"GIRL MEETS SWEET SIXTEEN"

(primrose's outfit for this part of the chapter)

Primrose sat between two of her best friends on Riley's bay window. "Something new and exciting, please." Riley smiled.

Maya shrugs. "We've done everything."

"Yeah, it seems like we've done everything. I'm tired." Primrose yawns. "How 'bout we just take a nap?"

Maya grins. "I love that idea."

"No naps." Riley shakes her head. "And it would be such a sad situation if we've really have done everything." She smiles when she thought of an idea. "Oh."

Maya and Primrose exchange a look and they both look at Riley. "You got somethin'?" Maya asked.

Riley's smile widens as she nods. "Oh."

Primrose chuckles. "Yeah, she got somethin'."

"I predict that the next thing you say is gonna be ridiculous." Maya said to Riley.

"We should have our Sweet Sixteen now!" Riley exclaimed.

Maya looks at Primrose with a grin. "Oh, look at that, Rosie. I'm right!" Primrose chuckled and rolled her eyes.

Riley frowns. "Why?"

"Well, because you see, I just turned fifteen." Maya replies. "Rosie has been fifteen for a few months," She points at Riley. "And you're eight."

Riley smiles and speaks in a sing-songy voice. "I have all my big teeth."

"Riles," Primrose chuckles and shakes her head. "We can't have a Sweet Sixteen when we're fifteen."

Riley looks at her with a frown. "I didn't get my bat mitzvah."

Maya narrows her eyes at the brunette-haired girl. "You're not Jewish."

"I didn't get my quinceañera." Riley continued.

"And you're not Latina." Primrose reminded her.

Riley throws her arms up out of frustration. "I want something! I want something now, daddy!"

Maya and Primrose lean back with surprise. "Nope, still us." Maya remarked.

Riley puts her hands on her knee, glancing at the two girls who sat beside her. "What can you two do for me?"

"We can both tell you that it's not time for a Sweet Sixteen yet." Maya responded.

"It's all so random." Riley rolls her eyes. "We should be able to have it at anytime."

Primrose tilts her head to the side, furrowing her eyebrows. "Then it wouldn't be called a Sweet Sixteen and it wouldn't be that important."

Riley points at her. "They just call it a 'Sweet Sixteen' because of suh suh."

"No," Maya shakes her head. "If it was a suh suh thing they could've called it 'Sweet Seventeen' just as much." 

Riley looks at her with furrowed eyebrows. "No, they could not. 'Sweet Sixteen', you're sweet." She shakes her head. "'Seventeen', who cares already?"

"Ooh." Maya grinned.

Primrose glances at her with amusement. "What is it, blondie?"

"You got somethin'?" Riley asked Maya with a grin.

"Ooh!" Maya said excitedly.

Primrose nods and chuckles. "Yeah, she got somethin'."

"I predict the next thing you say is gonna be amazing!" Riley smiled at the blonde-haired girl. "See, that right there is the difference between me and you."

"What if we did suh suh suh?" Maya questioned, looking at the two girls beside her with a grin.

Primrose raises her eyebrows, glancing at Riley with amusement upon seeing how shocked she was. Riley gasps. "Impossible! No one's ever done the suh suh suh before." She furrows her eyebrows with confusion. "What is it?"

"'Surprise Sweet Sixteen'." Maya informed her and Primrose.

Riley turns to face the front with an excited look on her face and whispers, "Surprise."

Maya did the same thing which made Primrose chuckle as Maya whispers, "Surprise." 

Riley and Maya look at each other with smiles. "When we talk, magic happens." Riley commented.

Primrose laughs a bit and nods, smiling at the two girls beside her. "Yeah, somethin' happens alright." 

****

"In every life, there are landmarks." Cory explains. "What are the historical markers of our lives? Most important first."

Riley smiles widely. "Sweet Sixteen."

Cory shakes his head. "No."

"Arbor Day!" Maya guessed excitedly. 

Cory looks at her weirdly and shakes his head. "No." He points at the two girls. "Even Sweet Sixteen is more important than Arbor Day."

"Sweet Sixteen." Riley tried again.

Maya cups her mouth and says quietly, "Arbor Day!" 

Primrose couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips, finding the blonde-haired girl to be amusing at the moment. "No," Cory told the two girls. "Most important first."

"Sweet Sixteen is the doorway to our driver's liscene." Riley explained.

"Arbor Day is the doorway to nobody knows what it is." Maya voiced.

"And college." Riley added.

Maya frowns at her. "You're going without me and Rosie?"

"Oh, no." Riley shakes her head, turning to face Maya with a small smile. "More like Rosie is going without us 'cause she's way smarter than the both of us." Primrose smiles at Riley, thinking she was sweet for saying that. "Don't worry though," Riley continues, pointing at Maya. "You'll be going to the little one next door to the one I go to."

Maya grins excitedly. "Yay!" She points at Primrose and looks at her wiht a smile. "And we can call Rosie everyday to see how she's doing at the smart college she's going to."

Primrose laughs a bit and nods. "You girls can call me whenever."

Riley and Maya smile at her and they both say, "Yay!"

Cory looks at Farkle with a pleading expression. "Farkle?"

"Birth." Farkle answered.

"Okay," Cory nods, pointing at him. "Let's go with that," He points at Riley and Maya. "Because it's not what you said. What's next?"

Smackle speaks up excitedly. "I win the Nobel Prize for Physics."

"Smackle, we just got born." Cory reminded her.

"Okay." Smackle smiles. "I'll wait."

"Our first birthday." Lucas replied to Cory.

Cory nods. "Okay, birth. So then, we celebrate our birth every year. What's next?"

"I win the Nobel Prize for Physics." Smackle repeated with a grin.

Cory points at her. "Not yet."

Smackle hits her desk with both hands. "Get to it!" 

Primrose looks at the dark-haired girl with amusement and chuckles. She then looks at Cory with a small smile. "What happens next is our first steps and then our first words."

"And then our first day of school." Zay chimed in.

Everyone groaned beside Farkle, who was the only one who exclaimed 'yay', and Primrose couldn't help but smile at him. "The day I met Primrose, Riley, and Maya, and Smackle, and Lucas, and Zay." Primrose internally 'awed' at how sweet her boyfriend is and she smiled widely at Farkle. Farkle smiled at his girlfriend and friends, his gaze lingering on Primrose and his smile widened as he stared at her.

"Okay," Cory smiles at the friend group. "So we get born. We learn to walk and talk. We meet our friends. Then what?"

Smackle grins and points at him. "You know."

"Then we grew up and we're not little kids anymore." Lucas responded.

Zay nods with a grin forming on his lips. "And it went by fast, didn't it?"

Cory nods in agreement. "It goes by very fast, Mr. Babineaux." He looks at everyone with a smile. "Your adventures were my adventures not very long ago."

"Then we have our various coming of age ceremonies." Farkle explained.

"Oh, you mean like..." Maya's voice trailed off as she gestured with a nod of her head to Riley.

Riley turns to face her friend with a smile. "I want us to have a Surprise Sweet Sixteen party."

"Riley, how is it a surprise if we all know about it?" Lucas inquired.

"'Cause we're gonna have it now while we're all fifteen," Maya gestures to herself and her friends, leaving Lucas out. She then points at just Lucas. "And you're twenty-four." Lucas chuckled and nodded.

Primrose goes along with what Maya said and turns to face Lucas. She chuckles and smiles at him, "If it makes you feel any better, you look young for your age."

Lucas chuckles a bit and smiles at her. "Thanks, Rose."

"Okay, everybody," Riley grins. "Make a big surprise face." Everyone gasped and pretended to look surprise.

"Zay!" Primrose whines when she noticed her friend didn't do what everyone else did. "You didn't act surprise."

"Yeah, 'cause it's weird." Zay shakes his head. "Don't do that. And anyway, it doesn't matter. It doesn't count. I mean, it must've been a 'Sweet Sixteen' for a reason. Why?" He shrugs. "I don't care."

"Well, now actually, Zay brings up an interesting point." Cory voiced.

Zay furrows his eyebrows and shakes his head. "No, I don't."

"Riley has an instinct to accelerate the clock. Why do you think that is?" Cory questioned the class.

"Because I want a party." Riley smiled widely.

"Try again." Cory told her.

Riley is quiet for a moment before she says, "Well, 'cause I agree with Zay." She turns to face Zay. "We are growing up very fast."

Zay looks at her with a bit of surprise and smiles. "What?" He points at himself. "You agree with me?"

"Yeah." Riley smiled.

Zay gasps excitedly and Primrose looks at him with amusement. "Okay," Zay chuckles. "Yeah, that was fun. Hey, but watch this surprise face." He gasped again but louder and pretended to look surprise. Everyone either looked at him with amusement or looked at him weirdly.

"Okay," Zay shakes his head. "Only one was fun."

Everyone turns their attention back to their teacher when he speaks. "Okay, so there it is, freshmen." Cory said. "You guys are all gonna be sixteen or seventeen in your junior year. You're gonna be thinkin' about where to go to college."

"Stockholm University so I can be nearby to pick up my Nobel Prize." Smackle grinned.

"Paris College of Art." Primrose blurted and then she grinned excitedly as she thought about it. She had always dreamt of going to study fashion in the fashion capital. Her mom went to study fashion in Paris and told her it taught her so much and it was one of the best experiences she ever had.

Farkle turns around to face her with a small smile. "We'll talk."

"We'll talk in French." Primrose remarked in a sassy tone.

Farkle chuckles and then speaks in a French accent, "Ooh, la la."  Primrose giggled which made Farkle smile. The couple exchanged a smile before Farkle turned to face the front. 

"Okay," Cory chuckles lightly. "Smackle and possibly Primrose have their life worked out." He looks at the whole class with a smile. "What about the rest of you?" He walks over to stand behind his desk. "Are you better off letting life surprise you or is there a way to be ready for whatever is gonna happen?"

Riley looks at him with furrowed eyebrows. "How would that be possible?"

"By looking at the landmarks of our lives so far. Have they prepared you for what's gonna come next?" Cory inquires. He smiles. "Happy Sweet Sixteen, everybody. Your assignment is to tell me what's gonna happen next."

****

The gang was now sitting at their usual place at Topanga's. "Okay, let's pretend that we've finished our sophomore year and we're juniors now." Riley suggested.

"What's changed?" Zay asked.

"I don't understand what could be caculated by projecting the future." Farkle admitted.

Lucas points at Riley, Maya, and Primrose. "You three still best friends?" 

The three girls smile at each other. "Absolutely." Maya nodded. "Better than now." Riley commented. "Of course." Primrose agreed.

"That is speculation." Smackle pointed out.

From her place between her and Farkle, Primrose furrows her eyebrows, looking at Smackle with confusion. "That is what?"

Smackle chuckles. "Speculation is a theory." Primrose nodded in realization. 

"And speculation is not scientific." Farkle explained.

"We can't learn anything this way." Smackle voiced.

"You and I still together?" Lucas asked Riley with a hopeful look on his face

Primrose looks at Riley with surprise as she notices the brunette-haired girl was hesitant to answer that. "I hope so." Riley replied.

"Huh." Primrose said along with Farkle and Smackle.

"Riley's confidence in her relationship with Maya and Primrose is far stronger than her confidence in Lucas." Smackle pointed out.

Farkle glances at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Well, what can we take from that?"

Smackle smiles. "I end up with Lucas."

Primrose chuckles and shakes her head. "Smackle, I hate to break it to ya but I don't think that's gonna happen."

Smackle grins and shrugs. "We'll see."

Lucas points at Riley, furrowing his eyebrows. "You're not confident in us?"

Riley looks at him with a small smile. "I'm hopeful for us."

Lucas gestures to Maya and Primrose. "But the girls?"

The three girls look at each other with smiles, each of them saying the same thing at the same time. "We're forever."

Zay smiles and points at them. "I believe 'em."

Smiling, Lucas nods in agreement. "So do I." He looks at each of his friends. "It what gives me hope for all of us."

"So, regular friends are stronger relationships than boyfriends and girlfriends are." Farkle spoke. 

Primrose furrowed her eyebrows, bringing her gaze to the floor. Farkle has a point. It seemed like Riley feels more confident about her friendship with herself and Maya than her relationship with Lucas. Primrose doesn't feel the same way though. Sure, she feels confident in her friendship with Riley and Maya and knows that they'll always be friends, but she also knows that she and Farkle will always be together.

"Or are those types of relationship so new to us, we simply don't understand yet?" Smackle asked and that just made Primrose even more confused because Smackle also has a point. They're all just freshmen in high school. They're new to stuff that will happen in high school like relationships with boyfriends and girlfriends.

"Well, maybe that's why we take up a whole lot of high school trying to figure it out." Zay chimed in.

"I'm so glad we're only freshmen." Primrose sighed. The others look at her with a bit of amusement and they all smiled at her. 

Lucas looks at Riley with a smile. "I'm hopeful for us too, Riley." He offered his hand to her, and Riley smiled at him, holding onto his hand.

Smackle points at them holding hands. "What is that?"

Primrose chuckles. "That's affection, Smackle."

"They know there's vulnerability in that kind of relationship," Farkle cut in, furrowing his eyebrows at the two teens. "And yet that happened?"

Smackle continues to point at Riley and Lucas. "What is that? What just happened there?"

"Feelings are what happened there." Primrose responded.

Smackle furrows her eyebrows. "How are we supposed to measure feelings?" A panicked look forms on her face. "How are we supposed to know what we're gonna feel when we're juniors?" Primrose's eyes widen as Smackle stands up and exclaims, "What kind of dumb-head assignment is this?!"

Zay had a wide-eyed expression on his face, and he put his arm in front of Lucas to protect him. "Get out the way. She's gonna explode."

"I'm gonna fail this assignment!" Smackle yells and angrily stomps her foot. Her friends either look at her with surprise or concern. Her friends (minus Farkle and Primrose) never saw her act like this before. Smackle's eyes widen in disbelief. "I'm gonna fail this assignment. Click." A blank expression was on her face as she leaned forward, letting her arms drop to her side. 

Primrose moves to sit normally, glancing at Farkle as she sighs. "It happened again." During her time hanging out with Smackle she found out that Smackle does this thing where she has a sudden burst of emotions that she hidden. Then she would just act like she's not working, similar to a computer not working. But it doesn't last long and when it's over she's back to her normal self.

Zay glances around warily. "W-What happened?"

"She crashed." Farkle replied.

"What," Zay furrows his eyebrows and brings his arm away from Lucas since he had still been protecting him. "Like a computer?"

"Like a computer." Primrose repeats and she nods. "This is basically her way of taking an emotional break. Don't worry, she'll be back though." She glances at Smackle with concern. Even though she has seen Smackle do this before, she still couldn't help but be concern about her because that's just who she is. "I hope."

Farkle glances at Primrose with a small smile. He then looks over at Lucas. "Lucas, can I talk to you for a second?"

Lucas nods and smiles a bit. "Sure."

As the two boys leave, Zay snaps his fingers at Smackle. Primrose chuckles. "Dude, nothing is gonna wake her up. Believe me. I tried pouring a glass of water on her once." She grimaces at the memory and shakes her head.  "It didn't work."

"Yeah?" Zay challenges and he gets up. He walks over to Smackle. "I bet you she'll wake up after I do this." He snaps in front of Smackle's face. The dark-haired girl didn't move or blink so Zay waved his hand in front of her face. Once again no response from Smackle. He furrows his eyebrows and glances at Primrose. "Okay, maybe not."

Primrose giggles a bit and shrugs. "I told you so."

"Maya, Primrose?" Primrose turns her attention to Riley when she speaks. "What if we don't care about our boyfriends as much as we care about each other?"

Primrose scoots over so she was sitting on the right side of the ottoman chair she was sitting on since Zay was standing kind of in front of her. She notices movement out of the corner of her eye which made her curious. So she glances to her left, a look of amusement forming on her face when she saw Zay was making Smackle do the macarena. "Having fun there, buddy?"

Zay grins at her. "Oh, yeah." 

Primrose turns her attention back to Riley and Maya as Maya talks. "No, we'll just care for them in a different way."

"What different way?" Riley asked.

Maya smiles. "Less."

Primrose laughs a bit. "And by less she means romantically." Maya pointed at her in a sign of agreement. 

Primrose glanced over at Zay, a laugh escaping her lips upon seeing he was making Smackle do the sprinkler dance move. An amused expression formed on her face as Zay made Smackle act like they were dancing the tango while he walked them over to the window seat near the door.

"Why do we make friendships if they're only gonna go away?" Riley inquired. 

Primrose glances over at Riley with a small smile. "That's life, Riley. Things change and some friendships fall apart and some friends even go away."

Maya looks at her and Riley with a frown. "Why do they have to go away?" 

Primrose looks at the window seat near the door, seeing that Zay had made Smackle sit there and he sat beside her. "'Cause we're supposed to think like juniors now." Riley replied to Maya.

"So?" Maya outstretches her arms in question. "What's gonna be different?"

Primrose chuckles as Zay started to act like he was talking with Smackle. "Hopefully Smackle will be back to normal, and Zay won't make her do silly things."

Zay looks at her with offense and makes Smackle point at her. "Hey, this is funny. You gotta admit that."

"Yeah, okay." Primrose nodded. She chuckled while Zay pretended, he and Smackle were stargazing. 

Primrose turns her attention back to Riley and Maya when she heard Riley say, "Well, right now, there are millions of juniors all over the world deciding what college they want to get into." The three girls looked over at Zay to see he was still acting like he and Smackle were stargazing. He had an arm wrapped around her shoulders and was pretending to be pointing at stars. 

They look at him weirdly before they turn to face each other. "And even though they say that they're all gonna be friends forever, they're all going some place, girls." Riley said. She glances at Primrose with a frown. "I know that you want to go to a college in Paris and we don't want to take you away from that."

Primrose shakes her head and looks at her and Maya with a reassuring smile. "If I don't go to college in Paris it won't be because of you girls it'll be because of my own decision."

"It would be great if we could all go to the same college though." Riley continued.

"What if I need to go to Europe or something to study art?" Maya questioned.

"You will, so get into the same college as me and Rosie." Riley answered.

Primrose looks at her with furrowed eyebrows. "I thought you were fine if I went to a different college."

"Well," Riley frowns. "Now I'm not. I want both of you girls to go to the same college I go to."

"Riles, we probably won't." Maya tells her. "We all like different things and want to do different things. We're supposed to think like juniors." She frowns. "That's when we know we don't stay together forever." 

Primrose frowned, realizing that Maya was right. Primrose noticed Zay was now making Smackle wave her hands back and forth, enjoying every second of it. Primrose would've laughed, but now she was too sad because of the fact that she and the others might not be together after high school. Primrose could feel tears beginning to build up in her eyes when she realized they might not even be friends after high school. She knew that she and Farkle would still be together after high school. Well, she hoped that they would be. She really hoped they would still be together after high school because Primrose doesn't know what she would do without him.

"Sweet Sixteen isn't sweet at all." Riley speaks and as Primrose looks at her, she saw that Riley and Maya had teary eyes as well. Riley gestures for Primrose to get over to her and Maya. "Rosie, get over here. We wanna spend as much time with you as we can." Primrose got up and sat between the two girls as they scoot over to give her space. The three girls wrapped their arms around each other and held onto each other. 

Maya frowns, resting her head on right Primrose's shoulder the same time Riley rests her head on Primrose's left shoulder. "They lied to us."

"I don't know who 'they' is," Primrose sniffles, shaking her head . "But I agree."

"Okay," Riley and Maya lift their heads off Primrose's shoulders and they each look over at Zay to see he and Smackle were now standing by the ottoman chair and he made Smackle point at them. "You three are the strangest people alive."

"I highly disagree with that." Primrose remarked and the two girls beside her nodded in agreement.

"Press any key to continue." Smackle spoke.

Zay shakes his head. "Never mind." He took Smackle's glasses off her and put them on. He then made her boop herself on the nose. He let go of her and took a step back with a smile on his face.

Smackle blinks a few times, furrowing her eyebrows. She glances at Zay, who smiles widely and puts his hands on his hips. "What'd I miss?" Smackle asked him.

"Well, Riley, Maya, and Primrose are more important than Riley and Lucas." Zay replied, gesturing to the three girls who had let go of each other now. 

"I don't think anybody would miss that." Smackle smiles at the three girls. She looks back at Zay, noticing the glasses. "I like your glasses."

"Oh." Zay grins. "I just got 'em." He nods. "Oh, uh, and we probably won't be together after high school anymore." Riley, Maya, and Primrose looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Oh." Smackle slowly nods. "Click." She then did the same thing she did earlier.

Zay looks at her with a 'are you serious' expression. "Alright, will you stop that?" He shakes his head. "Who does that?"

Primrose, Riley, and Maya speak the same thing at the same time. "Click." Then they leaned forward with a blank expression on their faces. Zay looked at the four girls with a slightly panicked look. He sighed, shaking his head.

****

Meanwhile, outside of Topanga's a nervous Farkle stood across the table, facing Lucas who stood at the other end. "Listen." Farkle started, shifting his weight from one foot to another.

"Yeah?" Lucas asked, putting his hands on the two chairs he's standing beside.

Farkle bites his lower lip, resting his hands on the chair on front of him. "Look."

Lucas nods, silently encouraging him to tell him. "Yeah?"

Farkle sighs. "Listen."

Lucas chuckles and shakes his head. "I don't want to get old here, Farkle."

"I just want you to know that if Primrose has feelings for you-"

Lucas looks at him with surprise. "Farkle-"

Farkle points at him. "Shmeh." Lucas stays quiet and lets Farkle speak. "I would step aside."

Lucas shakes his head. "Farkle."

"Shmeh." Farkle looks at him with a stern expression and points at him again. Lucas sighs, but he nods and stays quiet. "It's true." Farkle continues. "I'm a man of science. I don't do well with feelings. Primrose doesn't do well with feelings either, but she does better with them than I do." He sighs, his shoulders dropping in defeat. "If it's you she wants, I would step aside. I learned that from Riley."

"You, Riley, and Primrose have the deepest feelings I have ever known."  Lucas spoke.

Farkle smiles a bit. "Thanks. And if Primrose is into you, I-I won't take it out on you." He tilts his head to the side, furrowing his eyebrows. "I'll just clone you and do terrible things to the clone."

Lucas chuckles and shakes his head. "Can I speak now?" Farkle nods in response. "First of all, why would you think that Primrose would like me that way?" Lucas asked him.

Farkle shrugs. "'Cause you two have a close friendship."

Lucas nods. "And that's all we are. Just friends." He smiles a bit. "If anything, I think of her like a sister."

Farkle looks at him with relief. "Okay, good."

"And second of all, you two have one of the strongest and healthiest relationships that I have ever known." Lucas continues, looking at him with a smile. "You shouldn't be worried about anything because it's obvious you guys will always be together."

Farkle smiles. "Thanks, Lucas."

"I agree with Lucas."

The two boys look over at the door when they hear Primrose speak. Primrose is standing there beside Riley and Maya and the three girls were looking at the two boys with smiles. Primrose walks over to stand beside the right side of Farkle. When she intertwines their hands together Farkle smiled at her.

"Are we all gonna be okay?" Farkle questioned, glancing at each of them.

Riley and Maya walks over to the table the boys and Primrose stood at. Riley smiles. "We always will be."

"How do you know?" Farkle asked her.

"She believes in us, Farkle." Maya replied.

Primrose and Farkle let go of each others hands as each of them sit down at the table. The couple did sit lose to each other so they can intertwine their hands again. "I mean, yeah, but things change." Farkle speaks. "The natural evolution of all beings is to grow and change."

Maya grins. "Hey, I know this."

Primrose smiles a bit upon seeing Smackle walk outside, glad that she was okay, but she noticed Smackle still looked upset. Zay had followed Smackle outside and the two stood between where Riley and Lucas were sitting at the table.  "What kind of teacher is your father supposed to be?" Smackle questions, looking at Riley with confusion. She points at herself. "I'm going to fail this assignment and he's gonna cost my Nobel Prize. Does he know what he's doing?"

"Yes, he does." Maya smiles. "Finches and Mockingbirds, his boat was 'The Beagle', and for extra credit, Galapagos."

Farkle smiles proudly at her. "Charles Darwin."

"Good job, blondie." Primrose said to Maya, looking at her with a proud smile. Maya smiled at her and Farkle.

Smackle looks at Maya with furrowed eyebrows. "How do you know the theory of evolution?"

"Because I failed it." Maya answers. "I know it because I failed it, but he made sure I knew it because he knew I'd used it someday. He's a great teacher." She looks at Riley with a smile. "He's the best there is."

Riley nods. "And like always, he's just trying to get us to evolve."

****

Primrose was still nestled in her usual spot at Topanga's, her books spread out in front of her as she worked diligently on her math homework. The café buzzed with the comforting sounds of chatter and clinking dishes, but all she could focus on was the problem in front of her. After scribbling down an answer, she glanced up, raising her eyebrows in surprise when she noticed Lucas had settled in beside her.

"Uh, hi, Lucas." She awkwardly smiles at him, scooting away from him to get space. "Any reason why you're sitting this close to me when literally almost every other seat in this place is open?"

"Oh." Lucas raises his eyebrows. "Does that bother you?"

"Yeah." Primrose nods, looking at him weirdly when he scoots closer to her. "And you're creeping me out a bit, dude. You know that I'm only this close with Farkle."

 "Just wanted to let you know you have very nice eyes." Lucas said with an unexpected sincerity, his gaze lingering on her.

Primrose narrowed her eyes, genuinely puzzled by his behavior. Was he being friendly, or was there something more? She couldn't help but feel uncomfortable because she didn't harbor romantic feelings for him. "Did you hit your head or something? Are you sick?"

Lucas chuckles lightly, shaking his head. "I'm fine, Rose. Just stating a fact."

"Oh." Primrose slowly nods. "Okay." She clears her throat, awkwardly looking back at her homework. "Uh, thanks, I guess." 

"So is it okay if I just stay right here?" Lucas asked her with a smile, leaning in slightly as if testing her boundaries.

Primrose bites her lower lip and she looks down, feeling her heartbeat increase. She was close enough to Lucas now that her right knee was touching Lucas' and their shoulders were touching. Yes, the two have been close friends for while now, but this sudden closeness felt different and was making her nervous. She shifted slightly, trying to put a bit of distance between them without making things awkward. "Uh, sure." 

Unbeknownst to Lucas and Primrose, Riley and Maya had got back to Topanga's and were now standing at the open door. They looked at Lucas and Primrose with surprise and confusion. Riley had made a hopeful comment that maybe things will just stay the same, but now she wasn't so sure.

"And now, here we are." Lucas smiles at Primrose. "Finally alone. And there is something I want to admit to you."

Primrose looks at him with a stern expression and points at him. "Listen, you better not be saying that you like me romantically. I don't wanna hurt your feelings, but I don't feel the same way and if I did I would never do anything about it because I don't want to hurt Riley." She smiles a bit. "In case you didn't know it, she really likes you." Riley smiled widely, thinking it was sweet that Primrose would do that. 

Lucas chuckles a bit and smiles. "Yeah, I know." He shakes his head. "And that's not what I'm trying to say."

A confused expression forms on Lucas' face and she scoots away to be able to face him better and so she would have space. "I have no idea what you're planning to say to me, but I hope you know that my heart belongs to someone else." She smiles a bit. "I think I might even love that someone."

Lucas nods, smiling encouragingly at her. "Say it louder."

Primrose chuckles and shakes her head in disbelief. "Why? Are you deaf?"

"Sure," Lucas chuckles and went along with what she said. "Why not." He shakes his head as he shrugs. "But anyway, you just explained that you might even love Farkle. Why can't you say that to him?"

Primrose sighs heavily, running a hand through her hair. "Trust me, I wanna say it. I've tried many times, but I just chicken out and the worst thoughts come into my mind before I try to say it." 

She bites her lower lip, bringing her gaze to her lap as she starts to ramble nervously in a rushed tone. "Maybe I'm a little insecure that Farkle might not feel the same way if I say the 'l' word to him. If I said the 'l' word to him and he wouldn't feel the same way then I would've ruined our great relationship and I don't wanna lose him because of my stupid feelings. But I really do wanna tell him that I love him because he means the world to me and I want him to know that." Riley and Maya smiled, putting their hands over their hearts as they 'awed' because of what Primrose said was so cute.

"I do know that, Primrose." Primrose's heartbeat races upon hearing that familiar voice she loves and she turns to that direction she heard Farkle speak, seeing he was standing behind the counter. Farkle looks at her with a bright smile. "I like you exactly as much as I say." He nervously puts his hands in the pockets of his jacket, looking at her with a shy smile. "And yes, I'm not good with these type of feelings, but I know that I love you." He but in this moment, he felt something more profound than any theorem or equation could explain. He took a step closer, his gaze steady on Primrose, the intensity of his feelings clear in his eyes.

"I've been wanting to tell you for a while," He continues, his voice steady despite the nervous flutter in his chest. "Every time I see you, it's like the world makes a little more sense. I may not have the right words all the time, but I know how I feel."

Primrose's eyes widens in surprise, her heart racing as she absorbed his confession. "You...You love me?" She asked, disbelief mingling with joy. She knew this was a big deal for Farkle. He had always been analytical, leaning more toward logic and science than emotions, which made this moment all the more significant. The way he was standing there, vulnerable and sincere, melted her heart. It made her realize even though he wasn't the best when it came to expressing his feelings, he was trying his best and she thought that was beautiful.

Despite the fact they've been a couple for awhile now, she hadn't heard him say those three words until now. It wasn't something either one of them expected or even really discussed. She had hoped maybe he would feel the same, but she knew him better than most people and eventually accepted that him showing his feelings through action was enough. But now, hearing him say it made her happier than she could ever describe.

Farkle takes a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, even though his heart was racing. Feelings, emotions, had always been something he struggled with. He was better at analyzing and understanding mathematical equations than the more complex workings of his own mind. But he knew, deep down, that his feelings for Primrose were strong. More than strong. He had never been in love before, but he knew this was it. And that scared him. What if she didn't feel the same? Or worse, what if she did and something happened to change her mind? But, as he looked into her eyes, he saw his own love reflected back at him and he knew everything would be okay.

"Yes," He says softly, a small smile playing on his lips, shyness tinging his words. "I love you, Primrose." He was nervous and excited and happy all at once, a confusing but wonderful feeling. Primrose beams, her heart swelling with emotion, and she quickly moves to stand up, wanting nothing more than to be closer to him. She was filled with so much love and happiness, she didn't even know where to begin. She wanted to shout it from the rooftops, let the whole world know how she felt. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and never let go, feeling his warmth against hers. She wanted to kiss him, long and slow and sweet, until they were both breathless and dizzy.

But mostly, she just wanted to say the words back. "Really?" She couldn't help but ask. Her eyes widened when Zay stood, revealing he was hiding behind the other counter. She didn't know that he was hiding there. She then noticed Smackle sitting at the counter and that she had been reading most of the time. Smackle hadn't been paying attention until then, glancing up from her book with a small smile.

Zay sighs, pointing at Farkle. "Should've seen how nervous he was from back here."

Smackle nods in agreement and glances at Primrose. "Yeah, I could see him from here. He was very nervous." Farkle smile sheepishly at that and looks down when Primrose glanced at him. Smackle smiles at Primrose. "He must really like you."

"Lucas knew how you really felt, but I wasn't sure." Farkle admits as he rubbed the back of his neck, a blush creeping up his cheeks. "I didn't want to mess things up so I asked him for help."

"Oh." Primrose nods in realization and glances at Lucas. She points at him with her free hand. "That's why you were acting so friendly with me. You were trying to make me crack."

Lucas laughs a bit and nods. "Yeah."

"Lucas set this up so I could know how you really felt." Farkle explains, his embarrassment turning into a lighthearted grin as he looked at Lucas. "I figured it would be easier to have some support, especially since I'm not great at this whole feelings thing."

Primrose's face softens at Farkle's admission, a warm smile spreading across her lips. "That's really sweet of you." She said, touched by his effort to be vulnerable. "I know how hard this is for you, and I appreciate you taking the leap."

Farkle chuckles nervously, rubbing the back of his neck again. "Honestly, I was terrified. I thought I'd just mess everything up, but I couldn't keep it inside anymore."

Primrose nods, smiling fondly at him before she turns to Lucas with a grateful smile. "Well, I guess thank you for helping us."

Lucas smiles back at her and nods. "No problem, happy to help." 

Primrose smiles and turns back to Farkle. "I love you, too." Man, it felt so good to finally say those words. Her heart swelled with emotion and her cheeks hurt from smiling so much, but she didn't care. All she cared about was Farkle, and the way his eyes lit up when she said those words. She immediately moves toward him, not wanting any distance between them. She wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him close, burying her face in his neck. "I love you." She mumbled, her voice muffled by his shirt, but he heard her loud and clear. His heart skipped a beat, a giddy feeling washing over him.

He wraps his arms around her, holding her close, relishing the feeling of her against him. "I love you to the moon and back." He responded, his voice soft, and he felt her smile against his neck, causing him to smile in return. They stood there, wrapped in each other's embrace, lost in their own world, completely oblivious to everything else around them. "I love you so much that when we get older and you want to go to Paris to study fashion, I'll encourage you to go." He added, knowing that he would miss her, but he would rather her do what she wanted instead of giving up on her dreams for him.

"Nah, if anything I'm going to stupid Princeton with you." Primrose laughs and shakes her head. She lifts her head from his shoulder, her gaze meeting his, her heart melting at the sight of the pure love and adoration in his eyes. "Or you know take you with me to Paris, we can figure it out."

"Of course." Farkle assures her, his voice filled with confidence and certainty. "We'll make it work." He shared a fond smile with her, leaning down to peck her lips before Riley suddenly spoke up, sounding startled and even a bit panicked. They both pull away to look over at the brunette-haired girl in concern, their arms still around each other, but now Primrose's head laid on his chest. 

"Paris? Princeton?" Riley furrows her eyebrows and walks over to them along with the others. "What's the difference?" The couple exchange a worried look upon seeing Riley looking so upset. Riley turns to face Maya with a frown. "They're going away." She looks at each of her friends. "Why do people become friends if it's not going to be forever?" She frowns. "I don't want a Sweet Sixteen."

Primrose looks at her with surprise along with Maya. "You don't?" Maya asked, walking over to stand by Riley as Lucas and Zay sat on the ottoman chair near where Farkle and Primrose sat and Smackle had got up and went to sit on the ottoman chair across from Lucas and Zay.

"No." Riley shakes her head. "I don't want any surprises. I don't want anybody to go anywhere." She looks at her friends with a slightly panicked expression. "I don't want anything to happen to us at all."

"But isn't that the opposite of life?" Maya inquired.

"I don't care." Riley answers. "Nobody move. Nobody move at all."

Maya looks at each of them with a smile. "You heard her."

****

(primrose's outfit for this part of the chapter)

"Okay, juniors, how are your lives going?" Cory asks the history class at the next day of school. "What's next for you?" He points at Farkle and Primrose. "Primarkle."

Farkle turns around to look at Primrose with a smile and she smiles back at him before they both stood up and went to the front of the class. "I'm planning to go study abroad in Paris to learn more about fashion in the summer so I still learn about fashion in the fashion capital of the world and Farkle and I won't have to do a long distance relationship for very long." Primrose explained. 

"And Primrose and I have applied early decision to Princeton," Farkle speaks while he glances at the British girl beside him with a smile. "And I have a pretty good feeling we're going to get in."

"Is that because you've maintained your excellent academic record?" Cory inquired.

"Yeah." Primrose smiles. She gestures to Smackle. "With the help of the lovely Smackle," Smackle smiles at her and she smiles back at her. "In the past two years, the three of us have cured the common cold, invented an alternative fuel source, solved global warming, and-" Her sneeze interrupts her sentence and she grimaces. "Dang it." Farkle chuckled and smiled at her.

Cory smiles at the couple. "So I take it Farkle and Primrose are still together."

Farkle looks at him and nods. He glances at Primrose with a smile, intertwining his hand with hers as he says, "Of course." Primrose smiled at him, feeling butterflies swarm in her stomach. 

Farkle and Primrose look at the class with smiles and raise their arms in the air, both of them speaking at the same time. "Thank you. We are Primarkle." They bowed at the same time and the class clapped for them. Farkle and Primrose let go of each others hands before they went to go sit down in their seats.

Next up was Lucas and Zay. Zay said that the big news would be Lucas peaked in his sophomore year and it was now Zay time. Lucas shakes his head. "Hm. This is not what we decided on." 

Zay looks at him and shakes his head. "It's not my fault you peaked. You're over."

"Yeah?" Lucas raises his eyebrows, looking at him with amusement. "What happened to me?"

Zay points at him. "Know, you say that a lot now, where you're just like, 'What happened to me?', and I pull you around in your little red wagon. You're like, 'What happened to me?', and I'm like, 'I don't know! It's Zay time. Stop bringing me down.'"

Cory looks at him with amusement and nods. "So, I'm guessing you've managed to remain friends."

Zay smiles and shakes his head. "That'll never change."

Lucas smiles a bit. "I used to have a little red wagon."

Zay nods. "You used to pull me around in it."

Lucas turns to face him with a smile on his face. "Hey, if things ever do go bad..."

"I'll be there." Zay finished Lucas' sentence, looking at him with a smile.

Cory smiles at the two best friends. "Thank you, gentlemen."

After Lucas and Zay sat down it was Riley's and Maya's turn. "We looked at all of the landmarks of our lives." Riley started.

"We don't really have any control over being born." Maya spoke.

"We just know that we're real lucky to be here." Riley continued.

Maya smiles. "And if we get even luckier, we climb in through the right window."

"Yeah." Riley agrees. "We examined all of the landmarks of our lives from the very beginning right up until wanting a Surprise Sweet Sixteen party."

"And we found they all have one thing in common." Maya voiced.

Riley nods. "They all put us in a world of people, and what do we control is the people that we want to keep in our lives, and a party at any age is just another chance to be all together."

Cory smiles. "So, I see you're not ready for your Sweet Sixteen."

"No." Riley shakes her head. "Maybe never. I didn't want us to go anywhere. I wanted us to sit still. But that's not life. We're freshmen. Exactly where we're supposed to be. We should enjoy this now. That's life."

Maya smiles. "Sweet Sixteen will be a lot sweeter when we are sixteen."

"But for right now, we're protected." Riley spoke.

"We know exactly where we're gonna be for the next three years." Maya said.

Cory raises his eyebrows. "So, no party."

Maya grins. "No, of course, party."

"What our landmarks have shown us is that we picked the right friends and we'll always be together." Riley smiled.

Maya links her arms with Riley's and smiles. "Life loves us." She glances at the class with a smile. "Hope isn't for suckers after all." Primrose smiled at the two girls.

"And that's the best thing to celebrate any time." Riley commented.

****

"Party time!" Maya exclaimed as she, Riley, and Primrose walked into the Matthews' apartment.

"Does it have to be at our house?" Cory asked, closing the door behind him since he was the last one in.

Primrose laughs a bit and nods. "Where else would it be, Matthews?"

"Yeah," Riley smiles. "Life loves our house."

Primrose walks over to the kitchen area with the girls and the three of them stand beside each other. She frowns when she saw the nervous look on Topanga's face. "What happened?" Cory questioned.

Primrose exchanges a nervous look with Riley and Maya. Riley shrugs. "Party doesn't have to be at our house."

Primrose looks at Auggie, not liking the way she thought this was going by how upset she saw the young boy is. "Tell her no, dad!" Auggie pleaded.

Primrose walks further into the kitchen area and sits at the table on the bench between Riley and Maya. "It just happened. Just happened right in front of Auggie." Topanga explains. "He heard everything."

The three girls look at each other with worried expressions. "Mom?" Riley said, looking at Topanga with furrowed eyebrows.

"You know, I was a good student." Topanga said as she sits down at the end of the table. "I got a good job at a prestigious law firm, I moved up fast, I got promoted." She smiles. "I always wanted to be partner. They just named me partner."

The three girls look at her with grins. "Oh." Riley comments excitedly. "Double party." Topanga nodded in agreement. 

Cory looks at Topanga with a wide smile. "I am so proud of you, Topanga."

Auggie looks at him with teary eyes. "Tell her no, dad!"

Primrose glances between Auggie and Topanga, her shoulders dropping in defeat and she could feel tears building up in her eyes when she connected the dots. Topanga must've got a promotion where she would have to move. Which meant that Auggie, Riley, and their dad had to move with her. She's surprised that Cory hasn't figured it out yet.

Cory looks at his son with confusion. "Why would I tell her no?"

"They just named me the head of our London office." Topanga responded.

Primrose looks between Riley and Maya with a frown, noticing the way their demeanor immediately changed from happy to sad. "Ask her how she's going to do that from here." Auggie speaks. "Ask her because she won't answer me."

Topanga looks at Cory with a sad expression and Cory smiles at her. "I am so proud of you, Topanga." Topanga smiled at him.

"Oh, yeah." Riley agrees. She holds onto her mom's hand and smiles. "I'm so proud of you too, mom." Primrose noticed tears were in Riley's eyes and she glances at Maya, seeing the tears in her eyes as well. Seeing two of her best friends cry only made her want to cry more. She hated it when her best friends cried.

"Not for sure if this means anything to you, but I'm proud of you too." Primrose chimed in, looking at Topanga with a smile.

Topanga chuckles a bit and smiles at her. "It means a lot to me. Thank you, Primrose."

"Congratulations." Maya said to Topanga with a smile on her face. She glances at Primrose and Riley with a frown. "I thought life loves us."

Riley sadly smiles at the two girls by her. "Surprise." Riley pulls her hand away from her mom and looks at her mom. "What did you tell them, mom?"

"Riley-"

"Wait, Topanga." Primrose interrupts Topanga, holding onto Riley's right hand with her right hand and holding onto Maya's right hand with her left hand. They both squeeze her hand.  She sniffles and nods. "Okay, you can say it now."

Topanga looks at the three best friends with her own teary eyes. "I told them that I needed some time to think about it." She glances at her son and then at her husband. "I told them that I needed to talk it over with my family."

Auggie frowns. "What's to talk about? I'm not going to London." He crosses his arms. "I don't even speak the language."

"Uh," Cory looks at his wife with curiosity. "Did they offer you a raise in salary?"

Topanga writes something down on a piece of paper and then hands the paper to Cory. Cory's eyes widen when he reads the paper. He then starts excitedly exclaiming stuff in a British accent. "Long live the Queen! Hip hip! Woot woot! Elton John! Chimney sweeps! Crumpets!" Primrose would've laughed at him if she wasn't so sad about possibly losing one of her best friends. 

Topanga looks at the three best friends with a reassuring smile. "Girls, this decision has nothing to do with money."

Cory sheepishly smiles and nods. "Of course it doesn't." He frowns upon seeing the three girls were now silently crying. "Girls...Listen, I know this is difficult." He looks at them with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. We're gonna make the right decision."

The three girls look at him and Topanga with tear-stained faces. "Mom...There's a decision?" Riley stammered out a question.

Topanga sadly smiles. "Yeah. Girls, I'm sorry, but there's a decision."

A/N oh my gosh i cant believe i only got one more chapter left! farkle & primrose finally said i love you to each other, yay ! i love them so much. also zay was so funny in this episode & he & smackle were honestly cute. i've honestly always liked their friendship a lot.