151Hello, lovely readers! I've had this idea for a while so let's see where this takes us. Folie à deux means 'the madness of two.' It was a term used to describe two people who share the same delusion which is now replaced with the term 'shared psychotic disorder.' I would just like to point out that Riley and Lucas do not have any delusions or mental illnesses in this fic. I just thought it would make a nice title to describe their situation because they're probably gonna go mad as a result of the pact they make. Plus, it's in French. Everything sounds better in French. Please enjoy!
Chapter One
Riley Matthews had her psychology textbooks open on the coffee table in her dorm. She was a freshman at New York University and was preparing for her first college test. She was taking her college education quite seriously, as her parents had warned her how difficult the transition was from high school. She was adjusting just fine, and she appreciated that she didn't have her father be her teacher anymore. Her father had been her teacher since the seventh grade, and it was refreshing to meet new educators in a different environment. She wasn't quite sure how his father survived having the same teacher all the way until college.
"You're studying, again?" Maya Hart asked as she entered the room to see her roommate hard at work. The pair were best friends and have been ever since she climbed through Riley's bedroom window that one faithful day when they were seven years old. And although they were New York natives and didn't live too far from the university, they jumped at the opportunity to live together on residence. They wanted the full college experience, and that included being away from their parents.
"Yes, Peaches, I am," Riley confirmed. She sat up on the couch. "Oh, by the way, Lucas is coming over again. Just letting you know."
"He's been here almost every day this week," Maya deadpanned.
"We're taking this test seriously," Riley informed her best friend and roommate. "It's worth twenty percent of our final grade."
"You science major freaks," Maya muttered.
"Hey, if I were good at art I would be an art major too," Riley replied. "But I'm not so I'm stuck here busting my ass off memorizing a bunch of different theories from Freud and Skinner and a hundred other dead psychologists."
"I have no idea who any of those people are," Maya said before going to the kitchen. Their dorm in Greenwich Hall was an open concept space so the kitchen and living room area were practically in the same room.
"They're like the Van Gogh and Picasso of psychology," Riley said, writing down notes in her notebook.
"Oh, I understood that," Maya replied proudly, going through the cupboards to find something to eat.
"Ugh, I wonder what's taking him so long," Riley groaned, shifting in her seat again.
"You literally just met this Lucas kid a month ago," Maya said as she filled a kettle with water. She had decided on ramen, every college student's diet. "And you've been spending an awful lot of time with him. Do you like him?"
"What?" Riley scrunched her face. "Psh, no! We just got really close, we have a couple of classes together. He's basically my best friend now. Contrary to popular belief, guys and girls can just be friends."
"Hey, I'm your best friend!" Maya reminded her, sitting at the kitchen table.
"Male best friend," Riley added.
"Farkle," Maya said.
"Okay, fine," Riley said. "I can have more than one guy best friend."
"Don't know how Farkle will feel about that," Maya shrugged.
"He knows about him," Riley replied.
"Of course he does," Maya said. She tapped her fingers on the table, impatiently waiting for the kettle to whistle. "But does Charlie know?"
"That's another thing," Riley raised a finger and pointed at Maya across the room. "I have a boyfriend. So don't accuse me of liking Lucas. Because I don't like him like that. We're just friends."
"You didn't answer my question. Does Charlie know?" Maya repeated. Charlie Gardner was Riley's boyfriend of almost two years. They were high school sweethearts and had won king and queen at their senior prom. He was overall a nice guy, but Maya wasn't too fond of him. He had a very 'in your face' attitude and Maya didn't like that. Nonetheless, she was always civil with him because she valued Riley's friendship too much to sabotage that.
"He knows," Riley replied sternly, somewhat annoyed.
"I'm just saying, I wouldn't be angry if you liked Lucas," Maya shrugged. "I barely know him but I like him better than Charlie."
"Maya," Riley said.
"Sorry," Maya muttered. She didn't like Riley's boyfriend. She never has, and she didn't think she ever would. It seemed to her that Charlie had some sort of façade when he was with Riley and was hiding his true self from her. When Maya would interact with him, he was rude and narcissistic, which she suspected to be the real Charlie Gardner.
As Riley continued to make notes and Maya made her noodles, there was a knock at the door. Riley looked at Maya, who seemed to be over indulged in her food. Riley rolled her eyes when she realized that Maya wasn't going to answer the door, so she got up reluctantly instead. She opened the door and was happy to see one of her other best friends, Lucas Friar.
"You're late," Riley said, letting him in and closing the door.
"I'm sorry, Riles," Lucas replied, bringing up his left wrist to check the time on his watch. "I was stuck on the phone with my dad. He was asking for my help. When I was back on the ranch I would be in charge of the foal births but since I moved to New York he had to go back to doing them."
Lucas Friar, unlike Riley, was not a New York native. He was from Austin, Texas, basically on the other end of the country. He lived on a ranch that his family owned and loved animals. He was currently a biology major, but wanted to become a veterinarian someday.
"That's fine," Riley commented, returning to her spot on the couch. Lucas plopped down beside her and unpacked his messenger bag that was previously resting on his shoulder.
"Peaches, you never told me Lucas here was a cowboy," Maya couldn't help but eavesdrop from the kitchen.
"Yup," Riley confirmed. "He rode a bull back in Texas. He was a rodeo star."
"Riley," Lucas whined. "No one knows that except for you and Zay."
"What a Huckleberry," Maya chuckled to herself, returning to her dinner.
"Oh, no. Is that going to stick?" Lucas whispered to Riley. He didn't know Maya that well, but from what he had observed in her interactions with Riley, he knew how their friendship worked and what kind of person she was.
"Probably," Riley shrugged with a smile. "Don't worry about it. That's just how Maya is."
Lucas shook his head, "Whatever. I'm friends with you, not her. Her calling me Huckleberry shouldn't be a big deal."
"It's really not," Riley agreed. "Now let's get studying."
The pair studied their theories for a good hour before they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Peaches, you gonna get that?" Maya yelled from her room.
"No, I'm busy!" Riley retaliated.
Maya loudly groaned and dragged herself out of her room to open the front door. It was Charlie.
"Ugh, it's you," Maya scoffed. She had no problem with openly showing her dislike towards him. He had no problem with it either. They both liked to bicker with each other. Riley knew this, but she never let it get in the way with either relationship.
"Yup, it's me," Charlie teased.
"What are you doing here?" Maya rolled her eyes.
"To see my girlfriend, duh," Charlie replied.
"Well, she's busy," Maya folded her arms across her chest. It was Charlie's turn to roll his eyes. He pushed Maya to the side and entered the dorm. He saw Riley in the living room area studying with Lucas and walked over to them.
"Hi babe," Charlie greeted. Riley looked up to meet his eyes and smiled.
"Charlie!" Riley said enthusiastically. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. Lucas kept his focus on his books.
"Friar," Charlie acknowledged.
Lucas looked up, pursed his lips and waved before returning to his notes. He had only met Charlie a couple of times, and so he wasn't too comfortable in his presence yet. Especially when he assumed that Charlie found him a threat to his and Riley's relationship due to daggers he would catch Charlie giving him.
"Maya said you were busy," Charlie said. "Don't tell me you forgot about our date tonight."
Riley's eyes grew wide. She examined Charlie from head to toe. His hair was nicely sculpted with gel, something he didn't do very often. He was wearing a light pink dress shirt with a navy cable knit sweater on top. He wore dress pants and Oxfords.
"Oh my gosh," Riley dropped her pen and put her hands on either side of her cheeks. "I completely forgot! I'm so sorry, love. I've just been so focused on acing this test."
Charlie shot a death glare at Lucas, and neither him or Riley seemed to notice. Charlie didn't like that his girlfriend was spending so much time with this cowboy from Texas. He was very secure with his relationship, but for some reason he would always feel extremely uncomfortable when he would see her with her new 'best friend.'
Riley looked at Lucas with apologetic eyes. Lucas nodded at her.
"Go on your date, Riles," Lucas said. "We still have a while to prepare for this test."
"Thank you," Riley mouthed. "I'll see you in class tomorrow?"
"Of course," Lucas smiled softly. He packed up his things before leaving Riley's dorm to head back to his own.
"Alright, give me like fifteen minutes," Riley told Charlie.
"Take your time, darling," Charlie offered, sitting on the couch where Lucas once sat.
Riley scurried to her room to prepare for her date with her boyfriend.
Meanwhile, back in the other room, Charlie was scrolling through his phone. Maya had stayed in the kitchen the entire time, observing him.
"I don't like you," Maya announced with squinted eyes, prompting Charlie to turn his head towards her and stick out his tongue. "How charming. Riley loves that."
"Oh, please," Charlie said. "You don't like anyone that you feel is a threat to yours and Riley's friendship."
"And how did you come up with that?" Maya retorted.
"I can tell that you get jealous that when Riley's not with me, she's with Lucas," Charlie commented. "He's like her best friend now and you think he's taking her away from you."
"How do you know this? We don't talk," Maya said.
"But me and Riley do," Charlie reminded her. "And she tells me everything."
"And you're not threatened at all by Lucas?" Maya shot back.
"Of course I am," Charlie confirmed, "but I'm still a lot more secure than you."
"I really don't understand what Riley sees in you," Maya sighed. "She says you're an amazing guy, but quite frankly, I don't see it."
"Well, thank you, Maya," Charlie said.
Maya shuddered in aggravation.
Nothing too eventful happened in this chapter. Just an introduction of the characters and an idea of the friendship that Riley and Lucas have built up since college started. This is a slight AU fic. I try to keep a lot of things canon, which you'll figure out as you read. Hope you all enjoyed and are excited about this as much as I am! Please review, I want to hear your thoughts! Also, do you guys like the cover I made for this story?