Riley's POV:

I make it to Maya's hospital room a little after three. I was supposed to be here right at three, but I ran into a complication right after school. My first day back was terrifying, relieving, and stressful all at once. The fact that Missy was there made matters worse, but I have to admit, it would've been worse if she was absent. As I walk through the all too familiar hallways, I get a deja-vu feeling. I was just here yesterday, but it feels like years ago.

I walk into the hospital room to see Josh and Maya cuddling together. Of course he's here even though it's my day. "Hate to interrupt, but its my day, and Maya and I need to talk."

"What's wrong Riley?" Maya asks.

"Ok you're right. I'll see you tonight babe." Josh says, giving Maya heart eyes. He kisses her once on the lips, then again on the forehead before walking towards me.

"Remember, she's still recovering. Be careful with her." He whispers, just loud enough for me.

"Don't worry, I'm her best friend. She's safe with me." he gives me a look, and with that he's out the room.

"Ok, now that you've become the most efficient cock blocker, what's up?" I sit down on the chair next to her bed, and roll the portable desk over. I quickly set up all the information I've been gathering as Maya watches. I keep an eye on her reactions and see mixed emotions. Worry is more prominent than the other ones like fear, and curiosity. I set up my laptop and then get up to close the door.

"Maya. This person almost killed you. They raped me. They are threatening Lucas, and Josh, and all the people we love. I'm finding out who they are if it kills me."

"Yes, of course. How can help?"

"Well for starters, we should definitely not mention this to anyone else. Not even Farkle."

"But Farkle can help us Riley, and it isn't healthy for us to do all this on our own."

"True, but as soon as A knows were looking for him, he's gonna run. We need to find him. I can't live like this anymore."

"And you're saying that the guys will draw too much attention to our search party?" She asks.

"Yes, exactly." I say, feeling a breakthrough in this conversation.

"So what have you found so far?"

"Nothing much. A hasn't exactly given us much to work with, however there is one thing. When we were looking at the cameras, I noticed something. The name of the cameras were not generic. It was by a company named Kotaline Documentations. So i looked it up, and they're only a few block away from my house."

"What does that mean for us? It's not like they're gonna tell us who bought the cameras. Isn't that confidential?"

"You're right… Round to part two?"

"Yes."

"Well I got a package from A yesterday…"

"You did? Oh, God, what was in it?"

"The shirt from when I was raped…" I say looking down. I sigh, it still hurts whenever I bring it up. So much has happened since then but it still feels so fresh. As if I can feel it happening to me right now.

"I'm sorry. I wish I was there. You weren't alone were you?"

"Lucas was there… But still. I hate that the one thing I'm trying to do is get over this, and all A wants to do is bring it up again."

"I know how this has been hard for you…" She frowns. I hate that before all this she always knew exactly what to say, but now she holds her tongue. It's like she doesn't know what to say…

"Whatever. I was thinking. What if I make a deal with A?"

"No." She says right away. "That could be so dangerous, what if A were to stab you in the back?"

"I get that, but I think it's worth the risk. Can we discuss this more later? There's something else."

"No. No deals." She says sternly. "What else is there?"

"There was actually a return address on the package."

"A's not that dumb, that'd just give them away."

"I know, but I still think we should go look." I say, knowing that if she says no, I'll probably just go anyway. Maybe Farkle will come with me. It's worth a try, and to be completely honest, I'm desperate enough to try anything at this point.

"Whatever." I say. "I wanna hear about you." We talk for awhile and Maya fills me in on her recovery schedule. She should be able to be home and a week and a half, and school in two weeks. But she'll need the crutches for a while. The doctor ever recommend a full on wheelchair for her first few weeks.

"Do you even wanna go back to school that early?" I ask, hoping she'll say no. I love her, and of course I want her to be back at school with all of us, but I'm worried that Missy will just eat her alive. Then again, she wasn't so bad today…

"Speaking of, how was Missy and her posy of hoes today?" Maya asks. So I tell her the story...

(Flashback)

I wake up this morning feeling tired, as I did not get enough sleep last night. My phone buzzes and I unlock the screen. It's a text from Lucas. Are we going to school today? Yes, yes we are.

I am running a little late, and i get to my first period class right on time. Farkle helps me with the lesson because I hadn't had enough time to do my reading homework, or even to look up a summary online. This is better, I thought. At least I won't have to deal with Missy until passing period.

I try to avoid her as much as I can during the day, but she still finds time to gawk at me in the hallway. At lunch I sit in between Farkle and Smackle, but I really wish i was sitting next to Lucas. We still can't be seen together. Someone taps my shoulder and thinking its Missy I shiver. I heavy varsity jacket is placed on top of me and I realize that it's Lucas. I smile. It's nice to have a good surprise every once in a while instead of all of these bad ones.

"Lucas, I don't care." I say loudly.

"About?" He asks.

" The breakup. I just wanna be with you."

"I love you Riley." he says. I smile. I don't need to say it back because he already knows.

"Well what do we have here?" Missy asks. And with the decision I just made, even she can't bring me down.

I smile at her, "Morning, Missy." I say, just trying to be my usual self.

"Get that ugly ass smile of your face, bitch." And because she's called me that so many times, it doesn't even faze me anymore.

"Don't Missy." Lucas says in a stern voice.

"It's okay Lucas, it doesn't bug me." I laugh, and take another bite of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I grab his hand, and we walk away.

From behind me I hear, "That damn bitch, one of these days, she'll be sorry." I squeeze his hand, and I know he heard her threat too.

(End of Flashback)

"So do you think that that threat was empty, or real?" Maya asks.

"I don't really know." I say honestly. "But now that Lucas and I have decided to ignore A and stay together, I'm not too concerned."

The doctor walks into the room. "Visiting hours are over for non-family, Miss Hart."

"Thank you Sonya." Maya says politely. I give her a hug goodbye and make my way out of the hospital.