94I wanted to get this up before the weekend so I could focus on my school work. I'll try my best to update consistently but I make no promises!
The Art of Letting Go
Chapter Two
Sleeping through the night after watching a scary movie was something that did not happen for Riley. She was someone who got scared very easily, especially when vulnerable. She tossed and turned all night, trying to shake the scary thoughts out of her head. She did, however, smile to herself whenever she was reminded that her inability to sleep was caused by her being protected by Lucas.
"Did you sleep well?" Lucas questioned when he met up with her on the subway on the way to school.
"No," Riley answered honestly. "I couldn't sleep. I kept picturing that scary clown in my room."
"I'm sorry," Lucas apologized.
"Why are you sorry? I'm the one who wanted to watch the scary movie."
"No," Lucas argued. "You just wanted me to basically cuddle with you."
Riley and Lucas walked hand-in-hand onto the Abigail Adams High football field once they reached the high school. The student council was hosting a fundraiser in the form of a carnival. Inflatable games, booths, and carnival rides covered the area of the field. Students seemed to be having fun, partly because classes were canceled today to make time for the carnival. Riley was super excited about the event, not only was the school raising money for the less fortunate, something Riley was always passionate about, but she got to have fun while doing it. Lucas shared Riley's enthusiasm about the whole thing, and he was also eager about impressing her by winning her prizes.
The two walked around the carnival for a few minutes until they found their four other best friends. Maya, Farkle, Zay and Smackle were standing by a table near the cotton candy stand where they were eating, well, cotton candy. A carnival staple.
"Peaches!" Maya greeted her best friend enthusiastically with a hug. Ever since the triangle ended and Riley and Lucas started dating, Maya had found herself in a rivalry with Lucas over Riley. Although Riley had promised that things wouldn't change between her and Maya, Maya knew it was inevitable that she would be spending more time with Lucas than her. Maya didn't mind too much, she knew she and Riley had a friendship way too strong for any boy to break.
"Peaches!" Riley exclaimed back after they parted from the hug. "Did you get me cotton candy?!"
"Of course, honey!" Maya replied, taking an untouched stick of cotton candy from the table.
"Wow, not even an aggressive hug from Maya could separate those two," Smackle commented while, pointing to Lucas and Riley's still intertwined fingers.
"Nope," Lucas smiled.
"Ooh, gimme!" Riley released Lucas's hand and grabbed the cotton candy from Maya.
"But apparently, cotton candy can," Zay commented with a chuckle.
After finishing their cotton candy, the group decided on playing some games. They first settled on ring toss, as it was the first game booth they passed. Farkle and Lucas were playing against each other, trying to win for their girlfriends, while Maya and Zay decided to play against each other just for the sake of friendly competition. The result of the two couples in the group had pushed Maya and Zay closer together. They thought it would be dumb to distance themselves from the group out of fear of feeling left out, so they decided that they wouldn't mind each other's company when Farkle and Smackle would flirt with each other using intellectual metaphors that no one understood, or when Lucas and Riley would just stare stupidly into each other's eyes.
As they continued exploring the crowded carnival, they stumbled upon a dunk tank. Students crowded around the dunk tank, as it was advertised that teachers would be the one getting wet. It was only two dollars per ball, a deal that students would be taking advantage of. Riley and her friends were surprised to see which teacher was currently sitting inside—Cory.
"Is that your dad?" Maya laughed. She pushed through the crowd to get to the front, and the others followed behind her.
"Oh my god, it is!" Riley exclaimed. Cory hadn't told Riley about this beforehand, for the fear that her friends would come and dunk him.
Once Cory noticed his daughter and her friends at the front of the crowd, he shrieked.
"What are you guys doing here?! You're not supposed to be here!" Cory said in a panic.
"It's a school carnival, sir," Farkle answered. "You know, for the whole school."
"Yes, I know, Farkle," Cory replied. "But I meant what are you guys doing here at the dunk tank?!"
"Well," Maya began with a suspicious smile, "to dunk you, of course."
"And that's why I didn't tell you kids I was going to be here," Cory scoffed. When he volunteered (or, was voluntold by his colleagues that were also part of the activity) to be sitting in the tank, he didn't mind getting soaked at the hands of other students. But when it came to his daughter and her friends, he did mind. He liked her friends, but they liked to humiliate him every chance they got.
"Maya," Riley said sternly. She knew what her best friend was thinking.
"Yes, Peaches?" Maya answered sweetly, turning to the brunette.
"Promise you won't dunk my dad," Riley ordered. Maya pouted.
"But that's why he's in there," Maya whined. "If you look at it this way, it's a fundraiser, right? All the money made from this is going to charity. So basically, dunking your dad is for a good cause!"
"Uh oh," Cory said to himself. He knew that once Maya mentioned the good cause of it all, Riley would be more than willing to participate.
Riley's eyes lit up.
"Well, when you put it that way…" Riley's voice trailed off. "Give me a ball!"
The teacher in charge of the dunk tank handed Riley a baseball. Riley shot Lucas a look. He nodded and dug into his pocket and pulled out two dollar bills and gave it to the teacher for Riley.
"No, Riley!" Cory protested from inside the tank. He didn't know why he did, he knew it was too late. He was just going to have to suck it up and prepare himself for the cold water that waited underneath him.
The others stepped back, as Riley was getting into her zone. The determination in her eyes said it all. She wanted revenge for all the bad things her father caused in her life since the day she was born. They were very few, but she needed a good reason to want to dunk her father so bad, apart from the charity aspect.
After examining the target for a few seconds, Riley threw the ball. She pitched the ball the way Lucas had taught her during one of his lessons with Auggie. Lucas smiled to himself, proud that she was putting what he taught her into good use. The softball hit the bull's eye and there went Cory plunging into the cold water.
The crowd cheered for Riley, earning hugs from her friends.
"That felt great!" Riley declared. She didn't even wait for Cory to resurface in the water, she continued to explore the fair with her friends.
"Looks like those baseball lessons are paying off," Zay complimented Riley's perfect throw as the group walked towards more games.
"Those lessons are for Auggie," Farkle reminded Zay.
"Sometimes I'm there and I get bored," Riley shrugged.
"Ooh, the water gun game!" Smackle broadcasted enthusiastically, pointing to a booth they were approaching. It was the game where players shoot a water gun onto a target while a pole rose to track the progress of the player. The first one to reach the top, won. Smackle liked this game compared to other carnival games because there was a better chance of winning. "Let's play, you guys!"
So the gang played the game. It was a close race, but Farkle ultimately won. He received a stuffed monkey which he then offered to Smackle.
"That's not fair," Maya complained. "You have steady hands compared to the rest of us."
"What can I say? Doing science experiments helped," Farkle shrugged.
As they walked through another part of the carnival, Riley noticed a stuffed unicorn hanging at a basketball booth.
"I want that!" Riley declared with hearts in her eyes, pointing to the stuffed toy.
"You heard her, Lucas," Zay nudged his best friend. "Win her the unicorn!"
"You know if you don't get it for her she's going to complain about it for days," Maya said. When Riley wanted something, Riley wanted it.
"Yeah, and no one wants that," Farkle continued.
Lucas was reluctant to play the basketball game. Although he wanted to impress Riley, he knew that some of the carnival games were rigged. Basketball carnival games? Totally rigged. The hoop isn't even circular, it's usually egg-shaped, which would prevent a lot of throws from going in the basket.
"Look what Farkle won me," Smackle taunted Lucas by waving her stuffed monkey in his face. And that about did it.
Without another word, Lucas approached the booth and smacked a couple of bills on the table. He was given five basketballs. Five chances to win Riley a unicorn.
Lucas's friends and girlfriend cheered him on, which helped with his confidence. It took all five throws, but he finally got the ball in the basket.
"Yay!" Riley said enthusiastically, grabbing the stuffed unicorn and hugging Lucas tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love it!"
"That's my boy," Zay commented and patted Lucas on the back after Riley let him go.
The six friends resumed roaming the carnival grounds, stopping whenever something caught someone's attention.
"Let's go on the Ferris wheel," Riley suggested when the group approached the classic carnival ride.
"Great," Maya groaned. "We're getting paired off again and I'm stuck with Zay."
"You know I'm right here," Zay replied, offended.
"Yeah, I know," Maya replied. "It's not so bad hanging out with you, it's just that I miss Josh."
Riley rolled her eyes. She had accepted that her best friend and uncle had feelings for each other, but it was weird when Maya would tell her about her 'dates' with Josh. It was weird to think that Maya could be her aunt one day. She already found it odd that Maya was technically her cousin now that Shawn and Katy were married.
The group got in line for the Ferris wheel and paired off when it was time to load the gondolas. Maya and Zay went first, Farkle and Smackle went second, and Riley and Lucas went on last.
Riley enjoyed the view from the top of the Ferris wheel, which looked over the entire football field, as the Ferris wheel was placed in the middle of the field.
"This view is great!" Riley said, hugging her unicorn as she looked around.
"Not as great as this view," Lucas playfully argued, pulling out his phone to take a photo of Riley without her noticing.
"Hey!" Riley said when she realized the flash on Lucas's phone went off.
"Don't worry, you look beautiful," Lucas assured her, showing her his phone before changing the photo to be his background.
"Aw," Riley smiled before giving Lucas a quick peck on the lips.
The ride lasted for a reasonable amount of time, considering the amount of people waiting in line for their turn. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.
As Lucas and Riley stepped off the Ferris wheel and walked through the exit while holding hands, a girl with red hair accidentally brushed her. Riley was about to turn around to apologize to the girl, but she was already with her group of friends. Riley couldn't help but notice them giving her dirty looks. She turned back to Lucas and donned a concerned look on her face. Lucas couldn't help but notice.
"What's wrong, Riles?" Lucas questioned as they stopped walking so he could focus on Riley's troubled expression.
"Those girls over there were giving me dirty looks," Riley replied. "Is there something on my face?"
"No," Lucas answered. "But there's a frown where a smile should be."
Riley couldn't help but to smile at her boyfriend's comment.
"Don't even worry about it, babe," Lucas said.
"What if they don't like me?" Riley's smile turned into a frown.
"They don't even know you," Lucas pointed out. "And what an unfortunate thing that is. Knowing you is the best thing that happened to me."
What was your favorite part of this chapter? Apart from the Rucas fluff, I thoroughly enjoyed writing the dunk tank scene. Hope you guys enjoyed! Please review! They motivate me to update faster!
Next: Riley gets a text message from an unknown number.