Deep Down

Part 2

The school halls were chaotic as ever, but Riley and Maya had finally mastered weaving through the crowds to reach their friends every morning. The boys and Smackle smiled when they approached.

"Morning, ladies," Farkle greeted with a smirk. Some things never changed.

"Good morning, everybody," Riley cheered.

"You guys get lost on the way here?" Zay asked teasingly, due to their tardy arrival.

"Why don't you get lost?" Maya said, giving Zay a playful shove.

Zay pretended to be in pain from her shove, making Maya giggle.

Lucas cleared his throat. "So, you ready for class?" He seemed to be directing it at Riley and Maya.

"Yes."

"Never."

They answered in unison and Lucas chuckled at their response. "It's hard to believe such opposite people are best friends."

"Even harder to believe you like them both equally," Zay said.

"It's not that hard," Farkle argued, earning a slap from Smackle. "What? You can hit on other people but I can't?"

"Precisely," Smackle answered.

Farkle smiled. "Oh, alright. Let's get going." He grabbed his girlfriend's arm and they left for their first hour together.

Lucas watched them go with a small trace of envy. He wished he could just as easily grab one of the girls like that and walk them to their next class without hurting the other.

"You okay?" Riley asked, noticing his off behavior.

Lucas gave a forced smile. "Yeah, fine. Just thought I forgot to do my homework for a minute."

Lucas was shocked with himself. He'd never lied to Riley before. For a minute he thought she could somehow see right through him.

"Oh," she said instead. "Well, you better hope it wasn't my dad's class."

Lucas grinned. "Right."

"I'll see you soon, then," Riley chirped, bouncing away as she always did.

Lucas watched her go and his face fell suddenly. Maya and Zay were leaning against the lockers laughing together as Riley approached and dragged Maya away to class. Zay waved goodbye to her and Lucas wanted to punch him after the smile Maya flashed back.

Oblivious, Zay looked up grinning his goofy grin. "We should get going, too. Coming?"

Lucas clenched his fist and bit back a snappy response. "Yeah," he said, barely opening his mouth. "Let's go."