Secret of Life

Philadelphia

- Riley's POV -

"Up and at 'em kids, it's ROAD TRIP DAY!" Opening my eyes, I'm momentarily blinded by the morning sunshine that is flooding in through the bay window before I'm greeted by the beaming face of Uncle Josh, who is talking into my hairbrush as if for it to be a microphone. "Here we have Riley Matthews and Maya Hart, two of my favorite girls, who really need to get their lazy butts out of bed! Because today isn't just any day folks, oh no. Today is road trip day!" Maya laughs beside me at Josh's attempt to sound like a talk show host, pulling back the covers and climbing out of bed, taking the brush from his hands to run it through her tangled mess of blonde hair.

"It only takes like, two hours to get there, Uncle Josh."

"It's still a road trip, nonetheless. Niece, why do you have to rain on my parade?" I can't help but laugh myself at Uncle Josh's evident enthusiasm. It's clear he's excited to have us coming along on his visit home. "Lucas, Farkle, and Zay are already here, Isadora is on her way. Topanga made pancakes, come eat so we can get on the road!" He informs before jogging out of the room.

"Well, someone's excited for the trip." Maya chuckles at my comment, shaking her head after Josh. By the time Maya and I change from our pajamas and pack our small overnight suitcases, Isadora has arrived at the apartment and the seven of us have scarfed down a quick breakfast of Mom's pancakes. The boys carry the bags down to the cars before we all gather upstairs to say goodbye to my parents.

"Have fun, kids. And remember to drive safe." Mom and Dad stand in the doorway together as we make our way out,

"Call when you get to Grandma and Grandpa's." Dad adds.

"We will, dad. Love you, guys."

Mom smiles, waving her hand in goodbye.

"We love you, too. All of you. See you in a few days."

Five minutes later, we're on the road headed to Philadelphia. Josh, Maya, Farkle, and Is have piled into Josh's car, leading the way down the stretch of busy highway. Lucas and I are following close behind with Lucas driving, the two of us enjoying Zay's commentary from where he is seated in the back. We stop at a gas station, filling the tanks and picking up snacks for along the way. A while later we're on our way out of New York City, singing along to the radio as I demolish a pack of gummy bears.

"Good girlfriends share." Lucas hints with a smile. I reach over, putting a gummy bear into his open mouth as he keeps his eyes on the road. "You're a good girlfriend."

"I know, I know." I respond, chuckling gently, biting into a gummy bear.

"Riley Matthews, gummy bear murderer."

Zay chimes in as I continue to giggle from Lucas's comment. 

"Striking fear into the hearts of gummy bears everywhere."

I turn around in my seat to face Zay, pulling at the head of a red gummy bear my teeth in order to take it off with emphasis. 

"You have to bite off the head first." I hand him one, watching as he does the same. "It's more humane that way." 

"So they're not in pain, right?" Lucas asks, turning the dial on the radio. Turning back in my seat, I reach over to grab his hand that's resting on the console, intertwining our fingers.

"Exactly. You know me so well." 

After a little over two hours of listening to the radio, talking about our senior year thus far and eating enough gummy bears to make me sick, we are driving into the city of Philadelphia.