Riley's mind reeled back to the times she's observed Smackle from her seat in the back of the room. She had always assumed Smackle just knew everything and that's why she didn't take many notes.
"I didn't know that," she said with traces of wonder in her voice. Another lightbulb went off in her head. "Or what about your study sessions with Maya? She says she couldn't survive the class without your help,"
"Weeellll," Zay stalled yet another response sounding out the word for as long as possible. "We study with Lucas because nothing about bio sticks with him so we're just mutually helping each other out only he quit on us a while ago because Farkle is helping him actually understand what's going on," he shrugged. He was only slightly surprised to see Riley still smiling instead of feeling resigned that her praises were explained away.
"You make a huge effort when it comes to your friends, even if they are what's motivating you that still counts" she lightly punched his arm, "you can't say that you never try when it comes to anything." And she was right. As usual.
Zay sat thinking over what Riley just said. He never pegged himself to as the hardest working person, that was always Lucas. Even 'hard worker' applied more to his older brother than it did himself because he was always happy to be dancing through life letting others come out on top. It was nice to be appreciated every now and then. He could feel his face burn with embarrassment at his deep thoughts but also at a question that popped into his mind right after.
"One last thing, I was gonna ask Smackle since she's the genius and all that but it's kind of embarrassing," Zay said. Riley waited for him to just ask whatever was on his mind. Finally, he said, "What's a knichi?"
The look on Riley's face was priceless leaving Zay no choice but to laugh. Riley joined him right away and then looked it up only to find it was a made up dish for the play. They also looked up pelmechki just to make sure they weren't being insensitive to some culture when they shared their discovery with their friends later that day.
Riley got a text from Maya saying to join her in the cafeteria so they both got up and started heading that way.
"Ri, if there's anything I can do to help you in any way let me know. I'm your guy," Zay said pointing both thumbs on himself. That made Riley stop in the middle of a crowding hallway. She spun on her toe to turn her whole body towards a Homecoming banner. Zay looked up at it then faced her again already forming an idea of what Riley would want help with.
When Maya snagged one of the last empty tables she purposefully chose the one that most people overlooked because it was next to the trash cans. For some reason, no one liked to look at the table next to it or actually sit on it so it sounded like the perfect idea. While it worked for repelling high school students it did not work on the faculty.
"Maya Matisse fancy seeing you here,"
"Jackson," Maya acknowledged him with a mouthful of Frosted Flakes. She had plenty of experience talking to him with her mouthful of food. If no one had thought of sitting next to her because of the close proximity to the trash then they certainly weren't to turn her way now.
"Hey so I was looking at the three paintings you chose to turn in for your progress review and I've gotta hand it to you, you've got an eye for detail," he winked.
Mr. Jackson's Art 2 class was advanced for a reason. Every month he liked for his students to look at the progress they've been making on their big end of year project. They also had to turn in three of their art pieces that had to do with that long project, whether it demonstrates an art technique they want to use or it could be a page from their sketchbook outlining ideas for their project. Some students even have the audacity to turn in two very vague sketches and a blank page with the excuse that it's a work-in-progress.
The progress review was purposefully made easy so that he could separate those who take art for fun and those that want to tell a story. In Art 1 he just makes them finish a painting with a specific medium every month keeping them on a leash of creativity. There's something satisfying about watching a student realize their full potential. It's equally frustrating when they don't realize how good they are.
"Thanks," Maya responded taking in another spoonful of cereal. She rubbed her eyes for the millionth time thankful she didn't bother putting on another coat of mascara on top of what she hadn't taken off the day before. "Is that all?" she asked.
Mr. Jackson responded with one of those evil villain chuckles but Maya didn't mind it as much as she had been before. That was probably because she was still tired.
"No but I'll leave you to your breakfast," Mr. Jackson saluted her with the banana in his hand but then thought of something else he wanted to add. "Well, I do want to leave you with this thought."
Maya looked at him from the top corners of her eyes never giving him her full gaze. Her head was hovering over the tiny overpriced cereal bowl taking care not to spill any of it.
"You thought you were being clever turning in three really different looking pieces but what you don't realize is the story you just told me," he smiled at her. "You're a lot more agreeable when you just say what you want to say." When Maya didn't give a response to that he left her to finish the small breakfast.
She sat there sucking her teeth cleaning the food bits while thinking about his words. Picking her three art projects wasn't easy, especially because she hadn't even thought about what her project was even going to look like. Figuring out how to portray change in a painting or whatever was turning out to be a little more difficult than Maya had anticipated.
The three paintings she chose to turn in were pretty much the only three that she was happy with the end result. Hopefully, she would never have to share them with anyone other than Mr. Jackson.
One was the view from outside her window, the view was done in acrylics (which was added after she went back to try to fix what she wasn't happy with) and the inside of her room was done in watercolor. It was a cool contrast she decided to show off. The other piece was an oil painting of a fire. Not really, it was more like the night sky deep in a foresty area but what rounded out the whole image was the little campfire in the bottom middle. That one was a fun one to paint but a pain to get the accuracy of what stars look like without the city lights. The third one wasn't a painting but something she learned that she really liked to do. After splurging on a big piece of paper Maya decided to go wild and try her hand at pointillism with a marker. The end result was a rooftop view.
Even though he's the art teacher and probably knows better Maya didn't think she was being clever at all.
Maya scooped up the plastic bowl that held her cereal and drank the rest along with the milk. Looking around the cafeteria she noticed the lines getting longer and the tables filling up. She decided to text Riley to join her.
When she hit send the sound of chairs at her table screeching on the floor made her cringe.
"Oh sorry about that," Farkle said noticing her discomfort, "but hey guess what?" he continued giddily.
"What?" she looked up only to realize that his tone was one of a boy being sarcastically cheerful. The mischievous twinkle in his eye gave everything away. He was going to ask her something.
"I'm in need of an assistant for the Homecoming game and was wondering if you wanted to go," he said nudging her.
"No," she said looking at her phone.
"Please," he said drawing out the word, "What if there's something I miss and I inaccurately report the game in the newspaper?"
"Go with Smackle"
"I can't go I have to go downtown to have dinner with my parents and a bunch of fancy donors," Smackle spoke for the first time since sitting down. "Otherwise I'd be accompanying my beloved to the football game although I doubt he would have better luck with me around," even Maya got a chuckle out of that.
Maya put her phone face down and scrutinized her longtime friend. He gave her puppy dog pleading eyes, though she would never admit it they did her in every time. She grumbled "fine" under her breath then waited for Farkle to celebrate or something.
"What's wrong?" he asked. Maya gave him a quick glance then he continued talking. "I know going to a boring high school football game isn't that exciting but you look upset about something else."
Maybe he did know more about her than he led on sometimes. His brows were furrowed and not because of the smell of the increasing volume of garbage next to their table. Maya hesitated for a bit before easing his worry.
"Nothing I'm fine, I was just thinking about my art class," she started picking at her frizzy hair taking out pieces of lint that suddenly became very obvious in her line of sight. "I had to turn in some of my stuff for a mid-term grade and I didn't think they were that great or anything but Mr. Jackson just came by and basically said I aced it. So, you know, I'm just wallowing in self-loathing, nothing new."
"Hey," Farkle reached out and plucked her fingers from her hair so she would look at him instead. "For what it's worth I think your art is really good. I know we've known each other since the first grade but I feel like I finally get to see you in your art." A corner of her mouth lifted.
"For some people, it takes years to figure out what they want to express through their art but you've been doing it naturally since you started," he pointed out, "You have a lot of talent, why do you doubt yourself so much?"
"Well gee Farkle you're the genius, so why do you doubt yourself?" they had a stare down for a brief 20 seconds before Smackle's phone chimed.
"Dearest friends I am afraid I must depart. My nemesis from economics has called for me to join her in the library," Smackle picked up her messenger bag gave Farkle a quick hug then marched towards the hallway. It wasn't unlike her to make a swift exit.
Maya tapped her fingers waiting for the response she never got. She raised her eyebrows expectantly and watched as he puzzled over the question in his own mind.
"Fair enough," he said finally. Folding his arms he leaned over the table to make himself more comfortable. Maya was aching to reach for her phone to ask what was taking Riley and Zay so long but she could tell Farkle still wanted to talk to her. She gave him her undivided attention inviting him to talk some more.
"Does that mean you like Art class more now?" he asked. She scrunched up her nose in response but not because it was going to be a negative reply.
"It's okay now only because Jackson stopped giving me random prompts," she tucked some loose hair behind her ear.
"I don't think I ever told you how he started the year," he shook his head. "Okay so everyone else just has to sketch a random object right? But then he hands me some supplies and tells me to draw the Russian doll three times but each one with a different medium and I was like 'why?' then he gets all mysterious and told me to just wing it,"
"Did he tell you why later?" Farkle asked.
She scoffed. "No then when I turned in the three drawings he made me paint it with three other different mediums," she shook her head. "My oil painting skill still sucks I use too much base." Farkle grinned.
"Anyway, so then after that fun experiment he made me take stalker pictures in the subway and paint them but then he would give me a look of disapproval with whatever I'd turn in,"
"Did you use oil paint?" he nudged her pointing out her weakness in jest. She poked him on the side just hard enough to make him flinch.
"No, he specifically told me to use acrylics so I did. But that wasn't the worst thing he had me do, he had me work in 3D with wires and clay at some point but molding the wires gave me blisters so I gave up on that when my mom almost murdered me when I forgot to wash the clay off of my desk and it dried," they both laughed at the thought. "Oh remember that one that one carving I was supposed to figure out what to do with?" he nodded.
"I thought about that one time I printed your face onto paper just for fun and did that with the carving," she gave him her special Farkle smile just to mess with him. He rolled his eyes and let her continue with the explanation. "Turns out it was a stamp and I had to figure out how to color in the image,"
Farkle went from grinning at his friend to analyzing the air in front of him. She slightly slumped knowing he was about to go into a deep explanation of something she probably didn't care for. Yet that never stopped her from listening…even if it went in one ear and out the other.
"Sounds like he's having you experiment in different mediums," he sputtered. "What about the assignments the rest of the class receives? Do they have rigorous outlines they have to adhere to?"
Maya blinked. "I don't think so."
"Can I see everything you've worked on so far?" he asked treading lightly. Even though she did stiffen a little her hand automatically went to her phone to pull up her portfolio. Handing over the gadget she slipped her hands back in her hair and started playing with the lint that's found its way back there again.
He thumbed through the images choosing one then zooming a few times before concluding his findings.
"Assuming that you have been taking these pictures in order of completion I would say Mr. Jackson has been experimenting with your strengths and weaknesses as an artist," he looked up to see a blank look on Maya's face. He glanced back down at her phone to pull up a picture of a painting she had done recently.
"This painting looks like this other one," he went back and picked another image of something that looked similar.
"Actually no, it's the same one I just painted over with a different kind of paint to finish it," she said.
"And why did you do that?"
"Because its art and I can do whatever I want," she said matter of fact.
"Okay," Farkle took another look at her portfolio then picked three drawings and paintings of the same subject. "What about these? Why did you make the same thing in different angles?"
"He told me to recreate a special place so I did," she looked down at three different aspects of Riley's bay window. The view from the outside, a view from the inside and what it looks like when you're sitting on the floor looking up at it. There was only one of them she ended up liking but Maya didn't tell him that.
"His experiment is working you know," Farkle said smiling at her. "After these three you started doing more works like this one right here," he handed her phone back with the image of the view outside Riley's bay window.
The first thing you notice outside are the ladders and little porch area but then the pop of color coming from the flowers even out the harsh cold metallic radiating from the oil pastels. She took advantage of the technique she had learned from Mr. Jackson when it came to blending art mediums to make the flowers stand out in acrylic paints. It was one of her favorites because of the depth she could create with the consistency of the pastels but vibrant color of the bouquet of flowers made her eyes wander to look at the background of colorful buildings and billboards. Maya had hoped to create the kind of painting that would make the viewer think.
"It's really good Maya," Farkle said encouragingly, "I think all you need now is figuring out what subject you like to highlight."
She scrutinized her portfolio for a minute and Farkle allowed her to ponder in silence. Or at least as much silence as she could get in a crowded cafeteria. At that point in the morning, everyone had finished breakfast and were just waiting for it to be an unacceptable hour to still be hanging out in the cafeteria. The sound of familiar laughter caught their attention. They both looked up to see Riley and Zay making their way to their table. Riley was still giggling and Zay had a sheepish look.
"Sorry for taking so long we stopped by to help a teacher carry paper from the library to her classroom," Riley said taking her seat next to Maya. "Zay made it take way longer"
"How was I supposed to know that was someone else's paper? She just said grab a box and follow me,"
"So why'd it take long?" Maya asked quizzically.
"Her place was practically a mile away from the library and she didn't notice until we actually got there," Zay responded exasperated, "my goodness that was heavy and she didn't say a peep until I set it on her desk. But you know since I'm so nice and all that I still went back to leave the wrong box and bring back the one that was hers."
They sat around talking some more about their adventures that morning. But not only that they also planned what was to come for that afternoon.
"Sounds like a solid plan," Farkle commented. "Are you sure you don't need any help?" he asked Riley.
"Nope, we've got it all under control," she said sharing a knowing look with Zay.
The normal routine when it comes to game day for any high school sport is simple. Athletes show up dressed in their best clothes when it's a home game or in their resting uniforms showing off their school pride when it's an away game. They would run around the school getting their classmates amped for the game inviting them if it was going to be right there in the school or asking them to tweet about it. Because Abigail Adams is a high school located in the United States they placed a lot more enthusiasm towards football than any other sport offered at the school. Which is why it was easier to figure out what a member of the team would be doing the day of the big homecoming game. Riley Matthews needed that predictability if her plan was going to work.
She spent all of English class typing up a plan instead of her essay on the roles Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams play in The Crucible. To be fair, she was already halfway done with the essay on her laptop at home. Though just to make sure the moderators checking the computers weren't going to snitch on her she pulled up her essay from her email just in case.
The plan was simple, find a nice and new black marker, a few white t-shirts and ten football players willing to help. Originally she needed eleven but Zay volunteered to be the eleventh that morning. There was already a black sharpie in Riley's school bag but then her helper pointed out that she would need something with a thicker tip. Next she would need some streamers, scissors, tape and someone with more creativity than she had. Additionally maybe one more pair of hands would be needed but she already told Farkle no and by the time she would see him again after school to ask it would be too late. She added Wendy to the list of helpers. There was no way she was making Maya miss art to help her.
When she locked eyes with Zay in Human Geography they shared a knowing smile before ignoring each other the rest of the class period. Riley took a good look at Lucas to see what he was wearing. While most of the other boys on the football team limited themselves to a nice dress shirt and slacks her boyfriend put his best foot forward. The shirt he was wearing was a baby blue that brought out the color of his eyes. His navy blazer was tailor cut to fit his build (which she knew for a fact his mother went out and did for herself because Lucas would never waste time or money on it himself).
However, he wasn't completely crisp and proper. Where some guys who ditched the suit coat or blazer in favor of wearing only a tie, Lucas had his blazer but also left two buttons undone. It was enough to see the t-shirt he was wearing underneath. It gave her hope that the other guys would be doing the same thing if not there was always the chance they had a wifebeater underneath. As long it was white the plan could still work.
The hard part was getting into Lucas' gym locker. Not because she couldn't actually get it open or anything, Zay gave her the combination but it would take some persuading the football coach to let her in.
Right after second period Riley ran to her dad's classroom and begged him for any tape he had and two pairs of scissors. He pointed to a filing cabinet labeled "scissors, tape and rulers". She took no time rummaging through it and grabbing what she needed. The paper was acquired after first period when she went and told the librarian she would need some poster paper for the newspaper. Riley was careful not to abuse that power and grabbed only two colors: red and yellow.
It didn't take her long to make it to the cafeteria to ask Wendy for help with her project. While dumping what she had in her arms on the table Riley explained her idea. She grabbed a pair of scissors and started cutting.
"You want to do what?" Wendy asked her staring overwhelmed at the color spread throughout their usual lunch table.
"I need to cut up a bunch of long strips of paper and maybe if we have time cut out a ton of little football shapes and draw on them," Riley said handing her the scissors she stole from her dad.
They spent all of the lunch time cutting and drawing footballs to the best of their ability. Wendy gave her an idea of what she could do with the paper, instead of hanging them on the inside of Lucas' locker Riley could tape them on the outside and the inside or wherever she wanted like streamers. It might take a little while longer but all she would need were a few twirls to make it look nice. Besides, guys didn't look at the details that often anyway.
While putting their items away Riley received a text from Zay telling her he secured nine more team members to their plan. He couldn't get a hold of any others and told her to try getting one of her own.
"There's a football player in my next class," Wendy muttered. She was hunched over a bunch of footballs trying to draw in the lines neatly, all the ones she made were cleaner than the ones Riley did for a reason. "I'll ask him and text you if he says yes,"
"That would be great," Riley exclaimed. She paused, "oh wait, do you know his name?"
"Braiden, Brian, Brandon, something like that," she replied.
"Okay let me ask my friend who he asked first just in case the guy you know already agreed,"
"M'ija I don't even know what his name is for sure," Wendy said but Riley wasn't paying attention. She watched the girl read the next series of texts she received raising an eyebrow when Riley frowned. "What's up?"
"Nothing just Lucas is asking about what I want to do after the game," she started a reply. Wendy scoffed. Riley stopped herself before sending the message and looked at her friend. Wendy's eyebrows waggled a little more and Riley had to laugh at herself. She deleted the text then concentrated back on the task at hand.
They had some more small talk and managed to cut out enough things they probably wouldn't even need. By the time Wendy declared they'd done enough the five minute get-to-class bell rang.
"Are you sure you don't need help taping up the stuff?" Wendy asked before leaving.
"Yes I have my friend Zay who will help me," Riley responded confidently, "don't forget to text me, oh and if he says yes just tell him to meet me in front of the gym locker room entrance so I could give him his letter," Wendy nodded and left.
The next part of her plan was getting the football coach to agree to let her in the boy's gym locker room. She had no desire to hang out in there at all but it was a necessary evil. Luckily the football coach just happened to teach her last class: gym.
"All I'm asking is to go in for a few minutes, decorate his locker then go back in when I do the big ask," she sputtered. Her eyes were wild and she could feel it. Coach Campagnola was ignoring her and she refused to be ignored.
"Listen little lady, I can't just let anyone in there, it would be breaking tradition,"
"If I may sir," Smackle interrupted, "there is no such tradition where females are not allowed in the boy's locker room. It is a simple matter of no such desire ever having been proposed due to the fact that the place we ask to enter reeks of foul odors and chaos."
The coach looked at her now with crossed arms.
"As my friend here has stated we only need a few minutes to prepare for her 'Ho-Co' proposal then she will never enter that forsaken place ever again," Smackle looked to Riley to back up her statement. She nodded furiously.
Coach Campagnola grunted. Without saying a word he gestured with his hand to follow him. He then led the way and looked inside the designated athlete's locker room area to make sure no one was there before letting the two of them inside. He pointed out Lucas' locker and let them go back to the girl's locker room to grab the materials out of Riley's own gym locker. They got work taping up the streamers in place creating a nice collage of footballs. Smackle only chose the ones Wendy worked on but she probably didn't know that.
"I think that looks good," Riley said examining their work, "thanks Smackle," she reached out and hugged her.
"Great, now let's get outta here I'm about to faint," they left the locker room and snuck back into the gym class.
Because it was the big homecoming game gym class was exceptionally easy. Their gym teacher had taken out balls from most indoor sports and let them do whatever they wanted. No one noticed their absence because they were either busy playing an organized game of basketball or pretending to work on their volleyball serving skills. Riley and Smackle tossed a volleyball between them just to pass time. Her heart thudded every time she looked at the clock to see how much closer to show time it was getting.
She had almost forgotten about Wendy until she felt her phone buzz in her gym short's pocket.
his name is brandon :p he said yes and hes on his way
totally made up a bs excuse about having to go to the locker room early btw but not bcuz of u lol
Riley threw a fist in the air and cheered. Smackle stared at her blankly. Explaining the situation Smackle nodded in understanding. She helped Riley make it out to go to the gym locker room without drawing any attention to herself then wished her luck.
When Lucas received a text from his coach to meet with the rest of the team in the locker room it didn't strike him as odd at all. It was the homecoming game after all and maybe he was having one of those inspiring coach moments where he wanted to motivate them with a speech. What was weird though was how when he showed up there was a group of guys outside the locker room waiting for him.
"Hey guys, what's up?" he asked cautiously.
"Nothing much Friar just waiting for you," a senior boy replied. He lightly backhanded his friend on the chest then started towards Lucas.
Lucas was resigned by then and didn't put up a fight when the two of them lifted him up and carried him into the locker room. Another two guys helped hold him up higher so that he was forced to lie completely on their shoulders. If he even tried to lift his head up it would put a strain on his neck. He stared at the ceiling noticing cracks and tears from years past when boys managed to do some damage by tossing something up there.
"You're not even going to ask what's going on?" one of the boys asked him. Lucas rolled his eyes. Whenever he asked about anything the varsity guys did it always led to trouble.
Finally, they put him down in front of their lockers. Lucas stumbled for a minute having gotten a little motion sickness from being away from the ground for that brief period. Managing to maintain enough balance to see clearly he noticed his locker covered in red and yellow paper. That wouldn't have been weird at all if it weren't for the fact that his locker was the only one covered up.
He looked back at his teammates only to notice that they were now behind eleven other guys including Zay.
"What's going on?" he finally asked. The other guys chucked in unison.
"Open up your locker," Zay responded smiling. Lucas narrowed his eyes at his friend but still felt a pang of excitement.
Busy with the rotating dial on his locker he barely registered the fall of footsteps behind him. When he felt the tap of a small finger on his shoulder he turned around to find Riley in the middle of the boy's gym locker room with him. Taken by surprise he stumbled back a little eliciting a chorus of muffled laughter from the guys. He still smiled at the sight of her.
"Hey," he greeted.
"Hi there," she said smiling.
"Whatcha doin here?" he asked grinning.
"Oh you know I just wanted to see you before the big game," she said in that cutesy tone he always liked.
"Well thanks," he said. Riley was bubbling with a secret she wanted to spill so he went ahead and asked what he knew she wanted to hear.
"Is there something you want to tell me?"
Riley beamed then made a signal behind her that made the boys behind her to come forward. They got in an order he didn't quite understand because it certainly wasn't by height or build.
"Lucas, so I know that we said we'd go to all the dances together and drink the same smoothies and try new things together," she grabbed both his hands, "I never asked for a big HoCo proposal because I know it's not your thing but it is mine so," with his hand still in hers she turned around and his eyes fell upon the guys who had taken off their dress shirts to reveal a message on the t-shirts they had underneath.
Standing in that specific order they all spelled out one word: HOMECOMING. There was a guy standing to the side holding up a piece of paper with a big bold question mark to make the message a question. Apparently directed towards him.
Then there was Zay standing to the side with his phone hovering in his right hand.
"This is my Homecoming proposal to you," Riley said, "so what do you say?" she looked ready to start jumping in place.
He looked at his teammates staring back a him, some with a grin on their faces others looking bored. He could feel his face burning red and there was definitely a nervous smile because he could hear the snickers of some other guys. His response was taking too long but he already knew the answer and hoped Riley did to even if he didn't answer right away.
"Yes, I'll go to homecoming with you," a cheer erupted from the crowd. Riley threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tight. She let go but still held onto his biceps and posed for the pictures Zay was taking now.
Right then their coach came in ready for business.
"Alright ballerinas lets get this show on the road I want you nice and stretched, there better be no muscle cramps out there today," Coach clapped his hands which made the players move.
"I'd really appreciate you not using gender stereotypes to motivate your players to play a better game," Riley said very seriously. Lucas was grinning but not because he was making fun of her indignation.
"What? You think I call them ballerinas because they're girly?" Coach Campagnola said looking incredulous. "Nonsense my daughter's a dancer in Ballet West she came to visit me at camp and I had her show the boys the stamina they could only dream of having," he walked off and started barking orders at some junior varsity guys.
"Did you like the proposal?" Riley asked him. He massaged the back of his neck and nodded.
"Yeah it was nice," he said, "how'd you get Coach to let you in here?"
"Smackle," she responded. Lucas snorted.
"I'd like to have seen that," he laughed.
"Yeah, it was fun. Anyway, I have to get going I need to head home first before coming back for the game," she said slipping out of his reach.
"Do you want to go eat with the team after the game?" he asked her. She was walking backwards to the exit looking back every few steps making sure she wasn't going to run into someone.
"I'll let you know after the game," she said slipping out the door.
AN: fun fact about this story so far is that the scene where Riley asks Lucas out is one of the first four scenes I wrote. The very first thing I wrote was the first chapter then two scenes after that are things that aren't going to come into play until waaaaaay later. But they are so game changing I can't even tease them.
Good news! I have now outlined stuff until chapter 21, bad news about half are things I have written nothing for so…expect serious waiting time :( the whole lunch time scene was rewritten to include her run in with mr jackson, Riley and Zay's heart to heart was written in, and I wrote a little more detail for the homecoming ask. That's why it took way longer to get this out there.
