Chapter Eleven

It wasn't long before Phoebe, Rachel, Monica and Riley were sprawled out on make shift beds that lined the living room floor. Monica was a little skiddish about the fact that they had to move the coffee table to make room for that fourth body. Normally, whenever the girls had nights like this, there was enough room without moving the coffee table, but now, well, Monica would get over it.

They had just started snacking on the popcorn when the apartment door swung open and in walked Joey and Chandler, smiles spread across their faces.

"Hey, we smelled popcorn and figured you ladies were gonna be watching a movie or something." Chandler announced.

"You must have forgotten to invite us or something, so, here we are!" Joey added as he jumped over the back of the sofa and landed hard, shoving his hand into the popcorn bowl. Chandler was just about to sit down beside him when Rachel and Monica jumped up and promptly chased them to the door. Riley and Phoebe had to stifle their giggles when they saw the looks of pure confusion and fear on the guys' faces.

"I kind of feel bad." Riley pointed out, still giggling a little. "Kicking them out like that."

"Oh whatever, they kick us out every time they watch Baywatch." Phoebe added. Riley shrugged and waited for Monica and Rachel to slam their apartment door and head back to their sleeping bags.

"Well, I made sure they won't be bothering us again." Rachel said proudly.

"How'd you do that?" Phoebe asked.

"I just told him the truth - that we were talking about girly stuff. Well, Joey wanted to stay, he said he wanted to hear the low-down on women, but when I threatened to never make him a sandwich again, he left. And Chandler, well you know, commitment issues, so he was already in his apartment before I could say two words more." Rachel replied with a laugh.

It didn't take long before Phoebe, Rachel and Monica went into their life stories beginning with high school about guys they had dated, relationships that had gone sour, what they had learned from them, what they found attractive in men and what turned them off entirely. Riley listened quietly without ever interrupting as she munched on her popcorn, eager to hear their stories and accounts. She had never heard things like this before, it wasn't as though her mother ever shared her dating stories with her daughter, Riley only knew what she saw.

"Right now, I'm dating a guy named Richard, you'll meet him soon, and Riley, he's the most fantastic guy I ever met!" Monica announced.

"Except for the fact that he's as old as her father." Phoebe pointed out.

"Ew, really?" Riley asked.

"Richard doesn't act old, though, I don't know, he's caring, and loving, and he treats me with respect." Monica replied.

"Yeah, Ross is the same way, and he's not bad in bed either." Rachel said without thinking and in a second, Monica was glaring at her with heat behind her eyes. Rachel felt her cheeks reddening and Riley watched while she tried to hold in her giggles.

"Anyway!" Monica exclaimed. "Our point in all of this is to show you how fun it can be to date. Even though some of the guys I've dated have been complete idiots, it's always fun to have guys noticing you and taking you out."

"Yeah, and who knows who you could meet. You could end up dating some really rich guy who buys you a boat!" Phoebe added randomly. Riley cleared her throat.

"Yeah, I get what you're saying. I don't know, it's just never been something I've really thought about, not a lot anyway. It just seems like a lot of heartache that's not worth it. I mean, yeah it could turn out really great, but what if it doesn't? Is it really worth it to let yourself be hurt like that if you can just avoid it?" She wanted to know.

"Of course there can be pain, but there can also be really good things about relationships. Even though some of my past relationships ended in pain, like when I almost married Barrie, there's a lot of things that I still enjoy thinking about. Things that helped me become a better person." Rachel pointed out.

"It's all a learning experience, Riley. The more you date, the more you figure out what you like in guys and what you don't like and it makes the next guy easier to find." Monica added.

"Yeah, but I still think you should go for the guy with the boat." Phoebe pointed out.

"Um, what guy?" Riley asked.

"The one you're gonna date. Come on, I've already got my heart set on having a boat, so date a guy who will give you a boat, please?" Phoebe asked. Riley only laughed.

"I doubt there are any guys at my school who have a boat, but I'll keep looking." She said sarcastically, but Phoebe was satisfied she actually meant it.

"Maybe we should give you some pointers on flirting!" Rachel exclaimed, changing the subject.

"Yes, yes! You have to flirt, it's how you get a guy's attention." Monica added. Riley shrugged.

"Yeah I know, no big deal, my mom does that with everything male that moves." She said, laughing a little. "Then she invites them back to the house like two seconds after she meets them. Are you saying I should bring guys home with me?"

Monica was taken aback. Boy, her aunt was just a player, it seemed. She shook her head.

"No, Riley." At least, not bring a guy home in the same context as her mother did. Maybe for homework, but seriously. "What I mean by flirting is just making yourself known to the guys. Make them look at you. Flip your hair a little, swing your hips, smile, wink, stare at them and then play coy."

"Coy?"

"Yeah, pretend like you aren't interested." Phoebe clarified.

"That makes no sense, I thought the point was to get their attention." Riley was confused.

"Guys love it when you play hard-to-get. You know, you go up to a guy, start flirting a little, ask him questions about his life, play with your hair, gaze into his eyes, and then pretend like you're not interested, walk away a little, and he'll chase you down." Rachel said, a dreamy glaze in her eyes.

"Yeah but what if he doesn't care, and thinks you're an idiot?" Riley asked.

"No guy is that big of an idiot." Phoebe guessed.

And so their conversation continued on into the night, more advice on flirting, examples from each of their own love lives (save Riley's) and pointers on the proper ways to flirt. They even had Riley do some role-playing, which ended up in fits of giggles and popcorn all over the place (to Monica's panic).

Eventually, Monica, Rachel and Phoebe fell asleep, but Riley lay awake, thinking over the conversations that had taken place that night. Sure, they had a lot of fun giggling and laughing at each other and themselves, but Riley truly did have a lot to think about that night. No, her mother had never had these kinds of conversations with her. Maybe dating wasn't as bad as it seemed. Maybe she could try flirting, maybe it could end up being fun.

Riley turned over and finally fell asleep, smiling, glad to have such wonderful people to impart their wisdom to her.