September 4th 2020

Chapter 248
Their Flight to Tucson

When they were little, back in New York, Maya and Riley had long imagined how fun it would be to go off on a trip together, just the two of them. The places they would choose to go to might be near, or far, or entirely impossible. They had spent a whole summer planning their escape to Narnia. None of these trips had gotten to happen, because of course they had been children and needed adults for any excursions into their own city, so anything beyond that…

Even as they'd grown, there had never been an occasion presented for them to just head out, no one else with them. They'd had plenty of trips with friends and families along for the ride, but not until today did they ready themselves to fly off, just two best friends together. Alright, so they weren't going to be just them for very long, only the space of their flights to and from Tucson, but that was already something, wasn't it?

When Lucas' car pulled up to Riley and Dylan's house, the two of them were already halfway out the door, with Dylan diligently carrying his fiancée's suitcase and bag, along with another bag they guessed to be his belongings for the time he'd be out on the lane with Lucas over the weekend.

"Oh, she's spiraling," Maya detected, climbing out of the car and heading up to Riley as she was almost literally spiraling, standing at the door like she was supposed to lock up but was also debating the need to return inside, like maybe she might have forgotten something. "Hey, come on, don't want to miss our plane, yeah?" Maya asked her.

"I… No, yeah, I'm good, I just…" Riley pointed to the door.

"You've got PJs?"

"Yeah…"

"Other clothes for daytime?"

"Uh-huh?"

"General toiletries, footwear, underwear…"

"Yes, Maya, I have all those things."

"Got your ticket?"

"Right here in my purse…"

"Alright, then come on, you're good," Maya went ahead and shut the door, just as Riley blurted out…

"Door!"

"Yeah, it's locked, see?"

"No, Door!" Riley pulled out her keys and one door gave way to another, as the pup scrambled out and around their legs, barking eagerly. Riley picked her up. "She's going to your house with Dylan, remember?"

"You know that name gets very confusing sometimes," Maya laughed, closing the – wooden – door again.

"We tried calling her something else, but the name Missy gave her is the only one she responds to," Riley explained as they headed to the car, where the guys had already loaded the luggage into the trunk. "I read the book it's from, I really enjoyed it," Riley added, smiling down at the dog happily nestled in her arms as they headed to the car. She looked like she knew one of her humans was going away, and she was just a bit fretful, especially after nearly being left behind.

The ride to the airport went by much faster than they'd anticipated it would. They spent most of it with the guys sharing what they planned to do that weekend while the two of them were gone. Maya and Riley would look to one another, and it seemed to be a shared assumption that Zay and Asher – at the least – would be popping over, giving off the general vibe of those four teenage boys from back in their sleepover days. In Maya's head at least, the four of them were all done up like Ninja Turtles.

The goodbyes had to be made outside the airport, as they weren't about to leave Door in the car. This was not such a bad thing in the end, as it allowed Maya and Riley to head off, with suitcases and bags, and kick off their best friend mini-vacation.

"I'm already getting texts. They want to know when we'll be there," Maya smiled, showing Riley her phone as they waited for boarding. Riley looked and smiled, finding the 'summons' from Cara, Eliza, Emma… "And there's Luna's girls now," Maya chuckled, two 'ping!' later. "They're going to want to be at the airport before we're even gone."

Finally, they were boarded, and as they settled into their seats, Maya could just sense Riley had been waiting until this very moment to bring something up. The immediate impression here was that she would not be able to wait much longer.

"Yes?" Maya asked, smiling.

"I have a plan," Riley reported.

"Do you?" Maya humored her. "What is it?"

"When we're in Tucson, I'm going to find my wedding dress," Riley whispered.

Alright, Maya was intrigued.

"You are?" she asked. Riley nodded. "Why there? Why now? Also what about everyone else? Your mom, and Dylan's stepmom, and…"

"Well, the other day, when we were talking about going out there for the Sleepster, and we talked about our 'trips' when we were little, it reminded me of something else, something we also said we were going to do together, just you and me…"

Maya smiled at once. She remembered this, too, as soon as Riley brought it up. They must have been all of eight or nine when Riley had hit a serious case of 'bride play,' putting on her poofiest dress, throwing on a 'veil,' grabbing 'flowers,' and walking down the 'aisle.' Farkle would generally be coerced into playing the role of the groom, whether he wanted to or not… though as time went on he had been just a bit more willing. Maya would usually flit around from role to role, playing the flower girl, and the maid of honor, and the officiant, and the bawling parent in the front row… Sometimes, she played Topanga, too.

One thing that had come out of this – other than more than one ruined flowerbed near the Matthews' home – was a dream of sorts between the two best friends. They imagined themselves, all grown up, when Riley would have finally found the man she would spend her life with. In that vision, it would just be Riley and Maya, because why would they want or need anyone else? And while they had of course grown by now, done almost twenty years of it since those days, this memory was just one of those things where, regardless of how much time had gone by, as soon as they'd remembered it… There was no other way for this to go.

"Are you sure you don't want your mom there? Or the girls from the band…" Maya still had to ask.

"They don't need to see it before the wedding," Riley insisted. "Plus, if they haven't seen it before, they'll all get to be surprised. That's what you did with yours…"

"Yeah, until I changed my mind and showed you guys," Maya reminded her.

"I won't change my mind," Riley promised with a shake of the head. "Anyway, it shouldn't be as long between the proposal and the wedding as it was for you, right?"

"Did you guys pick a date yet?" Maya asked now, thinking this might be what this statement indicated.

"Not exactly," Riley told her. "We're thinking mid to late summer this year, which is all the more reason for me to find my dress as soon as possible. This weekend, we're going to be out in Arizona, just us… It's like the moment just dropped in my lap, and now I have to take it." She was smiling so brightly, so excited at the prospect of trying on dresses to show her best friend… How could Maya have said no to that? Anyway, what she'd said made sense.

"We are going to find you the best dress," she hugged her across their seats, and Riley hugged her back. "Do you have any contenders yet?"

Within seconds, Riley had pulled out her laptop from her carry-on and she opened it to show Maya the various pictures. Just like that, their in-flight entertainment was as good as squared away. The conversation bounced back and forth between Maya recalling the process of designing her own dress and having the costume department from the theater help her bring it to life, and Riley discussing whether she believed this style would be more flattering than that one…

"You never think so much about how expensive these things are until you actually have to go and buy one for yourself," Riley frowned, scrolling through some photos.

"Oh, please let me be your fairy godmother," Maya insisted at once. "We can boost that budget of yours." Riley looked ready to insist back, to say that this wasn't necessary, but Maya shut her down. "I'm not telling you to double it. Just… if there's one that you really fall in love with and it's too far out from your target that you can't see yourself bending the rules to get it… I want you to promise you'll tag me in. Matron of honor privilege," she extended her finger like a raised sword. Riley had about no choice but to respond in kind, and her face said plenty as to her gratitude. There was so much of it.

"Okay, I will," she finally spoke.

"Good," Maya grinned. "Sometimes I still get these moments where it yanks at my heart to remember that you're finally getting married, too. That's usually when I start thinking about all those 'ceremonies' we used to have. Remember that one where you tried to kiss Farkle and he ran away?"

"You almost tackled him," Riley laughed.

"Yeah, maybe not my best moment in hindsight, but what can I say, I was a very dedicated maid of honor-slash-everything. That hasn't changed, except maybe less tackling," Maya tipped her head.

"I know what you mean though. I keep looking at my ring sometimes, and I can barely keep from smiling. It makes it a bit awkward when I'm with a patient and I look down to take notes… But I don't want to take it off at the office, and I really don't want to leave it home."

"Maybe get a glove?" Maya suggested, smiling. "A really fancy one, up to the elbow. That won't be distracting at all."

"With diamonds," Riley chimed in.

"Oh, all over," Maya agreed, as they went back to their browsing. "When exactly are we supposed to go on this trip within the trip?"

"I made an appointment at a shop out there, tomorrow afternoon. That'll be okay, right?" Riley asked, looking like she was starting to wonder if she'd been too hasty and if she should have asked first.

"No, that should be great," Maya assured her. "They'll send it out to you, yeah? Have it sent to the theater, the girls there can do any alterations you'll need."

"Yeah?" Riley blinked, her excitement growing.

"Fairy Godmother says yes," Maya smiled. "They're very good at being covert with these things. Although I'll have to make sure no one stumbles upon it like my mom did with mine… We've got this, alright? Just… Okay, now we're crying, hey," she grabbed a tissue from her bag and passed it to Riley, who brushed away the happy tears.

"I'm really glad we're going out there together this weekend," she nodded, sniffling.

"It's a sister sleepover, you really should have been there from the start," Maya smiled at her. "Now, tell me the truth: If I make score paddles, will that be too weird?"

"Oh, no, not at all, you should do that!" Riley perked up now.

"From 1, 'burn it and shoot it into the sun' to 10, 'who has ever looked better in a wedding dress, really, no one, you're perfect,'" Maya intoned. "I'm pretty sure the girls have some sparkles somewhere in the house."

By the time they would land in Tucson after their short flight, they had a solid plan for this tag team portion of their visit to the Hart-Lane girls. They would not return to Austin before Riley Matthews had found her wedding dress.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners