61Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. They belong to Michael Jacobs, Disney, and anyone else who officially owns them. Any recognizable lines came from the episode 'Girl Meets Texas 3' and also do not belong to me.
Author's Note: My intentions with this fic is to try and work out the triangle situation realistically. That means I probably will be devoting some time to the Lucas/Maya half of the triangle. I wanted to take all the evidence that I thought the show has given us showing that there is an attraction between them, and have that play out like I think the show is doing so it could be gotten out of the way. That said, I'm a diehard Rucas shipper, they are definitely endgame, and I'm planning to try and deal with LM as quickly as I can while still making it believable. I just wanted to give a heads up in case that doesn't sound like your cup of tea.
Some scenes in the story came directly from the episode 'Girl Meets Texas' part 3, but I tried not to duplicate them word for word, and I added my own direction to them to play up the dramatic aspects rather than comedic ones. This will be a multi-chapter fic and will be somewhere around ten chapters long.
Chapter 1
"Do you think it's possible Mr. Evans won't give us that pop quiz in Biology today?" Riley asked her best friend as they ascended the numerous steps leading to the entrance of the school. "I know he said Friday that it was a 'distinct possibility', but if he had a nice weekend and he's in a good mood he might let it go, don't you think?"
"Maybe," Maya agreed faintly, her mind clearly on something else.
Ignoring the lackluster reply, Riley went on with determined brightness. "I tried to do the reading last night after we got home, but I was so tired I don't think anything stuck. I only made it through half the chapter before I had to give up, and I ended up going to bed even earlier than Auggie."
Maya didn't say anything and Riley darted a quick glance at her unusually quiet friend. From the moment she'd come by to pick her up for school Maya hadn't really said much of anything. But all through their morning routine of breakfast with her family, walking together to the station, and making the crowded ride on the subway Maya kept giving her these weighty, conflicted looks that filled her stomach with dread.
She'd done the same thing on the train the day before; kept giving her these looks that made Riley feel anxious and sick. She'd done her best to ignore them, chatting cheerfully with her friends, and trying to sidetrack Maya from whatever she was thinking about.
And that had worked up until the last few minutes before the train pulled into the station, when Maya finally broke, saying, "Riley, something happened. I need to tell you..."
But Riley had cut her off before she could say any more. She was sure whatever she was going to say was something about Lucas, and Riley really didn't want to know.
Not knowing was good. Not knowing meant you could tell yourself when you were struggling to concentrate on your Biology homework that maybe they'd only held hands or something next to the campfire. Not knowing meant when you were lying sleeplessly in bed at 7:00 o'clock, and at 10:00, and after midnight, you could convince yourself that they'd probably just talked like they never had before. Things were probably said, long looks had maybe been exchanged across the flames, possibly there had been some kind of touching, maybe some snuggling while they'd shared the fire's warmth...
Not knowing also meant that as you stared out into the darkness, curled up in your bay window, trying in vain to see the stars, you kept thinking surely they hadn't already kissed. You'd only just stepped out of the way that night. And Lucas had still seemed so confused and unaccepting of the entire situation. They couldn't possibly have just fallen into each other's arms the moment you walked away.
Not knowing if that was true was really hard, but she was afraid that if Maya told her she was wrong and that they really had kissed it would shatter everything Riley was trying so hard to hold together.
Judging by the looks Maya had been giving her all morning she wanted to end the not knowing. So Riley had kept up a steady stream of chatter to forestall her.
"We might be able to study for it in History if my dad doesn't talk the whole hour," she said now. "But probably the chances of that are slimmer than Mr. Evans not giving the test out of the goodness of his heart."
She gave a strained laugh and Maya smiled weakly in return. But then her expression turned serious, and with another of those heavy looks, she uttered Riley's name quietly as though gearing herself up to speak.
But Riley hurried ahead, her words tumbling out even faster. "Our only other option is Harper's class. Maybe she'll let us have some quiet reading time today. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if we read about Biology instead of Dan, Ann, and the ferns."
"Riley," Maya said more firmly, trying to interrupt.
Riley just kept rushing forward, her feet moving as fast as her mouth now as they pushed through the doors and headed down the hall toward their lockers. "I wish we had Study Hall second period. Usually I like having it at the end of the day because it gives me a chance to get some of our homework out of the way. But today it would really be—"
"Riley!" Maya interrupted insistently, obviously determined now to say what she'd been debating with herself about.
"We have to get to class, Maya," Riley said desperately. "If we get there early we can study then."
With that, she quickened her pace even further, her longer legs slightly outpacing her friend's as she practically ran for her father's class.
"Riley, wait!" Maya called, running after her. "I need to tell you something!"
Riley temporarily lost her as she rounded a corner, but in only a few seconds Maya was back at her heels.
"Rile's, something happened in Texas," Maya said at her back. "I need to tell you, okay?"
"Maya, I don't need to know," Riley threw over her shoulder anxiously as both girls tripped down a short set of steps.
"But something happened," she repeated insistently. "I need to tell you. You need to know."
"No I don't," Riley returned with gentle firmness, her loose skirt swirling around her ankles as she spun around to face her.
Standing in front of their lockers, out of the way of passing students, Riley took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.
"Maya, I know things are going to happen," she assured her more steadily. "You have feelings for Lucas. I saw that in Texas. And I want you to be able to feel however you feel about him. I would never want to be the one who was keeping you from doing that."
Saying the words helped renew her sense of purpose. She was doing the right thing, she was sure of it. Maya had stepped back for her when they'd first met Lucas and it was only fair that she do the same for her now. Maya deserved to have her own chance to see where things might go for her and Lucas.
"So don't worry about me, you don't have to tell me anything," she promised, wanting to wipe the uncertain expression from Maya's face. "From now on, whatever happens, happens."
Maya seemed reluctant to let it go at that, but she let it drop as she fell in beside Riley. Turning, they moved together to head into their History class.
And bumped straight into Lucas coming from the opposite direction.
Riley's lips tipped up in pleasure at seeing him, but when she felt Maya come to a halt at her back, she put on a bright exaggerated smile.
"My brother," she greeted cheerfully, drawing back a fist to throw a sisterly punch as she'd done so many times over the past weekend.
"Hey! Hi!" he returned with equal brightness, ducking back and catching her fist before it could make contact with his upper arm, and maneuvering it around so it was held harmlessly in front of him. "Hey, Riley," he said again with a smile, giving the back of her hand a friendly pat as he momentarily held it between his palms. Letting it loose, he said, "Listen, I wanted to thank you again for believing in me and giving me the courage to get on that bull. Pappy Joe called my dad last night after we got home and he wouldn't stop bragging about it. He even said, 'Love ya, kid' before he hung up. I don't remember him ever saying that to me before."
Riley gave a little huff of laughter. "He said he would do that if you won. Pappy Joe made good on his promise."
In all honesty, Riley thought it was a little sad that his grandfather had never told him that before. And that it had taken such a dangerous stunt to finally win his approval. But Lucas had needed to meet the challenge of Tombstone for himself, as well. So in the end she was glad it had worked out so well for him.
"Yeah," Lucas agreed. "And it never would have happened without you, so thank you. Again."
Riley smilingly tipped her head. "Of course, Lucas. You know I'll always believe in you."
They smiled softly at one another for a moment, and when Lucas shifted his smile to Maya behind her, Riley tried not to let her expression change. Judging by the frozen feel of her features she wasn't sure how good a job she was doing.
For Lucas's part, his smile had turned a bit uncertain as he greeted Maya searchingly.
Turning slightly aside, Riley saw Maya return his smile with a quiet one of her own, the expression on her face not one that Riley had ever seen her direct Lucas's way before.
"Hey," she returned his greeting with a small lilt.
His gaze went back to Riley and she met his eyes as he greeted her again in the same vein.
"Hi," she returned sweetly with an earnest tilt of her head.
To Lucas, she seemed to be exuding a sense of quiet desperation as her dark eyes looked into his and he wasn't sure how to interpret it. As he looked back and forth between the two girls, taking in their expressions as they looked at him, and the awkward air that seemed to surround all of them, he'd never been more confused in his life. He didn't like feeling so unsure of himself with the both of them and he just wished things could go back to the way they were. He'd thought they'd all been happy then, but apparently he'd been wrong.
Unsure what else to say to either of them, he finally just smiled and gave them a small wave before turning to enter Mr. Matthews' class.
Before Riley and Maya could follow, a familiar figure approached from down the hall.
"Hey, Riley," Charlie Gardner greeted her with a friendly smile.
"Hi, Charlie," she replied quietly, feeling subdued after their encounter with Lucas.
"Chahlie Gahdner!" Maya added her own greeting, affecting the tone of a 1950's informational video narrator. It was a joke referring back to the time around the spring formal when Riley had been agonizing over Lucas not asking her go with him and Charlie had stepped in to ask her instead.
At the time when she'd been worrying over what to do, her dad had shown them this silly, outdated informational video in class about how to behave with your date at a school dance. Maya had taken to using the cheesy announcer's voice from the film for days afterward.
"Maya," Riley scolded her lightly, knowing Charlie wouldn't get the joke.
After a brief quizzical look at Maya, Charlie went on with what he'd apparently come to say. "So, I heard you and Lucas were just going to be friends."
Riley and Maya looked at each other in confusion, wondering how on earth he could have heard that so quickly. It had only happened that weekend and they'd only just walked in the doors at school Monday morning. Who could have possibly told him the news already?
The two of them turned to see Zay standing nearby, and he shrugged with widespread arms as if to say 'what could I do?'
"He made me," he tried to excuse, the same way he'd done with Lucas when he'd confessed to telling the girls about Judy the sheep.
"How did he make you?" Riley said skeptically, repeating the words Lucas had said then.
"I said, 'Hey, Charlie, you wanna hear a good story about Riley?' He said yes," Zay returned humorously, giving the same reply as he'd told his best friend.
Riley sighed and turned back to Charlie.
"So anyway, I heard you were free," he repeated. "Is it true? Are you free?" he asked in confirmation.
Riley just stood there, unsure what to say. Yes, it was technically true that she was free now, but she wasn't sure she wanted to give Charlie the encouragement that a yes might give him. Charlie was a nice guy and everything, but he seemed to want something from her that she didn't think she could ever give him.
There was no way to tell him it wasn't true though. She was free.
"Yeah, it's true," she admitted reluctantly, dreading where this might be heading.
Thankfully, the bell rang at just that moment, signaling that it was time for class, and Charlie didn't get a chance to say anything further.
With a quick smile at him, Riley eagerly escaped into her father's classroom, followed by Maya and Zay, and lastly Charlie, who took his seat in the back. Riley gave him a short, uncertain look before turning in her seat in the front row to face the chalkboard behind her dad's desk.
Lucas saw Riley look towards the back of the classroom and followed her gaze to find her looking at that guy she'd gone to the spring formal with. What was his name again? Charlie something or other. He didn't like the look they'd exchanged at all. Had the guy said something to her? If he'd found out somehow that he and Riley were only friends now, Lucas wouldn't put it past him to make a move. He'd certainly moved in quickly enough when Lucas had made the mistake of not officially asking Riley to the dance. But he didn't see how it could be possible for Charlie to have already heard about their change in relationship status. He was probably just seeing something that wasn't there, he told himself.
Mr. Matthews was standing in front of the chalkboard where the subject of the day's lesson was written in large, blocky letters. It looked like they'd be learning about the Hoover Dam this morning.
The curly-headed teacher with eyes like Riley's waited for everyone in the class to be seated, and the moment the tardy bell rang he launched immediately into his lecture.
He began by equating the ten trillion gallons of water that were held back by the dam with the same massive amounts of confused, fourteen-year-old feelings. In that over-the-top, excitable way of his that he'd so obviously bestowed upon his daughter through his genes he demanded that none of them let any of those emotions get through the barrier of the dam because he wasn't ready for them, and wouldn't be able to handle it, so nobody move.
The fervor with which he insisted that any drop of those feelings that might slip through would chip away at the structural integrity of their lives and would spell the end of his personal happiness made it clear that he was already worked up over the personal situation of his daughter that had inspired his lesson for the day. He probably already knew about everything that had happened in Texas, Lucas realized, and obviously he was having a hard time dealing with it.
In a way it made Lucas feel a sort of kinship with his favorite teacher. Mr. Matthews seemed just as unsettled and thrown by the whole thing as he was. But in another way it made him feel a little hopeless and dismayed. If Mr. Matthews couldn't get a handle on it with all of his age and experience, what hope did he have of figuring it all out?
Lucas hadn't noticed the note that was being passed forward from student to student until it reached Farkle's hand, who was sitting at the desk next to him. He watched him read the name written on front and pass it on to Riley, and his heart started thumping with dread.
Riley opened the folded piece of notebook paper with the unfamiliar writing, and her stomach dropped when she read what it said.
Since you're free. Will you go out with me?
And it was signed, Charlie.
So she hadn't escaped where she'd feared Charlie was heading with his questions after all. She'd hoped she could hurry out at the end of class and avoid him, at least until lunch, which was the only other period they shared. And she'd even been thinking about hiding out in her dad's classroom during that period, if she'd been able to get Maya to go along with it.
But none of that mattered now. Charlie was waiting for an answer.
Before she could give any thought to what that answer might be, though, her dad called her out. He'd apparently seen the note.
"Riley? What's that?" he asked suspiciously, and Riley hurriedly refolded the note and stuffed it under her leg.
"Nothing," she tried for innocence, ignoring the paper that seemed to burn her leg through her skirt.
"Did something get through?" he persisted, relating the note to what he'd been saying in his lecture.
"Riley, something happened between me and Lucas," Maya suddenly blurted out, obviously unable to contain it anymore.
Several people in the class gasped, and Riley looked across the aisle at her best friend with stunned hurt, hardly able to believe that she'd made such a personal confession here. In front of her dad, and their friends, and everybody.
Maya just looked back at her with worried eyes, fear and uncertainty coloring her features.
Riley looked at Lucas, sitting behind Maya, and found the same uncertain anxiety on his face .
As she looked at them both she felt betrayed. And she shouldn't, she told herself fiercely. They hadn't done anything wrong. She'd practically thrown the two of them together. And she'd told them that her feelings were nothing to worry about. She couldn't feel betrayed if they'd taken her at word and 'something' had happened. She still wasn't any clearer on what the 'something' was, but clearly it was something big enough that Maya felt she had to tell her about.
It didn't matter what it was anyway. Whatever happens, happens, she reminded herself. She and Lucas were like brother and sister, and he and Maya were...well, 'something' had happened. They were moving on in a new direction and she needed to do that, too.
With that resolution in mind, she turned to look at the back of the class.
Every single person in the classroom had their eyes trained on her in expectation, but she ignored them and looked only at one person.
"Yes, Charlie. I will go out with you."