We're finally on chapter three! Things are going to start moving a lot faster from here on out. Enjoy and don't forget to review!

The Art of Letting Go

Chapter Three

"Daddy, can we go to school together this morning?" Riley asked as the Matthews family had breakfast.

"Aren't you going to wait for Maya?" Cory answered his daughter's question with another question. "School doesn't start till nine. I usually get to school by eight."

Riley was never early to school. It's not that she didn't want to be early, it's that she had to wait for Maya. Maya liked to take her time when it came to going to school, a place she didn't like.

"I texted her already," Riley replied, shoving a spoonful of cereal into her mouth. "I need to go to the library to check out some books for my English essay. I want to start early."

"Alright, here are your lunches," Topanga declared as she placed three brown paper bags on the kitchen table with corresponding letters on them for her two kids and her husband.

"Did you pack me extra?" Auggie asked. "Ava's mom has no time to pack her lunch lately so I've been sharing with her."

Topanga nodded. She knew Ava had been feeling neglected by her mom ever since she started dating a new man. Topanga had grown fond of Ava through the years, minimizing the amount of times she threw her out of the apartment in frustration.

"Alright, time for school!" Cory announced as he stood up and placed his dirty dishes in the sink. He kissed Topanga on the cheek and ruffled Auggie's curly hair.

Riley followed her father and also placed her bowl in the sink. She kissed her mother and Auggie goodbye.

Ever since Riley had entered high school the amount of time she spent with Cory outside of the classroom was very minimal. She would always be in the company of her friends, and Cory had a lot more students and grading to deal with. Cory was ecstatic that Riley had asked to go to school together that morning. He jumped at every chance he got to spend time with his daughter. She was growing up, and he wanted to hold on to the little girl that always wanted to spend time with him. Riley was glad she joined her father on the way to school, too.

The subway was a lot more crowded than she was used to, as she usually left an hour later than Cory, but she liked to people watch. Not in a creepy way, but in a way that made Riley realize that everyone had their own stories.

Once they arrived to Abigail Adams High, Cory parted with his daughter and headed for his classroom to prepare his lessons for the day. Riley went straight to the library. She had become friends with the librarian, since she would spend her free period in the library to read books when she didn't have a test to cram for. She searched for the books and sat at a table to go through them. For her essay, she had to gather from different texts from one author and compare them, so she only wrote notes on important things from the books she had sprawled across the table in front of her.

Riley began to write notes for her essay, since she had lots of time before the first bell rang. Whilst getting lost in her thoughts, she got a text message. She had assumed it was from one of her friends, but the message was from a blocked number.

From Unknown
You don't deserve him.

Riley shrugged it off. Maybe the sender just sent it to the wrong number, and she didn't feel like sending a text back to correct them. She focused back on her notes again before another interruption from her phone. Another text.

From Unknown
I don't get it. What does Lucas Friar see in you?
You're weird and you're not even that pretty.

Now, this message she couldn't just shrug off. The sender had the right number. Words like the ones she just read reminded her of a dark time. But since getting bullied in middle school, she'd learned not to overthink about what other people said about her. Riley made herself believe that it could just be a prank, though deep down she was afraid she'd have to deal with a bully again.

Riley thought about the message all morning. She'd been called weird before, something she'd learned to like about herself because it made her unique. But not pretty? That hit her self-esteem in a whole new way. She never had any issues with her physical appearance, apart from being insecure about her height.

"Riley?" Lucas snapped her fingers in front of Riley's face. The two were sitting at a table in the cafeteria during lunch.

"Huh?" Riley responded, quickly returning from her thoughts.

"You weren't even listening," he commented. "That's very unlike you."

"Oh, sorry," Riley apologized. "I'm just stressing about my English essay."

"Why? You're good at English," Lucas encouraged.

"Writer's block," Riley shrugged, then quickly changed the subject. "What were you talking about?"

"The nature club's trip to Mount Sun Lodge," Lucas replied. "Our two-year anniversary is coming up." Oh, yes. Lucas had officially asked Riley to be his girlfriend during that trip in their freshman year. Apart from having their own celebration for their anniversaries, they liked going back there to reminisce.

"Yay!" Riley squealed. She seemed to forget about her negative thoughts when she talked to Lucas. "Huh. You know what I just realized?"

"Hm?" Lucas urged for her to continue.

"My parents hate that ski lodge because it almost tore them apart," Riley declared, "but for us, we love the ski lodge because it's where something good started."

"There's only one Cory and Topanga," Lucas reminded her.

"And there's one Lucas and Riley," Riley said and playfully stuck out her tongue.

Riley was put into a pretty good mood for the rest of the day thanks to Lucas. She had forgotten about the nasty text messages and was able to focus in her afternoon classes. She was glad, because she had history with Cory after lunch and it would be way too obvious to him if she was still preoccupied with her thoughts.

After school, Riley had texted her friends to let them know that they didn't have to wait for her and that she'd meet them at Topanga's for their after school snack. Riley had to talk to her English teacher to clarify on some things regarding her essay. Then she stopped by her locker to gather some books to take home. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She managed to get a hold of her phone once she closed her locker. She unlocked her phone and opened the message. Someone had sent her a photo of her and Lucas from lunch a few hours ago. Derogatory doodles were drawn on Riley's face in the photo, with a caption in all capitals that said, 'NOT WORTH IT.'

Riley took a deep breath, closed her eyes and slowly counted to ten. It's what she told Lucas to do whenever he felt like he was about to lose his temper. She didn't even reach five when she felt anger turn into tears. She opened her eyes and wiped the pooling tears with her sleeve. She was glad that the halls were empty. She never liked it when people saw her in a vulnerable state.

She took another deep breath before forcing a smile. She threw her phone in her purse and headed towards the exit.

"Hi, honey," Topanga cheerfully greeted when Riley entered the bakery.

"Hi, Mom," Riley returned the greeting and planted a kiss on Topanga's cheek.

"Want anything?" Topanga asked.

"Green tea, please," Riley requested.

"Alright, sweetie," Topanga smiled. She walked to the counter to prepare the tea.

Riley went to join her friends at their usual spot. She sat beside Lucas, who put his arm around her. She leaned in and rested her head in his neck. She felt safe in his arms, and again she somewhat forgot about the messages for a bit.

"Took you long enough," Maya commented.

"Sorry," Riley apologized. "Told you I was going to take long."

"Anyway, so now me and Farkle are co-presidents of the science club," Smackle announced. "After the seniors from last year graduated, there was no competition!"

"It's great, huh?" Farkle smiled proudly.

While the rest of the group were discussing about what happened at school that day, Riley opted to stay out of the conversation. Instead, she just stared off into space. No one seemed to notice her lack of comments. However, Lucas pulled her in closer to him at some point.

Riley couldn't sleep that night. She so badly wanted to fall into a deep sleep, so that she could forget about the real world for a while, but her mind wouldn't let her. All she thought about were the mean texts and she couldn't help but agree with them. What did Lucas see in her? Why isn't she pretty? Was she worth it? These thoughts haunted her all night.

Next: Riley skips class. The group notices.