A/N: See? That wasn't too long... This story only has a handful of chapters left, so I hope you enjoy! I have links to the dresses in the Tumblr-published version of the story! (Username: lileystown)

Podcast #8

"Tonight's the night, my dear Patriots. After a devastatingly unsurprising forfeit from Channing Yang early this morning, the Homecoming dance is tonight and the crème de la crème of senior girls will be crowned as our queen. Metaphorical, obviously. Even if Queen M is nominated and loses, no one can take that title from her. Not even if the winner is her former best friend and current rival. By the way, did anyone actually see that coming? Matthews over our dear, sweet Sarah Wyatt? People are clearly looking to create an iconic rivalry. Well, here you go, folks: tonight tonight at 8 P.M. half of the old dynamic duo will win. But what will they lose?"

Riley and Isadora arrived at the dance together, as they planned. Sarah and the rest of the cheerleaders tried to convince her to get with ready them, but Riley stuck to her guns and insisted she and Is needed each other. Is's hair was half pinned up and carefully curled, and she looked drop-dead gorgeous in a white-and-nude lacy halter dress that they'd found a week before. The back of the dress was held by a few thin straps, which was almost out of her comfort zone, but Isadora rocked it.

Isadora had found the perfect berry pink high-low dress for Riley. She'd said in an exaggerated voice at the mall, "Show off your gams a little! Show 'em why you'll be queen!"

And she left her hair all down, in loose curls, and her eye make-up was bold, complete with a little dangerous winged eyeliner. The pair kept their arms linked, which was basically second nature by now, and walked over to the cheer squad huddling in the corner. Riley gushed, "Hey guys, you all look great."

Sarah, in a high-slit black dress, squealed over the girls, "And you look amazing, Riles! You are so gonna win tonight."

Bashfully, she looked at her nude heels, "No, I have no chance against Channing. You're wearing a two-piece! No one else can pull that off the way you do."

"Oh, thanks, Riles!" Chan gushed. "But I'm not in the running for queen anymore, I had to drop out this morning."

"What?" Oh no. "Why? What happened?"

"I want you to win. Not Maya. It needs to be a cheerleader, and we'd split the vote."

"You could've told me," she whined, "I would've dropped out for you."

"Don't be silly, Riley," Rebecca said patronizingly, "everyone wants to see the Great Homecoming Clash between you and Maya. They want drama."

"Yeah, it's like you don't even listen to that gossip podcast that's been going around school. Whoever's behind it is a genius," Sarah said emphatically, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "They've been detailing the feud between your former friends and you for the past two months."

Riley had noticed a recent spike in her hits whenever she talked about her old group of friends, but she didn't make a strong connection until now. It was like her life was a show for them to feed on. "Send me the link later. I'd wanna hear that."

"Yes, of course! As long as you give us the scoop about how you and Zay and Farkle are all friends again before the school gossip finds out and tells everyone."

"Especially if you and Friar get back together." The squad all sighed, swooning at the thought of her and Lucas's reunion. So weird.

"Yeah, Sarah. You guys are my friends," she sincerely reminded them, "I tell you guys almost everything."

"Operative word being almost, Riles," Chan emphasized. "You haven't told us anything about the advanced government project you're all working on together. And how that's affecting you? We care about you and I know I didn't make much of an effort last week when you were out of it.…"

"It's okay." Riley glanced at Is and then around at her cheer team. Her friends. "I'm glad. I love you guys."

The squad and Is stayed in the corner catching up as Riley detailed parts of her conversations with Zay, Farkle, and Lucas until their dates came one-by-one, whisking them away to the dance floor and whatever Top 40 song was blasting from the ballroom's speakers. Right as she was being lead away, Chan leaned to whisper in her ear, "Lucas has been watching you all night. Give the boy a chance."

Lucas, Zay, and Farkle were at the designated snack table, munching on all the free food they could. Sneaking up behind them, Riley lowered her voice and menacingly said, "Think you're eating a bit too much, boys?"

The blond Texan flinched. "Holy shit, Riles!"

"Told you I could be a hoodlum."

"You certainly are." His gaze slowly dropped down, soaking in every aspect of her dress — of her exposed skin. And she reddened. "Y-you look gorgeous."

"Thanks, Friar. You clean up pretty good too." She was about to turn to Farkle and Is, but they had already scurried off to do a slow dance in the middle of the room. "You too, Zay. Where's Maya?"

"You're too sweet, Sugar. Maya's off voting for queen with her art gang. It's just little ole me right now." He tugged at his blazer, fixing it back up, and flashed a smile at her. Zay gestured towards his blonde beauty, who was in the coolest homecoming dress of the night. Maya was wearing a white lace and black slip-layered dress, with thin crossed straps over her bare back. With a wink, he said, "But I'll just let you and Lucas catch up again after this morning."

The boy was gone in a flash and soon it was just her and Friar. But this time she didn't feel like running. She was here with him. "Did you- Did you want to dance?"

Her heart was pounding — she couldn't believe the words spilling out of her mouth. Lucas did a double take and stuttered, "Y-Yeah, I do. Definitely."

Riley took him by the wrist - she wasn't quite ready for holding hands - and led him to the middle of the dance floor. It was a fast song, so they didn't have to touch, but with the surrounding crowd pressed against them, they didn't have much of a choice. She'd rather be uncomfortably close to Lucas than to the grinding, horny teenagers she affectionately knew as her classmates. As they awkwardly shimmied and jumped to the beat together (or rather, bounced in Riley's case), their old friends eventually joined them. This is nice, she thought. It was what she wanted: seeing Lucas in a better perspective without the pressure of him expecting a romantic reunion.

But the music switched and I Don't Want to Miss a Thing trickled into the room, prompting every pair around them to wrap their arms around each other for a close embrace, including Farkle and Is. As much as Riley's heart lifted at the thought of being in Lucas's arms again—

"Riles?" Lucas shouted, breaking her thoughts and the soft rock ballad. "Let's get some punch!"

She followed him off the dance floor, a little disappointed at their short moment. But as they walked towards the refreshments table, she heard a loud voice booming behind her. "What the fuck, Riley?"

A furious queen bee was storming towards them, eye blazing and blonde curls flowing wildly. Maya's hair almost reminded her of Medusa, the way it moved around her head like it was just as angry as the girl it was attached to. But the queen shouted again, "How could you?"

"Don't wanna close my eyes

I don't wanna fall asleep…"

The ballad kept booming, but somehow Maya seemed to be louder, like usual. Every student and chaperone stopped moving, all attention directed to her. But it wasn't like she noticed, Riley observed, probably because she was used to it.

"You can forgive him and Farkle, but when it comes to us, I'm not even worth the effort?"

"You gave up on us long before I did, Maya Hart. So you've got a lot of fucking nerve accusing me of treating our old friendship like it was nothing."

"Ever since we started this damn group your dad put us in, you won't even make eye contact with me. You talk to Zay, you hold hands with Smackle, and now you're back together with Friar? How is that fucking fair? Why don't I get something too?"

Riley didn't feel like correcting Maya, especially not in front of the eavesdropping crowds that were all clearly listening in. Oh Monday was going to be hell. "Because you never asked. Maya, it's really that simple, okay? You expect everyone to adapt for your needs, to give you what you want, to treat you the way you demand. Shawn and Katy's wedding wasn't about you and yet, it was. Texas should've been about Lucas and Tombstone, but it wasn't. The "triangle" was about you finding yourself, no matter the cost. And when Lucas chose me, it was still about you."

"That's not—"

"You take up too much space, Maya!" She yelled, clearly exasperated. "And that kills me, because you shouldn't have more of my heart than I do."

"You take up so much of my heart too: I told Lucas that he already made a decision and that he should go tell you. That he should get to open up about his feelings and say what he needed to say."

"Yeah, you told him, after you broke me." Riley shook her head in disbelief. "And you never even cared. I admit I pushed you two to try dating and I lied by saying I loved him like a brother, but you were my best fucking friend. I knew how you felt, because I knew you. But how did I get away with pretending I felt nothing for Lucas? How did you not know?"

"You can't just expect me to know—"

"But you expected me to know to come running back to you? That you were hurt that I yelled at you for the first time at the ski lodge? What have you ever sacrificed for me?"

Dodging the question, she answered, "At least I don't have to be right all the time! Like you get to fucking be."

"Of course, how could I forget? 'When being right is more important than being friends, that's the end of being friends.' News flash, Maya: you can be right and stay friends. They're not mutually exclusive."

"So what? You get to be right and keep me after yelling?"

She could vaguely hear the chaperones on stage trying to get everyone's attention to announce this year's Homecoming King and Queen. But everyone else knew the important announcements were happening with them. "Yeah, especially if you set precedent by taking what's mine and keeping me around."

"That's it? It's all my fault? You end us, and I'm wrong?" Maya looked around at their sort of mended group. "And let me guess, you're all on her side."

While most of them avoided eye contact with the livid queen, Isadora spoke up first. "Well, Riley did admit that if she had told you the truth from the very beginning, everything else could've been avoided. But you haven't even admitted to doing anything wrong, Maya. And that's not okay."

Zay put his arm around his girlfriend and said, "Babe, I love you. And I'm always with you, even when you're wrong. But look, y'all both need to apologize to each other. Neither of you is blameless."

"Sounds like Riley is."

Slowly, he reasoned, "She already admitted her faults, though that does not excuse her from an apology. You need to do the same, babe."

Maya scowled, clearly ignoring him, and spat, "So Riley's the hero and I'm the villain. That's how this ends?"

"Stop being the victim, Maya. Grow up."

She wasn't sure who said it (okay, it definitely wasn't Is), but she regretted it for them. Maya's face crumbled, causing her own heart to drop into dark nothingness.

"No."

"Maya—" she started to say, but was interrupted by the chaperones on stage who finally managed to get the crowd's attention.

"Abigail Adams Patriots, please. Please give me your attention so we can re-announce your Homecoming King and Queen. Zay Babineaux and Riley Matthews. Congratulations!"

The cheerleaders erupted with applause and screams and helped usher Riley and Zay away from their shattered friend group and drama. The first chaperone - Riley never caught their names - placed the sash over her shoulder and the crown on her head, careful not to muss up her hair, as the second crowned Zay king. "You may dance with each other or with your dates now."

As Zay took her hand and guided her off the stage, Riley said, "You should dance with Maya."

Silently he agreed and took off towards her. As she watched their arms instinctively wrap around each other, she realized the rest of her peers were watching her and she remembered that she'd arrived without a date. Well, with Is, but that probably didn't count since she'd been attached to Farkle all night. Riley was about to step away but Farkle popped up next to her and offered his arm. "Lucas was debating whether he should save you again, like he did at the rally, but before I made a decision before he could."

"Do you think we're being too hard on Maya?" She blurted. Farkle put her hand on his shoulder and gently led her in a waltz.

"No. You were right. She takes up so much and expects us to fall in line like the rest of her court. She's always expected us to make room for her and let her do things her way. And we let her, because we love her."

Because we love her. Of all the things said tonight, that rang the truest. Her heart would always be open for Maya — it was just a matter of making sure her own heart was taken of too. How could she love someone else so deeply if she couldn't love herself first?