A/N: I love this chapter, omg. Besides the cute glee reference at the start (if you catch on to that), Arietta's character is so fun to write and I can't wait to keep writing about her in future chapters. Also, RIARKLE! Well, sorta. Enjoy and please leave a review! xx :)

Chapter 4

5 February 2016

10:31 p.m.

Maya's POV

A dim light shone on my desk as I set restlessly trying to graph quadratic functions. I spun in my chair, checked my phone every 2 minutes, and bit my nails, but to no relief; my algebra homework wasn't complete, and if I didn't do it my failing grade would go down further in the hole.

Suddenly, I heard a knock at my window, jumped a bit, and turned around.

A dark figure stood outside, waving his hand at me, and I had to squint to see who it was.

"Lucas?" I said in a whisper, afraid to wake my mother.

"I need to talk," he replied with a nod, tapping his foot anxiously as he stood on my fire escape with nothing but a muscle shirt and boxers on.

"It's 10:30. Isn't this interfering with your beauty sleep?"

"Just let me in."

I gave in, opening my window as he jumped under my covers to relieve his goosebumped skin.

"Hopefully what you're here to talk about is quadratic functions, because I-"

"-I asked Riley to the Valentine's dance today."

I raised an eyebrow at him. After all these weeks of being distant, the first thing he comes to talk to me about is his girlfriend?

"What about it?"

"I've never been to a dance. I thought it would be a great idea, but I'm freaking out, Maya. She's gonna think I'm stupid. She texted me asking me what 'corsage' she's getting me. What the hell is a corsage?"

I chuckled.

"You've come to the wrong person, my friend."

"Maya, this is serious. She's gonna think I'm some huckleberry."

"Isn't that what you are?"

He threw a pillow at me.

"Alright, alright," I began, pulling a piece of paper out from my notebook, "Give this to Alex at Stephania's boutique on Broadway Street. Say it's per Maya's requests. He'll know exactly what you need."

I handed him the paper, and he smiled.

"Thank you, Maya."

"And I would ask for a little pink ribbon too. It would compliment her dress."

"How do you know what dress she's wearing?"

"When you've been best friends with her, she gets a little predictable. She'll wear pink, trust me."

A moment of silence followed, and Lucas' eyes met mine.

"You really love her, don't you?"

"The real question is if you love her."

Quickly, his eyes drifted to the ceiling, and he rolled over on his back. Within minutes, the boy had fallen asleep on my bed.

7 February 2016

7:46 a.m.

Riley's POV

"Welcome to South County Animal Shelter, you're number one source for everything pet needs and adoption certificates! We provide in animal rescuing, training, adopting-"

"Woah. How many coffees have you had this morning?" I interjected. The chipper young girl paused, and looked up at the ceiling as if her answer were up there, biting her lip subconsciously.

"She prefers espresso. Like, straight espresso. Just powder in a cup every morning."

The voice came from the kitchen, and I turned around to see tall, skinny boy with brown hair smiling at me.

"Farkle, nice to meet you. I heard you needed some volunteer work, per Mrs. Maxfield of course. She's a keeper, wouldn't you agree?"

The boy was so strong in every word he said, and almost persuasive in a sense. Like, if I were Mrs. Maxfield's loving mother, I would totally agree with his sarcastic, degrading remarks about my own daughter. He's definitely got some sort of career ahead of him in law.

"Totally."

"You like animals?"

"I can tolerate them."

"Great. My pet python needs to be fed breakfast. The mice are in the back room. Be generous, she's a big girl."

My heart dropped, and I gulped. Looking over to the perky redhead, I whispered under my breath, "He's not serious, right?" and she just shrugged. Guess that's what I get for being a bitch to her about her coffee preferences.

"Look, I get it that I'm new and all, but I can't do that. I've had a severe phobia of snakes since the third grade when I saw one giving birth at recess and-"

"I don't actually have a pet snake, Riley, and if I did I wouldn't make you do that. I'm cruel, but not that cruel," he said with a laugh.

Yeah, I knew that.

"So you and Arietta do paperwork today. Lunch is at 12, and if you need anything I'll be at the register today."

"Thank you, Farkle!" Arietta interrupted, smiling briefly and then swiftly turning on her heel.

Arietta bounced her head as she walked, which was kind of annoying, and promptly lead me to a back office, with piles of paper mounted on one another.

"I like to call this my office, but you can't tell Farkle that," Arietta sing-songed, "because, you see that water machine there?"

She pointed to a Poland Springs water dispenser with Dixie cups beside it.

"I used my own allowance to buy that. Myself. Impressive, right? Most kids spend their money on drugs and alcohol, but not me. I'm dedicated about my work, and hydration is key to being successful in your daily duties."

I slowly nodded.

"That-that's great."

"I know. Feel free to have some anytime. Okay, now down to business. This here is one of my favorite parts about being a South County Animal Shelter Representative. Every time one of our animals is adopted, you and I get to do the most exciting part. We fill out forms indicating the pet's sex, date of birth, allergies-"

"-Pets have allergies?"

"Let me continue. Their allergies, shots, and any previous malfunctions regarding its health. Sounds easy, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it's pretty procedural."

"Well, it's not, sister. It's the most important and most common area errors are made in animal adoptions, CNN reported in late 2013."

Intervening my slow, genuine nod, Farkle abruptly popped his head into the door, saying something along the lines of,

"I need paperwork on Terry the turtle, stat."

Arietta jumped in her seat, scrambling amongst the mess on her desk to find a certain document. Papers went flying, her breathing became irregular, a cold sweat developed on her forehead, and I realized in that moment, I was going to have to quit my position as a 'representative' at the South County Animal Shelter.

8 February, 2016

8:53 a.m.

Maya's POV

Riley sluggishly walked into school, bags under her eyes and her shoulders drooping. She was a mess.

"Rough day at the animal shelter?" I said, punching her in the shoulder.

"Oh, give me a break. I have to work with the world's most obnoxious, upbeat specimen created by mankind. She sent me to every Staples in Miami to find her special pens, which, after going to only nine locations, I found are only available through delivery. She has her freaking pens imported, Maya. Her pens."

She slammed her locker shut.

"From where?"

"That's not the point!" she snapped.

Restlessly, she shuffled through her bag to find a pen to write a pass. After five long, excruciating minutes of watching Riley re-empty and empty her bag of papers and gum wrappers, I asked again,

"Where were those pens from again?"

"Singapore," Riley barked.

I handed her the pen with a smile, and she snatched it from my hand to quickly write the pass.

Lucas came up behind her, kissing her cheek.

"She's not in the mood today, Friar."

As Riley ignored him, Lucas slowly sat beside her, nodding in agreement,

"I can see that."

"She had a rough day at the animal shelter yesterday."

"Do not even say 'ruff,' or any words merely resembling any animal noises. I still have a headache from Pablo after Arietta took it upon herself to take away his bone yesterday."

"Aw, babe,-"

"Not in the mood for cuddling. I need to go to guidance now and straighten this all out."

"Straighten what all out?"

A scrawny, lean kid appeared from behind Riley, looking down at her with a smile. Riley, scared shit, straightened out and pushed a piece of hair behind her eyes.

"Colleges," she replied quickly, "I haven't a clue of any schools down here. My heart was set on the University of Maine, but due to unfortunate circumstances, I've ended up down here. So, I'm going to Mrs. Maxfield to better my options and chances of getting into a great college down here."

Lucas and I were shocked. We looked at each other, raised eyebrows and all, and crossed our arms simultaneously.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're getting a head start on your future. See you tonight, Riley."

He winked at her, and my head immediately spun to Lucas to see his jealousy emerge from it's dormant, nonexistent state and watch him fight to death to win back his woman.

Contrary to my expectations, Lucas was unphased. How could he be stupid enough to not notice this twig flirting with his girlfriend. As Riley practically ran down the hall escaping from the awkward situation, I turned to Mr. Concerned-About-Riley's-Future and sarcastically smiled.

"May I ask your name?"

"It's Farkle."

"Farkle?"

"It's Farkle."

"Ah, okay then, Farkle, or whatever your real name is. You see, I know Riley's a good looking girl and all, but she's kinda taken."
"Oh! By who?"

"You're looking at him."

Obliviously, he searched the hallway, looking left, right, up and down, until I punched Lucas in the arm and he was forced to look up from his phone.

"So this is the lucky man who gets to call himself Riley Matthews's boyfriend. You're a lucky man, but she's an even luckier girl. I'm glad you're finally in the game my friend," he patted Lucas' shoulder.

While Lucas smiled, I was left at a loss for words. Besides the fact this Farkle kid was most certainly lying about his name and was obnoxiously annoying, why was Farkle acting all buddy-buddy with Lucas?

"I'm sorry, is there something I'm missing here?" I asked.

"Nope, nothing at all" Farkle responded.

The bell rang, and the three of us parted as Farkle ran down the hall almost as fast as Riley did.