⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

John Quincy Adams Middle school

Auditorium

Renee's POV

I was sitting on the seats in the auditorium along with Aurora, Max, Brandon, and Maya. We were watching the school play 'Romeo and Juliet ' with Riley and Lucas as the main characters.

Normally it would be me and the band up there, playing our songs for the audience but I was here for Riley this time.

Riley, in character, was lying in a coffin when Lucas walks over to her, saying his dialogues.

"Eyes, look your last. Arms, take your last embrace." He stepped closer to Riley, "And lips, oh, the doors of breath seal with a righteous kiss."

Lucas leaned in to kiss Riley, but was interrupted by Farkle, "Back off!"

"What meanest thou?" Lucas said, confused yet still trying to be in character, "Spear carrier, who havest no lines...."

"You tried to kiss my woman. This I cannot allow, prepare to die!" Farkle responded, definitely breaking his character.

"Farkle, what are you doing?" Lucas asked the other boy.

"Hey, did this actually happen in the original Romeo and Juliet?" Max, who sat on my right side, whispered in my ear.

I turned to him slightly, "It's an improvisation, I think." I whispered back to him before we both chuckled.

"It's Romeo and Juliet." Lucas broke character and said to Farkle.

"Well, now it's Romeo and Juliet and Farkle. I'm Farkle." Lucas looked appalled at Farkle's resistance.

"Dude, I'm supposed to kiss the girl, Shakespeare said." Lucas frustratingly explained.

"Who thinks the spear-carrier should finally get to kiss Juliet?" Farkle asked the audience. Surprisingly, people cheered as Maya got up.

"Yeah, you kiss that girl, you crazy spear-carrier!" She shouted.

My eyebrows shot up in shock.

"Hart! You cometh uppeth here and getteth kissed too, you too Renee!" Farkle shouted back. The audience cheered.

I simply sighed and opened my mouth to retaliate when "No! Not Nessie." Max spoke up.

Suddenly he held my hand as my eyes widened at the contact.

I could practically feel the blush forming on my face as I looked to my left and saw Aurora and Brandon grinning at me suggestively. I just looked at my lap, hoping that Max hadn't noticed my blush.

Maya had gone up on the stage and was laying beside Riley.

"I just don't understand how we end up in situations like these, and also how Renee always gets out of them." Riley sulked.

I could see Brandon recording everything with his phone.

Also, Max still hadn't let go of my hand. It felt nice, holding hands with him.

I smiled and continued watching what was meant to be Romeo and Juliet but had somehow turned into Romeo and Juliet and Farkle, and Maya later. 

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

John Quincy Adams Middle school

Hallway

Renee's POV

Everyone from the auditorium was applauding for Riley and Lucas, even Maya, but nobody clapped for Farkle when he walked out.

I knew that Riley was feeling bad for him as she started to clap, everyone else joining in after her.

Farkle waves his hand around, enjoying the attention. "Thank you! Thank you Farkle nation!"

"Farkle, come here." Maya and Aurora called him but Riley cut them off.

"Maya, Aurora, don't. He thinks he was good."

"Yeah, we're gonna fix that." Maya confidently declared.

"But you can't tell him the truth! It'll crush him!" Riley protested.

"Oh, we can tell him the truth. It's you who can't because you're afraid." Aurora told her.

I was just silently watching the whole exchange with Max and Brandon by my side.

"I'm not afraid. I'm nice." Riley cleared.

"You're saying we're not nice?" Maya teased my twin with a smirk on her face.

"No. I'm afraid to say that." Riley answered.

"Let them tell him the truth Riles. You know Farkle. You know what happens after this if he doesn't know the truth soon." I advised her.

Riley listened to me and turned to face Farkle, "Farkle, you were so—what are the best words?" She turned her words at the last minute.

"He killed the play." I helped my twin, "Those are the words. Those are the only words. You killed the play. Tell him."

"What? What do they mean?" Farkle asked, confused.

"They mean....you killed it, Farkle. Killed it!" Riley hyped up her tone with the last two words of her sentence, "Showbiz talk."

"I actually thought I ruined the play. If you would've told me I ruined the play, I would've believed you." Riley was about to say something when Farkle continued, "I would've been crushed, but I would've believed you."

Riley sighed at his words, "How could I crush one of the best actors working in middle school today?" She was just making things worse.

"I'm a good actor? What if I'm better than good? What if I'm great? What if I'm the greatest actor who ever lived and I never knew it? That would be sad. Wah," he made a weird face, "It's okay, it's okay. I was acting. Thanks, Riley. My public awaits! Hello, everybody!"

Before we knew it, Farkle was gone.

"You've inflated his ego now, Riley," Max commented.

"You can't lie to him, Riley. You're gonna break our little Farkle." Maya expressed her thoughts to Riley.

Even though I knew what Maya was telling was right, I also knew that my twin was as stubborn as steel.

"Oh, I will not. I didn't do anything. This will all go away." Farkle came back and started tap-dancing across the hall right after Riley was done.

"She broke him," I stated.

"She definitely broke him." Aurora agreed with me.

"She a 100% broke him." Brandon gave the closing statement as we made our way to our next class.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

John Quincy Adams Middle school

History Class

Renee's POV

Today's lesson was about the truth. How did I know that? Dad had written the word "Truth" on the blackboard.

"Nice locket." I heard Riley comment as I turned in her direction.

I saw the locket on Maya's neck as well, "Yeah, looks good on you."

"You likey?" She asked us both.

"If history's about discovering the truth of what happened in the past, we should spend some time finding out what truth is." The class started with Dad's explanations.

"Where'd you get it-the nice locket?" Riley asked Maya.

"Shh...I came here to learn." Maya's statement caused us to break into laughter.

"All through history, people have suffered consequences for telling the truth."

"Is that real gold?" Riley questioned again.

"Don't know. Doesn't matter." Maya shrugged it off.

Dad was still teaching the lesson as I focused on him and the other two, alternatively. "They all suffered dearly for having the courage, to tell the truth."

"So sometimes it's better not to?" I asked, now feeling intrigued.

"But aren't there consequences for that too, sir?" Max asked Dad, linking my question.

"Yes, there are, Mr. Cooper. But in my experience with the universe, no matter what you do, the truth always finds a way of coming out. I hope that answers your question as well, Renee?" I nodded affirmatively. The school bell rang as soon as Dad was done.

As we were still sitting in the class Riley asked Maya a question again, "So....where'd you get the locket?"

"France."

"You were in France?" Riley asked, shocked.

"She's lying." Aurora's side comment went ignored.

"Si Senor."

"Yeah that's not French dumbo, that's Spanish." Max pointed out making Aurora, Brandon, Riley, Lucas, and I burst into small chuckles meanwhile Maya glared at Max.

"You didn't go to France because if you went to France, you would've brought Riley back a croissant," I spoke making Maya look at me.

The blonde swiped out a croissant at my words, "Bing."

"Oh look, she did indeed bring you back a croissant." I turned to Riley as I said that. Of course, I was only being sarcastic.

"Ooh, piping hot!" Riley happily took the croissant. Everyone except Riley walked to their lockers as she called out to Maya again, "Wait a minute, where'd you really get this?"

"I found it on the street," Maya revealed, making all of us laugh.

Riley made a disgusted face and got up as we all left the class asking Maya another question, "Come on, where'd you get the locket?"

"Ugh, Maya save us all the trouble and just tell her. You know she won't stop prying until she gets an answer." Aurora stated, uninterested and tired. 

"My father sent it to me." 

"He did?" All of us chorused at Maya's statement in disbelief knowing of her rocky relationship with her father.

"Y'all don't believe me?" Maya asked us.

"We believe you, definitely!" I exclaimed before Aurora could open her mouth. She sent me a subtle nudge by her elbow, noticing my actions. 

"Yeah, we believe you." Riley confirmed.

"So, this is over?" Maya asked Riley.

"Like it never happened. I do, however, have one question for the locket. Where'd you get the Maya?!" I shook my head at Riley disapprovingly. 

"Riley, come on, drop it." I tried persuading my twin who just ignored my words.

"You don't believe my father sent this to me?" 

"Why don't you just tell me?"

"Why don't you just call me a liar?" Maya and Riley continued to ask each other questions instead of calming down and talking. The others were just standing and watching the two best friends fight along with me, unable to do anything.

"Why don't you just tell me the truth?"

"Oh, so you do think that it's important?" I interrupted.

"I do."

"Did you think Farkle was good in the play?"

 I smirked as I caught Riley turning back on her own words. But unfortunately, it seemed like Farkle overheard us as he held his chest and made out a weird noise.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

The Matthews' Apartment

Dining Table

Renee's POV

We were all having a peaceful dinner, enjoying the food mom had cooked, when Riley spoke up.

"I want to skip ahead in your truth lesson. Is it okay to tell a little white lie to spare somebody's feelings?" My twin asked our dad.

"No." Dad firmly stated, "My feelings?"

"No." She answered.

"Then always truth." Dad looked at the chicken Mom cooked for him, "Wow, what do we have here?" The latter of the two smiled sweetly, "Chicken."

"I'll tell you right now, Topanga, this was never a chicken." Dad whined in disbelief.

"Why don't you just eat it, Honey. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of it after."

Alex immediately smirked at Dad, "Looks like the lesson came to bite you back."

He teased as I and Brandon joined him, "Uncle Cory, please show us how you prove your lesson."

"Demonstrate it to us Dad!"

"Oh, great teller of the truth, please demonstrate how you are going to get out of this one." Riley joined in as Mom cracked her neck.

Dad ignored us all and leaned towards Auggie, "Psst--what'd you get?"

"S'ghetti and Meatballs."

"Ooh, yum. Yum that! Why this me?! Why yum him?!" Dad whined again.

Mom nonchalantly just pushed the chicken closer to him. "Alright, fine, I'll eat it. Here we go. Have we prayed? Have we prayed? As a family? We haven't done that in a while."

We all held hands, "G'ahead. Pray." Mom said.

 "Oh, he'll pray!" I laughed as I took advantage of the situation to tease dad mercilessly.

"The world is a beautiful place, full of many beautiful things, " dad paused and looked up, presumably telling something to god, "look what she did to you chicken!"

"Eat your dinner, honey."

"Ok. I'll see you soon." Again, I assume he talked to god.

Dad took a bite of the chicken and complimented mom. But then, I remembered something, " You know daddy, sometimes when Auggie doesn't want to eat something, mom feeds it to him like it was an airplane."

Auggie even demonstrated how the airplane makes noise as he bites onto a spoon of spaghetti, "I like that."

"That's very sweet, Auggie and Renee, but uh, Daddy is a little too old for mommy to feed him."

Alex, Riley, Brandon and I flinched as Mom plunged a fork into the chicken and aggressively brought it closer to dad.

"Rest in Peace, uncle Cory." Brandon stated as we all laughed.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Next day, after school and in the evening,

Renee's bedroom

"How does one person trip themselves with their own leg?" Aurora exclaimed as she came in through the window of my room where Brandon and I were studying on my bed.

"They're clumsy, that's how." I snickered as Aurora glared at Brandon effectively making him shut up. 

"Where's Max? I thought he was coming with you?" Brandon asked, "Well he didn't finish his homework earlier so mom didn't let him go." I pouted, "Stupid Max forgetting his stupid homework." Both of them just laughed at my whining.

"Aw, don't worry babes, you're gonna meet him at school tomorrow." Aurora teased, "But, that's tomorrow, there's like so many hours and minutes until tomorrow..."

Brandon and Aurora just laughed at me. Again.

Suddenly Riley came into my room looking sad, "I think Maya's mad at me."

Brandon, Aurora and I gave each other worried glances, "What happened honey?" I asked Riley as I made her sit down on the bed with me. 

"She told me that she got her locket from a lost and found store that she walked by on the way home. I kind of accused her of being a thief because I thought that the truth mattered. That's when she got mad and left. And then she tried to avoid me at school and also possibly proved me wrong about the whole lying to Farkle thing."

I rubbed Riley's shoulder as she leaned her head on my shoulder, "What do I do Renee? The universe is so confusing."

"Honey, the universe will always be confusing, to be honest I haven't completely understood it either," 

"None of us have..." Aurora agreed with me as Brandon nodded along.

Suddenly there was a knock on the window which startled Brandon making him screech.

"Maya?" Riley asked hopefully as she jumped out of my arms.

"You yell like a little girl, Brandon!" Aurora laughed as she teased him, making me chuckle a bit too as he glared at us while huffing and crossing his arms.

 It was dad who knocked the window as I got up and let him in, "Mom kick you out?"

"Told more truth did ya?" Riley also guessed after me.

"Well, what I think I probably should've mentioned is, I've never understood the universe at all." We all chuckled at dad's confession.

"The universe is upside down. I lied to Farkle, he loves me. I told Maya the truth, she went out the window. Upside down, ya hear me?!" 

"Wait...isn't this all supposed to be happening in Riley's room?" I wondered out loud. Usually stuff like this would happen in said room.

"Eh, any room's okay, hon, though I like what you did on the wall behind your bed, the guitar wall mural represents you so good." Dad smiled as he looked at the mural.  

"Thanks dad! It was actually Max's idea! I'm really glad I listened to him!" I gushed. It really was his idea, he had proposed it to me when I told him I was getting my own room and wanted to decorate it but had no clue on what to do.

"I hate it. He just had to ruin it for me!" His smile fell as soon as I mentioned Max's name. 

I rolled my eyes as the other three just laughed at the sour look on dad's face.

"Hey..." We all turned our heads to see Maya as she climbed in through the window.

"Well, now she's back." 

"Maybe it's not as upside down as you think." I continued dad's sentence, "It's a nice locket, Maya."

"Thanks, Mr. Matthews."

Riley taunted Maya, "Looks like someone else's expensive, gold locket."

"Maybe it is. But you know I don't think that matters to Maya at all." 

"Why not, dad?" I asked as Brandon and Aurora took a seat on the bed along with me, "You know, it's the interesting thing about lockets, it's usually what's on the inside that matters the most to people. Isn't that right Maya?"

With that dad got up and opened the door, only to reveal mom standing there with her arms crossed and a devious, knowing smile on her face.

"Please don't tell anyone this is how I live in my own house." Dad closed the door and went out the window, "I'm pretty sure most of our classmates know already Mr. Matthews!" Aurora teasingly called out as he left.  

"What's inside the locket Maya, that's so important to you?"

Maya opened the locket instead of giving Riley an answer as we all leaned in to see a picture of a family, "Who is this family?" I asked.

"I don't know. A father. A mother. And a little girl. I just like that they're all together. I'm keeping it."

"Oh boy..." Everyone except Maya sighed.

A minute later dad crawled back into my room through the window, "She's at the front door too! It's like there's two of em'"

"Duh, aunt Topanga is everywhere~" Brandon teased.

Dad opened the door just as I told him not to, "RRrrrrrr!" mom gnarled at him as she held the chicken from before in her hand when dad slammed the door with a yelp.

He settled to sit with us on the bed, opposite to Riley and May who sat on the bay-window.

"So what do we do now just sit here or what?" he shrugged.

"Hey dad, can you tell me why I kinda think trying to help may have been Farkle wrong and that Maya should keep the locket? Is it me that's upside down?" Riley asked.

"You know what guys, the universe is the most confusing place you'll ever live. But it you listen carefully, you'll find out that it's paying attention. And that it cares about you." Dad explained.

"Is that the truth?" I asked.

"It's the only one I'm still sure of.." 

The door to my room opened again as Auggie and Alex came in with Auggie holding a plate of spaghetti and meat balls, "Hey Auggie! Is that for me buddy?"

"I made it for you!" Auggie happily nodded as dad knelt down in front of him while I looked at my little brother in awe.

"Auggie, thank you so much! Thank you!" Dad sat back down on the bed as he took a bite, "It's-it's cold s'ghetti..."

"I know it's better warmer but I don't know how to do that and Alex was being lazy."

"Hey! I'm here y'know!" We all chuckled at Alex's childish behaviour.

"Auggie, I appreciate that you did anything for me at all."

"You said that very nice, why didn't you say it that way to mom?"

"What? But all I did was tell mom the truth?"

"Then why do you get cold s'ghetti?"

We all widened our eyes as dad and I even let out a 'whoa'.

"Auggie, are you saying the truth doesn't matter as much as how you treat people?" Dad asked.

"Auggie, are you saying that the truth does matter but you should tell it to people warmly?" Riley asked.

"Augs, are you saying that the truth only matters as long as you take other people's feelings in consideration?" I asked.

"Auggie, are you saying that the universe pays attention to me?" Maya asked.

"Auggie, are you saying that there is a reason for everything?" Aurora asked.

"Auggie, how are you so wise?" Brandon asked as we all gave him looks, "Sheesh, I had to ask something..."

"Do you people realize that I'm/he's only this many?!" Auggie and Alex said in sync as they both held up five fingers.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

 Next day, John Quincy Adams Middle School,

Practice Room,

Renee's POV

"You're early..." I heard Max say as I entered the room only to look up in surprise, "You're early too...."

We smiled at each other as I gravitated towards him and sat beside him.

"Hey, when's Juliette coming back? The band is incomplete without her crazy antics." Max and I laughed as we remembered some of Juliette's craziest moments.

I shrugged, "She said she'd come back soon, she didn't say when." I had face-timed her last night after the whole drama had happened and she refused to tell her exact date of arrival to me.

I was hit with serious deja vu when Max and I brushed our knees and looked at each other in the eye. I could see his eyes trailing over my features but not going below my cheeks or nose. I sigh as I heard the footsteps of Aurora and Brandon (probably) nearing the room.

"I'll have my moment...soon." 

"I'll wait."

We smiled at each other again as we got up again.

"Let's get this practice started!"

We all laughed at Brandon's enthusiasm.

I may not know what the universe has for me in the future....but I can't imagine it without my friends by my side.  

━━━━━━

𝟎𝟓-𝟎𝟖-𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏

𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥!

ミ★ 𝘑𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴! ★彡

 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦! ●︿●

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳?

 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯! 𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦!(≧∇≦o)

  𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳? 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦!! 

 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘈𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘢, 𝘔𝘢𝘹, 𝘙𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦? 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵-𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮! 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?