complicated [lucaya]

24

Lucas

"So, is there a reason why you're not speaking to your girlfriend?" Farkle immediately asked as he took his seat across from me at Topanga's. I can only imagine what Riley has told this man. Aside from my fake relationship with Maya, I haven't made it a habit of keeping him in the loop.

I sighed and fixed my eyes on Riley, who was taking a customer's order. "I just can't get over what she said to Maya the other day." Then I looked back at Farkle, who clearly wanted a deeper explanation. "It was really messed up and out of line, dude."

"What even happened? The girls have two different stories."

I proceeded to fill him in on everything he's missed. It's almost crazy how much time we don't spend together as a group anymore, and I can understand how it feels like he's missed everything in the past few weeks. "And, now Maya won't talk to me."

"Wait, why isn't Maya talking to you?"

Not feeling the courage to tell Farkle the real reason she won't talk to me, I just fed him some bullshit about how she thinks it's for the best until Riley calms down. Sounds like something Maya would say, right?

Lying to Farkle is one of those things I have a hard time with. He's never anything but honest with me, and definitely my best friend. I want to tell him about Maya. I wish I could ask him what to do about Riley, but I can't. The girls mean the world to him, and he'd immediately confront Maya about it, then snitch to Riley before anyone gets the chance to say anything. I can't subject them to that.

"Okay, well did you really come here just so that you could let Riley stare at you, as you ignore her?"

I let out a small chuckle and shook my head. "I actually didn't know she worked today. I was low-key hoping Maya would be here."

Farkle nodded and we shifted our gaze to Riley. "Do you think you made the right choice?"

"What choice?" That question caught me off guard. I knew what he was getting at. We haven't talked about that in a long time.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," he started. "You took your precious time choosing between them, and then you turned around and dated Jaycee, and literally everyone but Riley."

I raised my eyebrow, "What are you getting at?"

Farkle shrugged and looked back at me, "Maybe everything that's happened recently is you regretting your choice." He stood up then subtlety gestured towards Riley. "I don't know what's going on in your head, but don't break their hearts just because you don't know what you want.

My friend left me alone in Topanga's to reflect on our conversation. Maybe he had a point. I even admit to Maya a while ago that I wanted to choose her when we were 14, so why didn't I? I love Riley don't I? But if I wanted to be with Riley this whole time, why did I wait nearly three years to even pursue a relationship?

"Can we talk?"

Her voice brought me back from my thoughts and I looked up at Riley, who was had taken the place of Farkle. "Depends, are you done being an ice princess?"

She nodded. "I deserve that. You're not wrong."

Grabbing her hand on the table, I gently played with her fingers. "What do you want to talk about?"

Taking a deep breath, she nervously tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. "I'm really sorry for being so awful lately."

"I don't think I've ever seen you act so malicious, especially towards Maya." I looked into her brown eyes, and I could tell that she's been having trouble sleeping. "It's a side of you that I'd rather not see again."