RE-UPDATED BECAUSE OF TYPOS AND PLOT HOLES!
Lots of Rilaya, Joshaya, Riarkle. Wedding bells are in the air, and both Maya and Farkle have tough decisions to make.
So I feel like this story has been focusing a little too much on Riley (not a bad thing) so I wanted to shine a little light on the other characters that I introduced earlier in the story and catch you all up on what they're up to.
Hope you enjoy!
-Lauren.
With Riley in town, Maya was taking advantage of the fact that she could use her best friend's help with wedding preparations. But she was still having difficulty deciding whether Kaelyn or Riley should be her maid of honor. She was knee-deep in wedding catalogues when Kaelyn bounced through the door with lattes. "Hello!" she called, before coming to a stop in front of Maya and dropping her mouth. "Oh, Maya, honey, your outfit," Kaelyn sighed.
Maya glanced down at her shorts and top. "What about them?" she asked. "I just threw this on, it's not like I'm going out."
"Can you at least change into something that won't make my eyes bleed?" Kaelyn pleaded.
Maya threw a pillow at her. "Get a grip."
Kaelyn relented and joined the growing mess on the coffee table. "Where's Riley?" she asked, dropping the lattes off on a side table to avoid spilling them on the plans.
"She's with her parents right now, but she said she's coming," Maya replied, crunching some numbers on a calculator and making a note on her clipboard. "Okay, so of the three venues Josh and I have narrowed down to, the largest venue can fit six hundred people, which is how many people we're planning to invite, but it's the most expensive. The second venue is the smallest of the three but it meets our budget. But it can only fit two hundred people. The last venue fits three hundred people and is slightly over our venue budget."
Kaelyn studied the clipboard intently. "Are you sure you're going to need space for six hundred people? I'd go with the three hundred one. Narrow your guest list down to 150 each, and if it happens to exceed 300 by ten or so people, I'm sure they wouldn't have a problem squeezing a couple more chairs in."
"That's not the issue, Kae, it's a fire hazard," Maya sighed. "The hall isn't licensed to exceed a certain limit."
"Have you picked out bridesmaid dresses?" Kaelyn asked.
"Well, Josh and I decided on light blue," Maya said, "but as for the style, no, I haven't."
"Maya!" Kaelyn exclaimed. "Your wedding is in three months and you don't have dresses? Do you even have your own?"
Maya leaned back. "I have an appointment later today. And yes, I picked my dress out, today's just a fitting."
"And you were planning on mentioning this to me when, exactly?" Kaelyn asked, crossing her arms.
Maya grinned sheepishly. "Now?"
Kaelyn rolled her eyes. "Is Riley coming?"
"Here or to the bridal store?" Maya asked. "I asked her this morning if she would come, I thought it'd be better to tell you in person. I only booked the appointment last night."
Kaelyn shook her head at Maya. "You're cutting it so close, Maya."
Maya whacked her with the clipboard. "Stop berating me and start helping, or you're not coming."
Riley stared at the vast amount of dresses in the bridal shop. She, Kaelyn, Isadora and one of Maya's friends from RISD, Annette, were waiting for Maya to come out in her wedding dress. None of them could believe that Maya had picked out a dress without anyone with her, but Riley trusted Maya. She was sure the dress looked stunning.
Almost unconsciously, Riley began making a list of friends she would ask to be bridesmaids at her wedding. Maya, Izzy, Aspen, Jolie, Addie, Emily, Kendall... She almost laughed out loud. She hoped, whoever her future husband would be, that he would have enough friends to compensate for the amount of bridesmaids she would want. Who would be her maid of honor, Maya or Aspen?
Probably Maya, right? Aspen would understand.
Or maybe she wouldn't.
Riley frowned.
"Are you ready?" Maya asked from behind the curtain, shaking Riley from her thoughts.
"Yes!" She and Kaelyn said simultaneously, laughing afterwards.
"All right, here we go!" Maya said, and the curtain opened and she stepped out. Riley gasped. So did everyone else.
"I know I doubt your fashion sense most of the time," Kaelyn began, "but I promise I won't say another word anymore."
Maya curtsied. "That's high praise from a fashion designer."
All Riley could do was stare at the dress. It wasn't quite white, maybe an off-white, but the colour balanced perfectly against Maya's pale skin. She touched the dress. "Is this silk?" she asked.
"Yeah," Maya said, grinning. "Josh might murder me when he sees the bill for this."
Kaelyn studied the dress from her seat. "Peony and ivory, flounced silk organza and tulle. A-line bridal gown. Strapless sweetheart neckline with a draped bodice and jeweled trim at the natural waist."
"Are you a psychic?" Maya asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nah, I just saw it in one of the catalogues on the coffee table," Kaelyn admitted. "But Maya, this is gorgeous."
"Absolutely," Annette gushed. "Josh will faint when he sees you."
Maya kicked at the hem. "I still have to get it hemmed maybe a couple of inches. But I take it you all like it?"
Riley nodded vigorously. Isadora grinned. "It is an excellent dress for your stature."
"Great," Maya said. "Now, for your bridesmaid dresses," she said, reaching past the curtain and pulling out a royal blue dress. "they will look like this."
Kaelyn made a face, and everyone laughed.
"Come on," Maya pleaded. She wiggled the hanger. "It's chiffon."
"I like it," Annette said. "It's really simple, and there's lace on the shoulder straps!"
"And besides, you're not all wearing the same colour," Maya added. "Annette, you're wearing royal blue."
"Awesome," Annette said, jumping up to take the dress.
"Kae, you're in this aqua colour, I thought it'd look nice," Maya said, giving Kaelyn her dress. "Izzy, you're in sky blue, and Riley, you'll be wearing teal."
They all got their dresses and disappeared into the dressing rooms to put them on. Riley really wished she wasn't wearing teal, but she had to admit she didn't look too bad in it. She would much prefer the royal blue Annette was wearing, or even Izzy's light blue.
"And you're all going to be wearing different shoes," Maya added when they all came out, gesturing to the four pairs of white heels on the floor. "Pick one."
As the afternoon continued - the girls took Maya out for afternoon tea to celebrate - Riley was grateful for the opportunity to be rid of Julian for the time being. So far, Farkle had been the only to give her advice she could take.
"Riley, you just have to trust you'll be able to figure things out," Topanga had said.
"The world knows what it's doing," Cory had added.
Riley had groaned. "But I need to know what I'm going to do before I go back to California! If I don't tell Julian anything, it's just going to get worse."
And she'd come out of the conversation without knowing what to do. Her phone buzzed halfway through tea, and it was Lucas. How's everything?
It's getting there, she responded. I still don't know what I'm going to do.
I heard he found you.
Riley sighed before sending a quick response: He didn't do anything. Please don't flip out.
He kissed you, Riley. I think that's something to be concerned about.
Riley winced. Did Maya tell you?
Don't be mad at her, I asked her to tell me the truth. Riley, we're really worried about you.
Don't be, Riley replied. Give me time to figure things out.
But the truth was, Riley was running out of time.
While Riley and Maya were out, Farkle was holed up in his office avoiding the world and the responsibilities that came along with it. He knew that Izzy was in town for Maya's bridal shower and was desperate to see her, but how would he react? Would he run away? Would he act normally and pretend like nothing was wrong? Would he crack under the pressure?
"Or," he muttered, "I could stay up here and hide like a coward."
Which was exactly what he was doing.
The thing was, he wasn't sure why he still felt this way. He and Izzy had parted ways long ago, but it still hurt to see her so happy with someone else. He was happy that she and Zay had found love with each other. But it seemed like everyone but him was finding love these days. Lucas had Aspen, Maya had always had Josh, and even Riley had Julian to a certain point. Even Charlie was married.
All he wanted was a little love of his own.
He wasn't sure why he'd said what he had to Riley the other day. He was just so frustrated to learn that she wasn't seeing things the way she usually did. She was usually extremely perceptive on most fronts. But he surprised himself by agreeing to help her. It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was that he was scared something else would come out of it. He wouldn't be able to help her at all, or he'd fall in love with the one girl he couldn't have.
Lucas was sitting on the pier with Charlie, staring at his phone. Jolie and Aspen were in the water. He was worried about Julian's effect on Riley. He and Charlie were discussing what they should do.
"Honestly, I want to help," Charlie was saying as Lucas returned his attention to him. "But Riley's a smart girl, and she knows better than anyone else that she has to figure this out on her own."
"He kissed her," Lucas said flatly.
"And without a doubt, that probably confused the hell out of her," Charlie agreed. "But Riley has friends in New York, and they can help diffuse the situation. Maya and Josh are there, her parents are there, Farkle is there."
"I guess," Lucas said doubtfully. "I'd really like to get my hands on that creep," he muttered, cracking his knuckles.
"He's not worth it, Lucas," Charlie said.
"But she is," Lucas said.
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Do you still like her?"
Lucas' eyes went wide. "What? Of course not," he scoffed. "I'm in love with Aspen. Riley is one of my best friends, and I don't want to see her get hurt again."
Charlie nodded and didn't say anything else. "Just don't actually beat him up if you see him. We don't need you to go to jail."
Final Outfits: www dot polyvore dot com slash cgi slash set?id=203794933 (when you see the bridesmaid dress in the collage, click on it, and then click on "More Info at ". You'll see all the different colours for that one dress, and the corresponding dresses each girl is wearing.)
QUESTIONS:
Does Lucas like Riley even though he's with Aspen?
Does Farkle like Riley?
Does Riley like Farkle?
Who will be Maya's maid of honor at her wedding, Kaelyn or Riley?
And what will Riley do about Julian?
Let me know in the comments what you think! -L
