I don't think I like the way I ended this one. Let me know.
ReesesPieces2112
"What?" He swallowed thickly and his breath hitched; was he hearing that correctly?
"Riley walked away from Charlie just after you went into the classroom." Zay admitted and grit his teeth. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."
"So, why are you telling me now?"
"Because I think it's time everything comes out in the open." Zay sighed heavily. "Lucas, everyone has some explaining to do and I think everyone needs to hear it all out."
"I think he's right." Farkle walked up to them with his hands stuffed into his jacket pockets. He looked to Maya, whose eyes were still red from crying. "No one is innocent in all of this. We all knew what we were doing and so did Riley, no one is to blame more than any other."
Maya wanted to beg to differ; she didn't ask for any of this. She never asked Riley to tell Lucas about her feelings. She never asked Lucas to grab her face that night at the campfire. She never wanted anything to spin so out of control; there were so many things she already had to deal with, losing her friends should not have been one of them.
She looked at her feet; but Farkle was right. If she didn't want to lose Riley, she would have never agreed to date Lucas in the first place. She wasn't entirely at fault, but she wasn't entirely innocent either. She knew the consequences of what she'd be doing, but because Riley had pushed so hard, she gave in. She gave in to her feelings for Lucas and for a while, unbeknownst to her friends, she blamed Riley for practically forcing them together and then walking away.
Lucas stared at his hands. Of course Farkle was, yet again, right about everything. He couldn't blame Riley, he couldn't blame Maya, he blamed himself. If he had just kept pushing Riley those days they were in Texas, there wouldn't have been a decision to be made. He wanted to be with Riley then, but instead she called him her brother, kept her distance from him, and then told him about Maya. Even then, he'd stood and didn't let Riley walk away from him, demanding to be heard because he didn't think of her as a sister. But she did walk away and he and Maya were left to figure things out.
He liked Maya, he really did, but it was always Riley. It was her drive to make everyone happy even if she couldn't be. It was the way she smiled a little too big and her tongue poked against her teeth and the outline of her dimples showed. It was her ability to make him brave and face his fears. It was everything about Riley that made her special and made Lucas fall in love with her.
But it had angered him when he realized she blurted out Maya's feelings without consent. He was angry that Riley pulled away from them after she'd done so and joined a new group of friends. She'd insisted throughout middle school that nothing would change, but here they are in their Sophomore year of high school and she'd stopped hanging out with them to be a cheerleader and Charlie Gardner's girlfriend. It made him even angrier when he couldn't stop thinking about how it could have all been avoided if he just kept pushing her back in Texas, but he knew it wouldn't have mattered; Riley was strong willed and wouldn't have told him a thing if it meant he wanted to be with her and not Maya.
Riley sat in chemistry class, chewing on her pen and trying to concentrate on the day's lesson. But she could feel someone staring at her, boring into her frame and giving her chills. She looked to her left.
Caprice was in the seat next to her with her chin propped on her hand and a little doodle sitting in the corner of her notebook.
So Riley looked to her right.
Another upperclassman, Kevin, had been tapping his fingers against the desk, not a single note written down.
She turned to look behind her and her breath hitched; Lucas.
Lucas hadn't taken is eyes off of her since class started and he had to admit, it was a little entertaining to watch her squirm; paranoia was trademark Riley. Though she tried not to let things bother her, he knew she was always concerned about what could happen.
Whipping around in her seat, Riley brought a hand up to her chest as if it would calm her erratic heartbeat.
"Riley?" Mr. James' voice startled her and she jumped in her seat. "Are you okay?"
"Yes." She nodded and sat up straight as she'd been slouching in hopes of hiding away from Lucas.
"Are you sure? Because you can skip out of the pep rally today if you're not feeling well."
'Pep rally?' She thought as she looked at Caprice, who nodded in agreement with Mr. James. She shook her head. "I'm fine."
"If you insist." Mr. James frowned and wrote two hall passes. "You and Ms. O'Hare are expected in the gym, so you can make up the rest of today's lesson after school."
Riley nodded and took the slip from him, pausing in the doorway to wait for Caprice to gather her things. She glanced at Lucas, who still hadn't looked away from her.
Caprice tugged on her arm and led her to the gym. "Riley, come on, you're so not okay. What's going on? I thought you worked things out with Charlie."
"I did." Sort of. She sighed heavily and stepped into the girls' locker room where the rest of the team had been getting ready. "I just have this feeling. I don't know how to describe it."
"You're thinking too much." Caprice opened her locker and pulled out her uniform. "Whatever happened with Charlie, it'll be okay. Whatever happened with Maya, it'll be okay. Whatever happened with Lucas, everything will be okay."
"How…?" Riley stopped dialing her locker combination and gaped at her.
"You really think I didn't notice him staring at you in class?" She smiled. "Give me a little more credit. And the way Maya bolted after you earlier, I knew something was definitely going on."
"Maya what?" Riley swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Maya ran after you and Charlie earlier. You didn't see her?"
No. No. No. No!
Riley turned on her heel and sprinted out of the locker room, ignoring Caprice calling after her. She had to find Maya, she had to explain, she had to...
Pumping her legs faster, she rounded a corner to find Maya sitting against her locker, sketchbook in hand and ear buds in, drowning out any noise.
Maya hadn't noticed anyone in the hall with her until they stood above her, a shadow casting over her sketch and irritating her. Pulling the headphones from her ears, she scoffed and looked up at the person to yell at them. "Riles?"
Riley didn't speak; she couldn't catch her breath. She didn't know what she was going to say, or what she could say to explain how horrible of a friend she's been.
"Riley?" Maya dropped her sketchbook on the floor and stood up to face her. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry."
"What?" Maya smiled nervously. "Sorry for…?"
"For ignoring you." Riley played with her hands and chewed on her bottom lip. "For being an awful friend. For letting Caprice talk to you the way I have. For causing so much trouble. I'm just sorry, Maya."
"Riles, it's okay." Maya reached out for her, but she took a step back and shook her head. "Riley, please, it's really okay."
"Maya, stop." Riley pleaded as tears threatened to fall "Please. It's not okay and I don't deserve your forgiveness."
"No, it is okay." Maya took a step towards her and choked back her tears. "It's okay. I get it now."
"Get what?!" Riley cried out. "I don't understand!"
"Lucas loves you, Riley." Maya clarified for her. "He loves you and I know this. I know this because…when he looks at you…it's the way he could never look at me. Like you're his everything. Like his world could stop spinning at any moment when he's not with you."
"No!" Riley tugged at her hair, her frustration rising. "No, he can't! He can't because it's not right."
"Who says?" Maya breathed as her voice wavered. "Who says he can't be in love with you, Riley? You? Because that's not fair. Because you can't keep thinking you know everyone's feelings, Riley. You can't keep telling everyone how things should go and you can't keep pushing everything away! This isn't middle school anymore, Riles, and this isn't Texas. What happened, happened and you need to own up to your feelings. You can't keep pushing me and Lucas together and you can't keep your feelings to yourself. That's not right. Lucas is in love with you and you love him too, so stop trying to make everything work when nothing is."
"Maya, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm not good at this. I'm sorry I can't be the better friend. I am...so sorry." Tears poured down Riley's cheeks as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. "I did this to you guys. I tore our friendships and your relationship apart. I've been selfish enough. I hurt you, Maya, and I never meant to. I only wanted you to be happy and I thought that if I stuck around while you and Lucas were together, I would have only made everyone miserable. I thought if I left, it would be easier. I thought if I stopped being around you and Lucas, I could be better at accepting it. I know this is all my fault, I know I'm to only one to blame for all of this happening, and I'm sorry. I don't know how many times I can say it, but I am sorry, Maya, and I don't think you should forgive me."
"But Riley…" Maya tried to be the reasonable one this time; she had never seen Riley so undone.
"I have to go." Riley shook her head and stepped away, wiping her tears with her jacket sleeve. "We have a pep rally in five minutes."
"Riles, I don't think-." Maya didn't get the chance to finish her sentence before Riley turned on her heel and walked down the hall. "Riley!"
Zay and Farkle stepped into the gym with Lucas and Maya.
Maya hadn't told them what happened, she wanted to talk about it with Riley some more before letting their opinions and ideas get in her head. She didn't mean to say all those things to Riley, but she was glad she did. The weight was lifted off her shoulders and she needed to hash it out with her best friend even more.
Sitting at the top of the bleachers in the gym, the four of them waited as the principal went over some academic achievements, sports schedules and try outs, and announcing the playoffs for the football team. Cheers erupted around them as he announced each football player one by one and their positions. Even more screaming echoed off the walls when he said Charlie's name, one of the few Sophomores to make the varsity team that year.
Lucas felt his fists clench as Charlie smiled sheepishly and looked to Riley. He also felt a little bit of relief as he noticed Riley hadn't been paying attention, then concern hit him when she put a hand to her head and winced.
"Riley, are you okay?" Caprice asked her, wrapping her fingers around the wrist Riley held up to her forehead.
"I'm fine." She nodded, feeling that tension in her head again and feeling it pound against her skull; she was so not fine. She shook it off as the principal joked about being done with his boring announcements and beckoned the cheerleaders onto the floor.
Caprice frowned at Riley as they got into formation and the music began. She caught Heather's attention and motioned to their friend.
Heather nodded and kept a close eye on Riley as she faked a smile at the crowd.
Riley began to feel dizzy, but she ignored it as the girls turned to her and she knew that's when they would be doing the lift.
Maya sat at the edge of her seat, clutching on to Farkle's arm as she realized Riley wasn't looking too good. "Something's wrong."
"You're right." Farkle watched the cheerleaders lift Riley high into the air and she seemed to lose a little bit of her balance. "Oh, no."
"Riley!" Maya, Zay, Farkle, and Lucas screamed.
The loud thud! from her head hitting the gym floor echoed, stopping everyone in their tracks.