Girl Meets World One Shots

Zay/Riley (Friendship)- Take it to the Streets

A/N: I said last time that I had two other stories in the works. Well, now I have three, but this isn't one of those three. I got the concept for this one in my head and felt like it needed to jump the line. Enjoy, and more at the bottom :)

TW: Police brutality and Racism

One evening, Zay and Riley were walking home from Topanga's. The entire gang worked there periodically to earn extra cash, and that day Zay and Riley had volunteered after school. The rest of their friends had hung out for a while before going home for the day.

The two eighteen-year-olds had just closed and were walking to the subway station when Riley decided that she absolutely had to stop inside of a corner store to get a snack and a drink. Zay merely laughed at his friend's antics before following her inside.

There weren't many other people in the store, just a man that neither teen could really see in the candy aisle and a man working behind the counter as a cashier. Riley ventured down the chip aisle as Zay went towards the drink cases, deciding to buy a Gatorade.

As he stood there looking at the drinks, Zay pulled out a couple coins to see if he had enough change to avoid breaking a ten dollar bill. As he was counting them, they slipped from his fingers. Not wanting to fool with trying to shove the bottle he had grabbed back into the case, and having nowhere other than the certainly questionable floor to sit his drink, Zay sat it haphazardly in his jacket pocket while he picked up the coins he had dropped. He quickly gathered the things that he had dropped before taking the drink back out of his pocket.

As Zay rounded the corner of the aisle to find Riley, he noticed the man that had been in the candy aisle standing at the end of the drink section now, staring at him suspiciously. The man was wearing a police uniform, and he was eyeing Zay like Zay was some kind of criminal.

Zay shook his head. Unfortunately, he was used to police officers, and well, people in general, looking at him like he was a threat. That was something that came with the territory of being black in America a lot of the time.

Zay quickly walked past the man, ignoring the glares that the man was giving him. He found Riley holding a bag of cool ranch Doritos and a Reese's cup. "Ready to go?" he asked her, wanting to head home, and wanting to get out of the store in case the police officer decided to make a scene.

"Yeah, just let me grab a water and then we can check out," Riley replied. Zay followed behind her as she made her way through the store, grabbing her water and walking towards the checkout counter.

Zay let Riley pay first before he quickly did the same. The pair made their way out of the store, but they didn't get far before someone grabbed Zay by the shoulder.

"What the hell?" Zay exclaimed as he was forcefully turned towards the person grabbing him. He groaned internally. It was the cop that had been in the store.

"You need to take back that drink and pay for it, son," the man growled, close to Zay's face.

"He did pay for it!" Riley said before Zay could, incredulous to the scene taking place in front of her.

"I watched you put it into your pocket and walk out of the store," he growled, ignoring Riley's statement. "You got a receipt, boy?" the man asked Zay.

"No sir," Zay replied quietly, wanting to stay as calm as possible. He mentally slapped himself for not getting one. His parents had always taught him to always get receipts to be able to prove that you weren't a thief, but he hadn't wanted to fool with one over a two dollar drink. The one time he didn't listen.

"I knew it, thief!" the man exclaimed.

Before Zay could respond, or even register what was happening, he was on the ground on his stomach with a knee pressing forcefully into his back.