Hey, guys! It's been years since I posted anything on this website, but I just went through a massive cleaning on my laptop and I came across these old chapters that I've written. I realized that I haven't really touched this story since I first published it, but I actually wrote two chapters after posting the prologue, so I thought I'd share them with you all.

Chapter 1: Familiar Faces

According to Riley's beliefs, there were two ways that a human being might feel whenever they think of seeing the person they once had feelings for a way back. One: They feel excited to be reunited because they are genuinely interested to learn how that person was doing after all these years. And, two: They might dread the reunion. It could be because their story didn't have a happy ending, or just the fact that seeing that person again could likely bring back feelings that they thought vanished a long time ago.

Riley didn't know which of the two she identified herself with the most. Although she was very certain she'd put in the right amount of honey in her green tea that morning, she had a blatant sour taste in her mouth. On the contrary, she felt somewhat thrilled to be seeing Lucas again, wanting to test if the feelings she'd gotten rid of five years ago would remain disposed of. Or if she just thought it was gone, but her feelings were merely slumbering, waiting for that one wake-up call that would awaken it once again.

Regardless of her five-year-long claim of having no more feelings for Lucas, Riley didn't want to risk the possibility of that wake-up call ever happening. Though, she couldn't deny that this two-month isolation retreat in the little town of Kinburgh, Oregon had been giving her the tingles. It was jabbing at her like a nagging fly that wouldn't leave her alone no matter how many times she tried to swat it away.

Tying her long, brown hair up in a ponytail, Riley hopped off the complimentary Uber (kudos to GMW Records) that she and Maya took to get from the airport in Portland to the lake house in Kinburgh where they were to stay at. She gave her limbs their much-needed stretch before she walked toward the Uber's trunk to retrieve her suitcase.

"Here you go, pumpkin. I already plucked it out for you," Maya stated as she handed Riley her suitcase. Maya grabbed her own luggage after, then closed the trunk in one hard, downward slam.

Riley clutched her suitcase by its handle and waved as the Uber driver bid them goodbye. She watched in silence until the gray Toyota was out of her sight. Soon enough, it was just her, Maya, and the lake house that she had yet to give a good survey of. Subsequently, six more people would be arriving—Lucas would be arriving—and Riley didn't know how she'd approach the situation.

You should've come up with a game plan, stupid, Riley chastised herself in thought.

"So," Maya spoke as she positioned herself beside Riley. "How do you feel so far?"

Riley tore her gaze away from the space where the Toyota used to be and said, "How do I feel so far? First off, I checked my phone when we were on our way here and there's barely any signal—"

"But there will be Wi-Fi," Maya interrupted, holding up her pointer finger. "That should make you feel better—it made me feel better. And Josh, too."

Riley chuckled, rolling her eyes as she turned her head toward the lake house. Just as expected, the lake house looked exactly like something that was pulled straight out of a Home Design magazine. The exterior walls were painted gray, as the roof was of the same color but in a darker shade. The windows were lined with white-painted wood, along with the door, which had modern porch light fixtures placed on either side of it. The stone walkway made a path to a set of stairs that led to a quaint porch decorated with a set of rattan love seats.

"Well, this definitely makes up for the lack of phone signal," Riley commented as her eyes kept taking in the entirety of the lake house. "This place is beautiful!"

"I'll have you know I picked this out myself," Maya informed proudly. "Shawn was too busy with his new band, so he let me do all the planning for this retreat. If it were up to him" —Maya made a gagging sound, as a look of disgust overtook her features— "you'd be wishing the next two months would fly by fast."

Riley laughed. "All right," she breathed out. "We've been standing out here for way too long. We should probably head inside and get settled before everyone else gets here."

"That we should do," Maya agreed as she and Riley began walking down the stone walkway and up the short flight of stairs. "God, I hope the landlady left us some wine."

"Rosé!"

Riley arrived at the kitchen just in time to see her best friend pulling out a bottle of rosé from the depths of the pantry. She laughed when she saw Maya looking like a kid who just went into a candy shop for the very first time. "Don't you want to wait for everybody to get here before you open that up?" she queried.

Maya swayed her head as she began to rummage through every cupboard in search of a wine glass. When she spotted one, she didn't waste any time cracking open the bottle of rosé and pouring herself a generous amount. She'd offer a glass to Riley, but she knew that the brunette never grew fond of that particular drink. She was never a big drinker, hence why she normally went for the lighter options.

As Maya helped herself to another serving of rosé, Riley turned to the massive glass doors that overlooked the gargantuan backyard of the lake house. She strode toward it and marveled at the picturesque view in front of her. On the other side of the glass door was a wooden terrace that tapered down to a narrow boardwalk lined with flower beds of different vibrant colors. From her place inside the house, Riley could see the little purple dots, as well as the pink, red, orange, and yellow ones. The boardwalk followed a downhill slope leading to a tiny guest house. Gazing beyond that was the property's spacious lawn covered in luxuriant green grass. Then, there was the lake itself—the true jewel in the crown of the entire property. The water looked serene and stunningly blue as it reflected the color of the bright afternoon sky above.

"Makes you not want to leave, right?" Maya promptly spoke beside Riley, causing Riley to avert her gaze from the backyard view of the lake house. "I'm going to get myself a house like this someday. Josh and I would spend our days out relaxing by the lake. I'll feed him the freshest figs and he'll pour me an endless supply of rosé."

"I might have to ask Josh not to do that," Riley teased. "You get too whiny when you're drunk."

Maya held up her pointer finger. "Ah, but the lake house in question is mine and Josh's. And when you're under our roof, you can never have too much rosé."

Riley smiled warmly at the idea. Maya and Josh had only been together for a month and a half, but Riley thought she'd never seen a couple so smitten with each other before.

"Oh, by the way," Maya stated, perking up. "Shawn texted me and he said that they were at the grocery store shopping for food. We might have the house to ourselves for a lot longer than I thought." She paused briefly. "But then again that message was sent like forty minutes ago, so I'm not sure how much time we'll have until chaos ensues—"

Maya stopped when she heard the sound of a car door slamming shut outside. Both hers and Riley's head turned in the direction of the front door.

"Would you look at that? They're here!" Maya declared as she made her path to the front door to welcome Shawn and GMW Records' newest band, The Monochrome Blond.

Riley stayed behind; her hands squeezed together in trepidation. At any given moment, the man she once had feelings for, for the longest time would be walking in through that very front door. She felt bilious; the entire room was spinning, and her heart wouldn't stop thudding heavily against her chest. She felt like a ticking time-bomb about to detonate. She clenched and unclenched her clammy hands as the front door opened wide and the first person strode in.

It was Shawn. Riley recognized him from the meeting they had four days ago back in New York City. He looked cleaner than the last time she saw him, with his freshly shaven face and his dark hair tucked neatly under a worn baseball cap. Shawn briefly embraced Maya before he let his assistant meet with the band members outside.

Despite having the feeling that her legs were permanently glued to the polished hardwood floor, Riley walked toward the foyer to help Shawn with his suitcase.

The music producer flashed Riley a grateful smile as he waved her off. "Don't worry, I got it. Thank you," he told her just as he successfully managed to haul his suitcase inside the house. "Though, the guys could use an extra pair of hands to bring all the grocery bags in. You would think shopping for two months' worth of food would be easy. Buy in bulk, they say, but when you've got those guys with you?" Shawn shook his head. "They kept insisting they'd get tired of eating the same things over and over again."

Riley laughed at the same time that Maya stepped through the doorway. Incredibly, the glass of rosé was still in her grasp. "One question," Maya blurted. "How happy was the manager of Whole Foods when they found out you bought everything on their shelves?"

Shawn snickered, yielding Riley a knowing glance. He opened his mouth to respond but halted when Charlie Gardner, the drummer of The Monochrome Blond, walked in. Charlie exhaled loudly, the sigh sounding like he was thankful he'd finally arrived at his destination after such a long and grueling trip.

"We'll bring in the grocery bags after we get all our suitcases in," Charlie informed. "That was decided when Farkle insisted that he could bring everything in, then tripping on absolutely nothing afterward."

Riley abruptly swiveled around at the sound of Charlie Gardner's voice, her eyes widening at the sight of her former classmate. She remembered him from high school as this tall, smart, and talented kid from her choir class. She could still spot his high school face on him, though some particular parts of his features had grown more prominent, which gave him that mature look. His face slimmed as his jaw sharpened. His dark brown hair was sticking upwards at the front like Charlie had just raked his fingers through it. He was still slender, yet it nevertheless worked for his overall look.

Charlie went to line up his suitcase alongside Shawn's as Zay Babineaux, the vocalist, and Evan Walters, the keyboardist and rhythm guitarist, entered the house. Like what she did with Charlie, Riley examined the changes in her former high school classmates. Zay grew taller. His scrawny high school physique was long gone and in place of it was a slender yet muscular figure. Evan, on the other hand, looked the same even with the faint wrinkle lines on his forehead. His brown hair was cut short, and he still held the same reputable aura that he had back in high school. Up to the present time, Riley felt like she could ask Evan about anything academic and he'd give her a thorough answer on the spot.

After Zay and Evan came Farkle Minkus, the bassist of the band. Out of the four former high school classmates that Riley had seen so far, Farkle was the one who looked different. The rest of the band was clean-shaven except for Farkle, who sported a light stubble. Rugged was a look that Riley never thought would look so well on Farkle, especially since he was . . . well, Farkle. He'd always been the most playful out of his group of friends; his exuberant personality was comparable to Peter Pan's.

"I'll go get the ice cream from the van," Farkle stated after setting aside his suitcase. "We don't want to have rocky road soup for dessert tonight, don't we?"

Farkle sprinted out the door, unintentionally bumping into Lucas in the process. Lucas let out a loud yelp, which made Riley freeze on the spot. She was so hung up on seeing Farkle again that she utterly forgot that there was one more person left that she hadn't seen.

Maya, having noticed how rigid Riley had become, nudged her with her elbow. Smirking, Maya leaned closer and softly hummed the wedding march in Riley's ear just as Lucas stepped onto the threshold.

Riley couldn't find the energy to berate her best friend for her taunting because she found that there was only one thing—one person—that her whole being could focus on at the moment. Most of her former high school classmates had matured as they aged, but Lucas . . . Lucas had exactly the same face he had five years ago. Though, his blond hair was longer, the golden strands falling onto his forehead. He also grew taller and his muscles developed well in all the right places.

Lucas Friar, the Monochrome Blond's lead guitarist.

Riley couldn't believe it. Five years ago, she was at the Abigail Adams' Seniors' Farewell Party with her friends and she spotted him lounging in a corner with his own clique. He saw her, and she remembered catching him watching her as she walked by. It was the last time she ever saw him, and Riley held onto that memory for the longest time. She liked that her last recollection of Lucas was of him following her every move with his blue eyes.

"Just so you know, we haven't even been here for ten minutes and we already lost one egg carton. I just heard Zay drop it," Lucas announced upon his entrance, his eyes trained solely on Shawn.

As if on cue, Zay cursed vociferously.

"Good God, this retreat is off to a marvelous start," Maya remarked before she turned to Shawn and took a perfunctory sip of her rosé.

When the rest of the band returned inside the house with their arms full of grocery bags, Riley realized how useless she'd become ever since the guys arrived. Shawn told her they could use some help carrying in the bags and all that she did was gawk at her former classmates, distinguishing which of their physical features had changed over the course of five years.

"Hey, I remember your face," Zay pronounced abruptly the second he located Riley standing behind Shawn and Maya.

Riley froze for the second time, her heartbeat quickening when she discovered that everyone's eyes were suddenly turned towards her. Charlie, Farkle, and Evan all looked startled to see her there, realizing that they had one more person in the house with them to acknowledge.

Riley's eyes fluttered over to Lucas's and she saw him with his eyes squinted. Clearing her throat, she looked away, flashed Zay what she hoped was a cordial smile, and said, "I remember yours, too. Zay Babineaux, right? We went to high school together."

"Yeah, I know," Zay responded while nodding his head. "I'm sorry I can only remember your face, but not your name. What is it again?"

"Riley," she answered, stepping forward to offer an outstretched hand to Zay. "Riley Matthews."

Once her name was out in the open, everything seemed to click in place for Charlie, Farkle, and Evan. The former two, with their voices overlapping one another, both declared that Riley's name did sound familiar. Evan, on the other hand, stated that he knew of Riley because he was certain he shared a class with her in high school. He just couldn't recall what subject it was.

"Riley."

The whisper came from her right, and there was only one person standing on that side of her. Riley chanced a quick glance at Lucas, and the expression he had on his face brought back a certain memory in her head. It was the same look—the same stare—he'd always give her whenever they found themselves passing each other in a hallway all those years ago.

Maya was in the midst of preparing dinner when Riley strode into the kitchen, her camera hanging around her neck. Shawn and the band hadn't started on the process of making The Monochrome Blond's debut album yet, but Riley figured she'd begin shooting some photos, though most of them consisted only of the lake house. Shawn and the band were too busy lugging in the instruments and their never-ending gears into the little guest house down the hill in the backyard. Needless to say, she'd taken a few pictures of the band as they transported their instruments, but she didn't follow them into the studio. It was too cluttered inside with everything not in its rightful places yet.

Maya gazed at her best friend as she stood beside her to take a peek at what she was prepping. "Everything still cool with you?" she asked with a smile.

Riley's eyebrows crinkled. "Why wouldn't it be?" she wondered.

Maya shrugged as she resumed chopping the tomatoes. "I saw the way you looked at him when he walked in," she ventured. "You looked like you've seen Chucky and his bride come alive in front of your very eyes."

"That's a little exaggerated, don't you think?" Riley taunted, a smile on her face. "And yes, I was shocked, but that's something that I kind of expected from myself. I had feelings for the guy when I was fifteen up until I turned nineteen. Then, I didn't see him for five years after graduation, and suddenly we're reunited. It sounds too unreal for me."

"If it makes you feel any better about this little reunion, I noticed that he kept look—" Maya paused when her FaceTime blared up. When Riley saw that it was Josh who was calling, she knew that she'd never hear the rest of her best friend's sentence. She assumed right then that whatever it was that Maya had to say wasn't anything important just for the sake of it not bothering her.

"Can you chop the rest of the tomatoes for me?" Maya demanded with a grin, already halfway out of the kitchen. "I know that tomatoes are one of your least favorite vegetables to chop, but I really have to get this."

Riley nodded her head as she placed down her camera farthest from the counter where Maya's work area was. She started right away, attempting to mimic the way Maya performed the task. She cursed under her breath when the next tomato she sliced through wasn't firm enough, and its juices leaked right onto her fingers.

"Are you okay there?" a deep voice asked.

Riley didn't have to turn to see who it was that spoke but found that she couldn't resist the urge. She twisted her body around to see Lucas standing in front of the refrigerator, a cold bottle of water in his hand. He looked at her with concern etched on his features.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I got it all under control," she told him, lifting her stained hand to give him a thumbs-up.

Lucas didn't miss the red liquid dripping from her fingers down to her wrist. His eyes widened when it dawned on him why Riley cursed in the first place. "Oh, God, did you cut yourself?" he questioned, walking toward Riley to get a closer look at her wound. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I didn't cut my hand," Riley answered at the same time that Lucas grabbed her hand to inspect it. She swiftly drew it back, careful not to let anything happen that could possibly activate the wake-up call she'd been hoping wouldn't ring. "It's just the juice from the tomato."

Lucas looked at the sliced tomato that created a small puddle of red liquid on the chopping board. "Oh. Of course. The juice is, um . . . extremely pale to be blood," he muttered, then he snagged a sheet of paper towel from the counter behind him and handed it over to Riley.

Riley took the paper towel from Lucas's grasp and, with a mumbled "thank you," wiped her hands clean. As she turned back to her task, she kept wishing that that was the end of their interaction. She was hoping that he'd say a few parting words, then return to doing whatever it was that he was doing with Shawn and the band. But, of course, it was life. And nothing in life happened the way people always wanted it to.

"Would you mind if I help?" Lucas asked. His eyes were fixed on Riley's face, which had a look of utter concentration on it as she attempted to slice the tomato.

"That bad, huh?" Riley replied, scrunching her face.

Lucas chuckled as he shook his head. "No, you're doing great actually," he complimented. "It's just that I noticed that whatever it is you're preparing has a lot of vegetables—lots of chopping for you to do." He gestured to the other vegetables that were set aside to be cut up later.

Riley followed Lucas's hand and saw that he was right.

Even back in New York, Maya liked to cook alone no matter the size of the group she was going to feed. It didn't matter to her how many things she needed to chop, sift, boil, sauté—she could do it all by herself; she was that ambitious. Riley didn't think that she could do what Maya could. And because of that reason alone, and the fact that there were two red onions she needed to dice, she didn't have any choice but to recruit a teammate. She drew a sharp knife from the wooden knife block and offered it to Lucas by its handle.

"You can get started with the red onions," she instructed.

"Of course, because I definitely want to cry tonight," Lucas commented with a roll of his eyes. He took out a chopping board from one of the cabinets and began his work immediately.

The two of them fell in companionable silence after, the only noise that could be heard was the sound of their knives hitting the chopping board as the tomatoes and the red onions got sliced into smaller pieces.

"Hey," Lucas called after a while, setting down his knife and turning to face Riley. He wiped the onion-induced tears in his eyes with the back of his hand before he crossed his arms over his chest. "About earlier . . ."

Riley cocked her head to the side in bemusement. "What about earlier?" she queried.

"Everyone else said that they recognized you or that your name sounded familiar to them, and I just kind of stood off to the side and didn't say anything," Lucas explained. He was staring at Riley the way he always did back in high school. Riley perpetually thought of it as something that was too intense that she found herself looking away most of the time.

She didn't look away this time. Instead, it was him who broke the eye contact first and Riley fought the triumphant smile threatening to spread across her face. "Aw, you don't have to cry about it," she teased.

Lucas chuckled, wiping his teary eyes yet again. "It's the red onions."

She grinned but decided not to taunt him any further. "I didn't necessarily require every one of you to say something anyway. I didn't even think that Zay would remember me—I didn't think any of you would remember me after all these years."

"But we do," Lucas countered.

"It surprised me, to be honest."

Lucas smiled, then he grew quiet.

Riley took that silence as her queue to get back to preparing dinner. It was only going to be a short matter of time until Maya returned, and Riley knew that her best friend wouldn't like it at all if she discovered that she barely made any progress.

"Riley," Lucas called again.

Riley turned around once more, wordlessly urging Lucas to keep talking.

"I just . . . for the sake of . . . something—I don't know. I just want to let you know that I do remember you. Clearly." Lucas lifted his blue eyes again, capturing Riley's gaze in an instant. "After all, how could I possibly forget my tenth favorite person in the world?"

Riley froze. Lucas said a lot of things to her, but all of it went over her head because all that she could think about was the fact that Riley knew exactly what he referred to.

Yearbook Day. End of junior year.

Lucas Friar remembered it all.

I hope you guys liked this one. It's been a while since I wrote anything for Girl Meets World, so it's been fun reading a previous work I wrote for these characters that I still love.

Thanks!