Back To Basics

Sparkling.

In the weeks that followed Lucas' spontaneous night visit, Riley found herself feeling conflicted. She was stuck between wanting him to reach out again and wishing she could just move on. It wasn't how she envisioned staring off senior year. She wanted a fresh slate, nothing holding her back from enjoying herself or becoming involved. She didn't want to fall off the face of the earth just because of some guy. No matter how minty green his eyes were.

She'd been spending a lot of time by herself lately and when she wasn't alone she was third wheeling which still felt just as lonely. Farkle and Isadora were spending as much time together as they could because they both got early acceptance into the ivy league of their choice. The only problem was they were in two separate states.

Maya had fallen crazy in love with a drummer named Jake. Riley didn't have the heart to tell her how much the new boy resembled her older brother, instead she chose to be happy for her best friend and let things play out the way they were meant to.

Charlie apologized to her and wanted to make amends and Riley forgave him but she wasn't able to forget what he'd done. She accepted his apology but wasn't interested in rekindling their old friendship.

She wasn't sure what it was exactly but lately she's been less into second chances. Maybe she thought no one deserved them anymore.

She stood in front of her full length mirror, glancing over her outfit. New York was in a weird place weather wise. It was October but the chill hadn't come in completely yet. Some days it still felt like summer and others felt like winter was right around the corner. Today was more on the colder side. She opted for a grey knit sweater dress, tights and over the knee boots.

"There she is" Zay sung while climbing through Riley's bedroom window. "There's my girl." Once he's on his feet he reaches over and pulls her in for a hug. She hasn't seen him for a couple of weeks now, maybe a month, and she knew it was because Lucas was back in New York. Zay and her might have gotten extremely close over the last year but she's always known where his loyalty lies.

"What're you doing here?" Riley asks, already knowing the answer. She watches him shrug his shoulders several times before he plops down on her bed making himself comfortable. It was a habit her father hated. Whenever he used to come over during the end of junior year he'd always make himself a little too much at home. At least in her father's eyes. Her Mom understood that she and he were just friends but in Cory's eyes he was still a boy sprawled across his daughter's bed.

"What? I can't pay a visit to my good friend?" He gasps dramatically, sitting up to face her. He gives her a little smirk before his tone becomes sincere. "You know why I'm here...Lucas is back and we had a deal."

She was hoping he forgot about that. See, after Lucas left Riley made Zay promise that if he ever came back he'd force her to deal with it head on. Apparently, she was notorious for hiding whatever she was really feeling, at least according to him. That was the one and only timed either of them mentioned him by name.

"I already confronted him." She informed, zipping up her boots. She was already on her way out when he climbed through the window hindering her get ready process.

Since it was Friday night Maya was bringing her to watch her boyfriend perform at a pub in downtown. It wasn't really her scene but she didn't want to spend another night at home by herself.

Zay narrows his eyes at her. "You confronted him when he left that type writer on your seat, back in September. I'm talking about what happened after that."

"You know" he continued, "when he showed up in the middle of the night soaking wet from the rain to tell you that he was in love with you."

"How do you know about that?" She knew the answer was obvious. She hadn't told anyone about it and the only other person who knew was Lucas. She wasn't stupid, she could put two and two together.