AN: Work has been crazy this week, but I wanted to get an update out as soon as possible. So here's the beginning of the next morning. I'm hoping to get a couple chapters up this weekend, but we will see how it all works out. Enjoy! Thanks for the support!
Tuesday, July 1st 8:00 a.m.
Cedar Point County Park, where they planned on spending the day hiking and picnicking in the woods and along the beach, was about 45 minutes away, and even though they didn't plan on leaving until 10:30 or so, Maya was already up and ready. She had on her favorite pair of sneakers, some cut-off jean shorts, and a fitted Aerosmith T-shirt that she found in a thrift shop. She French braided her hair into pigtails and put on light makeup, knowing they would be outside most of the day.
She had a hard time sleeping last night after her conversation with Smackle. She thought long and hard about her relationship with Lucas. Her favorite thing was that they could tangle, she would tease him, and he would take it.
But was that really enough to build a relationship on? She knew Lucas was a nice guy. He treated her well. He was good to his friends. Obviously he was attractive, but did they have any real sort of connection, besides what they had through Riley?
It was their mutual love of Riley that first brought them into each other's orbit. She spent the majority of 7th grade doing whatever she could to support her best friend's crush. She teased him back then because he let her, because he could take it, unlike her two other friends. It was nice to have someone around who seemed to never be bothered by the rough edges of her personality.
And Riley never seemed bothered either. She always allowed the two of them to have their games and jokes. She never imposed on them or got jealous. Riley always trusted her intentions and saw them as innocent. Weren't they innocent always innocent?
She needed to talk to Riley.
Deciding that it couldn't wait, she crossed the hallway and walked straight into Riley's room without knocking. Much to her surprise, Riley and Smackle were both up and dressed for the day. Riley was wearing a pair of capri leggings with an empire-waist shirt that tied in the middle. Her hair was piled high on top of her head. Smackle had on a flowered tanktop that Maya was pretty sure belonged to Riley and some high-waisted black shorts.
They were giggling about something as Riley curled Smackle's hair. Looking at the two of them, Maya felt a bit replaced. When was the last time they acted so comfortable around each other?
"Hey, guys..." Maya said uncertainly.
"Maya! I thought I was going to have to come wake you!" Riley exclaimed, sounding genuinely cheerful.
"No, I've been up for a while," she said, indicating her outfit, makeup, and hair.
"We woke up early, too," Smackle replied.
"There! All done," Riley said with a flourish of her styling wand. "Farkle isn't going to know what hit him!"
Maya looked confused. "I thought we were going on a hike."
Smackle smiled. "We are, but after the picnic Farkle and I are going to try to find some butterflies. There are some longwings in the area that neither one of us have in our collections."
"Oh, do you two need help?" Maya asked.
Smackle shook her head, standing up. "Honestly, I'm looking forward to a romantic afternoon of catching insects with my guy."
"Romantic?" Maya questioned with an eyebrow raised.
"Well, I think it's sweet that you two have so much in common! You guys are so perfect for one another!"
Maya spared a glance to Riley's already-made bed, the purple cat proudly sitting in the middle. "Speaking of perfect, did you have fun last night, Riles?"
Riley smiled at the cat before turning back to Maya with a passive look on her face. "It was fun. You know how much I love the boardwalk."
"Me, too! I had so much fun kicking Zay's butt! Although, I think he let me win the tie-breaker... It was that shooting game, and he's from freaking Texas!"
All three girls laughed. "Let's go down and get some breakfast."
"Riley, can you hold on a second? I really want to talk to you."
Riley exchanged a glance with Smackle. "Well, I don't want our breakfast to get cold."
"It will be real quick, honey. I promise."
Smackle smiled at the two girls before bringing her hand to Riley's shoulder. "I'll save you some pancakes."
She rushed out of the room, scooping up the two boys as on her way to the patio where Grace had a breakfast buffet all set up, and her boyfriend was waiting.
She gave Farkle a hug and told the boys that the other two girls would be down in a minute, smiling at the thought that her plotting might actually work out this time.
Back in Riley's room, the two girls stood awkwardly. "What's up, Maya?"
Maya plopped down the bed, taking the cat in her hands. "I love you, Riles."
Riley came to sit next to her. "Well, I love you, too, Peaches."
"And you love Lucas."
Riley was silent.
"I don't know if I love him," Maya continued. "But I know you do. You always have."
Riley shrugged, not making eye contact.
"I don't want to stand in the way of that anymore," she said, reaching out to grab her sister's hand, but Riley had shot up quickly.
"God, Maya. Don't do this."
"Do what?" she asked, sounding confused.
"Don't play the martyr, giving me Lucas, like he is just a skirt that you think looks better on me."
"That's not what I'm doing. I'm trying to do the right thing."
Riley laughed humorlessly. "The right thing? How is you stepping back the right thing?"
She could feel herself losing control. The tight hold she had on her emotions pressing down until everything squeezed around it, but she found herself not caring. "If you step back, you win. I may have Lucas, but I will always wonder if he wants you. It will be this huge wedge between me and him. We'll break up, clearing the way for the two of you."
Maya stood up this time. "How could you say that? How could you think that? I'm saying you can have Lucas. Forever. If you date a guy, I would never, ever date him."
Riley laughed again. "Well, I already dated Lucas, and look where we are now."
Maya shook her head, the shock evident all over her face. "That's not the same thing. I am trying to make up for all this. I didn't know."
"Come on, Maya. You knew. You were already starting to develop feelings for him, so you came up with that brother crap to make yourself feel better. I let you believe it because I wanted you to be happy. I stepped back for you at my own expense, and you just let me."
Maya stood there, feeling like she had been slapped in the face, wondering how everything went so wrong. "I'm sorry, Riley. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I'm trying to make it right, doesn't that count for something?"
"The only way you can make this right is by letting Lucas decide now. I need to know who he wants to be with, if he really wants me. We will never work out if he has unresolved feelings for you"
Maya was quiet for a long moment, so long Riley thought the conversation was over and headed towards the door. "Lucas is going to choose you, Riley."
"Oh, I see what this is now. We spent some time together last night, and you got jealous. You're stepping back to save face."
"That's not what I'm doing, Riley! Even if he chooses me, I won't date him. I don't know how I feel about him, but I know how I feel about you, and hurting you isn't something I do. It's not in my job description."
With her hand on the doorknob, not facing Maya, she responded softly, "Well, then you're fired because all you've done is hurt me for months."
With that, Riley walked out the door, leaving behind a devastated Maya, who clutched the purple cat and promptly burst into tears.
AN: What'd you think? This was another chapter that I did not have fun writing for multiple reasons. I think it's important that Maya and Riley fight because there's so much not being said otherwise, but it's hard to write them fighting because we really never see it happen and it hurts my heart a bit. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for sticking with me on this journey! See you soon!
