Title: To the Girl Who Believed

Summary: Lucas writes a letter to Riley expressing how he felt about their fight after their first day of high school didn't go as planned. But when someone else finds the letter, could relationships be changed forever because of it?

–

Lucas peeked his head around the set of lockers he was hiding behind, making sure that no one could see him - especially Riley and Maya. He wanted to check up on them, but he wasn't ready to venture into the section of the school that those irritating seniors called "the hole" just yet. Going down there meant giving up, and that meant that his entire argument with Riley would have been for nothing.

He glanced down at the envelope he was clutching tightly in his hands. It felt like it weighed the equivalent of an elephant or semi-truck or ten thousands skyscrapers. But maybe that was simply because of the words the letter inside the envelope contained. He quickly read over the contents of letter one last time, making sure that he had included everything he wanted to say. There were words in that letter that couldn't be taken back. Big, bold, words that could be the start – or end – of something that meant so much to him.

Dear Riley,

I'm not really sure why I'm writing you this. In fact, I'll probably tear it to shreds as soon as I'm finished, but I needed to tell you – I needed you to know. I'm sorry that I hurt you. When I chose my pride and independence over sticking by your side, I chose not to believe in you. And I made the wrong choice. I knew that I was being selfish and unreasonable. I knew that it wasn't your fault that our first day of high school didn't go the way we imagined it. I mean, let's face it, we had this unattainable idea of what we wanted this day to be like – of what we wanted high school to be. It was never going to be what we wanted it to, regardless of whether we stayed in that hole for days or weeks or our entire freshman year. Things were always going to change, but I think that I let myself forget that one thing didn't have to – us. Our friendship.

But see, that's just it – friendship. Friends. We already said that's not what we are. We're more than that. You're more than that to me. And I think that our fight helped me realize that I never want to let you down again. I always want to be there for you. But not only that... I want to be with you, Riley. You. There, I said it. And I know this whole situation is complicated and we still have a lot to work out. But I needed you to know that you mean everything to me. And I hope that your faith that everything happens for a reason, and that all people are truly good at heart, and that second chances and destinies and fates do exist, still hold true to how you feel about me, because I know that's how I feel about you.

So this is what I need from you. I need you to never stop being exactly who you are. I need you to never stop believing in the impossible. And if I'm lucky – truly, unbelievably lucky – I can only hope that you'll never stop believing that you and I will be together someday. I'm writing this to the girl who believes. So please, believe in me.

Sincerely,

Lucas

Lucas stepped forward, with every intention of handing the letter to Riley. He had every intention of telling her how sorry he was for everything that had happened. But then he saw something that made him stop cold. It was faint, an after thought to anyone who wasn't paying attention, but it was there. A glimmer of doubt, of defeat, crossed Riley's face as she rested her head in between the slits in the railing. He had caused that. He had caused that feeling of helplessness and pain. He had caused the girl who believed in Pluto and strangers and friendship, to lose hope in everything that was important to her.

He had hurt her.

How could he ever ask her to forgive him for that?

"Lucas, you coming?" Zay appeared at the end of the hallway, books in hand, ready to walk to history together.

Lucas moved the letter from one hand to the other as he contemplated what to do. He wanted Riley to know everything that the letter contained. But he couldn't give it to her.

"Yeah, just give me a second," Lucas turned around and opened his locker. He took one more look at the letter. If he wasn't going to give it to her now, he didn't think he ever would.

"Dude, hurry up, class is about to start!" Zay warned him.

"Okay, I'm coming, hang on," Lucas grabbed his history book from the top shelf and shoved the letter in between two of the books he didn't need until tomorrow. As he spun around, he collided with a crowd of students rushing to get to their classes. Lucas' elbow slammed into the inside of his locker, and the contents of the top shelf spilled onto the ground. Lucas scrambled to pick up everything as fast as he could and quickly threw it back into his locker. He slammed the door shut and took a deep breath as he waited for the crowd to pass.

"Took you long enough," Zay joked, lightly nudging Lucas' shoulder with his elbow.

"Sorry, got caught up," Lucas took one last look at Riley before rounding the corner to head to their class. He and Zay kept their eyes straight ahead as they passed the "hole" without another thought.

–

Once the hallway had cleared, Maya practically ran up the stairs – happy to be out of that stupid hole.

"Come on, Riles, we've got Matthews next and you know how much of a pain he can be when we're late," Maya made her way to her locker, but turned back to wink at Riley as she followed close behind her.

"You go ahead, Maya. We've been in that hole a long time," Riley made a face and shuffled off to the bathroom.

Maya smiled to herself and shook her head at her best friend. She grabbed the books she needed from her locker, and slammed the door shut without worrying about the noise. With a smirk on her face, she sauntered down the hallway to wait for Riley outside of the bathroom, but stopped when something on the floor caught her eye.

"What's this? A note?" she whispered to herself excitedly. She bent down to pick up the letter, examining it closely. The envelope was blank – no address, no name, nothing.

"A mystery letter. How interesting," Maya flipped it over, preparing to open it, when something stopped her.

Maya would never be able to explain why she didn't open the letter, but as she placed her hand on the flap to lift it open, she somehow just knew. She knew that this letter was not for her, but for someone else. And she knew that whoever wrote it only wanted that person to see it.

Riley skipped out of the bathroom, and Maya shoved the letter in her back pocket before she could see it.

"Ready?" Riley smiled at her and Maya did her best to smile back.

"Yeah, let's go," Maya muttered.

Maya would never admit this out loud, but there was a part of her – a part hidden so far deep beneath the surface that she never thought would rise to the top - that had secretly been waiting for a letter like this to appear in front of her someday. It was a letter that was not meant for her, but for her best friend. Maya shook this thought from her head, planning to never read it. Planning to give it to Riley and call that the end of that. But as they settled into their seats in history class, and Maya reached in her back pocket to hand her the letter, she froze. She didn't want things to change yet. She wasn't ready.

"Secrets, lies, keeping things from the people we care about. It never ends well. And we have history to prove it," Mr. Matthews, began as he paced back and forth in front of the classroom.

Maya sank further down into her chair, the guilt starting to set in. She was going to give Riley the letter. In fact, she would give it to her after school. And they would deal with whatever it contained, together. Riley was the girl who believed in everything, especially friendship. She would make sure that nothing would change between the two of them and Lucas. Maya was sure of it.

But when after school came around, she found herself staring at the letter in her hands, the white colored tint seeming much brighter under the fluorescents. She stared. And stared. And stared. Waiting for the courage she needed to hand the letter to Riley to come. But it never did. So she slid it into her locker, wondering if it ever would. Or if this would be another secret she kept hidden from everyone, to stay closest to the people she loved. As she shut her locker door, the sound of the 'click' seemed to answer this for her and she turned her back without giving it another thought.