Girl Meets Season 4

13. Girl Meets Texas Lucas

Zay saw it constantly, the frayed edges of Lucas' old personality, it didn't come out as much as before and it had slowly started to disappear. He knew it was because of Riley, he felt guilty constantly because he had contributed in how triangle had gone. He made constant jokes about it and watched the despair in his best friend's face. When he had gotten to New York during middle school all he had wanted was his old friend, the one who always protected him. Now Zay realized that making Lucas turn back into that person wasn't going to happen because he was better. He still protected everyone, but he didn't have this anger floating around him anymore.

Riley made him a better person, he worries about her, he's always trying to make things better for her. If Zay would say it aloud it felt like the two of them were like an old married couple, because while Lucas worried and did all kinds of gestures for Riley, she would calm him and make sure he worked towards his dream of becoming a veterinarian, she made him smile and for those things alone Zay was grateful that his best friend had found someone he liked so much.

Now he sat in a near empty classroom as Lucas paced back and forth with worry, as Riley sat outside the room about the confront her bullies.

"She's going to be fine Lucas," Zay said for the millionth time, but Lucas only stared back at him for a minute before he started pacing again. "Listen she can take care of herself."

The rest of their friends were in the hallway just above the hole, where the seniors had put them freshman year, where they learned that being together was their safe place. The hole meant so much and yet it brought horrible memories but in the end it had made their friendships stronger.

"I know you're freaking out, but don't go all Texas on us, Riley wouldn't like that," Zay said trying to plea with his childhood friend. At the mention of Riley's name, Lucas stopped pacing and just stood there.

"Thank you," he said before sitting down by the door, opening it just enough in case Riley needed any help. Zay sat down next to him and patted his shoulder trying to give him strength.

----------------------------------------------------

Riley looked at Missy first, she hadn't seen her since seventh grade, the girl wasn't in any of her classes since then. She couldn't figure out why Missy hated her so much except for one glaring reason, Lucas. Her eyes moved to Emily next, someone she had never met until she came to Abigail Adams, and yet she shared the same hatred as Missy all because Riley was with Lucas. The last girl was the one person Riley was never going to forget because she had once bullied Riley in eighth grade, she had made her cry and made her pull away from her friends.

"Why?" was all Riley could ask before one of them pulled her and slammed her towards the wall. Riley didn't react, she didn't know how all she knew was shock.

"You want to know why," she said, forcing Riley to remember middle school, the messages on her phone all because she was who she was.

You exist and you're weird, and you get in the way of where I'm looking.

"Yes, I do"

So stop being weird and stop being happy.

"Because you get everything in the world handed to you, while the rest of us struggle just to get someone to notice us," she said.

No one should be as happy as you.

"I don't have everything handed to me," Riley said trying to reason with her.

Stop being who you are.

"Everything I have, I've worked for," she continued. "I can't stop being who I am because I'm always going to be this weird girl, who's always happy, and tries to look at the best in the world."