Chapter 3
Riley slowly turned around to face her father glaring at her.
"Riley, I asked what you are doing here?" Cory said, clearly upset. Riley opened her mouth to try to think of a reply but her mind went blank. "Yeah, OK" Cory replied frustrated, "which room did you just come out of?" As Riley continued to think of an answer, Cory sighed. "I saw you come out of 106, you are not helping yourself by refusing to answer me. Here's what's going to happen now. You are going to knock on Friar's door, and ask to come in without telling him I'm out here, and the three of us are going to have a chat in Lucas room, understood?" Still unable to speak, Riley slowly shook her head. She turned and knocked on the door, hesitantly stating "Lucas, it's me." Lucas opened the door concerned, "Riley, what's going on" he questioned. That is when Cory reached over and pushed open the door. "Mr. Friar", Cory said frustrated, "the three of us need to talk". He ushered his daughter into Lucas' room with him as Lucas hung his head.
Cory began to look around, then turned back to his daughter and Lucas. "Well I don't see any adults in here", Cory told them, his voice dripping sarcasm, "so Mr. Friar, you want to explain what my daughter was doing alone with you in your room"? Lucas began to speak but Riley stopped him and stepped forward. "Daddy, don't blame Lucas, this is my fault. I came to his room by myself, he didn't ask me to." Lucas took her hand in support, which was immediately noticed by Cory. "What's going on with you two", Cory asked confused, "last I saw you were barely friends and now you're holding hands"? Lucas stepped forward, "sir, we realized today that we never got over each other, that we love each other". Cory's face begins to turn purple and he started to rub his forehead. "Yeah let's deal with that announcement another time", he blurted, "Riley even if you did come to Lucas' room, he still let you in, he is still responsible. Mr. Friar, you have detention for two weeks. And Riley, how could you do this, do you have any idea what might have happened with you alone with an 18-year-old boy in a hotel room"? Cory's voice went up an octave as he ranted. "Daddy", Riley responded, "Lucas would never take advantage of me, he's the one who kept things from going too far". "Things, what things!" Cory shouted, suddenly looking at Lucas terror stricken. "Oh God, you're the Topanga? I'm in so much trouble" Cory whimpered as he sank onto the bed with his head in his hands.
"What does that mean" Lucas asked Riley under his breath. "I'll explain later" she responded. "OK", Cory jumped up, "Mr. Friar, you have your punishment, Riley we will discuss yours in private. In the meantime, you two will stay away from each other the rest of this weekend. Riley let's go." He grabbed his daughter by her free hand, pulling her out the door and away from Lucas, past confused kids coming back to the slopes and to her own room.
Riley unlocked her door with her father still hovering behind her, only to find a confused Maya had just returned and was looking for her. "Riles where were you, I thought you were lying down" Maya asked, seeing Cory fuming she turned to him. "Matthews, what's wrong, is Riley ok?" Maya asked concerned. Cory began to pace back and forth before answering Maya, "No, Riley is not ok, Riley is in a great deal of trouble. I was going to ask if you knew anything about this, but obviously you don't. It would be best if you stayed out of it. Cory then turned his anger to Riley "So you are lying to your best friend now as well. We will discuss this later young lady, it looks like everyone is getting back from the slopes and I need to check on dinner. In the meantime, STAY IN YOUR ROOM AND STAY AWAY FROM LUCAS!" Cory proceeded to rush out the door, not even bothering to say goodbye.
Riley stared at the closed door, this was probably the angriest she had ever seen her father. She could feel Maya staring at her back, but wasn't ready to turn around and face her yet. "Riley", Maya asked with hurt in her voice, "you lied to me, but why, and why over something as stupid as a headache? Why is your dad so mad, why does he want you to stay away from Lucas, where were you?" Riley sighed and slowly turned, at least this problem would be easier to fix. "One question at a time Maya, yes I lied, but only so you couldn't get in trouble too. No, that's not true, I was never planning on getting caught, I lied so you wouldn't talk me out of it. I didn't come in to lie down, I never had a headache, I came inside to talk to Lucas. Watching him out there, I finally realized I was still in love with him. My dad is furious because he caught me leaving Lucas' room" Riley admitted. Riley watched Maya slowly sink onto her bed, staring open-mouthed at her. Uh-oh, thought Riley, maybe she won't be as easy as I thought, "Maya are you ok"?