A/N: Hello, guys! I'm back with Chapter 6! I wanted to have this done earlier, but I ended up having this insanely busy week at school and so I couldn't get it done until tonight.

As always, I do not own Curt, Riker, or any of the other Lynches. Also, I mean absolutely no harm in the writing of this story. On the contrary, I do own all of the original characters, like Finn, Sophie, etc.

Sorry for the delay, guys. I hope you enjoy the Chapter.

On Monday, Curt found himself back at the lunch table. The talk that he'd had with Riker had seemed to clear everything up. They had promised that they were going to forget it ever happened, and so far, both of them were keeping that promise. Now, they were free to focus on more important things. Like their Civics project, or the school dance that was coming up.

Sophie, Finn, and Adam were already seated at the table. Riker wasn't here quite yet, but he was going to be here soon.

Riker came running over to their table not even two minutes later. His eyes were practically glowing with excitement, and a big grin stretched across his face.

"Whoa. What's up?" Finn asked as Riker dropped his lunch tray onto the table and sat down.

"I have a date to homecoming," Riker said, scooting his chair up to the table.

"Good for you, man!" Finn said, looking genuinely excited for Riker. "Who is it?"

"Tiffany Evans," Riker said.

Finn's face fell, but he managed to quickly recover his look of happiness.

"She's hot," Finn said, nodding.

"I know," Riker said. "I'm so excited."

"So, Adam, are you going to bring—" Sophie started to say.

"Absolutely not," Adam said, cutting Sophie off. "That is a death sentence and you know it."

Curt felt like he was finding his place in Littleton, but there were still times when he felt like an outsider. This was one of those times. Not only was there something that had evidently happened with Marissa last year, but now Adam apparently had some secret girlfriend that he couldn't bring to the dance.

"So, how'd you get Tiffany Evans to agree to go to the dance with you?" Finn asked.

"I asked her point-blank. She said yes," Riker said.

"Cool," Finn said.

Curt feigned a smile. He should be really happy for Riker. He'd never seen this Tiffany Evans girl before, but if she was really as cute as Finn and Riker were making her out to be, then he should be happy for him.

"Okay, aside from the 'who's-taking-who' thing, are we going to do what we did last year?" Sophie asked.

"What'd you guys do last year?" Curt asked.

"Nothing all that interesting," Finn said. "We went out for dinner before the dance, and our parents talked us into taking a few pictures, and then we went to the dance."

"I know it sounds boring, but it was a blast," Sophie said.

"So I keep hearing," Curt said.

Everyone besides Curt laughed.

"Yeah, I don't see why we can't do that again," Finn said.

"Unless Riker's too cool for us now that he has a pretty date," Sophie said.

"Do I detect some jealousy, Sophie?" Riker asked, a grin spreading across his face.

"No," Sophie said.

"Really? Because that's what it sounds like to me," Riker said.

"If she's so worried about having a date, then I'll go with her," Adam said.

"Aw," Sophie said.

"Alright, so, if Riker has a date, and Sophie and Adam are each other's fake dates, then that leaves me and Curt—"

"I'm not going to the dance as your date," Curt said, cutting Finn off.

Finn started laughing.

"I wasn't going to say that, dude. Don't be so defensive," Finn said.

"Sorry," Curt said.

"It's okay," Finn said. "I'm not mad at you. It was just funny."

Curt decided that it would be better if he didn't speak for a little bit, so he turned his attention down to his food. He ate quietly while the others discussed homecoming. After a few minutes, Curt looked up from his food to see Marissa coming his way.

"Something wicked this way comes," Sophie said, sighing.

"What do you want?" Adam asked when Marissa reached the table.

"I'm not here to talk to you Martella, nor am I here to talk to your boyfriend," she said, gesturing at Riker. "I'm not here to talk to Miss Disney Princess or Fish Lips here either."

"Then why are you here?" Finn asked.

"I'm here to talk to Curt," Marissa said.

"Uh-oh," Riker said under his breath.

"Do you have a date to homecoming?" Marissa asked.

Curt had the feeling that he knew what she was getting at. For a second, he was tempted to lie, but there were only a million ways that that could go wrong. So, instead, he told the truth.

"No," Curt said.

"I don't have a date either," Marissa said. "Would you maybe want to go with me?"

"Oh, gee," Curt said. "Look, I'm really flattered, Marissa, but I'm going to have to say no."

"Boom!" Adam said, yelling. "You heard the man! Get out of here."

Marissa shot Adam a dirty look, but then turned around and left.

"Two seconds with that girl is two too many," Finn said.

"Does she really think that 'Miss Disney Princess' is an insult?" Sophie asked.

"'Fish Lips' isn't much of one either," Adam said, shaking his head.

"What'd she do to you guys to make you hate her so much?" Curt asked. He had told himself he wasn't going to ask, but curiosity was finally starting to get the better of him.

"I think it's time to tell him," Finn said.

"No way," Riker said, not looking at Curt.

"I hate to say this Riker, but I agree with Finn," Sophie said.

"I also agree," Adam said.

"I uh, just remembered," Riker said. "I have to go find Tiffany and ask her something. I'll be back later."

Riker stood up and walked away. After he was gone, Finn started to tell the story of what happened last year between them and Marissa.

"Well, it all started last year when Marissa got a crush on Riker. At first Riker thought it was cute and kind of flattering, but he just didn't feel the same way back about her. After a while, her constant flirting started to make him feel uncomfortable, and so he told her that he didn't feel the same way back," Finn said.

"Unfortunately, she's not used to not getting what she wants," Adam said. "So one day, she started spreading around a rumor that she caught Riker and me kissing."

"You'd think that it wouldn't be a big deal," Finn said. "Except for there was one problem: everyone believed her."

"We became instant outcasts," Adam said. "And not just Riker and I, but Finn and Sophie and whoever else dared to associate with us."

"And that was before all of the bullying started," Finn said.

"Bullying?" Curt said.

"Oh yeah," Finn said. "Now, we're not going to go into graphic detail on that, but all four of us were bullied. It got pretty bad."

"It got so bad that Riker started asking his parents to let him move to California," Adam said.

"California?" Curt said.

"Yeah," Sophie said. "Riker wants to be a movie star."

"Well, an entertainer. He hasn't specified what aspect of entertaining he wants to do," Finn said.

"For all we know he could want to be a magician," Adam said with a shrug.

"Yeah," Finn said.

"Wow. That's awful," Curt said.

"Yeah," Adam said.

"So whatever you do, don't get tangled up with her," Adam said.

"She is dangerous," Sophie said.

"Couldn't agree more," Adam said.

"Let's talk about something happier," Finn said.

Curt nodded. It definitely sounded like a good idea.

"I would invite Riker back over here but it looks like he's busy," Adam said, gesturing over to a nearby table.

Riker was sitting next to a girl with curly blonde hair and bright green eyes. He looked calm and content as he talked with her. Perhaps Curt stared for a little too long, because Riker looked over at Curt and flashed a smile at him. Curt couldn't help but smile back.

"Look at them," Finn sighed.

"Yeah, they look really happy," Sophie said. "This is so good for him."

"It is," Adam said. "But you have to admit, it does seem a little random."

"Yeah," Finn said.

"So, that's Tiffany," Curt said, looking at the blonde girl.

"That's her alright," Finn said.

"Wow," Curt said. To say that Tiffany was pretty was a huge understatement. She was beautiful. She also looked like she was a really nice person.

"You okay?" Finn asked.

"Are you talking to me?" Curt said.

"Yeah. You're just kind of staring off into space," Finn said.

"I'm fine," Curt said. "I just lost my train of thought. That's all.

"Do you want to head to the library after I finish this cupcake?" Adam asked.

"We didn't have any homework, did we?" Curt said.

"No, but I thought that we could translate that magazine cover with Zac Efron on it," Adam said.

"Sure, why not?" Curt said.

Adam finished his cupcake, and then the two went to the library. They still couldn't translate the magazine cover, so when the free period was over, they gave up and went to Spanish class. The rest of the day ticked away slowly, and finally, Curt was on the bus ride home.

By now, Curt had grown used to stepping onto the bus to see Riker sitting in their seat. Curt walked over to the seat and sat down.

"Hey," Riker said.

"Hi," Curt said. He set his backpack down on the ground and turned to Riker.

"So, have you forgotten about our project?" Riker asked. "For Civics class?"

"Nope," Curt said.

"Well, I was thinking that we should probably get together again soon so we could work on it," Riker said.

"Yeah, totally," Curt said. "When did you have in mind? I'm pretty much free whenever."

"Would this Saturday work?" Riker said.

"Yeah," Curt said.

"Cool. It'll have to be sometime in the afternoon because I like to sleep in," Riker said. "Does two in the afternoon work?"

"I'll have to ask my parents," Curt said. "I don't see why it wouldn't work, seeing as I can just walk over there, but you can never be too sure, I guess."

"Cool," Riker said.

"I'm kind of surprised that you don't have plans with Tiffany," Curt said.

"Really? Why?" Riker said.

"It's just that since you two are kind of an item now, I'd think that you two would be going on a date or something," Curt said.

"Oh," Riker said. He shrugged. "As far as I know, we aren't doing anything until the dance."

"Well, it's good for me," Curt said.

"Why?" Riker asked.

"So we can work on the project," Curt said. "I'm sure that these next two weeks are going to fly right by."

"Yeah," Riker said. "That's kind of how it goes."

Curt smiled.

"I agree," Curt said. Time had the tendency to pass way too quickly. After finding out he was moving, his last couple of months in Texas seemed to fly right by.

Curt realized that he hadn't actually talked to his Texas friends since he left for Colorado. Not that he could really help it. He was still adjusting to life in Colorado. That, combined with the amount of homework he had on a nightly basis, was keeping him really busy. Maybe tonight, if he had time, he'd get on Facebook and check in with them.

Since the conversation between them had seemed to die down, Riker started listening to his iPod. The two didn't talk until the bus pulled into their neighborhood and dropped them off at the bus stop.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Riker said after they'd gotten off the bus.

"Goodbye," Curt said. Curt started walking back towards his house when a voice called after him.

"Curt! Hey, Curt! Can I talk to you for a second?" Marissa said. Curt groaned, but stopped walking and turned around.

"Yes?" Curt said.

"When I asked you to the dance earlier, did you only say no because your friends wanted you to? Because peer pressure isn't cool," Marissa said.

"You know what else isn't cool?" Curt said. "Bullying."

"What are you talking about?" Marissa asked.

Curt knew that he should stop talking. This wasn't his battle to fight: it was Adam and Riker's. But still, Curt couldn't seem to contain himself.

"I'm talking about that rumor you spread around last year about Adam and Riker kissing," Curt said. "Yeah, that's right. They told me about that."

"I wasn't making that up," Marissa said.

"Don't think that you can pull that stuff with me. I know that it was a rumor you made up just because Riker wouldn't go out with you," Curt said.

"Why won't you believe me," Marissa said. "They were kissing. And it was just wrong, not to mention disgusting."

"Whether they were or weren't kissing doesn't matter," Curt said. "It wasn't any of your business. You shouldn't have spread that around."

"I know," Marissa said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to Riker and Adam," Curt said. "It was nice for you to think of me and ask me to the dance, but I just don't feel that way about you."

Marissa looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"I'm really sorry," she said.

"Don't be," Curt said. Then, Marissa turned and left. Curt did feel a little bad for yelling at her the way he did, but he just didn't have any respect for her anymore.

Curt started to turn around when someone caught his eye. It was Riker. He was just standing there and staring at Curt with an awestruck expression on his face. It took Curt a few seconds, but then he realized that Riker had witnessed that entire confrontation between him and Marissa.

Curt didn't really know how he was going to explain this all to Riker. So, he didn't. Instead, he gripped the shoulder straps of his backpack and started back on his way home.

Well, that's it for Chapter 6. I hope it was okay.

And also, thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows. They always make me smile :)

I have this entire week off of school, and so I plan to use it to write! Hopefully, I'll be back really, really soon with the next chapter.

Hasta luego! xoxo