What Are We Now?

(18) This Love Thing

"What are you doing."
"What do you mean?" Riley said looking up from her phone.
"I mean what are you doing with Charlie? You still love Lucas. I know you still love Lucas and you're here lying to our friends." Farkle exclaims. He was sitting next to Riley in the almost empty school hallway outside of history.
"I don't know what your talking about. I'm very much in like with Charlie. See." Riley held up her phone to Farkle's face. Farkle stared at Riley and bent is head to the side, giving her a look.
"What? Oh. I know it's sappy but look he called me princess and used a princess emoji face!" Riley says with a grin.
"Riley. I know your lying. So stop. Just stop or I will tell Charlie the truth over and over, until his ears bleed."
"Farkle. Stop it. I love you and you are one of my best friends. I need you to not talk about Lucas anymore because you're wrong, I don't love him. And if you keep this up. I can't be your friend anymore." Riley said getting up and walking into history class. Farkle sat there stunned. What just happened?

"Riley, what are you doing back there?" Cory asked his daughter, who sat in the back of the room with her boyfriend.
"Just sitting with Charlie, dad." Riley said with an embarrassed smile. Everyone had turned around in their seats to look at Riley. Well everyone except Lucas that is.
"Yeah Riles, you don't love me anymore?" Maya asked with a puppy dog face.
"Peaches you're mine forever. But I'm Charlie's forever too." Riley says with her infamous closed mouthed smile. Lucas froze, and he slowly looked up to stare at Maya. His eyebrows began to furrow, and his eyes cried out in grief. He didn't have to say a word, Maya knew he was dying inside. Maya mouthed something to Lucas that Riley couldn't quite make out. All she could make out was that Maya said this love thing... What love thing? How could her best friends betray her like this? Wasn't their friendship above everything else...
"Sir, may I have the bathroom pass?" Lucas asked.
"Mr. Friar class just stared; you should have gone before class. But go ahead, just hurry back. I have some important news to share with the class." Cory said with a sigh.
Lucas nodded and then got up and grabbed the pass and left the room without looking back. Riley watched him go, and knowing he would walk by the glass window outside of the class room, she leaned her head on Charlie's shoulder.
"Stop that!" Cory said with fake and exaggerated annoyance. But the damage was done. Lucas had seen it. And the images were burning into his mind, not to mention all the other colorful things that he had begun to imagine. Lucas slowly made his way to the restroom and once inside, he walks to the sink and holds onto its sides. He looks up to see his reflection. It mirrored all his pain in that moment and he hated it.
"Ouch!" Lucas groaned, sucking in air through his teeth. The pain grew only now it was physical as well. Lucas stared at his cracked reflection, for he'd punched the mirror. His jaw was tense with satisfaction, at least now my eyes are red from real pain, he thought.
"Lucas?"
"Maya? What are you doing in here?"
"I was worried about you. You didn't say anything to me in class...you just left. I got this love thing down...? She's wrong remember. Don't worry, that's not love, that's just smoke and fire. Come on Huckleberry, Mathews wants you back in cla-Oh my god! Lucas you're bleeding!"
"Wha- oh will you look at that, I didn't even notice." Lucas said. He quickly rinsed his hand with water and got a good amount of towels to cover his wound.
"Let's go. You're not allowed in the men's room." He said with a mirthless chuckle.
"I can't hear you dada-dada-dadadadada-woo-woo" Maya sing-songed.
"Yeah whatever you say. Oh and what was that you said about smoke fire? Where did that come from?"
"I don't know it just popped into my head Huckleberry." Maya said before sitting down in her seat.
"Hurry up Mr. Friar, take a seat." Cory said.
"Ok class now that I have you all here, I want to tell you all that this has been an incredible year. You all have learned a lot and you've all grown into who you are supposed to be. So much so I think I officially am no longer allowed to teach you all. I am so honored that I can be called your teacher. I want you all to know that you are more than ready to go to high school. So as a thank you, I have decided to take the whole class on a field trip this Friday."
"Mathews why'd you wait until we were leaving to be cool." Maya says tone that asked how he could be so oblivious.
"Yeah hambone." Farkle says with boredom.
"I couldn't have you guys liking me before. Then you'd never listen to me." He said with a shrug.
"Where are we going? That's the important question." Yogi says matter of factly.
"See, I have taught you all well. Yogi is wary because of the Trojan horse lesson" Cory said.
"Which was that we can never assume things, and just because something looks nice, it doesn't mean it is." Charlie says.
"That's right Mr. Gardner, I'm very proud. So to answer your question Yogi, I'm taking you all on a class trip to the bowling ally." Cory says with his hands in the air. There's a pause and then the whole class erupts into cheers and laughter. Farkle was the only one to say awww. But no one noticed. They were all too excited to be going on a trip that had nothing to do with education.
"Ok class calm down! Time for a pop quiz!"
"Awwww!"
"Yay" Farkle says.
"I knew it was too good to be true." Maya crossed her arms.
"It's ok okay peaches. You got this." Riley says with her baby voice.
"Willy? You sure wiley?" Maya asked in a similar tone of voice.
"Uh huh." Riley says nodding her head furiously, trying her best not to laugh.
"So what the plan for the trip Riley?" Charlie asked his beautiful girlfriend, after everything settled down. He was in bliss. He had his girl, her old crush was sort of in check, and she was clearly done with the guy. This school trip was going to be epic. Nothing could go wrong.
"We're going to break Lucas's heart, Charlie." Riley whispered, her eyes on Lucas.

Luck truly was on his side.

Happy Easter💜
As always ilysm🍥💕☪ and thanks for reading!
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