"You're not seriously getting rid of this," Zay asks as he lifts the extremely high tech game system from the box it was sitting in.
Farkle just nodded.
"Everything that isn't a necessity goes," he stated resolutely.
The other boy just shook his head. "You and I clearly have different ideas about what a person needs. I need this game system." He said with a little whine in his voice.
"I'd give it to you, but we are selling anything we can to prepare for the corporation's losses and dad's legal fees." Farkle explained.
"I'll never let go jack...I'll never let go," he teased emphatically as he sadly placed the game system back in the box.
Lucas just rolled his eyes. He loved Zay like a brother, but sometimes he wished the boy could appreciate the gravity of a situation.
Farkle; the guy who had his own train, his own arcade, his own solar system was packing up his most expensive belongings to sell for money. It was a stark reminder how quickly one's situation could change. One minute you could be on top of the world or the richest guy on the planet, and the next you could be brother zoned or broke. That was how life really worked.
The young Minkus had yet to speak a word on the subject. He talked about his situation the way he talked about science or algebra, as if it were nothing more than fact. It wasn't like before with the forgiveness project. He wasn't deliberately hiding his feelings. He just didn't know understand his feelings and he wasn't sure what they said about him as a person.
His family was going through something terrible, yet in a strange way he was grateful. He had told his father that he didn't care if they lived this way, that they should give more of their money away, yet he was upset about having to sell everything he owned and move into a smaller apartment. Did that make him vain? Selfish? Greedy? He hoped those weren't characteristics he possessed.
Zay lifts a framed pencil drawing of a night sky on yellow paper. "Which box you want me to put this in?"
Lucas and Farkle both glanced over at the item in question. The latter boy just smiled. "That's a necessity."
Zay looks at the drawing then back at Farkle. It's a nice picture and all but it's no state of the art game system.
"Is that Maya's picture?" Lucas asks curiously. He remembered Farkle saying he had been carrying it in his back pocket where his phone had been but no one knew what had happened to it after that. Apparently his friend had framed it and put it on display.
"The one and the same," the boy responded.
"Wait this sounds like a good Maya story," Zay wanted to understand the significance of the picture in his hands.
"It's not much of a story. For an assignment Mr. Mathews took our phones away and sent us to the library to connect with one another without the use of technology. It was the night Maya discovered her talent."
"It was also Lucas and Riley's first real conversation." Farkle said the words Lucas was thinking. It had been a special night for him too, and he couldn't help but smile at the memory.
"Wait, so Maya draws this picture and Quarkle here kept it all this time?"
"Looks that way," Lucas said with a shrug as he continued to sort through one of his best friend's belongings.
Zay whistled low and long. "He even framed it. Man, you better figure yourself out and make a move before both your girls get stolen from you. First Gardner, now Farkle? Dude, you're in tragic shape." He said with a chuckle.
Lucas glanced over at the boy incredulously.
"I heard all about you and the blonde beauty getting nice and cozy at the bakery."
Farkle's head shot up at lightning speed. Had there been new development between Maya and Lucas? Part of him hoped not...the part that didn't want to see Riley hurting but if they liked each other and they were happy together then the other part was happy for both of them.
"It was hardly cozy!" He defended wondering how many times people had talked about him and Maya like this before; how many times Riley had heard their skewed perception and said nothing.
"Well how would you describe it," Farkle interjected.
Lucas threw his hands up confounded. "I don't know. She was upset. I tried to help. We sat on a couch. We argued. We talked. It got weird again and I left."
"But she didn't give you another smoothie shower. That's progress," Zay pointed out.
He was grateful for that. It was bad enough he was constantly having to buy new shoes every time he got caught in Riley's room. He really hadn't wanted to have to buy a new shirt every time he saw Maya. Not that he had to worry about his shoes anymore...He'd gladly sacrifice another shoe just to have her look at him the way she used to.
"Man you already kissed her, just date the girl already."
Lucas slammed the box in his hands down harder than he meant to. "Why does everyone keep assuming I kissed her?!"
Zay's jaw dropped as the light bulb above his head illuminated.
"You mean you didn't? But Maya said something happened."
"I know what she said. I was there too." He insisted as his jaw clenched in frustration.
"So she lied?" Zay asked, officially not understanding anything anymore.
Farkle saw Lucas struggling to keep his composure and decided to jump in and assist.
"Maya didn't lie. She just perceives the events of that night differently than Lucas. If you ask her there was a moment between them and something happened. If you had actually asked Lucas he'd have been the first to tell you there was a moment and something almost happened, but didn't."
"That something being a kiss?" Zay clarified.
"Yes."
"And that's why he's confused?" He ventured further.
"Yeah..." Lucas admitted begrudgingly.
"Well ya did almost kiss her. That suggests you like her," he reasoned, trying to help his friend.
"But he couldn't actually go through with it, which suggests something else," Farkle countered.
"And you did look like a cartoon wolf with your eyes popping out your head when she walked out in her Texas get up," Zay reminded him.
"True, but I've seen him literally look like a human heart eyes emoji before. It wasn't the same look." Farkle stated.
Zay glanced over at the genius. He'd never seen his friend look like that.
"When was this?"
"His first date with Riley. I wasn't sure he'd even be able to speak but then he turned out to be the smoothest date talker ever."
That was only their first date. The second hadn't gone nearly as well. He'd sat there like a mute idiot, unable to speak. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to or that he wasn't comfortable talking with Riley. He knew he could tell her anything and she would listen. His mind had just gone blank in the moment.
"No, Gardner is the smoothest date talker ever. He got her to go out with him, be his girlfriend, and kiss him in just a couple months," he mumbled dejectedly, just loud enough to hear.
So that's why he had left the party early!
"Whoa! Little miss sugar cube swapped spit with soufflé! How have I not heard this story?!"
"Because it didn't happen," Farkle replied.
Both Lucas and Zay stared at him stunned.
"What?!" They both cried out in shock.
"Riley left the party before the New Year even started." He explained.
"She left the party she was throwing? I don't like it! Impolite!" Zay exclaimed.
Lucas liked it a lot. Riley had left before Charlie could kiss her. That made him happy, like bounce up and down, shout from the rooftops happy. Why had she left though? Was she not as interested in Charlie Gardner as he believed?
"Wait, so are they still together?" Zay asked curiously.
Farkle shrugged "I have no idea. Maybe Riley was right and it was easier to understand one another when we just saw each other as friends."
Another breadcrumb he'd dropped hoping Lucas would pick on it.
His brain began racing over the last few months.
'Farkle stop thinking. You don't know what's going on!'
That was right before she had dragged him outside with her hand over his mouth the night of her and Charlie's first date.
And then he had drug her outside the bakery the day he'd found out about Charlie being her date to the party.
'Do you think you're being fair to him?'
Slowly a question began forming in his mind.
...was it possible Farkle knew something the rest of them didn't about Charlie and Riley's relationship, and if so what was it?
Riley sat on the park bench nervously twiddling her fingers as she waited. She had done her best to choose a secluded location, where there would be no curious bystanders or gossiping classmates but that was nearly impossible in a city this size. Finally after much deliberation she had decided on a small park she often passed on the way home. There were usually only parents and small children there so they should have their fair amount of privacy.
She had been thinking about Charlie ever since New Year's Eve and his offer shortly after. The brunette chewed on her lip as she contemplated what she planned to say once he arrived. This was a big step for her, and hopefully, if she did it just right, it would change things for the better. She just hoped she felt as good about the choice she had made once it was complete.
She saw him approaching in the distance.
'You can do this Riley. It's now or never.' She told herself.
He stood before with a smile. Despite her disappearance on New Year's and her feelings for someone else, he still wanted her. There was something about the feeling of being wanted, even if it wasn't by the person you wanted to want you.
"Hey," he greeted with a small awkward wave.
"Hi," she smiled at him as she always did; with false sincerity and politeness.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. Clearly he was just as nervous as she was for this meeting.
"I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised when you called me this morning," he said, though she didn't understand why.
"Why wouldn't I call you Charlie? You asked me out on a date and I never got the chance to answer your question."
He shrugged with another sheepish grin. "So...what's the verdict? Will you go out with me again and give me the chance to show you that I can make you happy?"
One chance was all he needed. The more time they spent together the sooner he could erase Friar from her mind.
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked up at him with that smile. That meant he was making her nervous. That was a good sign.
"You seem like a really great guy. You're obviously cute. You seem really romantic; I mean flowers, banners, Yogi on skates...you always seem to be thinking about my feelings and taking them into consideration. You pay attention to me. You notice me. And everything you say makes sense. You really do seem perfect for me."
His smile had widened at the start of her speech but by the end it had fallen again.
"Then why does it sound like you're saying no?"
Apparently he was smart too.
She nodded, the corners of her mouth raising slightly.
"I was going to say yes. Based on everything I have seen and everything you've said to me...I was going to say yes."
Confusion colored his expression. For the first time she really made eye contact with him. She was finally truly connecting with Charlie. She wanted him to hear what she was about to say. She was eerily calm.
"You know a lot of people confuse innocent and pure for naive and stupid. They think that because I choose to see the good in people that I can't see anything else. They act like I can't hear and I don't see...and to their credit I don't at first because I like to give people the benefit of the doubt...but I think about things. I like to figure things out...and one of the things I figured out is that you're not what you seem."
He opened his mouth to object, but she raised her hand and kept going. She would not stand there and listen to him lie to her.
"You told Lucas that I didn't want to be his partner. You said that it was because you could see how uncomfortable he was making me when I wasn't interested in him. You said you were trying to be a good friend...but then on New Year's you said you've known I like him the whole time. You didn't tell him because I was uncomfortable. You told him because you weren't comfortable. And then when you basically invited yourself to our party you made it sound like we left Lucas out on purpose. I thought that was an accident, but it wasn't was it?"
"Riley I-"
Again she raised her hand and continued, unwilling to hear his excuses.
"You were staking your claim like I'm some kind of territory!"
As the words fell from her mouth an epiphany struck her. Her head tilted in curiosity.
"What did you say to him at that party?"
"What? Did he tell you I said something?"
She shook her head in response.
"No, he didn't have to. I just find it funny that Lucas and you said the exact same thing about what you do at midnight being what you do all year long within ten minutes of one another. I knew those words sounded familiar."
"That's common knowledge."
"I kept wondering how his words were coming out of your mouth...unless they were your words first."
She shook her head in disappointment. She didn't even need him to confirm it. The way he'd reacted told her he was guilty.
"I don't know why you did this. I don't know if you just really like me or you just don't like losing to Lucas...but I have no interest in seeing you again romantically. Goodbye Charlie."
Some of the tension automatically lifted from her as she walked away. Somehow she felt a little lighter than she had when she come there an hour ago.
