Farkle stood waiting for the exhibit to begin that Riley had written to him about. He was able to get Smackle to come with him but was not able to get the rest of the gang to come with him. They said that they were done with school for three months that they were not going to go if they didn't have to. Farkle and Smackle were holding hands looking through all the different topics that were brought up when someone tapped them on the shoulders.

"Well… well…well, don't you too look adorable! "a familiar voice exclaimed. As the pair turned around they came face to face with miss Riley Matthews. She looked great she had only been gone a little under a month and when Farkle had asked her parents how their visit with her last week they told him that she was flourishing. That she was changing and that they couldn't believe their eyes. Looking at her now Farkle couldn't say that he blamed them. Riley was his best friend, and first fake wife but he could hardly recognize her. Although she could never be considered out of shape before, he noticed that her black tank top with a rainbow outlined feather showed off her newly formed arm muscle. Her white torn up skinny jeans showed off her long legs. She had to have been working on balance because she was walking in light purple three inch heels. That wasn't the largest change though (although it was enough to make her harder to recognize. Her hair was still long and dark brown but now the bottom four inches were died a shade of light purple. She had very little makeup on but her eyes popped.

"Riley?" Farkle asked

"Hey Farkle, I am so happy you came today. I was hoping that I could surprise you! And you brought Smackle too. How are you both doing?" Riley asked while she leaned in to hug both of the young geniuses.

"I am doing well Riley, you look different. How is the camp treating you?" Smackle asked while Farkle was still trying understand that Riley was here.

"Camp is great, learning and having fun. Having a lot of fun." Riley responded.

"How were you able to get here though. Aren't you supposed to stay there all summer, did you leave early? Do your parents know?" Farkle started to fire off.

Riley giggled a little bit at Farkle's rambling "She actually came with me. It's an extra credit project for the history class I am taking, and I thought that Riley and a few others might like the distraction, and change of scenery." A young man interrupted while he put his arm around Riley and smiled at her. Farkle would have been lost as to who this guy was if he had not been sent that picture. This was Ben the Hot guy (according to Maya), and the guy that made Riley happy. He figured that out from her letters. "Sorry I should introduce myself. My name is Ben… Ben Jenson." Ben said while holding his hand out and shaking hands with the pair.

"I am Farkle and this is Smackle. So how does this work for you two? Do you have like a day pass, how did you get down here, did you fly?" Farkle started rambling again.

"Easy there Farkle. Ben and I rode in with Mitch and his girlfriend Emma. Emma is my roommate that I wrote about, and Mitch is a junior at JQA High School. He drove us down since he drove up to school. This way they could get some bonus points in their class, and Emma and I tagged along. We have to head back tonight after we stop and say hello to my parents really quick. I think that answered all of your questions." Riley answered while she smiled.

That was when two others joined them. A red head named Emma, she was very stylish in a black skirt and pick tube top. And who they all presumed was Mitch the tall junior that Farkle was surprised that Mr. Matthews allowed them in the camp. He was tall, dark, and looked like a bad boy. He had long hair to his neck, dark brown eyes, and dressed in dark wash jeans and a black shirt. Both he and Ben were the same height, and they were very muscular. Farkle knew that if Lucas ever met either of these two guys he would act worse than he did with Charlie Gardner at the New Year's party Riley threw.

The group of six went through the museum soaking in all of the history. Throughout the learning experience Farkle kept watching Riley. While she would have gone with Farkle before. Something was different with Riley now. While she was more confident in her movements which was a big change already, she seemed to enjoy the time they spent at the museum. She seemed to like to learn more than she had before, it also could have been because Ben would whisper every now and then in her ear something that would make her laugh and they would share a look. One thing was for sure, even if Riley liked Lucas still she was also having feelings for Ben. Farkle studied Ben, he felt like it was his job to make sure that Riley didn't get hurt. She always found the best in people and that could get her in trouble from time to time. She always wanted to help others, to fix every bad thing. Sometimes she didn't think about fixing things for herself. Ben though seemed to really care about Riley. She had his arm around her and Farkle knew it was to protect Riley if anything were to happen not to express claim of some sort. Farkle would catch Ben staring at Riley as if she was this precious thing to behold. Farkle decided that he liked the guy. No matter if Riley picked him over his best friend he would like the guy.

After about three hours at the exhibit plus another two for a movie that they wanted to watch the gang was finished and decided to go to Topanga's to get a quick bit and for Riley to say hi to her parents before she went back on the road. Farkle sent a group text just asking if the group could meet him there, not saying way. Riley had said that she just wanted to talk to him and hang out. Although she had forgiven Maya she didn't want to have any confrontations with Lucas or Zay. And she didn't want to have this big emotional scene with Maya right away. She had a letter for her that she wanted Farkle to give to her. Right now she just wanted a coffee, and croissant before they hit the road. She also wanted to introduce her friends to her favorite hangout. Farkle knew that even though Riley had reservations about seeing the gang that it would be good for her to see them all, and more importantly for them to see her before they tried to go up and visit. Definitely better for them to see her now, then at the end of the summer. If Farkle knew his friends and he was very certain that he did they would cause any scene, then that of being happy to see her.

When the group entered the bakery all that could be heard was a very unmanly squeal that was made by Riley's father. This was then followed by a bunch of no's after he noticed Riley with Ben. Although Cory let his daughter leave them for the summer he was not prepared for all of the changes she had gone though. While she asked for permission to change her hair something that Topanga said yes to and talked him into it later. He did not want her to have a boyfriend. HE was not ready for this. He was not ready for this when it was Lucas that was going to take this spot, he was a good kid, he had a past but seemed to really be turning around. This other guy… he knew only what Riley had told him. He knew that they weren't dating, but he knew that if something didn't happen. Something that didn't change how they were acting that they would date. Topanga kept saying that he had to let Riley grow up, but it was hard for him. It was really hard on him right now since she kept changing every time he saw her. She was growing up so quickly. However, he could admit that she was growing up beautifully inside and out.

"Riley sweetheart!" Topanga and Auggie cried at the same time. They had seen her just a little bit ago but they both missed her. They ran up to her and gave her a bone crushing hug.

"Hey guys" She greeted back "I have missed you" she exclaimed while she hugged them both back with equal force. She then walked over to her father, tapped in on the shoulder and asked "Don't I get a hug from you too?"

Cory snapped out of his train of thought and quickly swept her into a hug that she returned. "of course you do sweetheart. Whenever you want, you never have to ask" He whispered into her hair, giving her a kiss on the forehead before he let her go.

"How are you guys, how is work, how is Ava Auggie?" Riley asked.

"Well I am still on break from work, but in two weeks I need to start working on my proposal for this year's class overviews, what I plan on having my students study, what materials I will need. And then cross my fingers to see if there is enough in the budget for it." Corey responded.

"Ava is good Riley. The Misses keeps me busy, and is always wanting to be around each other. Sometimes she drives me crazy, like the other day I was going on the slide and the girl that was one it was scarred so I told her that we could go down together and we did. Ava said that I wasn't thinking about her and that if I like the other girl so much that she should be my wife and not her. Luckily she calmed down and everything is fine now. But really that woman is going to be the death of me." Auggie ranted. This of course made all of the teens and parents laugh out loud with the events that unfolded in Auggie's life. If you didn't know better, you really would think that they were married for at least fifty years.

"Wow little man, that sounds tough. How did you get her to hear your side?" Ben asked while he knelt down eye level to Auggie. They started to have a conversation of their own, and this made Riley and her mom smile. It was nice to see someone else bonding with Auggie, someone that they might be seeing a lot of once camp let out. Mitch and Emma made a quick hello to the small family and decided to order and eat.

"So mom, how is work? How are things here?" Riley asked as she stepped closer to her mother.

"Everything is going good. I took on a new case at work that has me working lots of hours, but luckily your dad is home to help with Auggie. The bakery has never done better. Although I think that we need to think of something to make sure that once school starts back up that we can keep the business." Topanga replied back. Cory walked over to them at this point.

"Well we already have free Wi-Fi, what if you did like a trivia night for small groups, the trivia could be about modern pop culture and things that we would learn in school. There could be teams and the winning team gets a round of coffee or something." Riley suggested. "or an open mic night. Where people could sing, read parts of their favorite stories, read poetry, and stuff like that?"

"Riley…. That is a great idea." Both parents agreed and Topanga started to try to figure out how either would work.

"But why pop culture?" Smackle interrupted "Most trivia that is based on education would be more beneficial"

"While it might be more beneficial, it might be unfair too. Think if he played Smackle. The educational trivia we would be masters, but it would help round the game out with something more challenging for us. such as pop culture." Farkle explained.

"Hey Riley… we should get our order in so that we can start driving back to camp." Ben called over "I can drive til twelve (since it was already about seven at night) Mitch and Emma can sleep in the back. After midnight we can exchange places." He got up and have Auggie a pat on the shoulders "until next time little man."

Riley and Ben walked over to the counter and both ordered their drinks and snacks. Riley looked over her shoulder at her dad. She knew that he was not comfortable with her driving back with Ben and Mitch. But she had promised that she would call him to keep him updated when she told him about her plans when they visited. Just after their orders came through they looked at Emma and Mitch who both nodded that they were ready to go, and the group waited while Riley hugged everyone good bye. Just as she finished with her last hug to Smackle the door opened.

"Oh my … Riley?" Maya yelled out in shock.

"Is that really you?" Lucas asked. Both were in shocked with how much she had changed.

Maya quickly got over her shocked and pulled the girl into a fierce hug. "You look amazing" Maya cried out.

"It is really good to see you Maya… it's too bad that you only both now got here. I have to leave now… but here this is for you. I thought that I would skip mailing it since I planned on surprising Farkle at the exhibit today and could get him to give it to you." Riley hugged the girl back and looked over her shoulder at Lucas. He was just looking at her, he didn't make a move and she decided that she wasn't going to be the first one of the two to move. Instead she simply smiled and waved at him. "Hey Lucas."

To which he made no movement he was just stuck. Although his brain kept telling him to rush over to her and take her in his arms he couldn't. He could tell that she changed and didn't know if she would want him to. He half expected her to come to him, she always came to him, but this time she stayed right in her spot.

Riley gave one last round of hugs and looked in his direction again and then some guy (Ben he remembered from the photo) put his arm around her and they along with two others disappeared out the door. And to Lucas out of their lives. He was shocked but once he got over it he ran out the door only to see a car driving away and Riley nowhere in sight. He left after that. He didn't feel like talking to anyone right now.

Back in the café Maya and the rest were talking about riley and her friends. Maya waited another ten minutes until she left and went home. Only once she was in the safety of her room did she open the letter from Riley. Although she took it as a great sign that Riley had hugged her, she was still worried that Riley would not forgive her.

Maya,

I was so happy to get your letter, it meant so much to me! I want to get back to what we once were, but I don't at the same time. Now don't freak out the reason that I wrote that I don't want to get back to the same thing is because I want to be able to lean on myself more. I know that you are my sister and my best friend. Nothing will EVER change that but I don't want to be little plant anymore. I want to be able to grow and I cannot do that if you are protecting me from everything. So even though I want to be able to be your best friend again I need you to let me grow. I don't need a squad to protect me from the truth. I want you to have my back, but let me fight my own fights for now on. If I need help I promise that I will ask for it. Can you do that? Can you trust that I can go at it alone but know that if I get overwhelmed that you will be the first person I ask for help?

Now camp is amazing. I am learning so much that I can hardly believe it. I know in middle school we took some small classes in Spanish and French but I can speak little sentences I can have very slow conversations about little things. I hope that by the time that camp is over that I can have better conversation in those two, that are a more normal pace. Boxing is great, I had my first fight last week. If was more to see how we were learning and it was a tap count fight not a knock out one. but guess what…. I WON! It was an amazing feeling, I was so proud with my progress and it makes me happy that I can defend myself if a situation would call for it. That yoga, and the girls her have really helped me with cheer. I can do a lot of flips now without getting winded. I know that I will make the team with my own abilities. I am also getting good with my photos. I have one attached here that I would love to see if you could paint. I remembered the one day how you said that you loved the afternoon and five o'clock since that was when everything shinned. You seemed so enamored with the light that I needed you to see it through my lens. I think that next year for my art credit I might join or try to join the photography club. The other classes are going well. I am taking a poetry class that I have been writing about human nature. And Ben has me in a music class trying to convince me that I have talent. I am better than I was but I am no artist.

My roommates you would love. Its odd sharing a room but I love it. We all get along very well, and they are becoming family. I am going to hate leaving them and I think that going back to my room will be hard since it will be so quite. The other night we stayed up late and watched a bunch of Nicholas sparks movies and had a pillow fight. It is like a sleep over every night and I love it.

Ben… the hottie with from the picture is amazing. He is so patient with me. I don't know what I want. Or should I say who I want. I always thought that it would be me and Lucas in the end. But Ben is different. He is not afraid to be tough if he has too, but makes sure that he always thinks before he acts. He is so funny and carefree. But he can be serious he knows what he wants and goes for it. He is determined and kind. I could see myself falling for him. And this scares me to be honest. I can't believe that he is so easy to talk to, we listen to each other and understand each other. I really care about him. Sometimes when we are close to each other I find myself wanting him to take me in his arms and kiss me. I want him to have a moment. And this confuses me since I still care for Lucas, but something always gets in the way with him, something is always holding him back. With Ben the only thing holding him back is him wanting to be sure that I am sure that this is what I want. I know where he stands and that is so different from Lucas. With him I never knew what he wanted or what he thought he were. With Ben I know.

That's enough about me, what about you? How is life? Your mom? How is it going with Shawn? Have you met any guys? Have you seen Josh?

With all the love in the world,

Riley