A/N: 1, 2, 3, 4, guess who's finally back for more? I am, am! XD In all seriousness, after a long hiatus, I am finally FINALLY back to posting these. And the chapters of this are gonna be much more frequent!
Also, for those who read Intercom but haven't checked since Sunday... I posted Chapter 17, huzzah!
With that said, on we go!
Disclaimer: Cartuneslover17 and I own Terracordis and our OCs, but Riley, Joy, and any other IO characters belong to Pixar.
"Hey. Get up, sleepyhead! Big day today!"
Riley opened her eyes slowly, shifting a little in her bed, noticing Joy gently shaking her awake and smiling at her. "What time is it?"
"7am," Joy giggled, "but the test starts at 8:30. Want to make sure you're prepared and look nice and all that!"
Riley rubbed her eyes and sat up, wincing slightly. Now that the test day was here, she felt excited and nervous at the same time. What if she was banned from taking the best because she was a part-human part-Terracordian... thing?
The thoughts swirling around her head must have been visible all over her face, because Joy laughed softly and patted her on the shoulder. "You'll do fine! We've all been teaching ya all the necessary stuff, you'll do great!"
But Riley felt more and more uncertain. What if she spontaneously forgot everything the moment the test was put in front of her?
But her more positive side assured her that wouldn't happen. Joy was right in that she had improved, on all fronts—even her relationships with Sadness and Fear! Well, mainly Sadness was the one she could call a friend now. Fear... well, he taught her, but still needed a bit of improvement in feeling brave around her.
At least it was a start.
As Delight and Joy quizzed Riley during breakfast, a ding sounded from Joy'scell phone. She picked it up and smiled, showing Riley the text that Sadness had sent:
Tell Riley I wish her good luck today on the test! I'd text her myself, but you know, she doesn't have a phone.
Riley felt her confidence brighten. Sadness wished her luck. She was rooting for her.
Riley decided at this point she could put Sadness on her list of friends.
Delight drove both of them to the school so Joy could continue quizzing Riley, feeling more confident that she would do well. The easy stuff was a breeze and though long-division was still a challenge she got many answers right.
Eventually, the car pulled up to the school and Joy helped Riley out, deciding to walk in with her.
"Good luck!"
As much as Riley wished Joy would remain by her side, this test required only her appearance. Joy promised she and her mom would be waiting outside, but the blonde felt even more dependent on her. Those moments she had been by herself were scary, and she was about to take a test that would determine her placement!
She held onto Joy's hand as they reached the main doors of the school. She squeezed it tighter once they entered, finding someone at the front desk. She was typing away on a computer before she looked up and noticed them. She glanced from Joy before her eyes fell on Riley. The girl tensed before the adult looked away. Although it had only lasted a couple of seconds, it was enough of a precaution.
"Hello!" Joy greeted cheerfully. "My friend is here to take a placement test." She gestured to Riley.
When the woman looked at her again, her lips curved in a sincere smile. Riley was surprised by this. And that smile didn't appear false either. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions.
"You must be Riley, right?" she asked gently. "A Mrs. Astar mentioned you wanted to enroll here."
Riley was unable to progress words, stunned. But she managed a nod, still holding onto Joy.
"Alrighty then," the woman said before getting up fro her seat. She picked up a thin packet from her desk along with a couple of pencils. "The testing room is this day. Guardians and friends can't exceed from this point." she added, glancing over at Joy.
Riley turned to her friend, her fingers still linked with hers. Joy simply smiled at her, giving her an encouraging nod.
"Mom and I will be waiting for you, okay?" she promised. "You go do well on that test. We'll be rooting for you."
The blonde watched as her hand slid out of hers, and Riley automatically followed the woman through a nearby doorway. Glancing over her shoulder, Joy gave her one last wave before Riley had to focus in front of her.
The room she was to test in looked like the inside of a classroom. Only a little more bare with white boards on the walls and a few posters. Desks were arranged, and the woman gestured for her to take one. Riley obeyed as she sat on the front row. The woman smiled at her before placing her packet and pencils on her table.
"There we go," she said. "You have two hours. Will that be enough for you?"
"Uh, sure..." Riley replied as politely as she could.
"Good," the woman said as she exited through the door. "I'll be in my desk if you need anything. Good luck on your test."
And she closed the door behind her, leaving Riley completely alone. The blonde gazed around the room, the bareness making it feel almost deserted. She turned to her packet, then reached over to flip to the first page.
The moment she was hit in the face with a math problem, all of what Joy and Delight had taught her immediately emerged. The first one was a multiplication equation. Sadness had taught her a great deal of this stuff, and if Riley just marked and answered the questions carefully on the side, she would be able to answer. Math always required having to doodle some work before answering.
She noticed that other problems required knowledge of division, along with addition and subtraction. Some were also math problems that required a little reading, like how many flowers were being sold and stuff. Thankfully, Sadness made her own word problems in which Riley managed to answer.
She decided to check the rest of the pages, psyche herself up and remember everything she was taught. The next portion was history related, which involved a lot of paragraphs to be read followed by dates and people. Fear had swallowed his anxiety enough to read her history about the world itself, especially around their city, which she took everything to heart. It was a short section, however.
The next portion was science, which did involve a little math because of the metric system. Delight helped her in this because she, of course, was a scientist. Riley was able to determine volume and mass, followed by learning more about gravity.
The final portion was reading. Short stories ranging from two to three pages, Riley knew this required a lot of patience and understanding. Fortunately for her, Joy influenced her about the thrill of reading. And these stories looked interesting, she doubted she would miss a thing.
Overall, the entire packet was at least thirty pages. And she had two hours.
A small yet confident smile merged onto her lips. Grabbing one of the perfectly sharpened pencils, she flipped back to the first page.
She could do this.
Riley tried to let herself relax, feeling more confident as the test went on. There were a few questions that she struggled on, but much to her relief, she felt that a good number of them were a breeze.
At least, she hoped they were. She remembered how Fear had warned her about how sometimes teachers tried to trip you up when it came to tests. She just had to hope that none were the case this time.
Giving her answers a quick double-check before the time was up, Riley then put the booklet and answer sheet into its evelope and handed it to the teacher.
The tangerine-haired woman smiled gently. "All finished?"
Riley nodded, managing a weak smile.
"Great," the receptionist said, taking the envelope from her and shaking her hand (which Riley felt surprised at). "I should be able to contact Delight about your results by tomorrow."
"Thanks," Riley said, an elated feeling rising in her chest. She had completed the test. And she didnt feel like she failed it! And the receptionist lady didn't flinch!
Maybe there was hope for her in this school after all.
"I'm sure you did great, Riley," the woman said with a gentle smile. "You're a bright girl."
"Bright?" Riley quickly glanced down at her skin, half-expecting to see her appearance having changed to be as luminescent as Joy's. Noticing that she still remained her same pale, solid color, she looked at the woman in confusion.
The woman laughed gently. "I meant that you seem like a very smart girl."
Riley felt a blush faintly appear on her face. This lady thought she was smart?
"You're in Delight's care, right?"
Riley nodded.
"She's been taking good care of you."
Riley made a mental note to tell Delight that. After all, the woman was right—though Riley was an experimental, half-human half-Terracordian being, Delight cared for and loved her as if Riley was her own daughter. "I'm lucky to be with her."
The woman offered Riley a kind smile. "And I'm sure she and Joy are lucky to have you. Oh! Tell Joy Ms. Optimism says hello! That's me, by the way."
"Were you her teacher?"
"Yup! 2nd grade, smart little girl. She outside waiting for you?"
"Yeah."
Ms. Optimism grinned. "I wish you all the best with your results, Riley. I'll be looking forward to seeing you around the school next week!"
Riley's mood just kept lifting. Ms. Optimism sounded like she genuinely meant it.
When Riley exited the school, she found a surprise waiting for her. Or rather, two surprises.
She had expected Joy and Delight, of course, but the two others present came as a shock.
"Sadness? Fear?"
Sadness waved a little and actually smiled, and even Fear managed a tiny grin.
"How'd it go?" Sadness asked, looking hopeful.
Riley found herself grinning. "I feel like I did pretty good!"
Joy grinned and ran over, giving Riley an eager high five. "Alright! I knew you could do it, Riley!"
Delight couldn't help but smile at the others congratulating her. "How about I take us all to a movie to celebrate?"
"Sounds great!" Joy exclaimed.
"Thanks, Mom!"
Everyone else turned at that sentence. It wasn't Joy who had referred to Delight as "Mom"—it was Riley.
Riley's eyes widened at what she had just blurted out.
Delight just stared at Riley, her jaw unhinged as she just processed the word. Joy, Fear, and Sadness were silent, unsure of what to make of this. Not that they were offended by it or anything, but they never expected anything like this.
Riley's cheeks flushed red. She had no idea why she said that. On the one hand, she knew that she had been constructed in a lab, not naturally born like everyone else—she was being looked after by the Astar family and nothing more. On the other hand, Delight had been nothing more than a true parental figure to her. Ever since Riley had been "born", she and her daughter were the first people to shower love over her head. Somehow the butterflies in Riley's stomach had just poured off the tip of her tongue, unable to hold back what was very significant to her.
"I...I'm sorry..." Riley muttered, casting her eyes downward. "I...I didn't mean..."
The next thing she knew, she was brought into a big hug. Riley's eyes widened, her arms suddenly draped over Delight's shoulders as the adult emotion wrapped hers around the waist. She had to bend down a little to meet Riley's height, but overall the hug was splendid and warm. And Riley found herself practically melting into her embrace.
Joy watched, almost tearfully. She had honestly hoped one day Riley would say that. Sadness and Fear just stood by, simply witnessing a moment neither had expected. They were unsure of how Anger and Disgust would react, however.
But reflecting on it, Fear realized he should have expected something like this. His father made it clear that since Delight took Riley under her wing, the child had been like a second daughter to her. Now it was clear that Riley felt that too.
Slowly breaking the hug, Delight looked into Riley's blue eyes that reminded her so much of Joy's.
"It's okay, sweetheart," Delight told her gently. She lifted Riley up, arms clasped around her as she smiled, fighting tears coming to her eyes. "I feel the same way."
The little blonde was unsure of what else to say. This was quite awkward, yet lovely in its own right. She was with Delight and Joy, the two people she was very blessed to have in her life. The same occurred for Sadness, and, of course, even Fear.
Delight just smiled at her. Although deep down her heart was breaking even more. As if it wasn't painful enough just thinking about it, just imagining having to lose one of her daughters would practically kill her.
Aggravation was wrong. Riley did have a real purpose for something in this world. But she doubt that would change his mind.
Fighting back the tears threatening the corners of her eyes, Delight grasped Riley's hand. Smiling wider, she turned to the others.
"So how about that movie?" she suggested, trying not to sniffle.
"We're in!" Joy chirped, acting more cheerful than ever, the glow becoming much brighter than the weather.
"Good," Delight said sweetly as she led them back to her car. "Afterwards, let's go have pizza." She looked down at Riley. "Meat special as usual?"
The blonde's eyes twinkled. "Definitely!"
"Okay, dear!" Delight said, ruffling her hair a bit.
After entering Delight's car and were now on the street, Fear glanced over at Sadness. Luckily, Joy was conversing with Riley, and the radio was turned way up for Delight to even hear them.
"I really hope Anger and Disgust don't think we ditched them," he said quietly to the blue emotion. "Has Joy spoken to them yet?"
"Disgust said she hasn't received one text," Sadness responded. "Anger's about to throw his phone against a wall because he's not getting anything."
Fear swallowed before glancing over at Joy. "I really hope all of us will hang out again."
"Including...?" Sadness inquired, jerking her head toward the individual sitting at the end.
"Yes," Fear sighed. "Especially her. I mean, if we could do it, why not the rest of our friends?"
"Because Disgust can be an idiot and Anger is an even bigger one," Sadness said matter-of-factly.
The purple emotion's eyes widened. "Sadness!"
"Oh, like I didn't hear what Anger said while I was being put in that ambulance just before I passed out," she frowned. "That was uncalled for, and I wouldn't be surprised that Joy is making them wait. This is one thing he has in common with his dad."
As much as Fear hated to admit it, Sadness was right. But hopefully, someday, Anger and Disgust would change their minds about Riley.
If Fear himself could do it, why not they?
During the movie, Riley sat between Joy and Delight, with Fear on Joy's other side and Sadness next to him. Despite the action present (though she found the laser swords to be awesome), Riley felt almost peaceful as she smiled at the others in the row. Just her, two friends, and her family.
Can I call them my family? she thought to herself. Perhaps she was looking too much into it.
But then she noticed the way the pair was smiling at her. How much love for her shone in their expressions.
They were her family. No matter what Aggravation would say.
Riley hadnt been to a movie theater before, but she found herself loving it. And the popcorn.
Even Sadness and Fear managed a few conversation points that caused Riley to smile.
And of course, afterward there was pizza.
Fear found himself slowly warming up to Riley. He was beginning to understand what Joy, Delight, and his dad saw in this girl. She was curious, she was eager to learn, she had a wide-eyed look about her that regarded everything as if she were a small child. Which, at least experience-wise, she was.
"So how'd you like Star Reflections?" Joy asked eagerly. "Good, great, bad?"
Riley managed a smile. "I liked it! Even though it said Episode 4—"
"The first three are prequels," Joy explained. "That means they take place before the fourth one but were made after. They're having special showings of all six of the movies before the seventh comes out in a few months!"
A fourth movie in a series that was okay to skip the first three? The whole prequels thing just confused Riley, but she enjoyed it all the same.
"We have them all at home," Joy assured. "We'll watch 5 and 6 later!"
"Sounds great!" Riley exclaimed. "I kinda want one of those laser blades though."
"Don't we all?"
The group shared a laugh at that.
"So, um, Riley," Fear said, clearing his throat, trying to make conversation of his own. "How do you like the school? By the way it looks, I mean."
"It looks great!" Riley exclaimed, grinning over at Joy for a moment. "I met Mr. Bing Bong too!"
"I hope you get him," Sadnees said kindly. "He was always my favorite!"
"I think he's everyone's favorite!" Joy agreed enthusiastically.
"And don't worry if you have trouble with making a memory orb," Sadness advised. "I did, and Joy helped me out with it."
"Sure did, cousin!" Joy beamed, giving Sadness a playful punch.
Delight was about to chime in with her own remarks, until she heard her phone go off. She checked who it was and felt a foul taste in her mouth.
It was Aggravation.
Delight gave the others an apologetic smile, standing up from her seat to take the call. While they were eating and chatting amongst themselves, Delight put some distance between her and their table before answering.
"What is is, Aggravation?" she sighed with reluctance.
"Don't tell me you actually got her enrolled," responded the familiar gruff voice.
The more cheerful emotion rolled her eyes. "Riley just took the placement test. We're all celebrating right now."
"Celebrating?" the red emotion exclaimed. "For what? You do know she won't be here much longer."
The bitter feeling simmered in Delight's mouth as her lips pressed together. "At least let her know what to expect when the time comes. This school will do a lot for her."
"You do realize school can be a danger zone, right?" Aggravation pointed out. "You know as well as I do that one wrong move could harm her."
"You don't actually think Riley would get in trouble, do you?" Delight scoffed.
"Has she not been before?"
"That was not her fault!" Delight argued. "She was still new to the world during that time. Now she is cooperating a lot better than we expected."
Aggravation was silent for a few moments, and Delight thought maybe he was contemplating that she had a point.
"You know, I haven't seen your daughter with my son in a while."
A more guilty feeling came over her as she glanced over her shoulder. Joy was having a swell time with two of her emotion friends, the two that were actually progressing with Riley. Delight had hoped that maybe sometime soon Anger and Disgust would develop the same way.
"Well, Joy is doing it in her own pace," she said simply. "After all, your son doesn't exactly seem to accept Riley the way the others have. Neither does Contempt's daughter."
"I honestly expected much," Aggravation responded. "After all, it proves my son trusts his instincts more than our living experiment."
"Riley isn't just an experiment!" Delight hissed. "She's a person! A beautiful, wonderful person who means the world to me and Joy!"
"Be careful, Delight," he said, a hint of sympathy in his tone, "you'll get so attached to her that it will make this mission a lot harder."
"Then let me enjoy all the time I have left with my daughters before we even talk about this stupid mission!" she huffed.
And before he could even reply, she hung up on him. Exhaling and composing herself, she turned back and returned to the table. Smile plastered on her face, she hoped the kids suspected nothing.
"Who was that, mom?" Joy asked, eating another slice of pizza.
"Oh, just some survey person," Delight lied as delicately as she could. "Nothing much."
As they resumed their meal, she casted a glance over at Riley. Her smile as she consumed her food made Delight's heart ache once more.
More than anything, she wished Riley could stay.
That night was broken up by two phone calls.
Just as Joy and Riley were getting ready for bed, Delight's phone dang. The pair thought about listening in, but the phone call was over rather quick, and Delight stepped into the room. Her face seemed unusually blank.
Joy and Riley instantly felt worried.
"What's wrong?" Joy asked, sitting on the bed next to her adoptive sister.
Delight took a deep breath. "Riley," she said, "Ms. Optimism called about your test results."
Riley sat up, her heart thumping in her chest. "Y-Yeah?"
After a moment, Delight's face suddenly broke into a broad grin as she ran toward Riley and hugged her tightly. "You got into 5th grade level!"
Riley's eyes widened. "Really?! I got in?!"
"Sure did, sweetheart!"
Joy joined in the hug. "You did it!"
Riley hugged them both happily. She had done it. The tutoring had paid off!
"And Bing Bong's your homeroom teacher!"
"Really?!" Riley's heart leapt. Everything about this was turning out perfect. Maybe Joy was right after all and school would be the best place ever!
True, there was still the issue of her being what she was. And another thought occurred to her.
"What if they tease me for being too tall along with what I am?"
"Huh?" Delight looked down at her.
"I'm nearly Joy's tallness even though she's 18," Riley pointed out, standing next to Joy herself. "I'll be around people who are as short as Anger!". She sighed. "Now everyone's gonna tease me even more."
"Hey," Joy grinned softly at her. "Anger was waaayyy short compared to everyone else. And eventually everyone accepted him! It kind of just depends."
"But Anger wasn't part human!"
"Riley," Delight said softly, stroking the girl's hair. "Everything will be okay."
And even though doubt pricked at her heart, Riley told herself she could believe them. Because she knew that at the very least, she was loved here.
A/N: Yes, Star Reflections is the Terracordian version of Star Wars... which I also do not own. XD Anyway, see ya next chapter, where Riley will finally have her first school day!