Girl Meets Him

Girl Meets Texas- Part 3

"Riley, something happened."

"I don't want to know."

Riley and I ran down the stairs.

"Riley, something happened."

"I don't need to know what happened."

"No, I need to tell you. You need to know," Maya insisted.

"Maya, I know a lot of things are going to happen. You know what else I know? I liked the new boy, and you stepped back for me... and then I saw how scared you were for him. You need to feel whatever you feel. How could I ever keep that from you?" Riley questioned. "Whatever happens, happens."

Lucas walked past us, then backtracked when he realized it was us. Riley beamed when she saw him. "My brother!"

"Hey, hi. Hey, Riley. You know, um... I want to thank you again for believing in me and giving me the confidence that I would be okay," Lucas explained.

"I will always believe in you," Riley said.

Lucas looked at me. "Always, Friar," I assured him.

"And we will always be here," Riley added.

"Thank you, Riley," Lucas said. He turned to Maya. "Hi."

"Hey," Maya replied.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"Wow," Lucas said before walking into class.

"Hi, Riley."

"Hey, Charlie," Riley said, slightly smiling.

"Charlie Gardner!"

"Stop it."

"Maya, really?"

"Cheese souffle!"

"Maya. We just got back. How could he possibly know? Who could have possibly said anything?" Riley hissed.

Maya slowly turned around to face Zay. "He made me," Zay whined.

"How did he make you?" Riley questioned.

"I was like, you wanna hear a great Riley story? He said yes," Zay explained.

"I heard you and Lucas are just gonna be friends," Charlie admitted.

"Yeah, actually, what we're doing is-"

"I heard you're free," Charlie reiterated. "Are you free?"

~~~

"The Hoover Dam on the Arizona-Nevada border holds back ten trillion gallons of confused fourteen-year-old feelings that look to smack down the concrete structure of your life and my life, and I can't take it and I don't want it, so everybody sit here and nobody move!" Uncle Cory ranted. "Because as strong as the structural integrity of the Hoover Dam might be, just one little, tiny drop of water that makes its way through the barrier will chip away at the structural integrity of our lives as we know them, and the immediate result is the end of my personal happiness. So, your assignment is to hold everything back until I die and not let anything through."

Zay handed Riley a note. I looked between Uncle Cory and my cousin. "Riley, what's that?"

Riley shoved the note in her pocket. "Riley... Did something get through?"

"Riley, something happened between me and Lucas," Maya blurted.

"Oh, boy," Lucas muttered.

Riley turned in her seat. "Yes, Charlie. I will go out with you."

"Hoover Dam."

~~~

"Matthews, we know that everything you teach is about us, but this is just lazy!" Maya teased.

"I don't have the time!" Uncle Cory protested. "I'm going right for it. You don't think I could mash this up with the end of World War II if I wanted to? America loves Russia! Then America doesn't love Russia! Japan loves France now! Japan asks France to go bowling. So they go on a couple of dates, but then Japan says to France, I just want to be friends. So France says, I got enough friends. So they try to be civil with each other, but there's a certain chill while they're hanging out by the lockers. There's a chill! You don't think everyone in this room is going bowling with everybody else at some point? Riley, Maya, and Lucas is all about everybody in this room, in every room, in the whole world, and the universe! They just got there first! The jerks!"

"Dad!"

"You're going to high school. You are growing up in spite of my wishes. It's real now. What's happened already is nothing compared to what's gonna happen to you now. I just don't want anything bad to happen to you. Don't let anything bad happen to you!"

"The class isn't over yet, sir."

"Nah, I've had it." Uncle Cory walked out of the room, with his students still in the middle of class.

~~~

We were the only ones sitting in the history classroom.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm calling Farkle and (Y/n) time. You know why? Because every time it's their time, we learn somethin'. And I need to learn somethin'. Because you were in Texas, and I wasn't," Uncle Cory explained.

"Yes, we were, sir," Farkle confirmed.

"And would you agree that somethin' happened in Texas that's changing everything?" Uncle Cory questioned.

"Completely," I answered.

"Do you know what it is, and do you know how to fix it?" Uncle Cory asked.

"I know the first part," I said.

"Don't know the second part," Farkle finished.

~~~

Farkle and I walked around the science museum. We were holding hands, marveling at the exhibits.

"Us time," I said, laying my head on Farkle's shoulder.

"Us time," Farkle agreed, kissing my forehead.

"No love triangle. No Zay and Vanessa. Us," I assured him.

"What is going to happen to them?" Farkle asked.

"We're going to go through high school."