for him. » riarkle

prologue » the aftermath of pinocchio's mistake

This chapter occurs immediately after Girl Meets New Year's. Just in case you haven't watched it and/or don't understand this chapter, Riley is thinking back on when Farkle told everyone at the New Year's party that Riley still loved Lucas because she'd promised to tell them anyway but hadn't. There are also many references in this fanfic that you may not understand if you haven't watched all of GMW so

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Riley Matthews had had no idea anything could hurt as much as the way it did.

"Riley still loves Lucas."

She should've seen it coming.

Farkle had told her, constantly reminded her, been the cause of her chronic arm pain from dragging him out the door to shut him up all the time, and yet she'd just brushed him off as always.

"I did the right thing, Riley."

She knew he had, he always did, but everything just hurt knowing her best friend had betrayed her like that. No, he hadn't betrayed her; she'd even agreed to his deal, it was all her fault, all hers.

"It's always my fault, isn't it?" she whispered to the empty room and earned a heavy silence in response.

He'd just walked away after bidding them goodnight, boots quietly clunking on the wooden floor, Riley unable to do anything but watch with pained eyes as the words unsaid hung between them. What she'd needed to say to him had been left unspoken, and she saw that he did not look back once walking away because he had said all he needed to say. His girlfriend was the one walking away with him - Isadora Smackle was the one on his arm as they walked off; she was the one watching the whirlwind of emotions on Riley's face with an undecipherable expression, not Riley. It was always her, not Farkle's classmate or Canada or best friend, but his girlfriend, and it hurt.

Yes, she simply adored Smackle-no matter how many times she denied it she was still such a sweetheart-but she knew that every day he spent with Smackle was a day he did not spend with Maya, Lucas, Zay, and her. And she knew that there would be many more of those days to come.

Put simply, she missed Farkle.

The party had cleared up a bit earlier, Riley's parents sending her off to bed while they cleaned up. Of course she did not obey; she was seated at the bay window with no light but the pink nightlight and the glow-in-the-dark purple cat to see by and a horrible, horrible feeling inside. She'd seen the gleam in Maya's eyes fade and the look of horror that suddenly crossed both her and Lucas's face when Farkle had outed her, and it made her feel horrible. She'd betrayed her best friends, lied to her crush, and most of all, neglected her Canada.

It was two o'clock in the morning and all she wanted to do was cry.

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The text messages were coming in ten at a time, Riley's purple-and-pink phone buzzing every few seconds. She'd attempted to ignore it, but at this point there was really nothing she could do. With trembling fingers, she picked it up, a soft glow illuminating the room as it turned on.

>°•★Farkley! ★•°<
Riley, are you okay? I'm sorry, I really am.

PEACHES♥♥
Riles how could you not tell me?

Lucas
What was that anyway?

Zippity-zoo-dah-zippity-Zay♪
Sooooooooo.

MoMmY
Thisis Augie! ;)

Instead of going through her texts as normal, she scrolled through until she found Lucas's contact. In truth, he was the only one with a semi-normal contact name-she just didn't know how she felt about him. She pulled up the text and hurried to type a response.

Lucas What was that anyway?
2:03 AM, January 1

Lucas.
2:03 AM, January 1

No matter what, we'll always be friends, right?
2:04 AM, January 1

Even if you pick Maya.
2:04 AM, January 1

She set her phone down with a sigh. She knew it was a lie; it would tear her apart on the inside if he picked Maya. But she'd just have to take on the world just like any other day and smile for the sake of everyone else. The phone buzzed on the nightstand.

Lucas Yeah. Even if I pick Maya.
2:05 AM, January 1

Then pick Maya.
2:06 AM, January 1

With that came no response, but content, Riley shut down the notifications on her phone and set it back down gently before clambering into the purple bed and pulling the sheets over herself.

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So this chapter was short af and didn't really mean anything, it just sorta gives you a timeline and backdrop and whatnot. We'll see what happens about the love blob - hint: someone might die :^)

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★ -YouMeMars- out! ★