Farkle looked up at the chalkboard and didn't know whether to smile or laugh. He stretched out his hand and poked Riley on the shoulder until she craned her head to look at him. He smiled and pointed to the words on the chalkboard.

CAN THERE BE HONOR IN DECEPTION?

"You have got to be kidding me." Seriously? She would expect this sort of "nail on the head" strategy from her father but this was English class.

The class finished taking their seats as the bell rang and Harper stood at the front of her class holding up Cyrano De Bergerac.

"Can there be honor in deception?" she asked. "When lying is wrong can the intention make it right?"

It's like they knew. Somehow, someway, they always knew. Riley slunk down in her seat, afraid the subject would somehow shed her secret to the world.

"Our hero of the story deceives Roxane, in order to help Christian woo her and secure the happiness of his friend and the woman he loves."

"How can he be the hero if he's lying to everybody?" Farkle asked.

"Because he's doing it for all the right reasons Farkle. He's just trying to do what's best for everyone involved." Riley disputed.

Lucas's ears perked at her comment. There was something very familiar about that last phrase.

"Interesting dilemma, isn't it?" Harper asked. "Cyrano is brave, witty, devoted, but he's also very insecure. Christian on the other hand is physically attractive and bold, but lacks the wit that Roxane desires. These two men come together to create her ideal partner: Christian's looks and Cyrano's words."

"So what you're saying is that Cyrano is an idiot and Christian's a jerk," another student commented.

Harper just smiled with amusement. "Things are never that black and white. I want you all to read the play this week and write a paper answering the question on the board. I've already assigned you partners on the sheet next to the door. Tomorrow we'll go over the themes of Act One."

Maya bounded up to the piece of paper searching for the name of her partner.

"Cheese Souffle? This ought to be interesting." Maya muttered.

Riley found her name with her finger and followed it to the list of names on the other side.

Riley Mathews…..Lucas Friar

Lucas was standing behind the girls looking over their shoulders at the list. "Looks like you and I will be working together Riles." He smiled genuinely happy to have an excuse to be near her.

She glanced back smiling awkwardly at Lucas. "Looks like," was all she could say before marching up to Harper at her desk.

"You've been talking to my father, haven't you?" she accused.

"I'm just following the lesson plan Riley."

Lucas walked over next to her, trying to hide his nervousness. "So, how do you want to do this? Do you want to work on it at my place or should I meet you at yours after school?"

Riley hadn't been alone with Lucas since well since Maya had stormed off in Texas threatening to never speak to him again. They used to spend hours just the two of them talking, laughing, watching cuddle bunnies. She couldn't count the number of shoes he'd lost that year for being in her room…but that was before. They needed to be somewhere out in the open.

"What about Topanga's," she suggested.

Lucas gave her a wary expression "I don't know, it can get kind of crowded in there. It could be distracting."

She hated to admit it but he did kind of have a point. Okay, where could they go to work on their paper that was quiet enough to focus and would still allow them to be around other people?

"What about the library?" she offered.

Lucas smiled at her suggestion. He liked the library. It was where he and Riley had first learned to talk to one another. He'd told her things that night he had never told anyone before. Maybe returning to the place they first connected would help them find their way back to one another?

"Sounds like a plan. Tomorrow after school?"

Riley smiled her first genuine smile in weeks. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Maya stood by the door her hands in her jacket pockets watching Riley and Lucas talk about their paper. If she was being honest she didn't like the idea of the two of them working together. She knew that Riley didn't have feelings for him and she'd done everything she could to make him understand that, but it wasn't hard to see that Lucas was still holding out hope for that to change. Over the last few weeks she'd watched him get his hopes up just to have them fall back down again. Maya knew first-hand how exhausting and painful that was. Josh had been doing it to her ever since her knees had first buckled at the sight of him. Of course Josh had never held her face in his hands or looked at her like that either.

"So are you and Lucas like a thing now?" Charlie asked. It was creepy the way he was always just popping up out of nowhere.

Maya shrugged. She didn't really want to talk about this, especially not with a total stranger. "I don't know yet. I'm still trying to figure that out."

"But you want to be right?" He clearly wasn't going away.

Did she want to be with Lucas? She wanted to make fun of him. She wanted to see him pick up Riley's bed with one arm. She wanted him safe and part of her life. She didn't hate having his hands on either side of her face or his eyes boring into hers. She'd wanted to kiss him. Was there a word for that?

"I don't know. Maybe." That wasn't the answer Charlie had wanted to hear. Why couldn't Maya just own her feelings for the guy and go after him full force? Getting Riley's attention was only half the battle. He needed someone to make the cowboy forget all about her. Charlie didn't like the fact that he was always waiting in the wings, ready to use the friend card to stay close to her.

"Just be at Topanga's tomorrow after school so we can get this done."

Charlie dismissed himself from the conversation. He'd wanted to wait for Riley but she was obviously distracted with Friar and he needed to get home. He had a feeling he'd end up doing most of the work on this paper.

Lucas smiled at Riley one last time before turning away. He'd smiled politely and nodded to Maya on his way out, not sure what else to do.

"So, you and Huckleberry, huh?" she tilted her head toward Riley.

"And you and Charlie." Riley responded.

Yep, things were certainly about to get interesting.