Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World.

Chapter 10: Revealed

When the hype of the tourney final had faded and the teachers had begun nagging about finals once more, everyone in JASPA found life to be rather dry and unfairly busy.

The gang found themselves in Smackle's room this time. They figured her many, many books would be of good use. Of course, Farkle himself was a walking encyclopaedia and more. But his genius brain and impossibly extensive knowledge were just a bit too excessive at time. The rest usually couldn't tell which information was important, because it was all the same to Farkle.

So there they were, quietly reading and taking notes, trying to cram information into their heads.

Lucas couldn't concentrate for various reasons. One was that Zay kept on disturbing him, asking which information he could memorise to get him a pass.

Another was because Riley was right next to him, looking so adorable and beautiful as she scrunched her face up in a mix of concentration and confusion, chewing the end of her pencil. It was hard to focus when there was a huge distraction right next to him.

The biggest reason was because Maya kept giving him sneaky glances and sly smiles, subtly motioning towards Riley. The past few days had been a bit stressful for him. On top of the big game and the wonderful victory afterwards, Lucas had been on edge the whole time because of Maya's threat.

He was sure she meant no harm by it, and she hadn't actually done anything that day, but he knew that she would eventually. And he didn't like the idea of his feelings being made known and potentially jeopardising his friendship with Riley.

He stared at Maya warily as she caught his eye again, her own blue ones twinkling with playfulness and mischief. Her smile widened slightly.

The worst part was that unlike Riley, Lucas couldn't read Maya. He had no idea of what was going on in her head.

He started slightly when Riley suddenly shifted next to him and stood up, breaking the silence. "I'm gonna go get some snacks. Anyone wants to come?" she asked lightly, stretching.

"Me! I'm bored out of my mind," Farkle said exasperatedly, tossing aside the book he hadn't even been reading because he knew everything inside already.

"I don't know why they still make you take exams at all," Smackle remarked. "It's not like you need to prove anything about your intelligence anyway."

"I still have to take the special abilities test though," Farkle pointed out. "My enhanced intelligence doesn't necessary outshine all of your abilities when it comes to our powers."

"That's like, one exam," Maya grumbled. "You ace everything else."

"It is how it is, Maya," Farkle chuckled. "C'mon Riles, let's go."

Riley smiled and the two headed out the door, shutting it behind them.

Immediately, Maya had tossed a pillow at Lucas' face.

"After days of stalling, you choose to start with a pillow," Lucas deadpanned.

"When are you going to tell her?" Maya demanded.

"Tell who what?" Zay blinked at his friends in confusion, abandoning all notions of studying and thankful for the distraction.

"Lucas likes Riley but he doesn't want to tell her out of fear that he will ruin their friendship and Maya is threatening to do something about it if he doesn't tell Riley soon," Smackle revealed casually, flipping through her notes on biology.

"And after all those weeks of anxiously waiting for Maya to do something, it's Smackle who spills everything. What a plot twist," Lucas said sarcastically.

"Wait, really?" Zay exclaimed in surprise. "Dude, you like Riley?"

"How have you not noticed?!" Maya hissed. "Actually, never mind. You're as dense as Farkle and Riley."

"Hey, Riley isn't that dense," Lucas defended. "She happened to pick up on you and-"

"I dare you to finish that sentence," Maya said with a glare. Lucas' mouth snapped shut, though he smiled slightly, knowing he had at least one thing on her.

"Listen here Sundance, you've been delaying this for weeks, months, maybe even years," Maya said. "This thing goes way back to 6th Year. And don't even try to deny it."

"I'm denying it right now," Lucas said stubbornly. "Whatever you think I feel, it sure as hell just started recently."

"That's bullshit and you know it," Maya retorted. The two only swore when talking to each other. They tried not to in front of innocent little Riley. "Remember good old Cheese Soufflé? How did that turn out?"

"Yeah man, you were pretty dang jealous when Charlie dated Riley," Zay pointed out.

"I was not!" Lucas insisted.

"You completely were," Smackle said calmly, turning another page in her notes. "And don't try telling me my observations were wrong."

"I'm just saying, Charlie and Riley have been going on those little study sessions together more often than we'd all like," Zay told him.

"I know, Zay, you don't have to remind me."

"Then don't be a lump of pathetic wimpiness and do something!" Maya snapped.

Lucas sighed. "Guys, even if I do have feelings for Riley-"

"You do."

"-it should be my choice on when to tell her," Lucas talked loudly over Maya.

"I'm sorry Ranger Rick, but if we let you do that it will never happen," Maya said flatly. "Both you and Riley are too scared to do anything. You're dancing around this thing between the two of you and you're too afraid to face it head on."

Lucas made no reply, allowing Maya's words to sink in. Was she right? Had he been avoiding this for years already?

He knew what he felt for Riley. At the same time, there was a lingering fear that she didn't feel that way too. And she deserved better than a dangerous guy with anger management issues and a depressing past.

Suddenly something about what Maya said struck him. His eyes shot up to look at her. "What do you mean, both me and Riley?"

Before Maya could reply, Riley and Farkle's laughter was heard, and seconds later the door swung open.

Maya's sank back against the big pillow behind her, marking the end of the conversation.

"Alright, we got a hotdog for Zay, dried fruit for Smackle, a chocolate milkshake for Maya, a cotton candy shake for me, cashew nuts for Farkle," Riley listed as she handed out the snacks to the respective people. Lastly, she gave Lucas a steaming cup of coffee.

"Milk, no sugar," Riley murmured with a small smile.

He smiled, reaching up to take it. "Just the way I want it."

It was hard to ignore the way everyone else was watching the exchange, throwing knowing glances at each other.

Lucas swallowed his questions down as Riley flopped back down next to him. Her usually comforting presence now made him uneasy. The uncertainty growing between them disturbed him. Whether or not he felt his friends were right, he had to do something about it.

"Remind me why we're here again?" Farkle whispered. He followed Lucas and Zay through the library, winding through the tall shelves crammed with books.

"To study," Lucas whispered back.

"We all know you have another aim, buddy," Zay murmured. Lucas stopped in his tracks and spun around to give his best friend a hard stare.

"And what would that be?"

"Man, we both know you're here because Charlie and Riley are here," Zay said simply.

Lucas felt his face grow hot. "I am not."

"Am too."

Lucas pursed his lips. "Okay, maybe I am. I just don't like it. He obviously still likes her, and I wanna make sure he's not trying to push anything."

"You wouldn't care so much if you didn't like her more than you like Cuddlebunnies."

Lucas' glared at him, looking around to make sure no one had heard. "You nearly revealed two of my biggest secrets, you moron," he hissed.

"Not my fault I know that you secretly fangirl at night after curfew. I can hear your TV blaring from next door."

"Okay, enough about that," Lucas hurriedly quietened Zay. "Look, I actually do want to get some studying done. And maybe doing it here in a quiet place will get you to stop bugging me."

Zay snorted. "Yeah right."

"Zay can't study no matter what conditions you put him under," Farkle said.

Ignoring the remark, Lucas led Farkle and Zay to a nearby table, nestled amongst several tall bookshelves. They had not yet spotted Riley and Charlie, and Lucas was beginning to feel a bit silly.

They sat down, but Lucas stood up almost immediately. "I'm gonna go find some books."

"Whatever you want," Zay drawled, though him and Farkle exchanged glances.

Lucas headed into the maze of bookshelves, twisting and turning out of sight. When he was sure that his friends weren't following him, he began his search. Not for books, but for a certain brunette with a certain rival of his.

He peeked around corners and in between bookshelves, careful not to reveal himself to anyone.

The library was huge, and had a complicated layout. He was about to give up, when heard the familiar tinkle of her laughter.

Slowly inching towards a bookshelf, he peeked through a gap in the books.

Riley and Charlie sat at a table on the other side, smiling and laughing softly. Several books were open on the table, and Riley had her pencil in her hand.

Lucas felt the monster of jealousy growing again. And he hated himself for it.

What he failed to realise was that Riley was feeling rather uncomfortable. While Charlie could be funny at times and it wasn't hard to laugh at his remarks, she knew that there was something more that he wanted from her. All she wanted to do was go back to her friends, but out of politeness and sheer niceness, she couldn't bear to say so to Charlie.

So she smiled when she had to, constantly trying to turn his attention back to studying instead of trying to impress her. Because no matter what, the only thing that impressed Riley was Charlie's unwavering determination to make her fall for him.

Sometimes she wondered why she didn't like Charlie. He was upfront about his feelings, and he was a sweet guy. But whenever she thought about Charlie, her mind would only drift back to the other boy, the one who wasn't upfront about his feelings and didn't give her many hints on how he felt.

Here was a guy who knew what he wanted, and did his best to get it. Riley didn't know much about the nature of Lucas' affection towards her, and yet she chose to hold onto the hope that he felt the same way.

And no matter what, Charlie's chivalry and his ambitions were dull in comparison to Lucas and his burning passion, loyalty and courage, despite all his imperfections. Charlie could never compare to Lucas and what he meant to Riley.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a movement in the corner of her eye. As Charlie rambled on about his opinion on ethics and the treatment of prisoners of war, Riley let her eyes wander to the bookshelf to her left, careful not to let Charlie know she wasn't paying attention.

It was hard to spot, but through the gaps in the bookshelf, she caught sight of a familiar deep blue shirt. Almost immediately she smiled. She knew that the faint smell of fresh pine and earth couldn't have come from nowhere. And she knew exactly who was behind the bookshelf.

She turned to Charlie. She waited a few moments for him to finish.

"That's some good insight, Charlie, I agree with a lot of your points," she said gently. "I'm gonna go check out some books. I'll be right back."

"Sure thing," Charlie said, beaming at her compliment. Riley stood up, and walked over to the bookshelf.

Lucas had turned away from his peeping hole the moment he saw Riley turn her head towards the bookshelf. He pressed his back flat against the thick, worn books, and stared at the ones across from him.

As he thought about what he was doing, he felt that he was beginning to seem more and more like a creep.

Oh well, too late to stop now.

He slowly moved to peep through the bookshelf. Riley was gone.

"What're you looking at?"

Lucas nearly jumped out of his skin as he retreated back from the bookshelf, eyes looking around wildly until they landed on Riley's grinning face. She stood there, right next to where he had been standing.

Lucas' face burned, knowing that he had been caught. "Geez, you scared the living daylights out of me, Riles," he murmured softly.

"Were you spying on me?" Riley whispered calmly, a sweet smile spread across her face.
Lucas snorted, trying to cover it up. "Pfft, no. I was just… looking at these books really close."

"Uh huh."

Lucas held his breath as they stared at each other. Riley raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, and Lucas sighed.

"Fine. Maybe I was."

"And why, dear Lukey, were you doing that?" Riley whispered, trying to fight back her laughter. She had to admit, it was hilarious. And really flattering.

Lucas bit his lip, before giving her a shrug. "I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"From behind a bookshelf?"

"I didn't want to disturb you and Charlie!"

Riley giggled, trying to keep her voice down. "You're a terrible liar, you know. Admit it, you're jealous."

That statement shocked Lucas. Heck, it shocked Riley. Normally they didn't talk about any feelings between them, and here she was, implying that Lucas was jealous.

Riley felt braver than she normally would. Maybe it was the quiet of the library, or the idea that no one else would be listening. And now that she had caught him, vulnerable, she felt as though she didn't have to hide anything anymore.

Lucas furrowed his eyebrows slightly, though the corners of his mouth turned up. "Jealous of what? Charlie's strange ability to spew out facts that he memorised from a textbook?"

"No, jealous that I'm spending time with him and not you," Riley said, giving Lucas a gentle poke.

Lucas scoffed, but inside his heart was racing. "What a conceited thing to say."

Riley faked a gasp, bringing a hand to her chest in mock offense. "How terrible of you to say that. I am anything but conceited."

Lucas chuckled under his breath.

"Seriously though." Riley smiled at him, stepping towards him. "Lucas, you're doing that thing again."

Lucas swallowed. "What thing?"

"You know, where you get really defensive when Charlie is concerned." Her voice faded into a soft murmur as her deep brown eyes looked up at him. "You don't have to do that, Lucas."

"I can't help it," Lucas said honestly. "I don't trust him with you."

"Why?" Riley pushed gently. "Why don't you trust him?"

Here Lucas had to choose his words carefully. "I care about you a lot. And I know Charlie's feelings towards you. I know he makes you uncomfortable, and I don't like knowing you're wasting time on him," he said. "Charlie's not your guy, Riles. Remember?"

As Lucas' peridot eyes flashed with something Riley couldn't quite identify, her mind flashed back to that evening in the hallway. He remembered. He remembered how she was waiting for the right guy to come along.

She felt a rush of courage.

"Lucas, I..."

But as soon as it came, it was gone. Lucas looked at her expectantly. Riley swallowed her words back down. It wasn't the right time.

"I know that, Luke," Riley said softly, gently. "But there are other things you should be concerned about. Tourney, finals, your abilities. I shouldn't be your top priority."

Lucas had never heard a more ludicrous statement. Or felt greater disappointment.

"You'll always be my top priority, Riley Matthews," he whispered, and for once he was glad that it was genuine.

Riley didn't say anything, and they stared at each other, both holding back words they wanted to let out.

Later that evening, Riley headed for the dorms to find Maya and Smackle. The boys said that they would meet them in the dining hall.

She finally reached Maya's room, and pushed the door open.

Maya and Smackle were silently reading from books and notes. At least, Smackle was. Maya looked like she wanted to be ten million miles away from JASPA.

"Alright, which one of you is Maya?" Riley demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"She is," one Smackle said, pointing a finger at the other. The other Smackle shook her head as she calmly flipped through her book. "Nope, I'm the real Smackle."

"Cut it out Maya, whichever one you are." The second Smackle suddenly sprouted longer, wavy blonde locks, the dark hair fading away. The face morphed and the glasses faded to reveal Maya's grinning face.

"Not bad," Riley said, impressed. "I almost thought you were the real Smackle."

"Well, that is thoroughly insulting," Smackle said.

"Yeah, gotta step up your Smackle game, Smackle," Maya said with a smirk.

"Whatever," Smackle muttered. She gathered her books and stood up. "I'm hungry. I'll be heading to the dining hall first."

"The boys are already there," Riley told her as Smackle turned to the door.

"Great. See you guys in a while!" Smackle called out, before leaving Maya's room.

"Clean it up, peaches," Riley warned as Maya stood up, leaving all her books, notes and stationery lying all over the hard wooden floor.

Maya whined, before flopping back down to gather her things.

Riley took the time to look around Maya's room. In comparison to Riley's, it was much wilder. It was messy, with books, Melba banners, photos, paintbrushes, paintings and several pots of paint decorating the room, as though Maya had flung them upon the initially empty space and left the items to claim their own territories.

Riley smiled at a painting of a forest aglow with deep yellows, bright oranges and streaming amber. She still remembered the day Maya painted that. They were sitting under the big oak, just the two of them, watching the sun set.

"At five o'clock, everything turns golden," Maya had said. "I want people to see that."

Maya had always been a talented artist. Riley wanted people to see that. Knowing that her best friend had something that she could be proud of, something she could develop and live for, made Riley very, very happy.

As her father had told her during Christmas week two years ago, there were only a few important things that helped people to grow. Purpose, pain, and love.

Love.

Maya had gone through pain. She had found her purpose. What about love?

Riley knew that Maya had already found it. She just didn't want to keep it.

"Peaches, come here," Riley said, sitting down on Maya's bed. Maya stood up and frowned, before walking over and plopping down next to Riley.

"We're not done with our earlier conversation," Riley said softly. Maya's eyes filled with dread and panic. At the same time, there was something that told Riley that Maya was tired of running.

"Tell me honestly. Do you like my uncle?" Riley asked.

Maya bit her lip. And then she released all her pent up feelings in one big sigh. "It's more than that, Riles." So quiet, so soft.

Riley took a deep breath and pushed forward. "You've always made it known that you like him. Why have you stopped-"

"Because now that it's more than just a crush," Maya suddenly burst out, "I realised that it would only hurt more when..."

She trailed off, staring at her hands in her lap.

"When what?" Riley said softly.

Maya remained quiet, fiddling with her fingers. She straightened up and looked straight at Riley.
"Tell me something, Riles. How old are we?"

"Fifteen," Riley replied. Start simple then get to the point. Riley always liked that.

"And how old is Josh?"

"Eighteen."

"Eighteen," Maya repeated. "And what is the difference between our ages?"

"Three years," Riley murmured. "Look, Maya, why does the age difference matter-"

"The age difference didn't matter back then!" Maya exclaimed. "I made my crush obvious, because that's all it was: a crush. A silly little puppy love. Deep inside, I knew we would never be together, but it was nice to have that crush. Made me feel excited. Because I knew they wouldn't be real."

"Until they were," Riley said quietly. Maya nodded, swallowing thickly. "Riley, have they ever let us out of here?"

"No, but what does this-"

"When will they let us out?"

"Eighteen," Riley said, finally realising where this was headed.

"Exactly. Josh is leaving next summer, Riles," Maya said, sounding so sad, and torn. "We will still be here. And I've been avoiding him because-"

"When he leaves, it will hurt more," Riley finished. Everything clicked into place. Maya had never dealt well with people who just... left. That's why she pushed Josh away. So that leaving her would be less of a problem.

Riley felt a wave of sadness and disappointment in herself wash over her. How hadn't she seen this before?

Maya was silent as they stared at each other. Emotion swam in her clear, bright blue eyes.

"We only get out in three years, Riles. By then, he'll be twenty-one. He'll be in a great college, meeting great people and other girls. Normal girls. Not like us. We can't see him, talk to him, be with him for three years. And if I start something now, it will be too much when it ends," Maya said, her voice shaking.

Riley didn't know what to say. "Maybe he can visit-"

"He can't," Maya sighed. "I've already asked. You can't come back unless you want to work here. And I want more for him than to be trapped here forever."

"Then treasure what you have left!" Riley insisted. "Tell him. Spend as much time as you can together. Don't lose him yet."

"He was never mine, Riles," Maya whispered. "Better to let go now. I don't want to bear that pain. And I don't want him to carry that burden."

Silence passed over them. Riley clung onto the last string of hope, she only thing me she could say to convince her best friend to tell Josh about her feelings.

"But Maya, you love him."

Maya's eyes welled up with tears. She forced a smile. "I know. But, hope is for suckers, right?"

Riley pulled Maya into a hug, and Maya blinked her tears away. They sat there in their embrace, as the hands on the clock ticked passed five, and the amber rays of the descending sun coloured everything around them gold.

Aw :( This was quite a sad chapter, but I quite like it. I hope you guys liked it too! What do you think Maya's gonna do about Josh?

Until the next chapter :)

- malenburke