Chapter 11: The Decision
Lucas's POV:
It had been a week since I had gotten all of my acceptance letters, and I still did not know what I wanted to do. So I started thinking about how it would be if I went to Berkeley, I would be at my dream school, but I would be 2,413 miles away from her, and she'll be at Columbia with all of the guys surrounding her, then she'll meet someone better looking than me, then she'll fall for him, dump me, and then ride off into the sunset with him. Okay, no I had to get those thoughts out of my head. I decided to listen to some music to try and get my mind off of it. "Say Geronimo! Say Geronimo!" I sang all around my room and then I got up and started to dance a little. "Say Geronimo! Say Geron- RILEY! H-how long have you been standing there?" I said as I saw her standing by the door with her hand covering her mouth, she was trying really hard not to laugh at me. "Oh, long enough." She said as she walked into my room. "So what're you doing here?" I said as I went and sat down on my bed. Her facial expression began to turn serious. "I need to talk to you." she said. I started to think about everything I had done wrong within the past month since we had gotten back together. Nothing seemed to come to my mind.
Riley took a deep breath, "Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I got accepted into Stanford, Oxford and Columbia," she said. "Babe, that's amazing." I said as I gave her a kiss on the forehead. "But the bad news is that Columbia has invited me for early freshmen orientation." She said. "Isn't that a good thing?" I asked as I put my arm around her. "Yeah, it is for the other 29 that got invited. But for me, it means I have to graduate early, and I'll be missing out on prom, and the rest of the senior activities, I won't be able to spend the rest of my senior year the way I planned, I won't have you or Maya or Farkle there with me. I mean I'll be able to walk at the ceremony but it wouldn't be the same and neither would prom." She said as she linked her arm with mine and rested her head on my shoulder I lifted up her chin. "Hey, you should definitely go, we'll still see each other outside of school. Plus you're not going to miss the rest of senior year. I promise you." I said as I turned her to face me and I ran my fingers through her hair. "Riley, you're already two steps ahead of us, you're going to be changing the world. I really think that you should do this. I know you will regret it if you don't, don't let us stand in your way. This is your dream." I said. "But I want to spend the rest of my senior year with you," she said, "And you will." I said. "How?" she asked, "Just trust me." I said as I gave her a kiss on the lips.
As much as it hurt to tell Riley to go, I wanted her to be happy. Columbia is her dream. Besides, it wasn't like she was going to leave New York. She would still be here with me, for now. But then after that, I would be the one to leave her. She would be here in New York, alone at Columbia. I couldn't stand the idea of her being alone. But I knew she wouldn't want me to give up my dream to be with her. But there was a part of me that wanted to because she was worth it.
Riley's POV:
Today was finally the day of my freshman orientation. I was a little nervous. But I knew it was going to fly by soon. As I walked through campus, I saw so many unfamiliar faces. They all seemed to belong here. But did I? I felt so small on a big campus. Everything was all so new and it was overwhelming yet exciting at the same time. I finally found the lecture hall where all the students were meeting for orientation. I quickly sat down and waited until the orientation start. "Welcome everyone!" one of the supervisors said as she walked through the door. "Today is the first day of reaching the top!" she began to say. She went on and on about how thrilled they were that we could be here and then it was time to go get a tour of the school. I was walking through the halls, when I bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry about that- whoa." The voice said. I looked up and the guy had green eyes, brown hair and he reminded me of Cody Christian. "That's alright. I should pay more attention to where I'm going." I said as I started to walk away. "Wait." He said as he caught up to me. "I'm sorry to bug you but I find you very intriguing." He said. "I'm Michael." He said as he stuck his hand out. "I'm Riley." I said as I shook his hand. "So are you here for the freshmen orientation too?" he asked. I nodded. "I don't mean to sound creepy, but maybe you can be my buddy for the rest of the day?" he asked. I thought about it for a moment. "I guess it wouldn't hurt." I said as we walked into the auditorium. "So, what school did you come from?" he asked. "I came here from John Adams. And you?" I asked. "Lincoln." He said. "Do you like it there?" he asked. "I love it there, but I know this is only the first day but I'm already missing everyone. Like my two best friends and my boyfriend." I said.
He stopped walking. "Boyfriend?" he asked. "Yeah, I have a boyfriend." I said. "Oh, I see. Well looks like I made a new friend today" he said as he continued to walk by my side. After the tour, we had time to go and find our classes. It turned out that Michael and I have the same English class together so he tagged along with me. We finally found our classroom on the fourth floor. I was not looking forward to that. All of a sudden, my phone buzzed. "Hello?" I said. "Hey, babe. How was Columbia? Wait are you still there?" Lucas asked. "Yes, I'm still here but I'm just looking for my classes so your fine." I said. "How is it?" he asked. "It's pretty nice. I made a new friend." I said. "What's her name?" he asked. "His name is Michael. But you have nothing to worry about." I said. Lucas was silent. "I'm cuter than him right?" he asked. I smiled. "Very." I said. "Okay, good. But you don't seem so thrilled to be there." he said. "No, don't get me wrong. I like being here but I feel like I belong somewhere else." I said. "What time are you going to be done?" he asked. "In about ten minutes or depending on how long it takes to find all of my classes." I said. "Okay, text me when you go home. I'll come over and you can tell me more about it and I'll try my best to comfort you." he said. "You're already doing it. I'll see you soon. I love you." I said. "I love you more, baby girl." He said. We said goodbye and I finished looking for the rest of my classes.
Once I got home, I went upstairs to my room and jumped when I saw Lucas siting at my window. "Did I scare you?" he asked. "No, I just decided to do a quick work out before I entered my room." I said sarcastically. He came over and gave me a bear hug. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." He said as he kissed my forehead. We walked over to the bay window and he picked up the picnic basket he bought. "So, you didn't sound too happy on the phone, so I brought you, rocky road ice cream, Hershey kisses, a bag of Ghiradelli, and we have a reservation at le mare restaurant at 7." He said. I smiled and pulled him into a kiss. "Okay, so tell me what happened? Who's this Michael?" He asked. I gave him a look. "Michael is just someone I bumped into and he turned into orientation buddies for the day, we went to go find our classes together because we have the same English class. But it felt weird being there I felt like I belonged somewhere else." I said. "What do you mean by that?" he asked. "Maybe Columbia isn't for me. I felt suffocated there. But I don't know what I'm going to do now." I said. "I mean Columbia has been my dream for so long but I'm not so sure it's my dream anymore. I don't know, maybe I can try it out for a year and if I still feel like this then I'll talk to my parents about it." I said.
"Maybe it wasn't the school that made you feel like this, maybe it's the fact that were growing up now and the fact that were about to be in college, well some of us. Everything is changing and nothing is slowing down. I know the future is scaring you, but you're going to be okay, we're going to be okay. Try to give it time to all settle in." He said. "You're probably right." I said as I took a bag of chocolate from him. "I'm not sharing this." I said as I got up. "Uh yes you are," he said as he got up. I slowly started backing away from him and he followed. "Riley, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." He said as he continued to walk towards me. We ended up chasing each other around the room, first the bag of chocolate was in my hand, then it was in his, now it's back in mines and we just keep going back and forth. Then he tackled me onto my bed and took the bag from me. "I win." He said with a grin as he started to open the bag. "Come here." I said as I pulled him into a kiss, then I snatched the bag from him. "Actually, you lose." I said as I sat up and unwrapped a chocolate. "That's not fair." He said as he put his arms around me. "I guess I'll share." I said as I handed him the bag. "Thank you." he said.
It was finally time to go to our dinner reservations, I was wearing a strapless navy blue dress jumpsuit, with black wedges and had my hair up in a bun. Lucas was wearing a dark grey button up with black pants and white shoes. "Alright, are you ready to go eat some Italian food?" he asked. "Of course." I said as we walked out of my house and to his car. After ten minutes of driving, we finally got to the restaurant. We got to our seats and started to figure out what we wanted to order. "Okay, so there is something that I need to tell you. That's kind of why I wanted to have this dinner." He said as he adjusted his napkin. "I've been thinking about which school I've been wanting to go ever since I got my letters, I didn't know what I where I wanted go, and I told you I wanted you to be a part of my decision. Everyone told me to follow my heart, and so I am. I decided I wanted to go to USC." He said. I stopped eating. "But what about Berkeley, that's your dream." I said. "I know, but I wanted to go to USC so that I can be 720.5 miles away from you, because you are my heart." He said. "Lucas, I love you but I won't be able to live with myself if you don't follow your dreams. I don't want you to put your dreams on hold because of me." I said. "I'm not, USC is a good school as well, it was my second option. Riley, I love you. I'm willing to give up my dream school for you. You said you want me to be happy, this makes me happy." He said,
I looked at him for a moment. "Lucas, it's not just what makes you happy, I do want you to be happy but I don't want this to be something you regret later on." I said. "I feel you don't want me near you." he said. "Are you kidding me? I hate the fact that we are going to miles apart from each other. I'm just trying to make sure this is what you really want, because if it is then I couldn't be more thrilled. Like I said don't let me stand in your way." I said. Lucas looked down. "Riley, I am going to say this again. You're not standing in my way, this is a decision I am making for me, for us. I love you and I want to spend my college years knowing that you're close by. I don't want to be 2,000 miles away knowing that another guy is making you smile more than I am. I don't like the fact that other people are going to be around you while I'm miles away wishing I was there, to hold you close, to comfort you, to see that beautiful smile of yours. I love you Riley. I want to do this. I will be happy as long as you're with me physically and or emotionally." He said. All I could do was smile.
I never had any doubts that Lucas loved me, but after the whole time, there was still that fear that I would happen again. I told myself it was a risk I had to take because I loved him and I didn't want to lose him again. I feel like we have been telling each other how we felt constantly, because after that incident that's pretty much all we have been doing. I mean we still have fun when were with each other but now it has gotten more emotional than physical. Maybe it was the fact that senior year was ending or we were just trying to prove to each other how much we were really dedicated to this relationship. After dinner, he took me home and gave me a kiss goodnight.
The next day Maya and I were hanging out at the diner, and we were planning our spring break together. "Okay, so are we even going to be able to have a spring break considering the fact that you already started college." She said. "I don't know, there is a possibility we can. But now I'm not so sure. I'm so sorry I forgot about our road trip. This whole college thing has really been eating me up." I said. "I don't blame you. We can always save it for the summer. Just the two of us. But do you want to go for the whole summer or just like a month or a couple of weeks?" she asked. "We can go for a month. If you want to." I said. "But I'm not so sure Lucas and I will survive a month without each other." I said sarcastically. "Hey, this will be good practice for the future. You guys are going to be in a long distance relationship. He's going to USC and you're staying here. It didn't surprise me when he gave up Berkeley for you, it's definitely something he would do." Maya said. "It's so weird, ever since we got back together, we've been more emotional than physical. It's making me feel suffocated but I mean it could just be the fact that senior year is ending." I said as I took a bite out of my cake. "It could be. Heck, it's been like that for us but Riley, you guys have been through so many ups and downs. You guys are so much stronger now. It's okay that you guys have been sharing your feelings a lot lately, it's like reassurance." Maya said.
After we ate, we drove to the mall and decided to do a little bit of shopping. I was looking at a cute black dress when I saw a familiar face. "Maya, is that who I think it is?" I said as I tapped her. Her eyes grew wide. "No way, what is she doing here?" she asked. "I have no idea, but maybe we should go to a different store." I said. Maya grabbed me. "Riley, we are staying. This is our favorite store. If anyone should leave. It should be her." Maya said. Then she started walking towards us. "Act natural." I said as I struck a weird pose. "Oh yeah that's definitely a natural pose." Maya said sarcastically. She was now standing right in front of us, I got out of my weird pose and just stood there. "Yes?" Maya said as the girl stayed silent. "How's it going?" she asked. "It was going good until you had the courage to come over here. What do you want?" Maya said. The girl looked down. "I just wanted to apologize." She said. "For what? The only person that needed an apology was Lucas. You tried to ruin his life. We were just trying to get him to see how psychotic you really are. So sorry if we don't see through your little act right now." Maya said. "Amber, I think you should just leave. Save the apology for someone else." I said. Maya looked impressed with me.
"Look, can you guys just please give me a chance to explain myself." Amber begged. Maya and I looked at each other. "Fine, give it your best shot." Maya said. "It wasn't right of me to pretend to be someone else, just to fit in. it wasn't right of me to try and ruin Lucas's life. But I love him and I still do. I just wish I had another chance to start over with everyone. Because I wasn't in the right state of mind and you guys are pretty cool and I would love it if we could be friends again. I won't get in the way of-." I interrupted her. "Amber, just stop. You're not even making any sense to us at all. You tried to ruin all of our lives, especially Lucas's. How do you expect us to believe anything you say after all that we found out about you? We're not going to give you a second chance. People like you don't deserve a second chance." I said. She looked down. "Maybe you won't give me a second chance, but I know Lucas will." She said. "Do you not remember what he told you in the jewelry store? Lucas will not give you a second chance, maybe there's a small chance of him forgiving you, but he's not going to give you another chance considering the fact that were back together and nothing is going to break us up this time." I said. "Wait, Lucas told her off in the jewelry store?" Maya whispered. "Yes, I told you that." I said. "No you did not tell me. It is the most important detail from this situation riles." Maya said. "Are we seriously doing this right now, there's a monster in front of us." I said as we looked back at Amber. Amber took a step forward. "Well, I tried. I guess one day you guys can find it in your hearts to forgive me." Amber said as she walked away. Maya and I stood still as we watched Amber leave. "Do you think she's going to come back and attack us?" I asked as I looked at Maya. "I hope not, but we should stay close just in case." She said as we went back to shopping.
After that I went home and called Lucas to tell him what had happened.
Riley
Lucas
"Hello?"
"Hey, babe. What're you doing?"
"Just got home from the batting cages, what about you? I miss you."
"Just got back from the mall with Maya and I miss you too."
"How was it?"
"Something happened. Is there any way you can come over? I think it's best if we talk about this in person."
"Yeah, I'll be over in ten. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine but I'll see you soon."
"Seen you soon."
I wanted to talk to Lucas about this face to face because what if I tell him and he says one thing but his facial expression says another and then I would really know how he feels. Even though he has told me a thousand of times that it's me. I just wanted to see how he would react to this. Finally, Lucas had arrived but he came through my front door instead of my window. "Hey, take a seat." I said. Lucas walked over and sat next to by the window. "This doesn't sound too good." He said with a worried look on his face. "You're fine. Don't worry, I just saw someone today." I said. "Who?" he asked. "Don't freak out?" I asked. He took a deep breath. "I'll try not to but I can't promise you." he said. "Maya and I ran into Amber." I said. Lucas's face turned pale, and his eyes looked very infuriating. It looked like there was fire in them. His nostrils flared and he clenched his fist. "Go on." He managed to get out. "Well, we were at the mall, Maya and I were in our favorite store and we saw her. Then she walked over to us and tried to talk to us." I said as I looked at boiling Lucas. "What did she say?" he asked. "She tried to apologize to us, and she wanted us to give her another chance. She told me that she still loved you and she wanted another chance with you." I said. Lucas was as red as a tomato now. He looked extremely furious.
He took a moment to calm himself down. "She didn't hurt you right?" he asked, I scooted back just in case he was about to go nuts. But then his face softened up as soon as he realized he was scaring me. He then scooted towards me and put his arm around me. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." he said as he kissed my forehead. "She's not going to take me away from you, okay? It's not going to happen. You mean to much to me." he said. "But what if it does?" I asked. He looked at me. "It won't happen again. I was stupid to do that. I wasn't thinking straight and she asked me to be her boyfriend and I was stupid enough to say yes, because I was vulnerable. But there's no excuse for that, Riley. I'm with you for so many reasons, Amber didn't make me feel the way you do. You want to know why? Because when I'm with you, I don't want to stop talking to you, I don't want to take my eyes off of you, I don't want to leave you, I hate every second when I'm not with you, knowing that you're with someone else. There's another reason why I wanted to switch locations, I want to spend my college years knowing that you're close by, and I know that one day, I won't have to say goodbye to you for a long time, I'll get to come home and see you, sitting with our kids. I won't have to say goodbye, I would only have to say good night, good morning or see you later. I love you, Riley. I will always love you even after I take my last breath. You're very important to me, Riley. I won't leave your side. I promise you." Lucas said as he looked into my eyes. "Is that how you really feel about me?" I asked. "Of course, I've always felt that way about you." he said as he pulled me into a kiss.
Lucas's POV:
After I left Riley's, there was some business I needed to take care of. I drove to Starbucks and sat in the very corner in the back of them room. Fifteen minutes later, Amber showed up. "I'm surprised you wanted to see me!" she said as she sat down across from me. I took a deep breath. "Look. I am not here to hear a sob story from you about how you still love me, none of that. I'm going to talk and all you're going to do is listen. I told you. I told you to stay away from me, from everyone. I told you to leave New York. I told you if you ever came back here, I would tell everyone the truth." I said. "I am not going to sit here and listen to this. Lucas, you told Riley the truth." Amber said. "Because she had every right to know, I told you that if you come back here, you're not going to be getting a warm welcome from me. I mean I understand why it would be hard for you to leave New York. But here's the new deal. If you see us out in public, if you see my friends, or my family out in public. You walk away, you don't talk to them, don't look at them, nothing. If you ever try to talk to Riley or anyone else, I will destroy you and that's a promise." I said. Amber looked down. I took one last sip of my coffee and walked out.
After that whole confrontation, I had to go see Farkle. I drove over to his house and the doorman opened the gate for me. I parked my car and walked up to the door. "Lucas!" Farkle said as he opened the door. "Hey man!" I said as I walked in. "So what's up?" he said. "Not much, just went to go see Riley and she told me some interesting news. I need Farkle time. I wanted to go back to Riley's but she's studying with Smackle." I said as we walked upstairs. "Farkle time it is." He said. Once we entered his room, I plopped myself down on his bean bag. "Alright, what happened?" Farkle asked as he sat down at his desk. "Riley was shopping with Maya today and someone popped up, they really scared Riley. But she handled it very well." I said. "Who was it?" Farkle asked. I sat up. "It was Amber." I said. "Amber? I thought she moved." He said. "I thought so too, there's something I haven't told you. I feel like I should since you're my best friend and Riley probably told Maya since the story since their like sisters. So I feel that it is right, to tell you." I said. "Okay, tell me." he said. "Alright, the day that Amber and I broke up, it was the day I was going to propose to her because I thought it was the right thing to do. But then Amber went up to Riley, and said some things to her that made me really snap. So we went to the jewelry store and she was picking out rings, and that's when I laid everything out on her. I started to question her. She pretended that Gloria's pregnancy test was hers, she stole my mom's earrings. She did the whole panty plot. She basically lied about everything. You guys were right. Then I told her to get out of John Adams, get out of New York, and I told her I was going to makeup whatever story she wanted me to, and if she ever came back, there would be consequences and of course, she came back. So I met her at Starbucks earlier, and made a new deal with her. I told her if she sees you guys, especially Riley walking around town that she is to not make any contact with you guys or else I'll destroy her." I said.
"Does Riley know about that?" He asked. "No, after I left her house I met up with Amber 15 minutes later. I am planning on telling her though. But at the same time I don't want to, because what if it just makes everything worse and I lose her again?" I said. "You won't. I saw how Riley was without you. She's insane about you and what girl would be brave enough to tell you how she felt in front of the whole baseball team? I'm surprised she made her way through coach. Riley is in love with you. She was shattered when you left her but even then, she still cared for you, she still found a way to be there for you, no matter how badly you hurt her. You did the same, I would say you guys are soulmates." He said. "It's really crazy to think that we are, I just want to propose to her already but it's too soon and I have other things to worry about like prom." I said. "Speaking of prom, are you even going to go?" he asked. "Of course, I could just get Riley a guest pass and we can go together." I said. "What about all the other seniors only activities? I know how pretty bummed she was that she wasn't going to be able to be a part of that." Farkle said. "I have something in mind." I said.
Hi! I'm sorry I haven't been updating as much as I should. I have been getting ready for my second year of college. I haven't been able to stop writing this chapter, so sorry if it's so long. I hope you guys like it. Chapter 12 is on it's way and if you're following my other story, "Girl Meets Ever After" I'm sorry for the wait on that! New chapters are coming soon! xx