Hola! I'm so glad so many of you liked the pilot chapter. Keep sending me your thoughts! Anything you would like to see is also welcome. :*
Guest 1: THANKS, LOVE! You motivate me.
Marissa Davis: Oh my gosh, I'm happy to hear that! And yes, Rucas stories always make my heart jump, haha. Thanks for your kind words!
Rucaslover: Bingo! We'll talk more about her later ;)
daghley: Right on the nose! And who knows… Lucas seems to be an uncontrollable guy. And who knows if him having a surgery will make his ego fly? Thanks for your review!
KillEmWithKindness02: I love your username… Selena am I right? You'll see Farkle and Lucas become great friends throughout the story. BTW, the fact that you mentioned Lucas doesn't have to see to love Riley made me so happy. I'll keep that in mind. ;D
Marilove24: Thanks, lovely!
Discurus: I hope I can reach their OTP potential, haha.
HotXbun: Don't you love questions? I answered too many questions with a question XP lol.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize except story sequences.
…..
"I'm going to question all of you about your reading assignment over the summer." Ms. Harper stood in front of her desk. Everyone adored her, mostly because she was known as those teachers that are relatable. "Why did Hermia call her lover a thief?"
No one raised their hand. Maya looked at Riley who sat to her left. Lucas stared at the teacher in confusion. Back in Dallas, they didn't make him read Shakespeare. They made many non-fiction books mandatory.
"Riley? Would you like to answer? I know you have it." Ms. Harper's leather jacket wrinkled as she crossed her arms.
The brunette sighed. "She called Lysander a 'thief of love'. Because of a magical event, Hermia's lover began to love someone else. Hermia was completely heartbroken."
The teacher grinned. "Good job, Ms. Matthews. Mr. Friar. I know you haven't read this play. Although, I'd love to hear your thoughts about William Shakespeare in general."
Lucas rolled his eyes. "Texas never made us read that. We read historical books. All I know about Shakespeare is that he loves killing his main characters." He threw his pencil in the air and caught it single handedly. "I don't get what the big deal is."
Riley turned back and looked at Lucas in shock. "You did not just say that."
Ms. Harper smirked. "This year will be very interesting for you, Lucas." She focused her attention to the entire classroom. "It's okay if you don't like this author. However, I want us to dig deep into the mind of this individual. Liking him or not, we can all agree his writing differs from anyone in history."
…..
Maya glared at Lucas as she walked out the classroom. "Who does he think he is?" She and Farkle hurriedly went to the next class, leaving Riley behind with Lucas.
"Riley, can you please help me put on my messenger bag?" Lucas' hand flew around his seat to locate his book bag. His attitude seemed to disappear since class.
She reluctantly agreed and waited until Lucas put a hand on her shoulder. "We both have a free period so we could study for Ms. Harper's class until third." Riley led him to the hallway and signaled him to sit on the floor. She criss-crossed her legs and opened her Shakespeare textbook.
"I see you enjoy her class a lot." Lucas chuckled and grabbed his textbook as well. "You hate me don't you."
Riley frowned. "I don't mind your preferences. I could deal without the attitude though. You just stated that 'Texas' doesn't do romantic plays." There was an intimidating silence after she spoke her mind.
"What am I supposed to do! I have anger inside of me. It's all a mix of me moving here and the people treating me like an idiot. You have no idea how it feels to have people shout in your face. Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I'm deaf." Lucas left Riley speechless. He sighed and began to feel the pages of his textbook. "Since I can't read, I have my parents read me everything. William Shakespeare isn't exactly the most manly thing my father wants."
Riley nodded. "I'll read it to you. If you want, we can read the summer assignment just so you get used to her class."
Lucas shrugged. "I guess that would be fine. We can read it every third period."
The introverted brunette smiled. "I'm glad you can confide in me. I promise I'll always be here to talk," her hand flew to his shoulder, "You Texas boy."
The blond cowboy laughed and nodded. "You're my first friend, city girl." He put his hand on top of Riley's. "Thanks."
She began to get flustered immediately. "Yeah! N-No problem! Let's keep reading so we can find my friends later."
…..
"I don't like him at all. I mean, look at him!" Farkle rolled his eyes in annoyance as him and Maya surveilled. From afar, they saw Riley and Lucas talking. "He's all talk."
"I wouldn't trust him," Maya paused, "but there's probably a reason why Riley is giving him a second chance." In a matter of seconds Maya and Farkle run to the pair studying.
"Peaches! Farkle! I'm glad you're here. This is Lucas Friar." Riley pointed at the handsome teen.
Lucas bowed his head, as if he had an invisible ten-gallon hat. "Nice to meet y'all." He smiled to where he assumed the two acquaintances stood. "Riley says you're good people."
"The best." Maya crossed her arms and squinted her eyes. She got closer to Lucas and examined him from head to toe. "I'm going to be watching you closely, Ranger Rick."
Friar furrowed his eyebrows. "Why? What did I do?"
Farkle scoffed. "Look at you, dude! You're a 30 year-old in a 17 year-old body!" Minus looked at the new kid in disbelief. He was aware Lucas had made a mark on Riley. If the cowboy knew he was really good-looking, it'd go straight to his head.
Friar laughed. "I wouldn't know but thanks, buddy." Lucas turned his head toward Riley. "What class do I have next?"
She bit her lip as she searched for his schedule. "Uh, surprisingly you have Mr. Matthews for Gym." Riley giggled and looked at Maya.
"Why are you laughing?" Lucas asked, with a smirk.
"Oh nothing! I guess you'll find out sooner or later. Farkle has that same class. You guys should bond there!" Riley grinned from ear to ear. "Yay!"
…..
"So Farkle, how long have y-"
"Look Lucas. I don't want to bore you with my life. You probably don't want to hear about the life of a city kid." Farkle sighed. He put on his gym shirt while Lucas tied his sneakers.
Lucas frowned and realized he made a poor first impression. "I'm sorry. I know I seemed like a snob first period. Give me another shot to prove I'm not a huge idiot." He stuck his hand out for a truce.
"Fine. I'll give you another chance to show me who you really are." Farkle shook his hand and gave him a small smile. "What were you going to ask me before I interrupted?"
"Oh, right! How long have you know Riley and Maya?"
"My wives? I met them when we were in first grade. I've loved them ever since. Equally, might I add." Farkle recalled all the memories the three of them have had. "You like Riley, don't you?"
Lucas was shocked. "Uh, I just got here, buddy. Let's call each other friends for now." He chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck.
Farkle smirked. "Sure. Say that now. But I called it." He tied his left shoe and rose to his feet. "Let's go before Matthews yells at us."
…..
"Good morning to you all! We'll be playing basketball today." Mr. Matthews grabbed his clipboard and started calling out random names. "Farkle, Lucas, Isaiah, Dezmond, Scott against Yogi, Elliot, Andrew, Charlie and Brandon."
Farkle grew worried about Lucas. "Mr. Matthews. Can you come here for a second?"
The teacher walked over to the pair of friends. "What's the problem?"
"My friend, Lucas, can't see. How is he going to play?"
Lucas felt awkward and embarrassed that he couldn't play like everyone else. "It's okay Farkle, I played a bit back at home." He didn't want to admit it, but he played by himself sometimes. Lucas had memorized where the net was. However, it was going to be more challenging to play with actual people.
"That's good to hear, Friar. Now, game on!" Mr. Matthews patted Lucas on the shoulder and walked off to the sidelines.
Farkle shook his head in disapproval. He whispered, "Why did you lie?"
Lucas frowned. "I'm not going to isolate myself on the first day." He felt Farkle pass him the basketball.
Minkus sighed. "Fine." He grabbed Lucas and turned him towards the net. "Forward is where you shoot. Backwards is the opponent's net. I'll tell you where to throw. Just hear my voice and the direction."
"Thanks, Farkle. I'll be listening."
For the first two minutes, Lucas was playing pretty well. Every time he heard Farkle yell "right" or "left" he would throw it straight to him. His team mates hollered supporting chants to the new guy until he tripped on someone's foot.
"Sorry, Friar!" A guy unknown to Lucas started to cackle.
Lucas stayed on the floor until he felt two people lift him up. He knew Minkus was definitely one of them but the other was not recognizable.
"Really, Charlie? What was that for?" Farkle shouted from across the court.
"Sorry about him." A voice next to Lucas mumbled. "I'm Isaiah. Zay for short."
"Don't worry about me. It's nothing." Lucas dusted himself and got up with pride. "Let's keep playing." Internally, Friar's blood was boiling. He wanted to beat the crap out of that Charlie guy. "You ready, Charlie?" Lucas yelled out in front of him. He was aware that the idiot that tripped him was observing him from afar.
"Sure thing, blind boy!" Charlie yelled back.
"Hold me back if I start to charge, buddy." Lucas searched for Farkle with his hand and grabbed his shoulder. "Zay, you friends with him?"
"Uh, I shouldn't but we're in the basketball team together. You should join, dude." Isaiah patted him in the back. "Don't let him irritate you."
Out of nowhere, a feminine voice was herd throughout the gym. "Dad!"
Farkle smirked and began to snicker.
Lucas recognized that voice. "Riley?"
…..
xx
