A/N: So a lot of people enjoyed the last chapter, huh? I'm glad! Let's continue, shall we?
~~~Riley's Point Of View~~~ Chapter Two: Comforting Confessions
I tried not to let Missy get to me. I swear to God I really did. But I couldn't. The words on that note were terrible, and I know that I shouldn't have believed them, but I, being my silly self, did.
I couldn't concentrate on my father's class at all. I shifted in my seat, getting a bit restless. I could see my father give me curious glances. I averted his gaze, hoping he would forget me and continue his lesson. It seemed to work, at least for a few minutes.
"Psst, hey Riles," Maya leaned over to me, her blue eyes narrowed. "You okay?" she whispered.
I blinked. I'd thought I'd done a good job hiding my restlessness, especially since I had been making a conscious effort to hide it since Dad came close to calling me out on it. Apparently, I hadn't done as good of a job as I'd thought.
"Yeah... I'll talk to you after class, okay?" I whispered back. Maya hesitated for a second, then turned her attention back to my father. I did the same, trying my hardest to concentrate on his lesson on the writing of the Constitution. But I just couldn't do it.
Do you ever have those times when you want to do something, and you try and focus on that thing, but your mind doesn't listen to you? Your mind just kind of wanders, and you seem to be able to concentrate on everything but the thing you're trying to focus on in the first place? That is how you could describe what was going on.
Each second that ticked by felt like an eternity, and each minute that passed was an even longer eternity, if that was even physically possible, which I'm not completely sure it is, but whatever. You know what I mean! I finally gave up on listening to the lesson- I could just ask my dad later. I mean, I live with the guy!
And so my mind kind of drifted off. I could not stop thinking about the note Missy had written.She's right. Lucas will never like me, will he? I'm just an immature little baby, huh?
"Riley...? Riley...? Riley...?"
A hand was waved in front of my face. My brain wouldn't fully register it. My ears picked up my father's voice. He had turned to Maya.
"I got this, Mr. Matthews," she was saying. She stood up from her desk and approached mine, placing her palms on the edge of the desk and leaning down so that her face was just inches from mine.
"You got this, Maya?" Dad asked, his eyebrows raised. Maya nodded.
"EARTH TO RILEY! I REPEAT! EARTH TO RILEY!" she yelled.
I nearly jumped out of my skin (metaphorically speaking). I let out a squeal of surprise, throwing my hands over my ears.
"Eek!" I blurted out. The whole class burst into laughter. I slowly lifted my head up, cautiously surveying the classroom and painfully aware of my face turning red. I could feel my face burning as twenty-something pairs of eyes bore into me. I gulped. "Daddy?"
"How ya doin,' honey?" Dad asked with a wave of his hand, the look on his face containing a mixture of concern and confusion.
"D-did you call on me?"
He nodded. "Yes... Are you okay, honey?"
Defying impossibility, my face turned even redder and grew even hotter.
I knew I couldn't hide it anymore. The truth was bound to come out sometime, so I might as well speed it up. I let out a sigh.
"No... may I please be excused?" I asked. Dad hesitated.
"Fine..." he said after a few seconds.
"Thanks, Daddy," I said softly, standing up. I wanted to get out of that classroom as fast as I could. I sped-walked over to the door, taking one last glance behind me. Missy smirked at me as I left. I really hated that girl.
I stalked out of the room, letting the door slam behind me. I felt tears bubbling up in my eyelids, threatening to spill over any second. The more I tried to fight them, the harder it got, until I couldn't fight anymore, and they streamed down my face.
I walked past the trash can. The note was still there, sitting on the top. I snatched it out and read it again, choking back sobs.
I made my way down the hallway, stopping at Farkle's locker, where I had stuffed myself that day at the beginning of the year. It seemed like a good enough place to sulk now. I knew the combination, so in a matter of moments, I had stuffed myself into the locker, my knees pulled up to my chest and my arms wrapped around them, sobbing.
I don't know how long I sat there before Maya came. It might have been only a few seconds, but it also might have been minutes, or even hours (though I was a little skeptical about it being hours. My best guess would be ten or fifteen minutes).
I heard a door open, then close. Then footsteps, heading in my direction. I balled myself up tighter inside the locker, hoping whoever it was wouldn't notice the girl crying inside of a locker. It was possible, I mean, my mom thought that the horse in my room was my father.
But I should have known that whoever it was would notice me.
"Riley?"
The footsteps got faster, until they stopped, and a pair of boots appeared in front of me. The girl wearing the boots crouched down so that she was eye to eye with me. I wiped a tear and didn't say a word.
"Riley?" Maya repeated. "Are you you okay? What's going on?"
"I live here now," I grumbled.
"What?" Maya blinked, confused. "Riley, what happened? You have to tell me."
"Thi-this," I choked out, my voice coming out at barely over a whisper. I handed her Missy's note. "This happened... Read it."
Maya opened up the piece of notebook paper. Her eyes slowly widened as they scanned the paper. Her jaw practically hit the floor, and smoke began to rise from her ears. She grit her teeth in anger.
"I'm going to jack her up," she growled. A strange light filled her eyes, and I was half expecting that she might start cackling maniacally, like the villains in the movies. She didn't, but she sure looked like she was thinking about it.
"Don't," I whispered.
Maya narrowed her eyes. "What?"
"Don't," I repeated, more firmly than before.
"Why not? Riley, she has no right to treat you like that!"
"Yes, she does."
"What?" Maya blinked. "Riles...?"
I balled myself up tighter, whimpering.
I could see the gears turning in her head. A look of realization came upon her face.
"Riley... don't tell me you actually... believe what she said, do you?" Maya said, her voice tinged with disbelief. "Riley, you can't let her get to you. It's just Missy."
"But what if she's right, Maya?" I asked, fighting the tears. "What if I'm just kidding myself thinking that Lucas could like me? What if I am just an immature little baby, like she said?"
"Riley?" another voice chimed in. I hadn't even heard his footsteps. Two seconds later, I found myself staring into a pair of brilliant green eyes. "What's going on?"
"Missy has convinced her that she's an immature baby and that there's no way you could ever like her."
Honestly, Maya? I thought, my face turning a brilliant shade of red. She just had to mention the Lucas liking me part?
"Missy? Well, we're just going to have to have a little talk with Missy, now, aren't we?" Lucas asked. "What exactly happened?"
"Show him the note," I moaned. Maya handed him the paper.
"That little..." Lucas's voice trailed off as he finished reading.
I didn't say a word. Now he knew- that I really was an immature little baby. He would never have feelings for me. How could I have been so stupid?
"Riley, look. You cannot let her get to you. Once you let her get to you, she will have you wrapped around her finger, and she'll never leave you alone."
"Too late for that," Maya muttered under her breath. "Riley, you have to listen to us. Remember when Billy teased Farkle? Farkle listened to us. Now it's your turn."
"I..." I whispered. "I... I don't..."
"You don't what?" Maya asked. "You don't want to leave this locker? You don't want to stand up for yourself? What happened to the Riley I know, the one who would stand up for whatever she believed in?"
"She... she doesn't exist anymore," I finally choked out.
Lucas leaned forward, staring me in the eye. "This isn't the Riley I know," he said. "And I want to know why, and I want to know now."
I didn't know what to say. Even if I did have even the slightest idea of what to say, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have been able to say it. I tried to open my mouth, I tried to say something, anything, but no words would make it out. Not even the softest of whispers.
"Riley, come on," Maya said with un-Maya-like gentleness. "Why won't you talk to us?"
A door opened, then closed. A new voice joined in, followed by a new pair of footsteps.
"Maya? Lucas? What's going on?" Farkle asked. He came to stand by his locker, peeking into it. "Riley?"
"She's trying to be invisible," Maya informed him, gritting her teeth angrily.
"Invisible? Let me guess. Missy trouble?"
"Yep," Lucas said. "Care to help us, bud?"
Farkle nodded and looked me in the eye. "Riley, you know this. Trust me. This whole 'trying to be invisible' thing... it doesn't help. It never has and it never will."
"I know... "I whispered. "...but what she said... it's true. All of it."
"Riley, you can't really believe that," Lucas said. "You can't let what she says get to you. That's what gives her power. You can't let her have any power over you."
"Riley, listen to him," Maya said softly. "Listen to us. You just have to. I want my Riley back."
"You know, guys," Lucas said, standing up. "I think I know how to handle this. You two can go back to class."
They both hesitated, eyeing Lucas suspiciously.
"You got this, Huckleberry?"Maya asked.
"Yeah... I do," Lucas nodded. "I got this.
"Then we'll see you at lunch?" Farkle asked.
"No," I muttered. "Food would only keep me alive."
No one heard me, or if they did, they ignored me.
"Hopefully," Lucas said. "Just go."
They left. Once they were out of earshot, Lucas turned back to me, kneeling down in front of the locker. He reached out and grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly.
"Do you know why what she said isn't true, Riley?"
"Why?" I whispered, my voice getting caught in my throat.
We locked eyes, and the butterflies in my stomach began to flutter wildly. His striking emerald green eyes met with my normal, plain-Jane brown ones. All I could hear was the sound of our hearts beating, rapidly against our chests. He was nervous... we both were.
Lucas bit his lip and took a deep breath. "Because... because I do like you, Riley... a lot. Every time I'm near you, I feel all nervous and awkward. I can never think straight, because every time you look at me, my mind turns to mush. When I see you frown, I would do anything to put that smile back on your face. And keep it there."
My jaw dropped. "L-Lucas, I-"
He didn't seem to hear me. "The truth is, I've always felt this way. Since that day on the subway, when Maya pushed you into my lap. But I never thought you could feel the same way. I mean, I knew you had a crush on me," Was it really that obvious? I thought. "But I thought it was just one of those stupid, little kid crushes, that every one gets, but never actually true love. I thought you were too good for me- I didn't think that you would never share the same feelings as me."
"But I do," I whispered. "I do feel the same way. I thought that you were too good for me. I didn't understand how you could ever feel the same way... we're only twelve. I didn't even think we knew what love was. But now I think we do..."
"Maybe we don't know what love is," Lucas suggested. "But what I do know is that I never get this feeling anywhere else, with anyone else, and when I don't feel like this, I want to more than anything.
Lucas smiled, and my heart melted. He started to stand up. "Now what do you say we get you out of this locker?"
"But I can't," I said.
"Are you still telling me that you believe what Missy said?" he asked his eyes widening in alarm.
"No," I said instantly. "I think I'm stuck."
Lucas laughed and grabbed my hand, pulling me out, and lifting me to my feet. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to him. I rested my head on his chest.
As if on que, the bell rang. Lucas and I pulled away from each other as people started leaving their classrooms. Maya and Farkle instantly came to us.
"You got her out!" Maya exclaimed.
I opened my mouth to say something, but cut myself off as I felt a tap on my shoulder. I whirled around.
"Wha- oh. It's you," I groaned. "Just the girl I didn't want to see."
Because standing behind me, in her pink sweater, was the bulldozer herself. The person I did not want to see. Missy Bradford.
To Be Continued
A/N: So, yep. There we go. Chapter two! I'd appreciate some feedback. Please please please please leave a review on you way out! Have a great day!
~ Pebblemist