sixteen - A Secret Behind Every Corner

    ‘’Full recap,’’ Ryan demands after changing into another outfit. The girls didn’t want to waste their first night in Austin, Texas, curled up on the couch watching tv or simply just lying around. The wanted to explore, look around. The night was still young. Ryan Collins walks back into the room, changed into a grey band tee that matched with her grey ripped jeans. She wore tied up black booties. She had to do her hair when she came back into the room, carrying her clothes from earlier that were folded in her arms. She sets her clothes in her duffel bag and elaborates, ‘’I want the nine one one, get down.’’

    She looks up and sighs. ‘’What was that?’’

    Riley looks over at Maya who was too busy in front of the mirror, styling her hair to pay much focus into the conversation. Ryan follows her gaze before Riley spoke, ‘’Maya likes Lucas. She cares for him a lot and it made me realize that I only see Lucas as a brother.’’

    Ryan cocks a brow, propping a leg out while her weight was dropped on another leg. ‘’This made you realize?’’

    ‘’Yeah,’’ She nods, smiling. ‘’Isn’t this great though?’’

    Ryan furrows her brows. ‘’It is?’’

    ‘’Yeah,’’ She nods again. Riley was sitting down on one of the beds, she was ready to head out. She was just waiting for her two best friends to finish so she can make an entrance with them. ‘’I’d think we’d all be happy this way.’’

    Taking her flat iron out her bed, the brunette walks over towards Maya’s area while mumbling smally, ‘’If you guys say so.’’

    Maya Hart and Ryan Collins took another fifteen minutes to get ready before the trio stepped out onto the front porch where Isaiah Babineaux and Farkle Minkus sat on the swing, Lucas Friar leaning against a white post and Pappy Joe sitting in a rocking chair in a far corner.

    ‘’Woah, gentleman, look how lucky you are,’’ Pappy Joe compliments the girls once again.

    Ryan pursed her lips and turned at the heel of her foot to face the boys, snapping her fingers sassily. ‘’That's right, know what you got before it’s gone.’’

    Pappy Joe leans forward and sternly tells them, ‘’You treat ‘em right.’’

    ‘’Thank you, Pappy Joe,’’ Riley appreciates. She turns to face the skies and mentions, ‘’I see why get homesick for Texas sometimes, Lucas. I never knew that the sky had so many stars.’’

    Ryan holds up a finger matter of factly. ‘’That’s because the city lights- Oh!’’

    Farkle pulled Ryan down in the seat next to him, scooting close towards the end of the bench to make more room for Ryan to sit in the middle. He leans close to her side and scolds quietly, ‘’Not now.’’

    Ryan frowns as Riley walked up to Lucas and developing him into an awkward hug while adding, ‘’You know what else? I don’t get nervous when I’m with you anymore. We’re doing the right thing.’’ She pulls away, leaving a hand on his shoulder as she looks back up the sky with a sigh. ‘’Ah, remember when we couldn’t even say hi to each other? Remember how’d we go,’’ She leans into and out from his side when mocking, ‘’Hi, howdy, hi, remember?’’

    She pats his shoulder and steps away from him. ‘’Now watch this, say hi to me.’’

    How badly Ryan wanted to speak up. This was thrown in way too quickly for anyone to really handle or agree on. By the looks of it, the triangle were all on different pages. Yet, they were going through with whatever Riley said.

    It was too weird. But it was even painful to watch Lucas force out a simple, ‘’Hi.’’

    ‘’Hi, Lucas! What up, bruh? What’s up with you, man? You good? You cool?’’ Riley rambled, creating a variety of greets to make everything seem cool when everything was even more awkward than from before.

    His features never changed nor twitched as he flatly repeats, ‘’Hi.’’

    Ryan leans forward in her seat. ‘’You know, you make this very hard to watch when you do stuff like that.’’

    Farkle wrapped an arm around her shoulder, leaning her back into the bench to quiet her. He couldn’t let her interfere. She wasn’t apart of the equation, and because she wasn’t, she couldn’t control what happens and the choices that are made between the three.

    Lucas jerks back while also shaking his head. ‘’Riley, I- I don’t even know what’s going on right now.’’

    ‘’What’s going on is that we’re gonna be the best of friends and care about what each of us has to say for the rest of our lives.’’

    Zay and Farkle eyed the brunette widely. Though, she didn’t to complicate Ryan’s end of the situation, Ryan was a very possessive person. Ryan had already filled the spot and if pushed comes to shove, she’d snap Riley out of her brainwash stance and tell her exactly who Riley really was to Lucas.

    ‘’Wha-’’

    Farkle used that same arm that was wrapped around her and clamped a hand on her mouth, allowing her head to lean on his shoulder.

    ‘’Ryan, please,’’ Lucas snaps before turning back to Riley. ‘’I thought we sort of had that, Riley. So what does brother and sister mean?’’

    ‘’It means..’’ She pauses. ‘’You know,’’ She lifts up her fist and punches him on one shoulder. ‘’Poom!’’

    ‘’Hey!’’

    ‘’Ping!’’ She punches the other.

    ‘’Riley!’’ He whines.

    ‘’Ha,’’ She grins. ‘’You said that just like a brother would.’’

    Ryan furrowed her brows, remaining in her trapped position with Farkle as Lucas asks, ‘’Well, can I hit you back?’’

    Her voice drops several octaves while shaking her head. ‘’No.’’

    ‘’Only you get to hit me?’’ He looks at her out of disbelief.

    ‘’Mhm,’’ She nods. ‘’We’re just like you and Maya were.’ She leans into his face and exclaims, ‘’Ha-hee!’’’

    Ryan Collins has never been more furious. She wasn’t aloud to speak up but neither was Lucas nor Maya. Everyone was literally on the sidelines, muted from words while Riley was handling everything and there needed to be someone to vouch another option.

    There’s always more than one way.

    And this way was full of pure void. Void of knowledge or concept.

    Maya slaps her hand against her side. ‘’You don’t even do it right.’’

    ‘’Oh,’’ Riley grins. ‘’Maya, I thought you weren’t talking to Lucas?’’

    She shakes her head. ‘’I’m not talking to him. I’m talking to you.’’

    Lucas walks up to her and asks, ‘’Maya, are you seriously not gonna talk to me?’’

    ‘’You could’ve gotten hurt on that stupid bull,’’ She prompts. ‘’What do you think you getting hurt would have done for the people who-..’’

    Zay jumped to his feet, lifting a finger in the air. ‘’Care about you?’’ He nods his head and looks at Maya. ‘’I think you were going to say care about you.’’

    Maya spoke fast. ‘’I’m not talking about me. You think I’m talking about me?’’

    Putting both hands on his hips, he nods. ‘’Yes, I do.’’

    ‘’Alright,’’ Riley stepped in. ‘’Maya, Lucas is okay. He didn’t get hurt. All of us are okay.’’

    Ryan roughy pushed Farkle’s hand away from her lips and counters, ‘’Riley, Maya wasn’t the only one that was worried about Lucas. He made a serious commitment today and it could have ended really badly.’’

    ‘’But, you stood by his side,’’ Riley points out.

    Ryan looked over at Maya. ‘’You watched, Maya. That’s a statement, not a question. You had to because if you didn’t, it would feel worse than watching.’’

    Riley chuckles dryly. ‘’That’s not true because Maya didn’t watch. She told me, she couldn’t and she meant it.’’

    Ryan looked over at Maya and narrowed her eyes to slits. The whole story seemed messy. As if there were lies on every corner.

    Riley shakes her head vigorously, waving off the situation. ‘’It’s our first night in Texas, what would she do?’’

    Farkle intertwined his fingers with hers, pulling her along with him even if she was pouting to stand with the group of friends. He hints, ‘’I’ve been reading about Austin, and they call it a music city. They call it the live music capital of the world.’’

    Lucas Friar’s eyes were so intent, so trained on theirs interlocked hands as Zay agrees, ‘’That’s absolutely what we should do. Show them the town and listen to some music.’’

    Ryan looks up with a hopeful gaze. ‘’Taylor Swift music?’’

    ‘’No, hun,’’ Lucas tilts his head to the side. He squints his eyes for a second and meets Ryan’s gaze. Something felt different with Lucas, he was acting a little off. But then again, with everything going on with Riley and Maya, she could see why he was a little weird.

    Lucas diverts the attention to his grandfather and asks, ‘’Anybody good playing tonight?’’

    There Pappy Joe was, picking at his beard again. ‘’If I was a young buck trying to impress my friends, I might suggest Chubby’s famous Barbeque Pit. Always good eats, always good music.’’

    Ryan felt a little better knowing there was good food coming her way soon. ‘’I like good eats.’’

    ‘’But, barbeque foods aren’t good for you,’’ Farkle points out.

    Ryan Collins went to walk away from Farkle’s side and towards safety, Farkle gripped onto her hand tighter while the others stood close to the front door of the house as Pappy Joe stood.

    She slaps his hand and cries out, ‘’Let go of me, you loon!’’

    ‘’Let me tell you what ain’t good for you,’’ Pappy Joe spoke deep.

    Farkle still held a good grasp on Riley’s hand as he prompts, ‘’You’re not gonna do anything to me because you know I’m a New York intellectual and you don’t want to be a cliche.’’

    Ryan threw her head back groaning. ‘’When did you get so strong?’’

    ‘’Lucas, fetch me my shotgun.’’

    ‘’Okay,’’ He turns to open the door until Farkle calls out his name. He turns back to Farkle and stood in place, repeating, ‘’Okay.’’

    ‘’Okay,’’ Farkle gives in. ‘’I’ll go to Chubby’s, I’ll eat your food, I’ll listen to your music, but don’t expect a changed Farkle, hombre.’’

× × ×

    ‘’While I understand barbecue is not your thing, Farkle, you do seem to have found a new found appreciation for our hometown cuisine,’’ Zay observes while the grouped wide eyed Farkle whose features were covered with barbecue sauce while a whole pile of rib bones stacked up in front of him.

    ‘’More,’’ Farkle growls with hungry eyes.

    ‘’Easy, cowboy,’’ Lucas advises. ‘’You need to calm down.’’

    Farkle turns to him. ‘’Oh, I have to calm down? They make a big deal out of you riding a bull for four seconds. While I ate him.’’

    TIme had passed and the group had finished with their meals, cleaned up and satisfied for what they could say would be for the rest of the night. It was just Farkle, Lucas Ryan and Zay at the table while Maya and Riley were tossing out the rest of their mess.

    Ryan was annoyed when Riley approached, calling, ‘’Hey, huckleberry. Are we dancing or what?’’

    He furrows his brows on his way out of his seat. ‘’Oh, we can do that? Is that part of the new rules?’’

    ‘’This kind of dancing?’’ She breathes out a chuckle. ‘’Sure.’’

    Maya took her seat just as Lucas and Riley ran off to the dance floor.

    ‘’Maya, what's going on with you?’’ Farkle asks.

    ‘’I don’t know,’’ She exclaims. She looks at him with a frown. ‘’Do you know? ‘Cause..’’ Her voice was fragile as she asks, ‘’Help me.’’

    He leans his shoulder out. Maya took the hint and pulls Farkle’s chair closer to her and leaned her head on his shoulder.

    ‘’You didn’t want him to get hurt because you care about him,’’ Farkle prompts.

    Maya pushes herself off of him and corrects, ‘’I care about all of us.’’

    ‘’You care about him.’’

    ‘’I care about all of us,’’ She repeats sternly.

    ‘’You care about-’’

    ‘’I will kill you,’’ She threatens. She sighs harshly and turns to Ryan. ‘’Please help me out here? You’re the only one who seems to understand what I’m saying, what I’m feeling.’’

    Ryan flattens her lips into a straight line and shakes her head, all the while shrugging her shoulders. She was slouched in her seat and had her arms crossed against her chest. ‘’I’m trying, Maya. But I can’t help if no one can figure how they feel.’’

    ‘’Maya only cares so much because she likes him,’’ Farkle states. He shakes his head vigorously, ‘’It just makes sense.’’

    She lifts one arm to jab a finger into her chest, leaning forward into her seat. ‘’I cared a lot about Lucas today, too, Farkle. Does that mean I like him?’’

    He cocks a brow. ‘’Do you?’’

    She lets her arms fall into her lap. ‘’I’m his best friend. I’m going to care if he’s in a scary situation. Just like how Maya was when Riley was trying out for cheerleading.’’

    Zay shakes his head. ‘’Nah, Maya acted out way more than she did for Riley.’’

    She turns to him swiftly in her seat and exclaims furiously, ‘’Because he was riding a bull!’’

    ‘’Then why do you make fun of him all of the time, Maya?’’ Farkle asks.

    She shrugs her shoulders, scoffing. ‘’I don’t only make fun of him.’’

    ‘’You do make fun of him most, though,’’ Zay continues to mention various points.

    Maya chuckles, ‘’Because he’s such an easy target.’’

    Zay raises his hands in feign surrender and leans back into his seat. ‘’Look, I’m not gonna care about anybody for the rest of my life, alright? I tried it once, it didn’t work. From now on, I like nobody.’’

    ‘’Zay?’’ A girl calls.

    Ryan finds Vanessa walking closer to their table, a grin extending on her lips.

    ‘’Unbelievable.’’

    ‘’Hey, Ryan,’’ She waves. Ryan waves back, full of joy that she’s here. Her friends were tempting her nerves at her final breaking point, she should enjoy some to offer torment. ‘’Hi, Vanessa. It’s been a while.’’

    ‘’It really has,’’ She nods, looking between the two. ‘’How’s New York been treating both of you?’’

    Ryan swoon towards her right, waiting for Zay to answer first. ‘’Good, yeah. Just trying to fit in. Making new friends.’’

    Vanessa glanced over at Maya and Farkle and nods. ‘’Well, looks like you made some. But, I’m surprised to see you and Ryan within five feet of each other without wanting to rip each others throats out.’’

    She twitched her lip. ‘’I still can’t stand him. But, he’s gotten more tolerable in my opinion.’’

    ‘’Uh,’’ Zay stammers. ‘’Let me introduce you to my friends, Farkle and Maya-’’

    Maya slaps her hand on the table and stood, ‘’You did not just do that.’’

    Ryan stopped smiling and looked up at the blonde with furrowed brows as Zay asks, ‘’What?’’

    She walks around the seats to get to him and exclaims, ‘’You did not just introduce your girlfriend as your friend.’’

    Ryan scoots over to the seat available next to her so that Maya could next to Zay. He chuckles dryly while looking at Vanessa. The poor girl was just as lost as he was. Boy, were guys slow.

    He turns to Maya and repeats, ‘’What?’’

    Maya rolls her eyes. ‘’Isaiah Earl Babineaux.’’

    ‘’Your middle name is Earl?’’ Vanessa questions curiously.

    ‘’No,’’ He bluntly answers, still not following what was going on.

    ‘’The next time you introduce your girlfriend as your friend, we are through. Do you hear me?’’ She threatens sweetly.

    ‘’I mean, I hear you, but I-’’

    She waves him off and demands, ‘’Put your arm around me.’’

    Hesitantly, he placed an arm around her.

    ‘’Twirl my hair.’’

    He awkwardly grabbed chunks of strands of hair, doing his best to twirl it in his grasp.

    ‘’Call me honey nugget.’’

    Ryan was gripping onto Farkle’s arm, her face becoming red from how closely she was holding back her laughter as Zay could’ve never sounded more frightened from saying, ‘’Hi, honey nugget.’’

    Maya grins, propping an arm on the table and resting her chin on her knuckles. ‘’Hi, hunkalicious.’’

    Vanessa cocks a brow. ‘’A little possessive, no?’’

    Maya shrugs her shoulders. ‘’Well, the good ones, you don’t let get away. You know what I mean? With all the girls chasing him around New York City, you have to swoop,’’ She smacks a hand of his away from her hair, annoyed by the horrible and consistent twirling that was pulling at her roots. ‘’Right in or he’ll be gone.’’

    Maya turns her head to the side, repeating louder, ‘’I said, you have to swoop right in or he will be-’’

    Riley pushed herself onto the same seat as Zay’s and pulls arm of his around hers before naming him, ‘’Isaiah Hank Babineaux.’’

    He shakes his head. ‘’No-’’

    She lifts a finger up to shush him. ‘’I don’t care. I only care that you don’t let Maya get her hooks into you when you know you’re mine.’’

    Zay discards his arms away from both girls and introduced, ‘’This is my friend, Riley.-’’

    Maya rests her chin in her hand again when she looks over at Riley with furrowed brows. ‘’Now, how do you like it when he calls you a friend, Riley?’’

    ‘’I like it,’’ She grins.

    ‘’No,’’ Maya shakes her head, vouching, ‘’You do not like it.’’

    ‘’I do not like when you call me just friend,’’ Riley clarifies.

    Zay turns to her curiously. ‘’Well, what would you like for me to call you?’’

    ‘’I would like for you to call me,’’ She perks up. ‘’Cotton candy face!’’

    Maya pats her arm and praises, ‘’Good girl. I know that was hard.’’

    Vanessa tilts her head to the side and questions, ‘’Zay, is it possible that I’ve misjudged you?’’

    ‘’It’s possible, Vanessa,’’ Riley confirms.

    ‘’How do you know my name?’’

    Riley blinked just when she had asked and her eyes enlarged along with Farkle’s, Maya’s, Riley’s and Zay’s. Zay was frozen just eyeing Vanessa while Maya turned to Riley while Ryan turned to Farkle in unison.

    ‘’Too much!’’

    ‘’Abort!’’

    The group of four raced out of their seats and approached Lucas who stood close to the stage. They were lost in the crowd.

    An announcer came up on stage and greets ‘’Hey, everybody. Welcome to Chubby’s Famous Barbecue, home of the best ribs in Texas.’’

    Everyone in the establishment uproared applaud.

    ‘’I grew up here,’’ Farkle exclaims, pulling off a goofy grin.

    ‘’Okay, well, we’re about to introduce two lovely ladies and one of them grew up here as well,’’ He points a thumb back, ‘’About two hours down the road in Sugar Land. Ladies and gentleman, please help me welcome Maddie and Tae!’’

    While everyone was cheering on the next performers, Ryan gives a round of applause. Though she leans close to her friends and asks over the noise, ‘’Did he just name a place from Wreck it Ralph?’’

    Two blondes appeared on the stage with guitars.

    ‘’Well, it feels real good to be back home in Texas,’’ One of the blonde spoke towards the other.

    ‘’This first one’s a love song,-’’

    ‘’Uh-oh,’’ Riley Matthews, Lucas Friar, and Maya Hart murmured in unison in that exact order.

    ‘’And it’s called No Place Like You.’’

    The crowd cheers again before the music started playing.

    ‘’California cherry cola, sandy skies in Arizona, smoky mountain blowin' through Tennessee,’’ There was a pause before the duo sanged together. ‘’Oklahoma sweet magnolia, Kansas over my right shoulder, bending strings down in New Orleans. Everywhere I go, I see your smile, I wish I could see yours once in awhile.’’

    Ryan Collins enjoyed the melody as the singers begun their chorus. ‘’The sun comes up and it sinks back down on every five-star dream in every two-star town, there's a lot to see from a wishing view, but sometimes, I wish I could close my eyes and click my shoes, 'cause there's no place like you, no place like you, no place like you.’’

    The acoustics had calmed as they sang, ‘’Everywhere I go, I see your smile, I wish I could see yours once in awhile, the sun comes up and it sinks back down on every five-star dream in every two-star town-’’

    As the song hypes up again, Ryan holds onto Farkle’s hand. Lucas glanced over as Farkle looked down at their hands before looking up at Ryan who stretched herself far from him. She twirls herself into him and Farkle allowed it.

    In fact, he chuckles softly when she wraps that arm around her while she was still holding onto his hand. He wrapped his other arm around her and dance together from side to side.

    Riley had turned to look at Lucas just as Ryan did, only Ryan was smiling down at her friends. Hoping to see that they were having just of a good time as she was. Lucas gazed back down at Riley, then at Ryan before remaining eye contact with Riley.

    Riley turns back to Ryan with furrowed brows while Lucas turned to look at Maya. He looks away quickly when Maya turned to look at him.

    ‘’Ooooooooh,’’ Maddie and Tae drawled softly at the end of their song.

    Ryan subsides her trouble thoughts aside and cheers on the country duo along with Farkle, given their hands were unavailable to applaud them any further.

× × ×

    Farkle Minkus, Ryan Collins, Isaiah Babineaux, Lucas Friar, Riley Matthews, Maya Hart and Pappy Joe sat around a campfire. The night was too beautiful to whisk away from sleep. Spie all the drama brewing, this was a special time for the group that they couldn’t waste.

    These were going to be the moments that they would remember forever. Even when their old, all they have to do is think back to this and smile. They would get to be proud to say that they lived through this, they lived to enjoy this.’’

    As Pappy Joe wiped any dust off of his hands, he requests, ‘’Please do me the great favor of dousing these embers real good when you’re done. That house and me might be real old, but we ain’t quite ready to burned down yet.’’

    ‘’Well, I never thought I’d say anything like this, but,’’ Maya pipes up from her seat next to Lucas on a log. Ryan next to Farkle on another log and Isaiah was sitting with Riley on the last log. ‘’I’m real sad I don’t have a Pappy Joe of my own.’’

    ‘’Thank you, Maya. I wish you’d consider me yours till the time I.. I.. You know, bleh.’’

    ‘’Okay,’’ She smiles.

    He waves goodbye to the group before heading back to the house.

    ‘’You guys were lucky,’’ Farkle spoke up once Pappy Joe was gone.

    Lucas looks at him. ‘’How come?’’

    Ryan admires Farkle’s features as he looked up at the sky, practically zoned out. He looked so happy that it could easily rub off like some sort of contagious disease. He savoured all of his surroundings and this new place, this journey overall. He gave her a different aspect on life and she couldn’t be thankful to have someone as appreciative as he is in her life.

    ‘’To grow up out here,’’ He begins to list. ‘’To have this sky, and the stars. This has been the best weekend of my life. Thank you.’’

    Ryan takes a deep breath and rubs her palms against the fabric of her jeans. ‘’I need to talk to you guys about something important.’’

    Riley looks at her and shrugs her shoulders. ‘’What is it?’’

    Farkle tilts his head, ‘’Hey, didn’t you promise that you’d tell us about Jimmy?’’

    Lucas perks up with furrowed brows. ‘’Whose Jimmy?’’

    ‘’The new guardian that I live with,’’ Her eyes flutter when rolling her eyes. ‘’Well, it’s not official. But, we’re in the process.’’

    ‘’What happened with your dad?’’ Lucas continues to questions.

    ‘’The night of the winter formal, I was kicked out,’’ She reveals. ‘’That’s why I was crashing at your place for so long, Lucas,’’ Pursing her lips, she shrugs her shoulders. ‘’I needed somewhere to stay for a little until I figured some stuff out.’’

    Maya scoffs. ‘’How come we never knew?’’

    ‘’It’s um,’’ She looks down at the pit of fire. ‘’Because I didn’t want you guys to get involved.’’

    ‘’Ryan, I could have helped you,’’ Lucas prompts. ‘’I could have talked to my mom-’’

    She shakes her head, looking up at him. ‘’I couldn’t put you through that. You guys can’t solve all of my problems.’’

    ‘’Why not?’’ Farkle observed her features. ‘’You’re always here to fix ours.’’

    She chuckles dryly. ‘’Mine is too complicated. Even for you guys.’’

    Riley shakes her head. ‘’You wouldn’t have known unless you tried.’’

    Her eyes enlarged as she prompts, ‘’Are you kidding me? You guys were so scared when you got to my house. You were ready to leave as soon as you walked in. You wouldn’t be able to help me.’’

    Zay cocks a brow. ‘’Try us.’’

    Her straight hair shifted when she turned to look back at Zay.

    She slaps her hands against her thighs. ‘’Okay.’’ She turned and immediately locked eye contact with Lucas. She owed him this explanation. He’s done so much for her in their friendship, he deserves to know more. ‘’He didn’t want me around anymore because I remind him too much of my mom. He doesn’t want to be bothered with me.’’

    ‘’He said this?’’ Lucas asks.

    She sucks in her lips and nods. ‘’Jimmy, his friend, he was there when he admitted it. He tried to change his mind but the longer I was gone, the more time he realized that he was better off without me. So, Jimmy took me in.’’

    ‘’Ryan,’’ Maya gaped. ‘’I’m so sorry.’’

    ‘’I am too.’’

    Farkle shakes his head. He was not only sympathetic but he was furious. How could he just leave her in the dust? After everything that family has been through, you would have thought they would have sticked together like two peas in a pod.

    ‘’Is there any other family member you could contact?’’ Zay asks.

    She winced. ‘’They live too far. Plus, my parents were cut off from their families a long time ago. He’s going to try and contact them but if push comes to shove, he’s willing to grant guardianship over me.’’

    ‘’You deserve the best, Ryan,’’ His forehead creased from his frown. ‘’I’m sorry that it’s taking so long for you to get it.’’

    She waves him off. ‘’I’ll be fine. I’m with someone who does care about me.’’

    ‘’What if things don’t work out there?’’ Riley counters. ‘’If anything bad happens, I want you to know that you are always welcome at my place.’’

    ‘’Yeah,’’ Maya nods. ‘’I’m always a train stop away, Ry.’’

    ‘’Me too,’’ Farkle chimes in.

    ‘’Don’t ever hesitate on coming over, Ryan,’’ Lucas sternly tells her. ‘’I mean it, don’t worry about my mom either.’’

    Zay jerks back. ‘’Oh, see I would have to talk to my parents but consider my an option too.’’

    She giggles softly, bowing her head to use her hair to shield her smile. She didn’t think they would willingly offer a place with no hesitation. She looks up at Zay smiling, ‘’I will. Thank you, guys. That means a lot.’’

    ‘’Promise we’ll always be friends no matter what.’’

    ‘’Riley,’’ Maya warns.

    ‘’Promise,’’ Riley urges. ‘’No matter what happens, I am telling you that I will always be your best friend. No matter what.’’

    ‘’Oh,’’ She lets out. ‘’There’s nothing I could do-’’

    ‘’No, there’s nothing you could do, Maya,’’ Riley assures. ‘’Do you understand? It’s you, me-’’ She points at Ryan too. ‘’And Ryan until the time we.. You know,’’ The three girls slapped a hand against their chest without planning, mimicking Pappy Joe. ‘’Bleh.’’

    ‘’Zay,’’ A sweet the voice called. THe group found Vanessa approaching.

    Zay stood up. ‘’Vanessa?’’

    ‘’Pappy Joe told me you were out here,’’ She briefly explains.

    ‘’You were looking for me?’’

    Ryan pursed her lips. ‘’No, she was looking for Waldo.’’

    The two ignored her as Vanessa tells him, ‘’I wanted to tell I was sorry.’’

    He held his arms out from his side, ‘’What’d you do?’’

    ‘’I never really gave you a chance,’’ Ryan turns to Riley and Maya who were grinning like goons. Which was fine, because she grinning like a goon with them. ‘’Now, I’m too late because I could never steal you away from your new friends.. Could I?’’

    He turns to the group and smiled softly. ‘’Steal me from these people? Hmph.’’ She turns back to Vanessa and confirms, ‘’No. No, you couldn’t.’’

    She tilts her head to the side, bargaining, ‘’What if I buy you ice cream?’’

    He chuckles while bowing his head. ‘’You know, Vanessa, they’re not really both my girlfriends. Or either of ‘em.’’

    ‘’I think I knew that,’’ She smiles. ‘’That’s not what impressed me. They’re your friends who stuck up for you, so I must have missed something. Or you must have changed.’’

    ‘’Well,’’ He cocks his head to the side. ‘’I’ve learned that people change people.’’

    ‘’Hmph,’’ Riley scoffs. ‘’From the grave, he’s teaching us.’’

    ‘’We’re breaking up with you, honey nugget,’’ Maya declares. ‘’Now let her buy you ice cream.’’

    ‘’Vanessa,’’ Riley calls. ‘’You made a mistake with this one. He’s pretty wonderful.’’

    ‘’And I hear that he’s willing to buy you a house,’’ Ryan pipes up. ‘’Hold those dudes down, because they’re really into you.’’

    ‘’Well, let’s go see.’’

    She holds her hand out for him, which he takes ass they walk off. Zay turns to his friend, grinning widely while giggling.

    It was silent once they were gone. Tense and full of awkward vibes.

    ‘’Hey, Ryan, Farkle,’’ Riley perks up. ‘’Let’s go get ice cream.’’

    ‘’Oh , darling,’’ Ryan grins. ‘’I thought you would never ask.’’

    ‘’What?’’ Farkle blurts out. ‘’I’m confused.’’

    Ryan nudges him, ‘’Just follow, Minkus.’’

    ‘’Riles, Ry,’’ Maya chuckles nervously. ‘’Where are you going?’’

    Riley turns to face Maya, ‘’You need to feel whatever you feel, Maya. It’s you and me forever. There is nothing that you could ever do to change that.’’ Riley gets up and walks around the campfire and sits in front of Lucas. ‘’Maya likes you.’’

    Ryan’s eyes went wide as her and Maya exclaim, ‘’Riley!’’

    ‘’Ryan, she’s been hiding it this whole time,’’ Riley informs.

    She shakes her head. ‘’That’s not your secret to tell.’’

    ‘’He needs to know,’’ Riley counters. She stands from the rock. ‘’That’s why she couldn’t watch you at the rodeo.’’

    ‘’What are you doing?’’ Maya wonders.

    ‘’I saw you, Maya. I saw how much you cared. It’s why she makes fun of you, I think.’’

    Lucas stood and asked one more time, ‘’Riley, what are we?’’

    ‘’I told you what we are,’’ She prompts.

    He shakes his head. ‘’What if that’s not what I think we are?’’

    ‘’Lucas,’’ Ryan scolds. Maya sunk further from embarrassment. He was practically rejecting her in front of her face, only it wasn’t even direct.

    Riley swallows a lump in her throat. ‘’Well, then you better start thinking of us like that.’’

    She went to walk away until Lucas called after her. Riley turns at the heel of her foot, and assures, ‘’Lucas, we will always be there for each other.’’ She looks down at Maya. ‘’You stepped back. I know that you stepped back.’’

    As Riley walks off and Farkle following after, Ryan reached out for Maya, gripping onto her arm. ‘’I’m sorry, love.’’

    She then got up and followed Riley and Farkle’s direction.

Ryan Collin's Outfit For The Chapter!