There's a surprise in this chapter, not sure if you guys are going to enjoy it though. But Maya and Lucas fight over Riley, so there's that! It's my favorite scene in the entire chapter. Also, thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it.

The Art of Letting Go

Chapter Four

"Farkle!" Maya yelled when she saw Farkle at his locker and ran towards him.

"What's up?" Farkle questioned, turning to face the blonde.

"Have you seen Riley this morning?" Maya asked in a panic.

"No, I thought you would be with her," Farkle answered. He made a good point. It was a known fact that Maya always showed up to school with Riley, unless noted otherwise.

"I went over there this morning but the bay window was locked and Auggie said she left," Maya tells him.

"I think you're overreacting, Maya," Farkle stated. "Maybe she got to school early."

"No, Farkle," Maya argued. "Yesterday I didn't show up with Riley to school because she texted me earlier that morning that she wanted to go to school early to start on her English essay. That's the thing. She always tells me if we're not coming to school together."

"I see what you mean," Farkle sighed. It was too early for Maya to be breathing down his neck. "But remember, it's Riley. She never misses school unless you ask her to skip class with you."

Maya understood what Farkle was saying. And he was probably right.

"Hi, Farkle. Hi, Peaches!" Riley greeted when she approached the two, as if on cue.

"Oh, thank god you're okay!" Maya exclaimed in relief as she pulled Riley into a hug, earning a confused look from the brunette.

"See," Farkle said in a 'told-you-so' tone.

"See what?" Riley asked, adjusting her purse on her shoulder after parting from the hug.

"Maya was worried that something happened to you," Farkle told her. "She went to your house this morning and you weren't there."

"Oh, sorry," Riley turned to Maya and apologized. "I left with my dad again. I'm sorry, I must have forgotten to text you."

Farkle shot a look at Maya and said, "I told you so."

"I told you so," Maya mocked Farkle with an annoyed expression. She turned back to Riley, "I'm just glad you're okay, Peaches. Just remember to text me next time."

Riley showed up to her morning classes. She spent lunch with her friends. Halfway through the lunch period, Riley got a message. She already knew it was from that damn unknown number. Her friends were all with her, so who else could it have been? She waited until her friends were lost in their conversations before she checked the message.

From Unknown
Lucas is only with you because he feels bad for you.
There's so many girls prettier than you and more normal than you.
You act like a child.

She spent the rest of lunch trying to act calm and act like her cheerful self. It kind of worked. She only talked when necessary or when someone was directly talking to her. But she couldn't handle this message. It was too much for her. So after lunch, when everyone had gone off to their different classes, Riley went home. She went home, ran straight to her room and cried herself to sleep. She knew she shouldn't be keeping this from her friends, but it was something she needed to deal with by herself.

"Something's up with Riley," Maya declared once they all got settled at Topanga's after school. They arrived at the bakery in hopes that Riley would be there, but she wasn't. Riley wasn't in any of her classes in the afternoon and no one knew where she was. Maya was annoyed that Topanga wasn't at the bakery either, because she was planning on asking her about Riley.

"Yeah, she's been awfully quiet," Zay remarked, "which is pretty nice."

Lucas rolled his eyes at Zay's comment.

"She skipped class today," Farkle said, "she never does that."

"I haven't heard from her since this morning," Smackle shrugged. "Last I saw her was during lunch."

"She's not answering her phone," Lucas announced with his phone up to his ear.

"Huh," Maya breathed. "She forgot to text me this morning. Did she text you?"

Lucas put his phone down and answered, "No. She didn't answer any of my texts today. That's why I tried calling."

"Huh, that's strange," Zay commented, "because she texted me this morning."

Lucas and Maya exchanged looks and turned to Zay.

"I'm kidding!" Zay confessed, raising his hands to defend himself. "Geez, y'all are too serious."

"He's the comedic relief," Smackle pointed out to the rest of the group. "Don't you get it by now?!"

"Right, and you're the genius," Farkle answered sarcastically. Smackle shot him daggers. He smiled nervously and retreated, "I mean, yeah, you're the genius."

"I am the comedic relief," Zay agreed, "but I'm also concerned about Riley. Like, genuinely concerned."

"So are we," Farkle and Smackle said in unison.

"I'm going to go talk to her," Maya announced as she stood up.

"No, I'm going to talk to her," Lucas retaliated and got on his feet as well.

"I'm her best friend!" Maya said.

"I'm her boyfriend," Lucas shot back.

"Wow, big deal," Maya replied. She took a step closer to Lucas, "Listen, Huckleberry, I've been her best friend for like, ever. So I think she'd appreciate it more if I went to go see what's up with her."

Lucas would not normally react, but after deciding to change his passive ways, he couldn't help but to respond.

"I get that, Maya," Lucas said sternly, "but I'm her boyfriend so that makes me as equally responsible to check up on her."

Maya scoffed. Lucas didn't intimidate her. And when it came to her best friend, she would definitely not let him get to her. Maya didn't want to argue with the Texan, she wanted to see Riley.

"We'll see who gets there first," Maya stated as she ran out of the bakery.

Lucas exchanged glances with the remainder of the group. Farkle, Zay, and Smackle all gestured their heads towards the door.

"That's not fair, she got a head start!" Lucas said before rushing out of Topanga's.

Lucas somehow arrived at the Matthews apartment before Maya did. He was out on the fire escape trying to open the window. At first he thought it was stuck, but then realized that it was locked and that the curtains were closed. That was weird. The only time Riley would lock the window and close her curtains was when she wasn't home. But Lucas was certain that she was home. So, feeling defeated after fighting with the window, he went around through the front door. Cory let him in and asked permission to enter Riley's room.

He knocked on her bedroom door. No response. Lucas didn't bother knocking a second time.

"It's Lucas!" he made his presence known before he turned the knob and opened the door. Riley was tucked in her bed, sleeping. He turned on the lights and walked across the room to her bed. Lucas couldn't help but smile to himself at the sight of her peacefully asleep. He didn't want to, but he sat on the edge of her bed and lightly shook her awake.

"Babe, it's me," Lucas said softly, keeping his hand on her arm.

"Lucas?" Riley asked with a sleepy voice that Lucas found adorable. Her eyes were still closed. She rolled around her bed before she sat up and stretched her arms. She opened her eyes. "Oh. It's not a dream."

"You dream about me?" Lucas smirked. He dreamt about her, too, but it was always fun teasing her.

"Shut up," Riley gently hit his arm. "What are you doing here?"

Before Lucas could answer, there was a loud thud on the window. Lucas groaned. He got up and walked over to the bay window. He opened the curtains and saw Maya outside. He reluctantly unlocked and opened the window. Maya crawled into the room. Once inside, she got up and smoothed her clothes over with her hands.

"Riles, were you sleeping? It's seven thirty," Maya said, noticing Riley's state and disregarding Lucas. She walked past Lucas and stood in front of the bed. Maya shook her head and changed the subject, "Anyway, how ya doin', honey?"

Lucas cleared his throat, reminding Maya he was also in the room. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm okay…" Riley's voice trailed off. "I just wanna know why you guys are interrupting my sleep. I closed the window for a reason."

"Riles, it's seven thirty," Maya repeated.

"I just wanted to check up on you," Lucas explained. "You skipped class. You didn't answer anyone's texts. We got worried."

"Excuse me, Ranger Rick," Maya said, annoyed, before turning to Riley, "I was supposed to be here first, but I got distracted."

"Distracted by what?" Riley was confused. She didn't know what was going on. She just wanted to sleep.

"Josh," Maya replied dreamily and walked over to the bay window to sit. "He called me. He wants to hang out soon!"

"I still didn't get an explanation as to why you skipped class, Riles," Lucas persisted, walking over to Riley and once again sitting on her bed.

"I was tired," Riley said. "I didn't get any sleep last night."

"Is this still about that clown movie?" Maya questioned. She pointed a finger to Lucas, "You need to stop taking her to see scary movies. She gets restless."

Lucas ignored Maya's comment. He didn't want to bother telling her that it was Riley's idea to watch the movie.

"It's not the movie, is it?" Lucas asked knowingly. Riley shook her head. "Then what's wrong?"

"I don't know," Riley lied, covering her face with both hands. "I just couldn't sleep. It might be stress or something."

"Well, stress is a common thing for high schoolers," Maya replied. "I think it might be your essay. Take it easy, Peaches."

Riley nodded and then yawned.

"Yeah, you really do look tired," Lucas admitted. He was in no way trying to insult the way she looked. He cared about her wellbeing and wanted her to be well rested for school tomorrow. He didn't want her missing more classes. "If you need anything, call me, okay?" Lucas kissed Riley's forehead and brushed his hands through her hair. She nodded at his request.

"Oh, come on, Riles, you know you can call me, right?" Maya got up and walked over to her best friend.

"Always, Peaches," Riley weakly answered, putting her arms out, requesting a hug from Maya. Maya leaned into the hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Maya asked. Riley nodded. Maya smiled at her before exiting through the window.

"Get some sleep, okay?" Lucas cupped Riley's face with his hands and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "I love you, Riles."

"I love you, too, Lucas," Riley responded before letting herself fall back on her pillow. She covered herself with her blankets and watched Lucas as he locked the windows, closed the curtains, and exited the room.

Riley managed to get through the following school day. She received several more text messages from the unknown number, but after a visit from her best friend and boyfriend last night, she knew she couldn't show any weakness. Not when her best friends cared so much about her especially when she seemed off.

She ended up staying after school for a while to talk to her teachers in the classes she'd skipped yesterday.

"Riley Matthews," she heard a female voice from behind her when she was at her locker.

"Yes?" Riley answered and turned around.

"Missed me?" the girl asked, folding her arms across her chest and shifting her weight to her right leg.

"Missy Bradford," Riley whispered. She hadn't seen her since middle school graduation. She didn't even know that she went to school here.

"Did you get my messages?" she deadpanned.

Next: Riley's insecurities return.