The Art of Letting Go
Chapter Fifteen
The following day, news had spread quickly through the school about Lucas and Billy's incident. And of course, all the faculty and staff knew as well. When the news made it to Cory, he was shocked. But he also knew that for Lucas to have done something like that, he probably had good intentions. So he asked Lucas to come to his classroom at lunch to talk about the incident.
"So Mr. Matthews, what did you want to talk to me about?" Lucas asked, sitting in Riley's desk at the front of the classroom.
"Oh, I think you know exactly what I want to talk to you about," Cory retorted, sitting at his own desk.
Lucas hung his head in shame, "I was hoping you didn't hear about that."
"Of course I did; everyone in the school knows about it!" Cory replied rather loudly. He then lowered his voice, "What happened, Lucas?"
Lucas looked up at Mr. Matthews and contemplated whether or not he was going to tell him the full story. But it involved his daughter, so Lucas felt obligated to tell him the truth. It was the right thing to do.
"Um, if it's okay with you, I'd like to tell both you and Mrs. Matthews," Lucas said meekly.
Cory scrunched his face, "Um, okay… Let's go then."
"Now?" Lucas asked.
Cory nodded, "It's lunch time. We have an hour."
"What if I miss class?" Lucas questioned.
"Lucas, I'd rather you miss one class now than you miss the entire week," Cory pointed out. "I heard you didn't even tell the principal what happened. You know I like you, Lucas, and I don't want my daughter's boyfriend being wrongfully punished. I'm sure you had good intentions getting into that fight. So I'm taking you home now and you're telling me and Topanga what happened."
"Okay," Lucas reluctantly agreed.
Cory took Lucas back to the Matthews apartment after letting the office know that he might be late coming back for his next class. He rushed inside to find Topanga in the kitchen on her laptop. She stayed home from work today to finish some last minute touches on her upcoming case.
"Hey guys," Topanga greeted, looking up from behind her screen. "What are you guys doing here? Shouldn't you both be at school?"
"He's here to talk to us, Topanga," Cory informed her. Topanga raised her eyebrows and looked very interested in what was about to happen. He turned back to Lucas, "Go ahead."
"Um, so I got suspended yesterday," Lucas began. "I got into a fight with Billy Ross. And Mr. Matthews wanted to talk to me about it. And I thought it'd be better if I told both of you."
"That's very mature of you, Lucas," praised Topanga, closing her laptop to focus on his story.
"Yeah," Lucas shyly smiled. "So basically I went to go talk to Missy Bradford about Riley."
"Missy Bradford?" Cory repeated. "What does she have to do with Riley?"
Lucas bit his lip and tried to not to avert his gaze from his girlfriend's parents.
"She bullied her for a while," Lucas reluctantly admitted.
"What?" a shocked Cory and Topanga replied with wide eyes.
"Yes," Lucas confirmed, "and it wasn't just verbal abuse."
"She hit her?" Cory assumed. Topanga couldn't say anything; she was too in shock that someone would do this to her little girl.
Lucas pursed his lips and nodded.
"Why didn't she tell us?" Cory whispered.
"She didn't tell any of us either, sir," Lucas answered. "I only found out the other day. But you guys have nothing to worry about! Riley handled the situation and Missy no longer harasses her."
"Oh," Topanga raised a brow skeptically, "and how did she manage to do that?"
"She broke up with me," Lucas replied. Before Cory and Topanga could ask why, he continued, "Missy had told Riley that she would leave her alone if Riley broke up with me. Why was I dragged into this? I have no idea. I still think that Missy wanted revenge on me for rejecting her all those years ago."
"That Missy girl is something," Topanga nodded. "But things are starting to make sense to me."
"Wait," Cory raised a palm. "What does any of this have to do with you getting into a fight with Billy Ross?"
"Cory, let him finish," Topanga said, putting a hand on her husband's forearm.
"Yeah, so Riley eventually told me about Missy even though it's been so long since she 'resolved' things," Lucas continued, using air quotes. "I understood the situation and then we decided to get back together because we never stopped having feelings for each other—"
"Yes, yes, I get it," Cory motioned for Lucas to get to the point. Topanga glared at him, to which Cory quickly retreated.
"I felt really mad about Missy bullying Riley, so I wanted to confront her about it. And that's when Billy Ross, Missy's boyfriend, stepped in and hit me," Lucas shrugged. "And I knew I had to defend myself and then the adrenaline kicked in and then it all escalated from there."
"So Billy started it," Topanga concluded.
"Yup, and Lucas here was just using self-defense," Cory nodded. "Alright. Now we just have to go back to school and talk to the principal and hopefully lighten your punishment."
"You really think it'll work?" Lucas asked.
"Never underestimate him," Topanga smiled. "And thank you, Lucas, for telling us the truth. I know how hard it must have been for you."
"It was, but anything for Riley, right?" Lucas returned the smile.
Cory turned to his wife with a grin on his face and pointed at Lucas, "I like him."
Lucas sheepishly smiled.
"Why are you late?" Riley turned back and whispered to her boyfriend.
"I was with your father," Lucas whispered back, motioning to Cory, who stood at the front of the classroom, writing on the chalkboard.
Riley turned back to the front of the room and slouched in her seat with a confused expression. What was so important that caused Lucas and Cory to be late to class? She didn't read too much into it, though. Maybe Cory had just decided to show his appreciation for Lucas and took him out to lunch? Who knows.
Cory began his lesson and the entire class seemed interested, except for Riley. She didn't seem into it at all, and she usually liked what her father taught even when it didn't relate to her and her friends' lives.
"Riley, you okay?" Cory asked in the middle of the lesson. Riley was staring at a fixed point on Cory's desk and looked obviously preoccupied in her thoughts.
"Yes, Dad," Riley snapped out of her daze. She turned to look at Lucas, who smiled at her, before sitting up properly in her seat.
"Lucas, why were you with my dad today?" Riley asked as the group sat at Topanga's. She had no problem bringing this up in front of her friends.
"He got my suspension reduced," Lucas announced. His friends seemed pretty pleased of his news. "I'm only suspended for three days. So I'll be back in school on Monday."
A mix of praise came from the group of friends.
"How did my dad manage to do that?" Riley urged.
"I told him it was self-defense," Lucas replied. "I mean; Billy did hit me first."
Riley raised her brow and looked at her boyfriend suspiciously. She could tell that there was something Lucas wasn't telling her.
"What else did you tell my father?" Riley questioned. "I'm sure he must've wanted more proof than that."
"I told him everything." Lucas replied quickly, hoping Riley wouldn't make out his words.
"You told my father about Missy?!" Riley was enraged. She didn't want him knowing. She was ashamed and scared of what might happen if he knew.
"Yes," Lucas tried to force a smile, but it didn't work with the way Riley reacted. "Missy's also suspended for the next three days. Oh, and I also told your mom." Lucas laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck.
"Lucas!" Riley yelled as she narrowed her eyes.
"Looks like that's our cue to go," Farkle said. The others agreed and all fled the bakery.
"Why would you do that?!" Riley forcefully hit him as hard as she could.
"Ow!" Lucas winced. "What was that for?"
"You telling my parents!" Riley replied. "How did you even find time to talk to them without me knowing?!"
"Mr. Matthews wanted to help me out," Lucas said. "He thought I was being wrongfully punished and asked me to tell him my side of the story. I thought it would be rude not to tell Mrs. Matthews, and then your dad took me back to your place at lunch so I could tell them both! If I hadn't told them, my suspension wouldn't have gotten reduced and Missy wouldn't have gotten a suspension either."
"I'm mad at you," Riley declared, turning away from Lucas and crossing her arms over her chest. "I didn't want my parents knowing, Lucas."
"I'm sorry, babe," Lucas said. He knew that calling her babe would make her less angry.
"I'm still mad," Riley announced, turning back to her boyfriend. "How did Missy get suspended if I wasn't there to testify?"
"I screenshotted and sent the messages to me when you showed me the texts on your phone," Lucas admitted. "That was all the proof they needed. Also, Billy confessed that Missy had been planning it for a while too."
"Guessing they broke up?" Riley asked.
"Probably," Lucas shrugged. He took Riley's hand into his. "Don't be mad, okay? I did it for the both of us. My suspension got reduced and Missy got what she deserved. Isn't that what we both wanted?"
"I'm not mad at you because of that," Riley admitted. "I'm happy that your suspension is only three days now. I would've preferred no days, but—"
"There's a no tolerance policy on fighting," Lucas reminded her.
"Exactly," Riley nodded. "And I'm hoping that Missy learned her lesson and never bullies anyone again. But I'm just mad that you told my parents. It wasn't your problem to tell. I wasn't planning on letting them know of the situation."
"And why not?" Lucas pressed.
"The same reason why I didn't want my friends knowing, but more extreme," Riley replied. "I didn't want my parents getting involved. And I didn't want them viewing me as fragile."
"Riley, you're one of the strongest people I know," Lucas assured her. "And your parents love you. They care about you, possibly more than we do, because your friends care about you a whole lot."
Riley nodded.
"But what I'm saying is," Lucas continued, "you never have to fight your own battles, okay? We're always here for you."
Lucas tucked Riley's hair behind her ear then cupped her face with his hands. He pressed his lips against hers, and he could feel her smile into the kiss.
"You always know all the right things to say," Riley said after parting from the kiss.
"I meant every word," Lucas nodded.
Just wanted to tie up some loose ends in this chapter. Anyway, the next chapter will be the last. I know, sad! But all good things must come to an end. Also, don't forget that I'll have a new fic out soon after I post the last chapter of this.
Next, and last: Riley and Lucas talk about their feelings.