Girl Meets Collection of Stories

His Moment

"I'm going to be sixteen tomorrow, Maya. This is my biggest birthday yet!" Riley was so excited to be sixteen, "Once I'm sixteen, my life is gonna change." The two girls were eating lunch in their high school lunchroom.

"Who gave you that silly idea, Riley?" Maya asked, amused at her naïve best friend, as she played around with the meat loaf on her plate.

"You did. Look at what happened at your sixteenth birthday party: Shawn proposed to your mom! You got a family. Your life changed when you turned sixteen. Mine should too." Riley replied passionately, stabbing her mashed potatoes.

"Riley, it took me sixteen years to get what you've had your whole life. This isn't about you catching up to me. I finally caught up to you," Maya countered, pointing her fork at the brunette next to her.

"I guess," Riley responded, "I just really want something special to happen for me when I'm sixteen."

"I'm sure it will, Riley," May assured her as they continued eating lunch.

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Riley, Maya, Lucas, and Farkle were all at the Matthews apartment along with Katy and Shawn. Amy and Alan came up from Philly, Josh came by from NYU, and even Eric came down from upstate New York.

Riley loved all of her presents. She got a ring with her birthstone from her parents and a photography book from Shawn and Katy, as photography had become a big hobby for her. Her friends bought her a couple their favorite movies.

Lastly, Amy and Alan, and Josh, who had his name signed to the card too, gave her two train tickets, knowing she'd want to bring Maya, to spend the weekend with them in Philadelphia.

"Time for cake," Topanga announced, as the group all gathered in the kitchen, around the birthday girl.

As "Happy Birthday" rung out around her, Riley took in the smiling faces of all of her favorite people. A smile began forming on her face, but she still had this feeling in the back of her mind. She closed her eyes to make her wish. She wished for something, anything, to happen to her so she'd know being sixteen would be different.

She took a deep breath and extinguished all of the candles with one puff. Everyone cheered and applauded for her and Riley just hoped her wish would come true.

After the cake had been cut, dispersed, and devoured, the guests began leaving one by one. Amy and Alan wanted to get back home before it was too late, so they said their goodbyes first. Josh wanted to get back to campus and Eric had work to do, so the brothers took off, one after the other.

Shawn and Katy wanted to get home and spend some time together, still in the honeymoon phase of their marriage, since Maya would be sleeping over at Riley's. Lucas and Farkle were the last to go once Cory and Topanga told them it was time to go and they respectfully obliged.

When all the guests had left, Riley and Maya took the gifts back to Riley's room.

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A still disappointed Riley sat with Maya on her window seat. Something big was supposed to happen today, but nothing special happened. Being sixteen didn't seem any different than fifteen.

"Today was supposed to important, Maya. Why did nothing special happen??" Riley bluntly questioned.

"You had a great party, Riley. And who knows, today isn't over yet," Maya answered optimistically.

All of the sudden she heard something hit her window. A few seconds later she heard the noise again. It was a pebble hitting the glass pane. Riley raised the glass to see Lucas standing on the sidewalk, staring up at her with another pebble in his fingers.

"Lucas, what are you doing?" Riley said with a loud whisper, surprised but still very happy to see him.

"Can I come up?" He asked with a big smile spread across his face.

"Yes!" Maya piped up before Riley could say anything. Lucas climbed up the fire escaped until he reached the landing right outside her window. Maya pulled Riley by her arm to allow him space to climb into the room and sit beside them.

"Lucas what are you doing?" Riley repeated, still wanted to know why he came back.

"Remember when I said my moment...would be...my moment?" Lucas questioned back.

"Well yes, but what does that have to with you coming back?" Riley still didn't understand what he was doing but Maya was beginning to.

"I thought my moment was gonna be tonight but I never had an opportunity. Walking home, I realized I just had to come back and create my own," Lucas answered her as Riley started to realize what was going on.

"So now is your moment?" Riley continued asking.

"I hope so," he responded, both of them were now smiling at each other. Riley looked down at the floor as she started to blush. He reached his hand up to her face, lifting her chin so he could see her eyes again. He softly stroked her cheek with his thumb.

He leaned forward and kissed her, it was sweet like when she kissed him on their first date and yet completely different, as she felt this one all through her body. It lasted for at least a few seconds. Riley lifted one of her hands from her lap, grabbing onto his hand that was on her face, cupping her cheek.

After a little while, he pulled back, still smiling. It was contagious, as Riley couldn't stop herself from smiling too. She kept looking at him hoping what had just happened wasn't a dream.

"Happy Birthday, Riley," Lucas said, lightly kissing her cheek before climbing back out of the window.

"Thank you, Lucas," Riley called after him as he turned and waved goodbye as he walking back to the subway.

Riley, still very surprised by what just happened, sat with Maya in silence for a few seconds.

"Well, look at that," Maya said as she put her arm around Riley. who was now starting to giggle, "Something big did happen. Your life just changed."