Chapter 7: Letting Go
Riley's POV:
The first half of senior year was almost over and New Year's was right around the corner. I was ready for a new start, especially after everything that happened this year. But I had a good feeling about this year. I watched my mom put up decorations around the bakery, while I waited for Lucas. We were finally back on good terms, but there was still a part of me that wanted him as more than just a friend. But maybe our friendship will lead to a relationship again. Finally, Lucas came. "Hey, you made it." I said with a smile. "Well, of course, you know I wouldn't want to miss out on a day that I get to spend with the famous Riley Matthews." He said with a smile. "So ready for the New Year?" I asked. "Yeah, I'm ready for a fresh start." He said as he looked at me for a moment. "How about you?" he finally asked as soon as he realized he was staring. "I am definitely ready for a New Year, I can't wait to start over." I said as I took a sip of my hot chocolate. "Now that I think about it, starting over does seem nice. I would love to start over and do things right this time." he said as he kept his eyes on me. I felt my cheeks turning red. He was giving me that look he used to give me when we dated. The way he was acting around me made me feel like there was still hope for us. But I knew that was impossible.
After we ate, we decided to go for a walk in Central Park. Lucas was walking so close to me. As we walked further into the park, we started to hear acoustic guitar sounds. It felt nice. This whole moment felt nice. But I knew I had to remind myself that Lucas Friar and I are just friends. I noticed that Lucas was quiet for a long time. Maybe he was thinking the same thing I was. "So, I never got to ask. What're you doing for New Year's?" he asked. "Oh, my whole family is coming together and were going to ring in the New Year together, and of course Maya will be with me." I said. He looked down. "Well, what if I want to be with you on New Year's?" he asked. I was screaming on the inside. "Well, do you?" I asked. He stopped walking. "As of right now, you are the only girl I want to be around. You have been nothing but a good friend to me and you're the only one that really has stayed by my side through everything, even if I wasn't being such a good friend. You're the only one that understands me." He said as he smiled at me.
"Well, we do understand each other. That's why we make a good team." I said. I hoped that didn't sound bad. I didn't want him to think I meant relationship wise. "We should make a pact." He said. "What kind of pact?" I asked. "Well, I thought that I could be your reverse wingman, and you be mine. If anyone tries to flirt with us, we stop it immediately. Like if a guy were to flirt with you, I could cock-block you so that by the end of the night, it could just be me and you." he said. "Lucas, I'm going to be with my family on New Year's. So the whole pact thing isn't going to work. I'm sorry." I said. Lucas frowned. "Would I be able to come over? Pact or no pact, it would be nice to be with you." he said. I was starting to think that there was something more to this friendship. "Come over at 9" I said.
Lucas's POV:
I probably made it so obvious that I wanted her back. But at least I was going to be with her on New Year's. Which was only two days away, but I had a plan and hopefully everything goes well. I drove into the school parking lot and I realized I was right behind Riley's car. It looked like I was stalking her. I parked my car next to hers and waited for her to get out her car. But I had to make it look natural. "Are you stalking me?" she joked as she walked towards me. "No, I just happened to be in right place at the right time." I said with a cheesy smile. Then she flashed that adorable smile of hers and I felt weak to my knees. "So did you study for the final?" she asked. I was really distracted about how beautiful she looked today that I just couldn't talk right. "I studied, and I studied hard." I said in a tough guy voice. Riley gave me a weird look and laughed. I just embarrassed myself as usual. "Did you study?" I asked trying to erase what just happened. "Yeah, I studied and I studied hard!" she mocked.
"Hey, losers!" Maya said as she walked up to us and then she eyed us suspiciously. "What's going on here?" she asked, "What do you mean?" Riley asked. "I mean, is it possible that you and Ranger Rick here are back together?" she teased. "No, Maya, were not. Let's go to class." Riley said as she quickly grabbed Maya and they walked away. I stood there for a moment. "Lucas!" Farkle yelled. I turned around to find him walking towards me. "What has been going on with you lately? Are you still mad about Eva?" he asked. I gave him a look. "That was like a couple weeks ago dude, I have moved on from that. But there's just one thing or one person I haven't been able to move on from." I said. "Riley." Farkle said. "How'd you know?" I asked. "I'm your best friend, and it's so obvious that you haven't moved on from her. You've been in love with her since the 7th grade. You were still in love with her when you were with Eva. It is pretty obvious. You're always drooling whenever you're around her." He said.
"It's not that easy, I mean me and Riley barely got back to being good friends again. I don't want to mess it up. Plus I've broken her heart so many times, maybe it's time that I let her go." I said. "You love her that much to let her go?" Farkle asked. I thought about it for a moment there. "Yeah, I do. I had my chance." I said as I looked at him with a frown. "Did she say that?" he asked, "No, but she-". He interrupted me. "Then tell her, before she winds up with someone else again." Farkle said.
Riley's POV:
"Alright, what's been going on with you and Lucas?" Maya asked, "I don't know what you're talking about." I said. "Oh, honey you know exactly what I'm talking about." Maya said. I finally gave up. "Lucas and I are just friends there's nothing more to it!" I said as I closed my locker. "Yeah except the fact that you guys are still into each other." Maya said. "Maya, I've broken his heart so many times, it's time to let him go. I had my chance with him." I said. "So you love him enough to let him go?" she said. "Yeah, I do." I said.
I was so glad that it was a half day, I finished my final early and I was walking from the school gym, when I saw the baseball players at practice. Then I saw Lucas, he was standing on first base, I didn't feel like going home, so I decided to go watch him at practice. I mean it wouldn't hurt. It wouldn't mean anything. Just a friend watching a friend practice. I stayed until practice was over and I wanted to see if Lucas wanted to hang out afterwards, but then I noticed that he didn't come out of the locker room alone. There was a girl with him, she had green eyes, long brown curly hair and she was really fit. I don't think I've seen her around before. But of course, I always end up being too late. Like always. I quickly left before he got a chance to see me.
I was walking through the parking lot and I couldn't find my car anywhere. Just when things couldn't get any worse for me, I saw Lucas walking with that girl, I couldn't stop looking at them. All of a sudden, I hit something, it was my car. I was really hoping that Lucas didn't see that, but unfortunately, he did and he ran over to me. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked. I looked up at him, I looked into his beautiful green eyes and I found myself lost for a moment. "Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about me." I said as I quickly snapped out of it and got up. "I'll always worry about you Riles." He said. We looked at each other for a moment. "I have to go, see you on next week. Remember nine o' clock." I said as I stumbled to my car. I sat in my car for a good five minutes before I decided to start the engine and drive out of the parking lot.
It was finally winter break. Time to relax and forget about some things for a while. I didn't know what I wanted to do, then all of a sudden Maya climbed through my window. "Honey!" she said. "Peaches!" I said back, she ran over and jumped onto my bed. "How ya doing?" she said with a smile. "Pretty good. It's finally winter break. I said. "Yes, it is. Want to go ice skating?" she asked. "Can we build a snowman too?" I asked. "Oh, so you want to build a snowman?" she asked. "And ride our bikes around the halls." I sang. All of a sudden we started singing frozen songs all around my room.
It was cold outside so I slipped on a white knit sweater, threw on some leggings, and put on long brown boots that went up to my knees. Then I put a black beanie on. Maya was wearing a white long sleeve, with a red trench coat, black pants, black boots and a black beanie. We were ready to go. We decided to walk there since the ice rink wasn't that far from my house. Once we got there, we put on our skates and started to skate around. "Ladies." We heard someone say. We already knew who it was. "Farkle." We said in unison. "Did you guys just get here?" he asked as he skated to our side. "Yes, how long have you been here?" I asked. "For about thirty minutes now, I came with Lucas but I sort of lost him." He said. "Well he's not that short, so it should be easy to find him." Maya joked.
All of a sudden I saw him, he was wearing a blue plaid shirt, with a black jacket, a black beanie, and denim jeans. "Wow, I did not get the black beanie memo." Farkle teased as Lucas skated to us. "Hey, everybody." He said. "Hey, I like your beanie." I teased. He smiled. "Thank you, I like yours too." He said. It was time for the couple skate. Maya and I skated together, while Lucas and Farkle went to go sit down.
Lucas's POV:
"Just go!" Farkle demanded. "But we're not a couple anymore, wouldn't that be strange?" I asked. "Lucas, she fell onto your lap on the subway, you held her in your lap until she got to her stop. I'm pretty sure there is no filter with this." Farkle said. He had a point. But I couldn't get myself to ask Riley to skate with me. Especially, since she was already skating with Maya. Then they started playing the song we danced to at the 7th grade dance. I don't know what was happening, but I soon found myself skating towards them. "May I cut in?" I asked. They turned around. "Why not." Maya said as she skated away. Riley watched her as she skated away. "Riley?" I said as I held out my arm. She didn't say anything, she just linked her arm with mine and we started to skate together. "Remember this song?" I asked. "Yeah, this is the song we danced to at the 7th grade dance. I wouldn't forget it." she said. I didn't want this moment to end. "What are your plans for break?" she asked. "I'm not sure, what about you?" I asked.
"I'm not planning anything, I'm just going to go with the flow. Surprisingly." She said. There was that adorable smile again. "Do you want to grab a bite to eat after this?" I asked. "Well, Maya promised me we were going to build a snowman, so maybe after?" she said. "I'll build a snowman with you." I said. "I bet I can build a better one than you." she teased. "We'll see about that." I teased back.
Riley's POV:
The thing I loved most about New York was the snow, when I was little I used to build snow mans and make snow angels all the time. I was happy I get to relive my childhood for the night. Maya and I built our snow man's side by side. They looked great but then I had another idea in mine. I made a snowball and waited for the right time to throw it. "Hey, Lucas!" I yelled. "Hey!" he said. "Do you want to know one of the things I love the most about the snow?" I asked innocently. "What's that?" he asked. I started to throw snowballs at him. Then he retaliated. We all found ourselves in a snowball fight, then it turned into girls vs. boys. This was quite possibly the best way to start my winter break.