AN: I am so sorry for the delay! Get a snack and enjoy this extra long chapter!

Riley woke up Friday morning in an exceptionally happy mood. She and Maya had officially made up, and Maya successfully stayed the night without escaping to Josh's room. Not to mention, she and Lucas were on the rise again. Oh yeah, she definitely had this whole life thing figured out.

"Peaches, it's time to wake up…" Riley attempted to wake the sleeping bear that was Maya.

"No."

"Come on, we don't want to be late…"

"Today's canceled. Everyone go back to sleep." Maya grumbled and burrowed further into the warm bed.

"I just heard Josh get up. You might be able to catch him without his shirt on before he takes a shower…" Riley coaxed.

Maya poked her head out of the blankets to stare at her best friend. Riley felt Maya's eyes penetrate her soul. A brief staring contest ensued. Riley channeled her inner actress, but she was no match for Maya.

"YOU LIE!" Maya declared before covering her head with the blankets again.

Riley threw her hands up in exasperation. "I give up!" She stomped out of the room to get ready for the day.

After finishing her morning routine, Riley re-entered her room to finish getting ready for school. Of course, Maya was still dead to the world in the bed. She completed her makeup and was putting the final touches on her softly curled hair, when her phone dinged with a message from Lucas. Her heart fluttered so intensely she almost burnt herself with the hot curling iron.

Lucas: Goodmorning beautiful, I'm on the red team for the game tonight...wanted to make sure you knew which team to rep today ;)

Riley could feel herself grinning like an idiot. She quickly typed a reply.

Riley: Goodmorning cowboy! Thanks for letting me know, I'll make sure to show my support for a different team today :P

Riley set her phone down and let out a shaky breath. Is this what flirting was? She had no idea if she was doing it right. Her body trembled with nerves. She shook her head and looked at her reflection in the mirror. "No nerves. You can do this. You are strong and confident. He won't think you're a creepy creep-creep." She said to herself.

"That's the spirit." Maya's sleep-filled voice sounded from the bed.

Riley weakly tossed her hairbrush in Maya's direction. "Get up Maya!"

"Let me get this straight, you, innocent rule-following, Riley Matthews want to go to a party?" Maya teased her best friend as they made their way through the living room.

Riley stopped walking to turn to Maya. "Lucas invited me...so I thought I could give it a try...we don't have to go if you don't want to."

Maya grinned. "No, I always want to go. Zay asked me…" She was cut off by Josh's voice as he walked into the living room.

"Riley have you seen my...Maya?" He stopped dead in his tracks. Both girls looked at him expectantly. "Uh...sorry I didn't know you were here. Did you stay the night?"

Maya grinned at him. "Yes, is that a problem Boing?"

Josh quickly shook his head. "No…" His eyes glanced down at her outfit. She was wearing a sleeveless black Guns N' Roses shirt, tucked into a pair of light wash high waist denim shorts. An oversized red and white checkered flannel shirt hung loosely off her shoulders, unbuttoned over her body. The flannel shirt seemed vaguely familiar to Josh, for a brief moment he wondered if it was his. "Uh you look..." His mind immediately snapped to an image of Maya wearing nothing but the flannel shirt...his flannel shirt.

"Uh...you look...clean."

Riley laughed loudly. Maya raised her eyebrows at him. "Clean?"

Josh could feel his face heating up. What the hell was wrong with him? "Uh no... not clean."

Maya held back a laugh and feigned a serious face. "Not clean?" She echoed.

Josh rubbed his palms over his face. "I meant nice." He grumlbed.

"Okaaaay... I think you've had one too many footballs to the head." Maya laughed and turned back to Riley. "As I was saying, Zay asked me to go last night..."

"Go where?" Josh interrupted her again.

Riley rolled her eyes. "Geez interrupt much? To the football after party."

Josh turned on his sister. "You are not going to a party. Too much shit goes on..."

"You go to all of the parties Josh, and yes I am. Lucas will be with me, he wouldn't let anything happen." Riley answered confidently.

"So you're going with Zay?" Josh motioned to Maya. "And you're going with Lucas?" He pointed at his sister.

"See? Too many footballs to the head." Maya teased. "Come on Riles, let's go."

Riley grabbed her school bag and walked to the front door. "See you later bro!" She called as she walked outside. Maya moved to follow Riley, but Josh, on a whim, quickly leapt towards her.

"Maya wait!"

He reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and crashed his lips against hers. Maya wrapped her arms around his neck and eagerly kissed him back, parting her lips to deepen the kiss. Their tongues battled for control. Maya slipped her hands from his torso to his waist. She slid her fingertips under the hem of his red football jersey and trailed them up his muscular abs. She grinned into the kiss, boxing definitely did his body well. Josh dipped his hands down to rest in the back pockets of her shorts and pulled her hips into his. When air finally became necessary, Josh gently squeezed her bottom lip between his own before pulling away.

Maya panted slightly as they parted. "What was that for?" she asked quietly.

Josh was at a loss for words. He had no idea what had possessed him to grab her and kiss her like that. Reluctantly, he let his hands fall back to his sides.

"I don't know." He took a step back from her.

Never one to back down, Maya took a defiant step closer to him. She delicately placed a hand on his cheek. Her icey blue eyes tore into his ocean blue ones. Josh fought his instinct to wrap his arms back around her.

"Josh, are you sure you're…"

"I'm fine." He cut her off with a quick kiss to her palm resting near his lips. "You need to go, Riley's waiting."

Maya removed her hand from his cheek and nodded. She pulled her bag up from the floor and over her shoulder. "Whatever you say Boing." She mumbled as she made to way out of the front door.

"What did Josh want?" Riley casually asked as Maya climbed into the passenger seat of her car.

"No idea."

Lucas grinned when his eyes fell on Riley in the busy school hallway. She easily stood out amongst the sea of red and white school-spirited students. She was wearing a loose long-sleeved purple floral dress that fell just above her knees, with tall tan riding boots. He hated to admit it, but his ego was a little damaged when he realized she wasn't kidding about not supporting his team today. Lucas asked her about the purple dress during their first period, seeing as everyone else in the school was sporting festive game-day outfits. Riley nonchalantly declared to him, "I'm supporting my own team today. Team Riley." Her answer made up for his hurt ego and he could tell he was quickly becoming even more enamored by her.

Riley weaved through the bustling students to meet Lucas at his locker. "Hey cowboy!" She greeted as she approached him.

"Hey beautiful…"

He was cut off by a loud "Ha-hur!"

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Hey Maya." He failed to see her trailing behind Riley, although he should have known better. His eyes narrowed at her as he noticed a dark object in her hands. "Where'd you get that?"

Maya quickly moved the object behind her back. "Don't worry about it Huckleberry."

She glanced between Riley and Lucas. "I'll meet you two in class." She hastily darted out of sight.

Lucas desperately turned to Riley. "I need a way to get back at her for the whole 'Huckleberry' thing."

Riley giggled. "Well I can think of a way."

"Like?" Lucas prompted.

"Kill her with kindness. It's her weakness. It drives her insane if she thinks she can't get under someone's skin."

Lucas nodded and took a step closer to her. He reached out to place his hands on her hips, but Riley quickly side stepped him with a mischievous smirk on her face.

"Come on QB one..." Riley mischievously trailed her finger up the large number 1 on the chest of his red football jersey. "You'll have to be faster than that. I thought you were trying to impress me with your athletic skills today?" She teased and walked pasted Lucas in the direction her father's classroom.

Lucas stood dumbstruck by her. One minute she was quirky shy Riley and the next she was sharp witty vixen Riley. He loved it. Lucas watched her saunter away from him, so she wants to play again huh? His skilled quarterback feet swiftly acted on their own accord and lead him after her. Lucas caught up to Riley just as she reached Mr. Matthews classroom. He sunk his head low and encompassed his arms around her hips. Instead of actually tackling her and hurting her, he easily lifted her into the air and threw her over his shoulder. Her legs dangled near his face as she screamed.

"Lucas! I'm in a dress! Put me down!" She squealed. Riley's small hands weakly slapped against his back in protest.

Lucas laughed and set her back down on her feet. "Looks like you're the one who's not fast enough." He teased.

Riley glared at him. "You know it's not very polite to randomly throw people into a fireman's carry."

"Oh it wasn't random." Lucas smirked at her.

Riley playfully huffed and entered the classroom. Lucas trailed behind her, with a wolfish grin on his face, as she took her newly assigned seat behind Zay.

"BOYS!" Mr. Matthews clamored at Lucas as he sat down at his desk in front of Maya.

"That's right Mr. Matthews, the school's chock-full of 'em." Maya answered in her best teacher-like voice, as if she were addressing a class full of preschoolers.

The class laughed.

"Oh, shut it Maya." Mr. Matthews turned his attention to his computer to finish taking roll as the bell rang.

Lucas spun in his desk to face Maya. "So you and Riley made up?" He asked.

Maya, was absentmindedly drawing in her notebook and didn't look up at him. "Sure did, Huckleberry."

"That's good. Have you found a way to get back at Missy yet?"

"I have my revenge planned." Maya grinned evilly and added a few more strokes to her sketch.

Lucas glanced at Riley to make sure she wasn't listening to them before speaking. "Listen, I wanted to apologize to you."

Maya's eyes snapped up from the drawing.

Lucas continued, "I was a total jerk the other day...in the art room...I shouldn't have said all that stuff."

Maya narrowed her eyes at him. "Did he put you up to this?" She pointed at Zay, who was animatedly talking to Riley.

Lucas shook his head. "No…"

"Okay then. Apology accepted." She picked up her pencil and continued to add to her sketch.

Lucas tilted his head to look at the drawing. To him, it looked like a bunch of wavy lines. "What are you drawing?"

Maya shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know. It's just something that came to my mind."

He looked closer at the picture. "You know what? It kinda reminds me of like a beach or an ocean."

Maya lifted her pencil to observe the image. She knew exactly what it was.

"Alright class, it's presentation day! Who wants to go first?" Mr. Matthews's excited voice greeted the class. "Riley and Zay? You're up!"

Riley eagerly stood and walked to the front of the class with Zay, who was a little more reluctant to give a speech in front of the entire class.

"Ladies first." Zay motioned for her to begin.

Riley cleared her throat and stood confidently at the front of the room. "I would like to introduce, Isaiah Hank…"

"Not my middle name." Zay interjected.

"...Babineaux." Riley ignored his protest and continued. "Zay is known by, well almost everyone, as an easygoing athlete who loves a good story, especially if it makes him laugh. But, I get the privilege of knowing a different side of Zay. One that's thoughtful and caring. A side of him that always tries to do his best, no matter what life throws at him." Riley looked at Zay and gave him a small smile before continuing. "Some of you may know that Zay's Dad is in the Army and is currently serving overseas. When Zay moved here in 7th grade, I met his dad and he gave me this." Riley paused to pull a short necklace from her collar.

Lucas watch her hands fumble with the tiny necklace. He knew where she was heading, he had the exact same necklace. The short brown leather held a few tiny red, white and blue beads resting on each side of a small American flag charm.

Riley held up the necklace for the class to better see. "Zay's dad makes these necklaces as a way to cope with the stress brought on by his experiences in the military. He gives them to other military families to help them heal after experiencing loss. Sometimes we forget how much others give up so we can live in freedom. While I've never experienced anything remotely close to what these families go through, I wear this necklace to show my support for Zay and his family, and to say thank you to all of our servicemembers and veterans. So, thank you Isaiah Earl Babineaux." Riley finished her speech and was met with a small round of applause from the class.

"Still not my middle name!" Zay laughed and pulled Riley into a hug. "Thanks, Riley. You have no idea how much that meant to me." He softly mumbled to her.

Maya watched Zay and Riley's exchange and glanced at Lucas. She noticed his body go rigid as Zay engulfed Riley in the bear hug. Maya flicked the back of his ear.

"Really Ranger Rick? He's practically her brother." She hissed.

Lucas relaxed his body. Maya was right. There was no reason for him to overreact. As far as he knew, Zay's never had any feelings for Riley. One hug is no big deal.

"Well...I don't know how I'm supposed to follow that…" Zay laughed nervously and faced the class. "But what I've gotten to know about Riley, is that she loves to read and she looooves to perform. She's going to be the lead in the school musical this year and I know she will be amazing. I call Riley Cupcake Face, or just Cupcake sometimes, because she is the sweetest person I know. She sees good in nearly everything. But most importantly, Riley is one of those people who...just gets you. She can read other people, and with one look she probably knows more about them than they know about themself. I'm lucky to have Riley as a friend."

"Aww thanks Zay." Riley smiled brightly at him. The class applauded again as they took their seats.

A few more presentations took place. Some just as heartfelt as Riley and Zay's, while others were extremely cringe worthy. Finally the only pair left to present stood at the front of the room.

Lucas let out a sigh. "Well go on, let's get this over with."

Maya grinned and pulled the mysterious black object from behind her back, a large cowboy hat, and placed it on her head.

"HA-HUR! Howdy Y'all!" Maya started her speech with her favorite hillbilly accent. "Now, this here is Lucas Huckleberry Friar and he come from down yonder in the great plains of Texas, with cows and all kinda little critters…"

"Maya that's enough." Mr. Matthews sternly warned.

Maya gave an over exaggerated sigh. "Fine, you ruin all the fun….anyway Ranger Rick here is from Texas. I don't know much about Texas, I've never been there...but from the two people I have met," she motioned to Lucas and Zay. "...Texas must be doing something right. Lucas knows how to stand up for what he believes in and to protect what he cares about."

"Aw Maya I didn't know you had it in you!" Lucas teased.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Oh yeah and football. He's good at playing with balls."

They class giggled like a bunch of twelve year olds in health class.

"And that was short lived." Lucas laughed.

"Thank you and goodnight!" Maya took a low dramatic bow, making sure to wave the cowboy hat obnoxiously in Lucas's face as she did so. She placed the hat back on her head as she stood up straight again. Lucas eyed the hat more closely and rolled his eyes.

"Lucas, bring us home!" Mr. Matthews waved his arms enthusiastically.

"Well, first things first, I believe this belongs to you..." Lucas plucked the hat off of Maya's head and threw it like a frisbee at Zay.

Zay caught the hat and plopped it on his head. "Sorry man, but when a pretty girl asks to wear your hat, you gotta give it to her." Zay winked at Maya, who flirtatiously waved her fingers back at him.

"Thanks Handsome." She purred.

Lucas shuttered. "Ew. Secondly, It goes without saying, but it's impossible to get to know just Maya Hart. If you know Maya, you also know Riley, they're a package deal…"

Maya interrupted him by holding up her hand with a loud "Ring power!"

"Ring Power!" Riley answered, her own hand up in the air as well.

"See what I mean?" Lucas laughed. "She's also an artist. She likes to live life however she pleases and you can see it when she creates a new masterpiece. I've learned that Maya is fiercely loyal to the people she cares about, and she will do anything to protect them. I can relate to that, and I'm happy to have a friend like her." Lucas finished his speech with a smug look at Maya.

"Really Huckleberry? You went for the sincere route? That's a low blow." She growled at him with clenched fists.

Lucas grinned. Riley was right, kindness is definitely the way to get under her skin. "You've ha-hured me and called me Huckleberry at least a hundred times by now. You thought I wouldn't find a way to get back at you?"

"He has a point Maya" Mr. Matthews interjected.

"Stay out of it corky!" Maya hissed.

"Maya let it go…" Riley warned.

"Never!" Maya exclaimed. She jumped in front of Lucas and gave her loudest "HA-HUR" yet.

"Yeah, that doesn't work anymore." Lucas laughed and took a seat at his desk.

Mr. Matthews stood at the front of the class. "Congratulations, you've all learned how to communicate! While some, more successfully than others…" He gave an accusatory glance at Maya and Lucas. "...any form of communication is better than nothing. Now that you have made a connection with someone, you're no longer alone in the world. When we are united together, we can learn to survive. But where do we go from here? Surprisingly, the answers lie in our past. Since the dawn of recorded history, we've been inventing the future one step at a time. So let's travel back in time together. I'll show you how our ancestors created the world we know today, and then it will be your turn to create the world of tomorrow."

"I canNOT wear this!" Riley held up the thin material excuse for clothing that Maya had thrown at her.

Maya rolled her eyes and shoved a pair of shorts into Riley's hands. "Yes you can!"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Riley looked down at her purple floral dress.

"The dress is fine, but it's not exactly party material."

They were in a standoff in Maya's bedroom. Maya declared Riley needed something more va-va-voomy for the football game and after party.

Maya softened her tone, "just give it a try Riley. It will look great."

"Fine…" Riley stomped into the bathroom to change clothes.

She put on the red romper and slid the high waist shorts on. She covered her eyes and walked back into Maya's room.

"It looks awful doesn't it? I don't wanna see." She groaned from behind her hands.

"Riley…"

"I'm just going to put my dress back on it will be fine." Riley attempted to leave the room with her face still covered, but she ended up running into the wall. She cried out in pain. "Ahhh, the outfit is trying to kill me!"

"Riley stop it, come look at yourself!" Maya grabbed Riley's arm and faced her in front of the full length mirror.

"Okay, on three...one, two…" Riley moved her hands and gasped at her reflection. The outfit felt so scandalous she hardly recognized herself, but she didn't hate it.

"Wow…" She turned to look at herself at a different angle.

She assumed the outfit would make her look like a middle schooler trying to dress like a college girl, but it surprisingly looked good on her. The red body suit had long sleeves and came to an extremely deep v just under her chest. The wide opening was held together with crisscrossing strings. She wore a pair of very short, high waist shorts over the bottom of the bodysuit. The distressed shorts were cut at a high angle exposing her legs and making them look even longer. She turned to look at the back.

"Are you sure these aren't too short?" She asked Maya hesitantly.

Maya grinned. "Riles, you look hot. Smokin hot! Are they short? Yes. Too short? Nah! Is Ranger Rick going to lose his damn mind when he sees you? Absolutely! Turn to the front again."

Riley obeyed and faced the mirror again. She was starting to warm up to the outfit. She glanced at her exposed cleavage. Maybe she wasn't as flat-chested as she thought?

"Damn honey. These shorts make your waist look snatched! Like Kylie Jenner who?" Maya rushed over to her closet to pick out shoes. "Now, thigh high boots or white vans?" She yelled from the depths of her messy closet.

"Vans!" Riley squeaked.

"Hmm, how did I know?" Maya teased and tossed the shoes at Riley.

Maya ditched her black Guns N' Roses tank top and pulled on a fitted white halter crop top that exposed her midriff. She tied the red flannel shirt from earlier around her waist and slid the black suede thigh high boots onto her feet. Maya zipped up the back of the boots and walked over to stand next to Riley in the mirror.

Riley looked at Maya's outfit and grinned. "Channeling your inner Ariana Grande?"

Maya shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe just a little. Come on, we have just enough time to fix our hair and makeup before the game."

Riley plopped down at the vanity while Maya began fluffing and re-curling her hair. She cheekily grinned at Maya in the mirror. "Does this outfit have anything to do with my brother's celebrity crush on Ariana Grande?"

Maya laughed at her best friend. She knew she had been caught red handed. "Quiet, you don't want me to burn you do you?"

"What was with him this morning? He was so weird." Riley mused.

"Don't I know it." Maya replied, she was just as perplexed by Josh's behavior as Riley.

"Is there anything going on between you too?"

Maya shrugged. "Not really. Josh is free to do whatever he wants and I'm free to do whatever I want."

"Like go to the party with Zay?"

"Right." Maya answered simply. She finished curling Riley's hair and the girls switched places. Riley began to pick up sections of Maya's blonde locks and gently wrapped them around the curling iron.

"So do you have feelings for him?" Riley asked tentatively.

"Who?" Maya teasingly answered.

"You tell me." Riley stated matter of factly.

"I don't know what my feelings are right now. I've always felt...well I don't know...something for Josh." Maya looked down at her hands.

"And what about Zay?"

She sighed and looked back up. "I don't know. Zay is Zay. He listens to me and he always is looking out for me...we definitely have a connection…" She trailed off. She didn't want to think about it right now. She wanted to enjoy the football game with Riley and see where the night takes her.

Riley could see Maya's mental door slam shut, but she decided to try anyway. "So if you saw Josh with someone else tonight, would you be upset?"

"I don't know and I don't want to talk about it anymore." Maya snapped.

Riley flinched slightly, even though she knew that was the response she was going to get. "Sorry. I didn't mean to push, I'm just trying to help you figure things out." She set the curling iron down.

"I know, sorry for snapping at you. You know how I am, this stuff is just too much for me. I'm not sappy like you and Lucas."

Riley beamed at her best friend.

"What?" Maya asked at Riley's reaction.

"You called him Lucas."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah maybe he's rubbing off on me. Whatever. Switch spots, I want to do your makeup!"

Thanks for reading! I know I said this chapter would be a good rucas one, but I had to cut it in half, so rucas in the next chapter! At least I gave you some Joshaya! I thought I had Maya's end game figured out, but now I'm a little back and forth about it. So (kindly) state your case in the reviews for what ship you support! Someone mentioned they wished there would be some more Farkle, and my answer to that is...keep reading he will definitely have a bigger role in the next section of the story! Please remember to review, like, follow, favorite, all the things! And thank you so much for the well wishes for my dad. He's out of the hospital, but sadly his condition is not going to improve. So, please spend as much time with your loved ones as you can during this holiday season! I will try to get the next chapter out faster! I'm really excited for it! Up next: The scrimmage, Maya's revenge and of course the afterparty!

Lilly.