Chapter 21- Bats

At about 6:30 that night, Shawn, Riley, and Maya headed out to the waiting car, heading for the Congress Avenue Bridge. Carefully, Shawn placed his camera equipment in the trunk of the car and settled in the backseat with the girls for the 10-minute ride to the bridge. When they arrived, the bridge and surrounding area were already packed. There was a concession stand set up to sell overpriced menu items and other souvenirs. There was a ticket booth next to that to buy tickets for this event. Luckily, because Shawn was hired to photograph, him and the girls both received VIP passes for the best seat in the park. As they made their way through the crowd, Maya was suddenly nervous. The closer to the bridge they came, the more anxious she appeared.

"Maya, are you okay?" Shawn asked, concerned.

"These bats aren't going to bite us, are they?" she whispered. "I don't want to get rabies." Maya nervously looked around as if the bats could hear her and would be offended. Shawn shook his head.

"They are not going to bite you, Maya." He explained. "Or your baby." They finally found the VIP area, and sat down in the seats provided.

"Did you know," Shawn was reading bat facts from a pamphlet that he found floating around on the bridge, "that the Mexican Free-Tailed Bat is the official mammal of Texas? They made it official in 1995. And did you know that they have the fastest horizontal speed of any animal at 99 miles per hour?" Impressed by these random facts, Maya read over his shoulder.

"Wow! Do you really think there are," she paused to confirm the number, "1.5 million bats underneath this bridge right now? That is amazing. And slightly disturbing." The girls saved their seats while Shawn went to the concession stand to get them some water. When he got back and handed the girls their bottles, he threw a stuffed animal in Maya's lap. Surprised, she held it up and gushed over it.

"How cute! It's a little bat!" She squeezed it close to her and was close to tears.

"If you shake it, it makes the same noise an actual bat makes." He took the bat from her and demonstrated. "It's for the baby." Maya stood up and hugged Shawn tightly.

"Thank you. Daddy." Shawn was at a loss for words. She had never called him that before. He hugged her back and whispered in her ear.

"You're welcome, daughter." Maya kissed his cheek and sat back down. Riley was trying not to get upset. Shawn was her uncle. But he only seemed interested in Maya. Just because she was pregnant. She sneered and turned back to wait for the bats.

About 7:30, the crowd started oohing and aahing. Shawn had been snapping photos of the event. There was a music show and contests with prizes. But when the crowd started reacting, Shawn knew it was time to get ready. He started taking pictures from up above the bridge and ran back down to the bottom to take pictures from a bottom angle. When the bats started emerging from under the bridge, Shawn started snapping like crazy. He would run out of film, reload, and start over. At about 8:45, the crowd started to die down and Shawn was so worn out from running back and forth, he plopped back down in his seat and started taking photos from his chair. Riley had brightened up a little bit, excited to see all the bats emerging from under the bridge. When the event was over, Shawn and the girls went to dinner as promised at a real Texas steakhouse and went back to their respective rooms to relax and unwind. Maya was watching some reality tv show and Riley decided she would go out for the evening. As she was getting ready to walk out the door, Maya stopped her.

"Riley, where are you going now? I thought we were going to hang out tonight?" Maya asked, curious.

"I was just gonna go out for a bit." Riley replied.

"How about we talk first, and then you can go if you want." Maya suggested. Riley agreed and sat back down on the bed.

"All right, what do you want to talk about, Maya?"

"You seem really testy lately. I just want to make sure that we are good."

"Well, actually," Riley figured she would lay it all out now, before it got any worse. "I can't stand the fact that everyone is fawning all over you and giving you all this extra attention. Just because you are having a baby. You don't even pay me any attention. We used to be closer than sisters, but I had to hear it from someone else that you were pregnant with my uncle's baby." Riley said, angrily. Maya hadn't realized that she had been cutting Riley out.

"I am sorry, Riles. I have just been super busy with doctor's appointments and everything. I will try to include you more. I do think of you as a sister. Please believe that."

"It's hard to believe, when I was not even invited to one of your appointments. I would have liked to see your baby move around, too."

"Riley, I have only had two appointments, and they don't generally allow people who aren't the parents or grandparents in the exam room."

"But I am not 'people', Maya. Remember, I am your 'sister'."

"Okay, Riley." Maya giggled. " I will see if I can bring you in the next appointment in September. This is the big one. We get to find out if it's a girl or a boy."

"Really, that appointment?" Riley's face lit up, excited. Maya nodded.

"Are we better now, Riley? Are we past this whole jealousy thing?" Riley sighed.

"Yeah, I guess so. I love you, Maya." She cuddled up next to Maya in the bed.

"I love you too, Riley. I thought you were going out."

"Nah, I'll go out tomorrow. This is more important." She hugged Maya and they watched the tv program together until they fell asleep.

It was about 6:30 am when Riley received a text message from Lucas. Bleary eyed, she opened the messaging app on her phone. After recovering from the sudden brightness, she was able to actually read the words.

'Can we talk?' She rubbed her eyes and carefully sat up, as to not wake Maya.

'Cn ths wait, Lucas? It's 6 in the moring.'

'Not really. Meet me outside your hotel at 7:15. I have an early shift at 8.' With a heavy sigh, she agreed to meet him and got up to get dressed, stretching and yawning as quietly as possible. She grabbed her keycard and silently slipped through the door at 7:05. She could see Lucas standing outside the hotel, waiting for her.

"What is this all about, Lucas?" Riley asked, warily. Lucas did not look happy at all. In fact, he looked more worried than anything. "What was so important, that this could not have waited until later? I was planning on coming to get a sandwich later, maybe visit a little and talk about Friday night." Lucas took a deep breath.

"That is what I wanted to talk to you about. Walk me to work, and we will talk on the way?" He asked, quietly. Riley cocked her head at Lucas.

"What is going on?" She demanded. Lucas started walking and Riley had no choice but to go with him if she wanted answers. When she caught up to him, he grabbed her hand and continued walking.

"This weekend, Riley. This weekend was awesome, new, and exciting." Riley nodded in agreement. "But it was also a one time thing." Lucas' expression darkened.

"Of course, Lucas. I wasn't planning on doing that anymore. I don't do drugs."

"No, Riley. I was not talking about that."

"If it was the thing with Farkle, I don't think any of us were planning on doing that again, either." Lucas hung his head in defeat. Riley was not getting the hint.

"NO, Riley!" He shouted, startling Riley. "I meant us, you and me. I can't do this anymore. It was fun, but that is all it was. I'm sorry." Riley's eyes filled up with tears.

"But, Lucas. I thought we were good. We were on the same page, remember?" Riley protested. Lucas sighed.

"There is more, Riley." He put his hands in his hair and tugged, looking skyward in frustration. "Ugh, why is this so hard to say?" He looked at Riley, looked into her eyes. "Riley, that thing with Farkle?"

"Yeah?" Riley replied.

"That was not the first time for him and I. We have done that before. Off the pills, of course and always with condoms." Riley's eyes widened and her hand flew up to her mouth. "In the past few weeks, I have developed some real feelings for him." Seeing the tears falling down Riley's cheeks, Lucas pulled her in for a hug, but she wrenched away from him and ran back to the hotel. She ran up the stairs and burst into the room, frightening Maya awake. Maya shot up in bed and was on her feet in seconds.

"Riley?! What's the matter?" She exclaimed, noticing how distraught Riley appeared. "Is it Shawn?!" Maya rushed to get dressed, but Riley stopped her.

"No, Peaches. Shawn is fine." She sobbed. "It's Lucas. We broke…up? Can you break up if you aren't technically dating?" Maya's face turned red.

"I knew this was going to happen, Riley. I knew he was going to hurt you again. What is it? Distance? Another girl?" Maya asked. Riley shook her head and raised her face to look into Maya's eyes.

"It's not distance, or another girl. It's another…boy. Lucas is, gay." Riley revealed. Maya was speechless. "And it's not even that I have a problem with that. I am fine with him being gay. I am mad because he knew he had feelings for someone else, and still decided to let us go as far as we did. I mean, we had sex, Maya." Maya silently shook her head, still in shock. The more she thought about it, the more it almost made sense. All the little clues adding up, she could definitely see Lucas being gay. Maybe now, Maya thought, Riley would be able to actually move on, finally.