Fandom: Girl Meets World
Pairing(s): Riarkle
Story Description: "The only thing the two seemed able to agree upon was that Abigail Adams was definitely not big enough for the both of them." Riley Matthews and Farkle Minkus have hated each other from the first day of Freshmen year, but now they have to spend the rest of their Senior year chemistry partners.
Author's Note: So, I've decided to keep Electronic Configuration rated T. I will, however, warn you guys up here in the notes whenever a chapter has the potential to stray into M territory. Again, I never write anything graphic but I still don't want to offend any of you guys! I love you too much! Please give me feedback, like Lady Gaga, I live for the applause.
Riley sat with her knees tucked up to her chin, hugging her legs, on the bench of her classic bay window. Outside, the sky was pitch black, shifting into a gradient with the glow of the New York cityscape below. The stars were clouded behind fog and light pollution, the moon just barely a sliver of luminescent yellow contradicting to the bleakness of everything else.
She wished there would be a falling star or a comet. Something she could wish on.
How could she have been so stupid?
She'd let herself be swept up the moment, caught up in Farkle and his smile and her name on his lips. Kissing him had been a mistake. He didn't have feelings like that for her. He'd called himself her friend practically seconds before she flung herself at him, for God's sake!
Riley was humiliated.
She didn't even understand her own actions. She had focused most of her time and energy over the years to academics and extracurriculars; the rest dedicated to Maya and her family. Despite being a hopeless romantic, Riley had sacrificed dating to ensure she would achieve her goals, like Columbia.
She'd had crushes, sure, one even on Farkle's best friend, Lucas Friar, not too long ago but this was different. This, he, was all she could ever think about anymore. She worried for him, missed him, longed for the next moment she would be able to be beside him.
Riley had never felt more out-of-control in her life.
It was only going to get worse tomorrow when she had to face Farkle for the first time since her complete lapse of control and judgment. Knowing what a dick the boy could be, he'd probably laugh at her or sneer at her feelings for him…
No, A tiny voice whispered hopefully in the back of her head, He wouldn't do that. Things are different now and you know that. You know he feels something for you.
But did he?
Farkle called her a friend, accepted her help, and seemed to like spending time with her but none of that meant he was in love with her.
Riley stopped breathing, her heart skipping a beat.
In love? Where the hell had that come from?
Because having a silly, school-girl crush on Farkle or liking him as more than a friend was one thing but being in love with him… She couldn't be in love with him! She didn't even know what that would feel like so obviously she was just tripping over her own thoughts and thinking too much again and wondering about things that were just… not true.
There was a light knock on her bedroom door, pulling her from her jumbled brain. She turned to the door and rested her head against her knees caps, calling softly, "Come in."
The door swung open and Riley's mother, Topanga Lawrence-Matthews, ducked her head around the wood. She had a look of confusion and concern on her face as she stepped into the bedroom, "Why are you still up?"
"Why are you?" Riley asked with a tired, teasing smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. As a hard working, high-profile, New York lawyer and small business owner, Riley's mother rarely stayed up past her own teenage daughter. She was mocked relentlessly for it by her husband and children.
Topanga crossed her arms over her chest and gave Riley a look before stepping over to the bay window and sitting beside her daughter, "Everything okay?"
The brunette considered the question, furrowing her brow and inspecting her bony toes, "I need to repaint my toenails. They're chipped."
The mother looked her child over before nodding. She got up, finding Riley's favorite-as-of-late blue nail polish and sat back down, patting her lap. Without a word, Riley settled her feet into her mother's lap and watched as Topanga began repainting the nails.
They were silent for a moment before her mother prompted her again, "Anything besides clipped paint you want to talk about?"
Riley bit her cheek and looked out the window, "Have you ever done something without thinking? And it seems like now you can't fix it but you also don't really want to and... And you just confused?"
"Well," Topanga gave her daughter an amused sideways glance, "I think so but you might have to give me more than that for me to help you out, Sweetie."
"There's... this boy," The girl finally admitted, reluctantly. She felt her mother pause between nails but pressed on anyway, "I think that I might really like him but we're just friends and Friday I-" She blushed scarlet and picked at her fingernails, chipping those as well, "I might have kissed him."
A squeal erupted from her mother, causing the girl to look at her wide eyed and flush even redder. Topanga held up a hand and took a deep breath, "Sorry. Sorry, Sweetie! You're just to grown up now and-"
"Mom!"
"I know! I know! Okay, so you kissed him. Why is that a problem?"
"Because," Riley sighed, flicking some hair out of her field of vision, "Because we could not be more mixed-matched if we tried. He's so confusing and everything with him is like one step forward and three back and I never know what he's thinking! And even if all that were different, he doesn't have feelings for me."
Topanga gave her daughter a questioning look, "If you never know what he's thinking, how do you know he doesn't?"
Riley opened her mouth to reply, thinking back for a moment on the way Farkle's blue eyes had seemed to crackle as he looked down at her, right before she had kissed him. She recalled the grip he'd had on her hips, how he'd practically crushed her against him.
How kissing him had felt a little like playing with fire…
She closed her mouth, furrowing her brow.
He fucking kissed Riley Matthews… and liked it. And very, very much wanted to do it again.
This was not an outcome he'd been anticipating. No educated guess he'd concocted upon first being paired with Riley could have possibly prepared him for this.
She was Riley, for god's sakes! Farkle couldn't have even imagined speaking to her without wanted to throttle her a month ago and now…
Well, now things were different. And confusing. And maybe even a little… intriguing?
She was intriguing, at least.
Riley, honestly, had always seemed kind of boring to him from afar. She was the classic, sweet, smart, teacher's pet that no one really hated but only a few really liked. People called her a prude from time-to-time and Farkle had laughed because how could a girl who looked like that be a senior in high school and never had a boyfriend?
He'd always assumed she thought she was just better than everyone else, above all the drama of dating. Farkle had thought she was a snob.
But the way she'd kissed him like she was composed of raw energy and passion. Riley had made him breathless, like she was trying to kill him, like a siren dragging him down to the deepest depths of the ocean.
Sparks, silk, and vibrant color.
That was Riley Matthews.
She was a warmth that Farkle had never fully had in his life. His mother was chiseled from ice, after all, and his father's distance always left the whole penthouse cold. His friends helped, sure, but they'd always seemed separate from him. Like they were too far away to hear him through the static.
But Riley was pure sunlight and solar flare, blinding him when he looked to closely but deathly too him when they were parted.
She was soft, something he'd always thought a weakness before. Only, the more kindness and forgiveness he saw Riley give without condition, the more he wished he could be capable of that. Maybe it was how he was raised but everything had a price, even made-up ideas like love, and Farkle was still sort of waiting to see what Riley's play really was.
But she never demanded anything in return for giving him her time or energy. Even weeks ago, when she still couldn't stand him, she had openly and easily offered her sympathy and understanding, her grace.
Grace that Farkle only understood enough to know it was undeserved.
She scared him, honestly. She was a wild card, an unpredictable element. But he couldn't tear himself away anymore, had either lost the fight to or just didn't care anymore.
Because kissing Riley had felt a little like drowning in a riptide…
And Farkle really didn't want to think too much about that.
The next morning came with a sense of uncertainty for Farkle Minkus.
It had been a while since he'd been nervous about walking the halls of his school. Once upon a time, the anxiety of that simple act had been ingrained into his daily routine but it had been a few years since he'd been that boy. Being friends with Lucas and Zay, learning to not react, over time he'd just grown into... someone else.
Someone who was not necessarily more confident but just cared less?
Caring was effort and irrational. It screwed with his head and Farkle hated nothing more than being clouded. Scientists, realists, like him had to be clear-minded and unaffected by silly emotional ties. Besides, it looked positively exhausting to have as many feelings as most of his peers seemed to.
So, Farkle didn't usually care.
But this thing with Riley Matthews, well, he couldn't really help it.
Nervously glancing toward her locker, Farkle saw that she was nowhere in sight and felt both relieved and disappointed. He hadn't wanted to talk to her or anything, didn't want to seem desperate, but seeing her would have... not been unwelcomed.
The locker beside him slammed shut and started him, causing him to smack his forehead into the door of his own. Groaning and rubbing his brow, Farkle glared at a grinning Zay.
The other boy laughed, glancing over at their third musketeer, Lucas, "I think it's about time that our boy here admits he's smitten. What do you think, Lucas?"
The blonde boy smirked and rolled his eyes, "Sure, Zay."
"Kindly fuck off, would you?" Farkle asked, closing his locker and tugging at his hair. He glanced back at Riley's locker again. She was still not there. "I am not 'smitten'. This isn't the Roaring 20s."
His two friends looked at each other, eyebrows quirked. Looking back at Farkle, Lucas sighed, "You know it's okay to like a girl, right? Even Riley Matthews."
Farkle chuckled, "You make it sound like I've never dated before. Remember, I had a girlfriend for two years."
"So, you do want Riley to be your girlfriend?" Zay sang, knowingly.
The young genius clenched his jaw and rubbed the back of his neck, rolling his eyes, "I don't."
"Oh," The boy nodded, tapping their other friend on his arm. "I mean, I guess that's good for Lucas. Right, Lucas?"
Both Farkle and Lucas looked at Zay in confusion.
After a moment, a look of realization passed over Mr. Perfect's face and he cleared his throat, nodding, "Uh, yeah!"
"What?" Farkle asked, narrowing his eyes.
Lucas shrugged, "Well, Riley's pretty cool and since you don't like her, I was thinking about asking her out. You wouldn't mind, right?"
Of course, Farkle thought while digging his nails into his palms, Of fucking course, Lucas was interested in Riley.
It made sense, from a Darwinistic standpoint, for Lucas to be interested in Riley. They were both optimists, both bright and shiny people. Two supernovas, lighting up the galaxy together like Hera and Zeus, while he and Riley... they were opposites.
The only connection between them was the natural attraction of unlike forces; Farkle knew that. He knew that even something as bright as a quasar could be consumed if it passed too close to a black hole. He didn't belong in Riley's gravitational belt, but perhaps Lucas did.
Objectively, it made sense.
It was at least a hypothesis worth testing.
Still, ice pierced his chest because the idea of Riley Matthews with one of his best friends; it made his stomach curl. No, it made him want to punch Lucas, to sock him right in that Mr. Perfect smile of his until all that Southern Charm was long gone and moving on.
See how Lucas liked being beaten down for a change…
Confident, cold, uncaring; it was how his mother always played it and maybe Farkle was a bit more like her than he liked to admit. Unclenching his jaw and forcing his hands out of the fists they'd locked themselves into, Farkle shifted his book bag on his shoulder and shrugged.
"Do what you want, Lucas."
Farkle really wanted to punch his best friend… But he wished that he didn't care at all even more.
Riley fiddled with her Breast cancer pink pen and tried desperately to focus on the AB Calculus equation before her. It was one of those problems that, between the formula and the proof, took up an entire notebook page. She had thought she'd solved it but her answer didn't match the textbook.
"Hey, Riley!"
The brunette turned her head up, smiling as Lucas Friar approached her desk. It was a work day and the teacher, Mrs. Armani, had left them to their own devices with the simple instructions of staying quiet.
Sitting up, Riley drummed her pen on her thigh, "Lucas!"
She guessed that they were friends now, right?
He was Farkle's best friend and since she had still managed to postpone speaking to the genius, she assumed that they were technically still 'friends' as well. Riley tried not to think about the pathetic crush she'd had on the Texan back in freshman year, but her cheeks still tinted pink.
Lucas came to stand before her, glancing over his shoulder before setting his notebook down on her desk and leaning down, into her space. Startled, Riley jerked back and laughed, nervously, as the boy smiled at her.
"Sorry," Lucas gave her back some space, resting his elbows on her desktop, "I just had a quick question."
Eyebrows drawing together, Riley tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Well, I mean, I can try to help but Farkle took AB last year s-"
"Not about Calc, Riley." The boy smirked and Riley could feel herself blush. She wasn't used to such direct attention from someone so, well, attractive. Besides, maybe Farkle… so not the time, Matthews.
Shifting in her seat, the brunette nodded, "Oh! Um, okay?"
Lucas licked his lips and sighed, looking over his shoulder again. Craning her neck a little, Riley could see Zay standing in the doorway of the classroom, gesturing wildly to his friend. Giggling, the girl narrowed her eyes as Lucas whirled back around to look at her, "What are you two up to?"
"Would you like to go out with me? Thursday night?" Lucas shot out, startling the poor girl for about the third time. Riley's lips parted slightly, eyes widening in confusion. The Texan cleared his throat and slowly looked up to meet her warm, brown eyes, "It's the start of the long weekend, so…"
Go out? With Lucas Friar?
At fifteen, Riley would have been staring at the boy, mouth open like a whale and a grin so big on her face it might have split it. She would have nodded and chanted 'yes' and walked on clouds for the rest of her life. She'd have gone home and doodled 'Riley Friar' until her notebook ran out of pages.
So, why did she feel nothing but dread at being asked now?
Because you wish it wasn't him asking.
Swallowing, Riley bit her lip and gave Lucas an apologetic look, "I'm so sorry but I can't. There's just…" She glanced down at her fiddling hands and shrugged, "Something else going on?"
Lucas looked oddly relieved and nodded slowly, "Yeah! I get it, Riley. No problem! Just let me know if you happen to change your mind, okay?"
"Sure," Riley agreed, smiling politely as Lucas made his way back across the classroom.
He was a very pretty boy…
But he didn't make Riley's heart race.
God, why couldn't life just be nice and have Farkle ask her out instead?
The moment had come and Riley was still completely unprepared.
Stepping into the chemistry classroom seconds before the bell rang, the brunette was both relieved and disappointed to see Farkle already copying notes at their usual table. She felt a hand pat her back and gave Maya, who had a smug smirk on her face, a glare.
Making her way to her seat, Riley shakily set her textbook down on the table and glanced over at Farkle, "Minkus."
The boy paused in his writing for just a second before continuing on as if she hadn't spoken. Riley's stomach rolled, the bundle of nerves in her gut making her eyes water. Taking a deep breath, she tried again, "Your weekend?"
Farkle shrugged, silently. He still hadn't so much as looked at her. Fuck, fuck, fuck, why had she kissed him? Why, oh why?
Still, even if he didn't like her, he could at least… talk to her? Right?
Riley started one last time, "I actually thought a lot during mine. About what happened last week… Or Friday night… Or between-"
"Matthews, I'm trying to work so that we can actually pass this assignment and get out of each other's hair so would you please?" Farkle cut her off, finally dropping his pen to look right at her.
The girl swallowed hard, eyes burning. Get out of each other's hair… But Riley really liked Farkle's hair. She could remember gripping on to it and the feel of down feathers between her fingers as he took her lower lip into his mouth and clasped her hips.
Blinking and bewildered, Riley tried to keep herself calm.
Maybe this was just one of those mood swings Farkle always seemed to be getting into. Maybe he'd had a bad weekend at home. Maybe it wasn't really her and it was just bad timing. Maybe, maybe, maybe…
"Planning on being a dead weight all period?" Farkle's voice broke through the fog in her brain and made her snap to attention. He had finished copying the notes and was glaring at her blank paper.
"No!" She snapped, coming back to herself as irritation flared to life in her chest. "Planning on being a dick all period?"
"You're right, Matthews," The genius shot her a sarcastic smile with cold, icy blue eyes, "I am a dick but at least I don't throw myself at someone and then run off the second a better offer comes along."
Riley stared at him, dumbfounded. How did he even know about Lucas? And what did he mean 'run off' when she had turned the other boy down? And all in hopes that he would get the courage to ask her out himself, for fuck's sake!
So, Farkle thought that little of her?
That she would kiss him and then go out with his best friend days later?
Well, fucking fine. He wants to be right about every damn thing? I'll let him be right!
Biting her lip and glaring at her paper, Riley shook her head. Anger boiled in her blood and in that moment, she just wanted to make Farkle feel like shit for once. He did it so often to her, it only seemed fair.
Leveling her chin and checking to be sure Mr. Hudson wasn't paying attention but Farkle was, Riley called lowly across the classroom, "Lucas!"
The boy, a few tables ahead of them, turned around questioningly. He glanced at his best friend, who sat tensely beside Riley, before quirking an eyebrow to the girl who'd summoned him.
Smiling in a way that looked painfully rehearsed, she said, "I changed my mind. I'd like to go out with you Thursday." She glanced at Farkle from the corner of her eye and found him watching her with those cold, calculating eyes. "Turns out that 'something else' was really nothing."
"Oh," Lucas nodded slowly before grinning uncertainly, "Great."
And with that, Riley Matthews began copying her notes down with a well-hidden sense of dread in the pit of her stomach and a quiver in her handwriting.
Changed her mind?
Changed her mind…
Changed her mind!
Farkle couldn't get it out of his head. Riley had said she had 'changed her mind' and wanted to go out with Lucas.
Meaning that she'd originally turned Lucas down and Farkle had assumed the worst of her.
Could he really be blamed for that? Most of the people he'd met only had the worst of themselves left; it had always been difficult to believe there was a human as fundamentally kind as Riley. So, he'd made an assumption based on past behaviors and solid reasoning and, yeah, he'd gotten it wrong but should that really cost him any chance at…
At what?
Because Farkle hadn't been exactly lying that morning when Zay had asked him about Riley and used that word, girlfriend. Farkle didn't want Riley Matthews to be his girlfriend; he didn't have time or energy or motivation for a girlfriend.
He just knew he liked her. He just wanted to be with her and have her all to himself and kiss her like she'd kissed him on Friday. Completely different.
Not that it matters now, you asshole. A real stellar job there, Minkus.
While the 'changed her mind' part of Riley's words had stung and made him want to sink into the Earth, it was the last thing she had said that really cut to the bone.
That 'something else' was really nothing.
Was… was he the 'something else'? And subsequently, the nothing?
Had Riley actually, in some cruel twist of fate or destiny or whatever it was idiot's believed in, had some kind of feelings for him and now she didn't? Was that how feelings like this worked? One second you had them and the next you didn't because you were offended? That didn't sound right.
And that didn't feel right, Farkle realized as he glanced over at a fuming Riley again. Riley had offended him too and he was still very… fuck it, smitten with her. Maybe…
But no, because Riley had said that he was 'nothing'. His mother had told him that a few times after one too many glasses of wine. He'd documented it in his own notes, trying to prove his theory about being a living black hole. Farkle knew Riley was right, just like he knew he shouldn't care and should stay rational and unemotional.
Only, Farkle still wanted to drown in Riley Matthews and he knew that wasn't rational.
Aren't these two just so fucking FRUSTRATING!? Like, just bang guys, for real. Everyone wants ya to… Haha, anyway… I hope you guys like this update and are interested to see how this little triangle/totally-not-gonna-work date drama goes!
