A/N: This is going to be a Lucas x Riley centric chapter, as will the next. Just so you're not asking yourself at the end where Maya & Josh were in this one. We'll see/hear about them a little, but I want to showcase Rucas' status briefly. Hope you like it.
Riley decides to wear her brand new snow boots with bright yellow tights and a white dress. As soon as she puts it on she feels kind of like Maya. The boots and the tights are reminiscent of her bold style but the dress is sweet and subtle. That's the 'Riley Factor.' Yes, she identifies things that she relates too. Mom and Dad think it's a sign of confidence and success. Riley sure hopes so!
Suddenly she hears a buzzing sound in the living room. This means that Maya must be there to pick her up. Maya was surprised because she knew for a fact that Joshua and Maya were video chatting each other nonstop. Riley was mostly excited that her Uncle and Maya were hitting it off – even daring to call themselves a couple! – but she did sort of worry about the fact that they lived in different cities. The fact that Lucas wasn't going to be visiting Texas nearly as often brings Riley happiness. It meant that he would around for more movie dates!
"MATTHEWS!" Maya shouts when she goes through the front door. Riley goes racing out of her room with her brunette waves flowing as she rounds the corner.
"Are you ready to be going back to school?" Riley squeals as both girls take a seat simultaneously to her dad's left. Auggie is flanking her mother trying to talk her into chocolate milk for breakfast. Maya is already staring at her phone when Riley turns her attention back to her best friend; "Is Uncle Josh texting you already?"
Riley self consciously takes her phone out but Topanga spins around, narrowly missing Auggie with a pan of scrambled eggs, "NO PHONES!"
Maya and Riley raise their hands and slowly replace their phones on the table. Maya, however, leaves her screen up so she can at least finish reading her boyfriend's text message. Lucas hasn't text Riley yet which makes her a little jealous, but she does realize that she gets to see Lucas practically every single day.
"So, Mrs. Matthews, should I come around for dinner tonight?" Maya asks, scooping a generous amount of eggs on her plate and swiping two pieces of toast. Her smile is contagious, and soon everyone is discussing what should be for dinner. Riley doesn't really give any input, though, because she's just eating deliberately.
When it's finally time to get going Riley leaves the house she makes it the subway before she notices her phone is back home on the kitchen table. Riley groans as they walk up the stairs to the school, "What am I going to do without my phone today?"
Maya looks at her and shrugs her shoulders, "I don't know. Talk to people? Doodle in your notebooks?" Riley senses a hint of a sarcasm that comes naturally to her friend. She's immune to it, though, and doesn't even flinch. As they walk silently to their lockers the first bell buzzes.
"10 minute warning, we're a little earlier than normal today. How did that happen?" Maya hums as she opens her locker and has a few papers fly to the ground. Riley bends down and starts gathering the papers when suddenly a voice welcomes them.
"Hello, ladies!" Farkle shouts from the top of the stairs. Maya waves haphazardly as her phone chimes. Riley drops the papers and walks straight over the Farkle, hugging him to hide the fact that she isn't upset that her phone is at home. How is she supposed to know if Lucas is texting her? He wasn't at the stop today, which makes her worry that maybe he's out sick. He hadn't been feeling great the night before…
Maya can see Riley and Farkle chatting in the corner of her eye. Josh has been texting her for a couple of hours already, essentially since she woke up, but his classes are starting soon so Maya asked him to only text when he wouldn't get in trouble. So after she texts her short-term farewell she shoves the phone back into her pocket and bends down to pick up where Riley left off.
Seconds later Riley says that she's going to walk with Farkle to his locker. It's just around the corner so Maya hows, "See you in second period!"
Maya walks over to the trashcan and starts stuffing her stray pages inside. As she's doing this she feels someone put a hand on her back. Instead of losing it, she just mumbles, "What do you want?"
"That's no way to greet a friend, little lady." Lucas chuckles. Maya can't help but join him as she shakes her head. Maya is the first to step away back to her locker. She pulls out a chocolate bar and her math book out. Seconds later her math notebook falls out. Maya looks back at the trashcan wondering if the papers she just disposed of were from her math book. Lucas steps in front of her with a grin and crossed arms.
"Sorry, Huckleberry, I thought you were just another stranger coming to admire my style." She poses with a winning grin, or at least what she hopes is a winning grin anyway. Lucas seems to look down at the floor before he shakes his head at her. When he looks over her shoulder he spots something, or Maya figures rather that he spots that someone is missing.
Which he voices, "Where's Riley?"
Maya gestures behind herself weakly, "She's hanging out with Farkle. Riley forgot her phone this morning and I think she was getting a little upset that I was on mine the whole ride here."
Lucas takes a sharp breath in unintentionally. Firstly, that explains why Riley hadn't responded when he apologized for missing the pick up. He was running behind because he overslept which he had tried to explain. Secondly, Lucas is also upset about the whole Maya and Joshua relationship. It's not that he doesn't want Maya happy, because he actually wants that more than he's ever going to be willing admit aloud. Unfortunately, he cannot see the point in having such a long distance relationship that is primarily consisting of phone video chats and text messages.
Try as he might, Lucas reveals his true feelings to Maya who is less than pleased that his lips curl downward, "Are you mad that I'm already talking to my boyfriend too?"
"I'm not mad about anything, Maya." Lucas is lying very badly. He knows that he is, but Riley and Farkle round the corner before he has a chance to lie even more. Maya slams her locker and storms away from her friends. Riley and Farkle watch her as she goes, but Lucas just grinds his teeth and reminds himself to stay in place.
Riley elbows Farkle who was about to ask what happened, immediately directing the conversation towards a different topic, "Are you feeling better?"
Lucas nods his head slowly. He leans in and kisses Riley on the cheek very robotically before whispering to her that he needs to grab his stuff and head to class. The second bell starts ringing as the five-minute bell goes off. He can hear Riley sighing and asking Farkle to talk to him later. It won't matter because he can't really tell anyone that he doesn't want to see Maya dating Josh; or anyone, for that matter. He can't explain why to himself so he knows he might as well not involve anyone else.
Riley and Maya are sitting on the couch listening to Auggie read to their mom. It's one of those "If you give a" books. This one is about a mouse and movies. Riley catches herself listening more than she should but she actually reads these books to Auggie sometimes before bed if Mom and Dad are working. Lucas is texting her about the movie schedule; What about the Hobbit movie?
Riley doesn't prefer those movies. They're far too violent, in her opinion, and certainly not well suited for a thirteen-year-old girl. She was thinking something else, Night the Museum looks better.
Lucas reads the message on his phone and then looks back at his computer screen. He didn't want to tell her that he already saw that movie when his dad flew in a few days ago. Lucas isn't sure if they should even be going on another date this weekend. They can't agree to any of the movies.
He watches the trailer for Into the Woods again. It seems like just the thing that Riley would love to go see. He's not against it. Disney has done some pretty good things before, and Anna Kendrick is a very beautiful and talented actress. So he counters her for what he swears to himself will be the last time; Into the Woods.
Riley groans and drops her phone into her lap. "Maya!"
Maya throws a hand up over her ear to show Riley that she's being too loud. Everyone in the room is look at Riley awkwardly. She grins but grabs her friend's arm and drags her to the bedroom. Maya is reading her own texts the entire way. As soon as they are in the window Riley throws her arms up, "BOYFRIENDS!"
"BOYS!" Maya mocks her playfully. Riley cracks a smile at her, but it doesn't prevent her from being frustrated.
"So difficult." Riley laments, "I'm just trying to pick a movie with Lucas but we can't agree on a film. I want to see Annie, he wants to see Big Hero 6 again. I want to see Penguins of Madagascar, he wants to see Hobbit! I want to see Night at the Museum and he wants to see Into the Woods! We can't agree. Why is this so hard?"
Maya laughs at Riley and puts a hand on her knee, "Riley, you're not always going to agree on stuff. Besides, there are plenty of other things to do besides watching movies at the theatre. You could watch movies here, or at his place. You could watch a play. You could go bowling. Movies aren't the only kind of date that you can have."
Riley realizes that she's panicking over nothing. Well, almost nothing. Now that she has so many options to choose from she gets worried that she won't pick the right one. As Maya gets up from her spot, Riley shouts again, "MAYA!"
Maya turns around and points at her, "Lucas would probably love that mini golf in my area. It's pretty cheap because we're all poor but it's pretty awesome. And they serve these magnificent burritos. Why don't you go there – Pete's Play Zone!" She's shrugging as she walks out the door. Maya has a point, which Riley immediately taps the suggestion into the phone.
Lucas reads the message. Mini golf? It sounds like a good idea. He says he'll get the address and meet her there Friday after school. Riley says that its near Maya's and that they can just ride all the way home with her, Hopefully her nose isn't in that phone!
Lucas doesn't say that he agrees. But he totally agrees.
A/N: So what do you think Lucas is going to do when/if he finds out Maya is the one told Riley what to do for their date? And with her best friends on a date what do you think Maya is going to do?