Most of you guys guessed that Farkle finds out what's going on with Riley. Were you right?

The Art of Letting Go

Chapter Six

Going to school the next week was tough for Riley. The physical and verbal bullying continued. She had earned new scars from her encounters with Missy. She had to cover up all the bruises either with her clothes or makeup so that no one saw them. And lucky for her, no one saw a thing.

She tried to avoid school, but it was hard, especially because her father was a teacher. She didn't want to get hurt anymore, she could only take so much of Missy's insults and strength. Riley didn't realize how strong Missy was, and it sucked that she had to experience it first-hand.

Riley was starting to get distant from Lucas. They would still spend time together, but their public displays of affection were very minimal. Lucas noticed this, but speculated that she was just stressed out, as that was her excuse now.

"Honey, wake up, you're going to be late," Topanga shook her daughter awake.

"I don't wanna go to school!" Riley whined, eyes still closed.

"Why not?" Topanga demanded.

"I'm tired," Riley whined. "Too much school work. It's getting the best of me, Mom."

"You can't skip school because you're tired, Riley," Topanga said. "Now we let it slide that you skipped last week, and it better not happen again, okay?"

"What's going on here?" Maya asked as she entered the room. She saw Riley still in bed. "Riles! We're going to be late for school!"

"I don't want to go," Riley repeated.

Maya and Topanga exchanged looks.

"You wanna deal with it?" Topanga offered. "I have to help Auggie get ready."

"I got this," Maya confirmed.

Topanga patted Maya on the back before leaving the room.

"Peaches, honey," Maya said sweetly, walking over to the bed. She peeled the blanket off her best friend's body.

"No," Riley huffed, sitting up and crossing her arms.

"You have to go to school," Maya insisted.

"You're Maya. You don't like school or anything it stands for," Riley reminded her. "Why won't you let me skip school?"

"Because you're Riley. You love school," Maya replied. "You won't let me miss it."

Riley stared off into space for a while, but she knew Maya was right, so she gave in. Riley got ready for school while Maya made her bed for her.

"You're the best, Peaches," Riley said, brushing her hair.

"I know, honey," Maya smiled.

Riley got through the morning because of Maya. The afternoon, however, was a different story. While in Spanish class with her best friend, she had asked for permission to go to the washroom. She lied, though. She didn't need to use the washroom. She just needed a moment to herself. Her mind was in a constant battle with itself, bringing up the texts that she didn't want to remember and the encounters that literally left reminders on her body. She walked out of the class and headed to her locker. She rested her forehead against the locker door. Once she had composed herself, she took a step back from the locker and was about to open it. But then, Missy appeared.

"Well, look who it is," Missy smirked.

Riley thought about running away, she really did, but she couldn't. She didn't want to be portrayed as weak, or someone who couldn't take a punch. And that's exactly what Missy did. She punched Riley square in the face, with no warning. At this point, Riley was sure that she was getting bullied solely for Missy's entertainment.

"Sunshine, you make this too easy for me," Missy said, pushing her to the ground before walking away.

Riley didn't get up. Instead she pushed herself to the lockers and leaned against them. She sobbed in her hands until she heard a familiar voice yell her name from down the hall. She looked up to see Zay running towards her, worry in his eyes.

"Sugar, are you okay?" Zay asked, offering his hand to help her up. She gladly took it. "I saw everything."

"You did?" Riley gulped.

Zay nodded.

Riley raised her hand to her face to press underneath her left eye. She let out a soft sound indicating her pain. She gasped, "Oh my god, do I have a black eye?"

"Yes, Sugar, you do," Zay confirmed, taking a closer look at her eye. He stayed calm for her sake. If he freaked out, it would only make it worse for her.

"You can't tell anybody," Riley put her hands on his shoulders, her sleeves slightly riding up to reveal multiple bruises. Zay noticed. "Please."

She removed her hands off his shoulders and pulled down her sleeves.

"Riley," he breathed. He didn't think she should keep this to herself. "I wish I could promise you that. Your friends need to know. Lucas needs to know. Do you know how upset he would be to find out someone's physically hurting you?"

"Zay, please," Riley repeated desperately, her voice cracking. There were tears in her eyes. "No one can know. Not even Lucas. He'll just make things worse."

"Okay, okay," Zay agreed, "just don't cry. I don't do tears."

Zay hugged Riley. The comfort of her friend made her sob into his chest.

"How long has this been going on?" Zay questioned while rubbing her back.

"A while," Riley said, muffled.

Zay pulled away from Riley, looked at her and said, "Look, let's make a compromise. I'll promise not tell our friends about this, if you tell them yourself."

Riley opened her mouth and was about to protest before Zay continued.

"I'm not saying you have to tell them today. I get that you need some time to yourself to process everything and think about what you need to do, but you need to tell them eventually. If you take too long, I'll tell them."

Zay was only trying to help. Riley knew that, and she appreciated that he was giving her a chance to tell everyone instead of them finding out from Zay. What a wreck that would be.

"Thank you," Riley said softly.

"Anytime," Zay answered. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Riley shook her head and new tears fell down her face.

"Can you walk me home?" Riley requested in between sobs, trying her best to avoid touching her black eye.

"We're in the middle of class," Zay reminded her. Riley didn't seem to care.

"Please?"

"Fine," Zay sighed. "Besides, we need to take care of that shiner."

Zay had grown close with Riley and the others in the years that he's known them. He was always there for his friends, and just because Riley was dating his childhood best friend didn't mean she was an exception. He's actually glad that he was able to spend time with Riley, it was very rare that they did. It reassured him that they weren't forced to be friends just because they both knew Lucas.

Riley had texted her parents and her friends, telling them that she had gone home early because of an upset stomach. She didn't need them to be worried about her, they all had their own issues in their lives.

Zay took Riley home and stayed with her to offer her support in her difficult time. They sat at the bay window and Riley told him everything. She told him who Missy was, her past with her and Lucas, assuming Lucas hadn't told Zay about Missy. She allowed Zay to read the text messages, and showed him most of her bruises that she had gotten good at hiding. Riley had to admit, it made her feel better to let it all out and tell somebody, but it made her feel guilty that Maya and Lucas weren't the first to know.

"Lucas never told me about Missy Bradford," Zay informed her, helping her place a bag of frozen peas on her eye.

"Really?" questioned Riley.

Zay nodded, "I guess she was irrelevant to him."

"She is irrelevant," Riley agreed, shifting the bag of peas to more comfortably conform to her face. "But apparently, I am. I'm irrelevant, worthless, and a piece of shit."

"Don't say that about yourself," Zay said. "Lucas thinks otherwise. He loves you, Riley."

At this point, Riley didn't know what to believe anymore.

"I'm tired of talking about this," Riley groaned. "I just want to forget about all of this. But I can't do that when I have constant reminders all over my body. And now my face, too."

"Yeah, how are you even going to cover that?" Zay questioned.

Riley shrugged. She hadn't even considered how she was going to hide it. She was too focused on the pain it caused.

"I'll get to that problem when I come across it," Riley said. Suddenly, her phone rang beside her. She was hesitant to answer it because she was in the middle of a conversation with Zay, but when he saw that it was Lucas calling, he encouraged her to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey, Princess," Lucas said on the other line. "I got your text. How are you feeling?"

"Not that great," Riley replied. Well, she wasn't lying. "I think it might be food poisoning."

"That's no fun," Lucas commented. "I'd come over to comfort you but I'm stacked with homework."

"That's okay, babe," Riley said. "Education comes first."

"I'll call you when I'm done?" Lucas asked.

"Sure," Riley replied. She thought that maybe talking to Lucas would help her forget about the events that happened today.

"I love you," Lucas said.

"I love you too," Riley replied before hanging up. She turned back to Zay. "I feel kind of guilty that I didn't tell him you were over here."

"As jealous as Lucas gets, I don't think he'll be worried about me," Zay assured her.

"I used to get jealous when Lucas and Maya would spend time together," Riley answered, "and we all know how that turned out."

"What are you trying to say, Riley, you have a crush on me?" Zay joked.

"I'm just saying! He's a jealous guy and I'm an insecure girl." She nudged him and rolled her eyes in amusement.

"But really though, thank you for making me feel better," Riley said.

"Of course! You're my best friend's girlfriend, I gotta look out for you," Zay replied. "And me and you, we're also kind of friends."

Hm, did anyone see that coming? I really love Riley's relationships with all her friends so I'm trying to explore that more.

Next: Riley and Lucas have a talk. Lucas and Zay have a talk. Riley and Josh have a talk. Zay and Riley have another talk. There's a lot of talking.