"GIRL MEETS THE REAL WORLD"
Today in history class was debate day and Farkle and Riley are debating against each other about the sun shining during the day. "'The sun shines during the day.'" Cory speaks to the class. He points at his daughter who stood behind the right podium at the front of the class. "Ms. Matthews will be arguing the affirmative."
"Good morning, everybody." Riley smiles. "You know why people say that in the morning?" She hits the top of the podium with her hands before going over to the window and opening the curtain which lets the sunlight into the room. She gestures to the sunlight. "Poom!"
She went to stand behind the podium while bowing. "Nailed it."
Maya shrugs with a smile on her face. "How could you possibly lose?"
Primrose points at Farkle. "'Cause of him."
"First of all," Farkle begins. "Let's understand that day and night are merely words invented by human beings to communicate simple conceptual constructs apropos of nothing."
Primrose couldn't help the grin that formed on her face while shaking her head. "I ain't got a clue of what you just said, but you were hot while you said it." She didn't mean to blurt it out, it just happened, and she couldn't stop herself from saying what she said. She felt herself blush with embarrassment when all eyes were turn on her.
Farkle looks at her with a bit of surprise along with everyone else, but then he smirks at her and leans an arm on the podium. "Oh, so I'm hot all the time then?"
Primrose felt her face heat up but she nods and rolls her eyes. "Well, duh."
Farkle's heart beat skipped a beat when she said that and Primrose swore she saw a light shade of blush form on his face as he turned to face the class again with a smile. "Anyway, science tells us that the sun is always shining,"
While he speaks Riley made silly faces and seemed to be mocking Farkle. "And what appears to be day and night is merely our angle of proximity at a particular time to the Earth's revolution."
Farkle looks at Cory. "And, for extra credit there's no such thing as time."
Riley does a time out sign with her hands. "Time!"
Farkle looks back at the class. "Therefore, our debate topic is false. The sun does not just shine during the day, it also shines during the night," Riley laughs in disbelief when he said that. "Just not on us."
Riley looks at the class with a smile. "I win."
"How do you win?" Cory asked her.
"Because I have high hopes." Riley replies. "Because when you believe passionately-"
"And our debate winner is Farkle Minkus!" Cory interrupted her and the class cheered for him.
Riley furrows her eyebrows. "I don't understand. I said what I believed. How could that be wrong?"
"There is no wrong, Riley." Cory shakes his head. "But there are rules to a debate."
"Okay, who cares about the rules when we know that the sun shines during the day?" Riley questioned.
Cory nods, looking at her with a smile. "That's interesting, isn't it?"
He looks at the class. "How often do we get so lost in what we think, that we refuse to listen to what the other side has to say, huh? You guys know why we debate in history class? History teaches us that most wars start because we don't listen to the other point of view."
Cory then challenged Riley and Farkle to switch sides in the debate. "Argue the other side. Farkle?" The two move to each other's podiums.
"The sun shines during the day. You know how I know?" Farkle moves over to one of the windows, opening it's blinds to let the sunlight shine through. "Poom!"
"Hey!"
"POOM is my acronym for 'Polar Oscillation in Orbital Motion'." Farkle explained.
Primrose shakes her head, feeling her face heat up again. "There you go being all hot again. Stop it."
Farkle smiles at her and looks over at Riley when she asks, "Farkle, what do you really believe?"
"The sun shines all the time. When we see it, it's day." Farkle responds, walking back over to stand behind the podium. "So for us the sun shines during the day."
Riley tilts her head to the side. "How do we know what you really believe if you can switch sides that easily?"
Farkle shakes his head. "I'm not changing what I believe. But a good debater needs to be able to argue both sides."
"Right." Cory nods. "And as you continue to grow, you'll find a benefit to understanding the other side of an argument. Because if you know what you're up against, you'll be ready for it."
"Oh," Riley scoffs, shaking her head. "I don't think I'll be ready to argue something as simple as whether the sun is out or not."
"Are people naturally good or evil?" Cory inquired.
"Good." Riley immediately answered.
Cory looks at the class. "All of you will argue good. Only one of you will argue the other side. Ms. Matthews..." He turned to his daughter who shook her head, looking at him with a glare.
"You wouldn't dare."
Cory nods. "You will make the case for evil."
****
Primrose sat at the bay window beside the right side of Maya. Primrose held a bowl of red lollipops in her lap while Maya had Riley's laptop on her lap. Riley sat on the bay window beside Maya's left side. Primrose and Maya decided to show Riley the evils of the world by exploring the news online.
"Okay," Maya speaks. "I think it's best we do this a little at a time."
Riley shakes her head. "Why?" Maya opened the laptop to show her what was on the screen. "Close it." Riley said when she looked what was on the screen and Maya nodded as she closed it.
"You want a lollipop for doing so great?" Primrose questioned, looking at the brunette-haired girl with a small smile.
"May I have a red one please?" Riley asked.
Primrose pretended as if she didn't have a bowl of all red lollipops and then finally picked one up, handing it to Riley. She smiles. "Here you go."
Riley takes the lollipop from her and rips off the wrapping. "Okay, so I wasn't prepared. But I'm glad you girls started out with the worst thing possible."
Primrose decided to keep her mouth shut for now, knowing what was on the screen at the moment wasn't the worst thing possible that's in the world. "You know what? You just tell me when to stop." Maya spoke to Riley, beginning to open the laptop to show Riley what was on the screen. Maya didn't even have the laptop open half way when Riley told her to stop. Riley licked her lollipop a few times before she told Maya to continue.
Riley's eyes widen, staring at the picture that's on the screen. "Please tell me that's the worst thing possible."
Primrose and Maya shared a look before looking back at Riley. Maya nods, speaking in a disbelieving tone. "Yep. There is. There's nothing worse than that."
"I don't want to live in a world like this." Riley gestured to the sheep on the screen that had half of it shaved and half of it not shaved.
"Riles, um," Primrose speaks softly, pointing at the wool sweater Riley is wearing. "You're wearing a wool sweater."
Riley's eyes widen and she quickly took off the pink wool sweater she had on, having a bit of trouble taking the sweater off.
"It's looking at you." Maya spoke in a playful tone, playfully throwing the sweater on Riley. Primrose giggled a bit while Riley freaked out again. "Ah! Get it off of me!" Maya got the sweater off of Riley, laughing along with Primrose. Riley then threw the sweater out the open window behind Primrose.
Maya looks at her with offense. "That's the last time I ever loan you anything!"
"Okay. What else ya got?" Riley asked them.
"You know what? How 'bout we just start with a small, simple, little place like New York City." Maya suggests and Primrose nods. "Great idea, Maya."
"Thanks." Maya grins. "I don't have them a lot." She opens up the laptop. "Let's just see what's happening in our own backyard."
As the three girls searched up what was going on in New York City, Auggie walks into Riley's bedroom. "Hi, guys." The three girls did nothing but look at him before they looked back at the laptop. Auggie frowns. "That's not nice." The three girls said nothing and looked at him again, but this time with a smile.
"Okay. It says today's local item is 'No Day at the Beach'." Primrose read out loud.
Riley tilts her head to the side, furrowing her eyebrows. "What's that?" Primrose doesn't reply and lets the brunette-haired girl figure it out for herself.
"'New York City beaches are overrun with trash.'" Riley read off what it said online. "'Bottles, cans, wrappers litter our beaches to the point where wildlife is endangered and people no longer can go barefoot.'"
"But I like the sand between my toes." Auggie said.
The girls look at him, watching as he left the room. Riley leans back against the pillow behind her, glancing at the two girls beside her. "Don't you hate it when people overreact?"
****
Riley claimed that she was 'transformed by evil' after she found out about all the evils in the world. Expect for Zay, the gang sat at their usual spot in Topanga's.
"Do you guys know what goes on out there?" Riley questions. "Climate change, poverty, war?"
"Yeah." Lucas nodded.
Riley frowns. "This is the way the world is?"
"We try to keep it from you." Farkle told her.
Riley looks at each of them with surprise. "You're all in on it?"
Maya smiles. "The Riley Committee."
"I pay dues." Farkle said with a smile on his face.
Lucas shakes his head. "There are no dues-"
Maya intervenes. "Quiet."
"It's worth it anyway." Farkle shrugs. "I think it's wonderful to have somebody among us who looks for good in everything."
"Well, that's over."
"Why?" Lucas asked Riley.
"Because I-I've seen things." Riley stutters out a response. "I'm not Simple Riley anymore."
Primrose shakes her head. "You shouldn't let reality change you."
From her spot beside the right side of Primrose, Smackle chimes in with, "Yeah, reality's only as powerful as you let it be. Sometimes you can create your own reality." She grins over at Lucas and Lucas looks at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Right, me and Lucas in Hawaii?"
Primrose chuckles lightly. "Smackle, don't say stuff like that out loud."
Smackle nods and looks back over at Lucas. She nods at him with the grin still on her lips, doing a bit of the hula while Lucas looked at her with shock.
"Knowing things changes you." Riley speaks. "I'm supposed to argue that people are evil, and now I can. I have started my research, and I will continue this dark journey that I can only call 'Riley Matthews: Evil Person'."
Primrose snickers along with the rest of the group. Riley looks at them with confusion. "What? You guys don't think I could be bad?"
Primrose shakes her head. "You don't have a bad bone in your body."
"Okay, do the worst thing that you can think of right now." Maya said to Riley.
"Hi, to everybody but you!" Riley exclaims to the blonde-haired girl beside her. Her eyes widen and she covered her mouth with both hands. She leans back against the chair, looking at Maya with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Riley." Maya shakes her head. She looks at their friends. "Guys, we're gonna be fine."
Zay suddenly rushes into the bakery, holding up a cookie with an excited look on his face. He looks at Lucas. "My cookie came."
Lucas grins. "Cookie day!"
"Everyone say it." Zay said.
Everyone repeated what Lucas said and Lucas and Zay were the only ones enthuastically about it. The others sounded more confused. Zay explains how the cookie he held in his hand is made by his grandmother and how she only ever sends him one so that he appreciates it more. He said that the cookie he held could possibly be the last cookie he could ever get from his Grandmother Gandy since she was getting older.
Primrose watches with wide eyes when Riley suddenly stands up and ate part of the cookie in Zay's hand. Lucas stands up, looking at her with shock along with Zay. "Are you kidding me?" Zay questioned, looking at the brunette-haired girl with a glare.
"Okay, that was bad." Maya commented.
"Bad?" Zay speaks in disbelief. He shakes his head. "What could she do worse than that?"
Riley points at him. "This cookie is only okay."
Everyone looks at her with shock and Zay even crumbled up the rest of the cookie he had in his hand because of how upset he is at Riley.
****
The three girls sat at the bay window later that night in the same places they were at earlier that day. "I'm evil now." Riley stated.
"Yeah, you're my new dark leader." Maya sarcastically commented, slowly clapping.
"What's next?" Riley asks her. "The heavy metal?"
"What's next is apologizing to Zay." Maya replied.
Riley shakes her head. "The evil don't apologize Maya. And now I have to tell you girls something, and it's gonna shake you up real good."
"Riley, just quit it, okay?" Primrose shakes her head. "Your five minutes of being evil is up."
"Maya, Primrose...There's apart of me that liked it." Riley informs the two girls beside her with tears building up in her eyes. "Seeing that look on everybody's face...there's apart of me that liked it. You two shook?"
Primrose looks at her with wide eyes, not expecting the little ray of sunshine also known as Riley to like being evil. "Yeah, a little."
Maya nods in agreement. "But we all have that inside of us, Riles. That's how we're made. We all have a little angle and a little devil that sit on our shoulders and try to win us over."
Riley looks at her and Primrose with surprise. "I have a devil?"
Maya nods. "Even you."
"She's wearing a red, sparkly halter top." Riley explained, referring to the little devil that sits on her shoulder.
"Okay," Primrose nods. "Does she have a name?"
"Sassy Haltertop." Riley responded.
Maya smiles. "Mine's Stabby McGee. We should get 'em together."
Primrose looks behind her when she heard movement and noticed the boys moving towards the bay window. So she scoots over along with the girls so that they could climb in since she was kind of sitting in the way. "Riley, apologize." Lucas said as he climbed through the window and Farkle followed him.
"We came over to give you a chance to apologize." Farkle said.
The door to Riley's bedroom opens a few seconds later revealing Smackle. "Came in through the front door 'cause I'm wearing a skirt." She shrugs. "Didn't know it was window day." She walks over to stand beside Farkle while Zay takes a seat on the bay window beside the right side of Primrose and Lucas sits beside the left side of Riley. "We know you feel awful about what you did."
Riley didn't say anything, she just smiles. Zay shakes his head. "Doesn't look like she feels awful."
"Would you just say you're sorry?" Lucas asked Riley.
"I can't." Riley shook her head.
Zay furrows his eyebrows. "Why?"
"It wouldn't be honest." Riley responded.
Zay points at her. "You ate my cookie, man!"
Riley shrugs. "And I liked doing it, okay? I've never done anything like that before and I would never do anything to hurt anybody, but something red and sparkly inside of me liked it."
Zay looks at her with a sad expression. "Well, okay for you, then." He climbed out the window after he said that.
Farkle follows him out the window but not before he kissed Primrose's cheek which made her smile and blush a bit since she wasn't expecting him to do that. "Riley," Lucas speaks to the brunette-haired girl. "Please apologize."
After he left Smackle explained how she was leaving through the front door because of her skirt. Primrose waved goodbye to her, smiling when the dark-haired girl waved back at her as she left.
"Girls, I don't get it." Riley says. "I've seen headlines now. I know things now. Why is this such a big deal?"
"Because you opened the door, Riles." Primrose sighed, shaking her head.
Maya nods. "The first bad thing makes it easier to do the next bad thing."
"I think I already did the next bad thing." Riley said.
Primrose furrows her eyebrows. "What did you do?"
"I didn't give Two Shoes Louie a dollar today." Riley answered. Primrose and Maya looked at her with surprise.
"What?" Maya exclaims with surprise. "You love Two Shoes Louie."
"Whenever you see him you always give him a dollar." Primrose reminded Riley.
Maya nods. "You go, 'Here you go, Two Shoes Louie'. And he goes, 'Thanks, Bright Eyes. Now I'm one dollar closer to getting my new pair of matching shoes'."
"He asked me for two dollars today." Riley tells the two girls beside her. "And tomorrow is spaghetti and hot dog day, and I want me some of that."
Maya furrows her eyebrows. "So you didn't give him anything?"
"No," Riley replies. "Maya, an extra dollar wasn't going to change anything, okay? And besides, it's a scam."
Primrose looks at her with wide eyes. "What are you talking about? It's not a scam."
Riley shakes her head. "We don't know what he does with that money."
"Riley," Maya speaks. "It's possibly he's saving up for a new pair of shoes."
"Or it's possible people are evil."
"Okay, this is all just to prepare you for the debate, right?" Maya asked Riley.
"Yes." Riley nods. "And life."
****
It turns out that everyone wants Riley back. Things just weren't the same without the old Riley. Because of the change of her personality, it changed the world around them. The class, besides Riley, declared that people are good since they recognize inherent goodness in others.
"Zay, what have you found out?" Cory asked, sitting on top of one of the desks.
"I noticed she ate my cookie." Zay replied.
Cory chuckles lightly. "Do you forgive her for that?"
Zay shakes his head. "No."
"And do you not forgive her because you're an evil person?"
"No." Zay replies to Cory. "I don't forgive her because I'm a good person," He looks at Riley with a glare. "Who lost a good cookie."
"Well, do you think you could ever forgive her?" Cory asked him.
"It might be possible I could forgive her in time." Zay shrugged.
Cory nods. "Why do you think that is?
"'Cause I was raised right." Zay shakes his head. "I don't know who raised her."
"Why so you think you might forgive her?"
"Because I know what she did isn't who she is." Zay answers Cory's question. "Sometimes good people do bad things."
"Thank you." Cory said, getting off the desk while looking at Riley. "Can we hear from the other side?"
"This is a world of poverty, hunger, and climate change." Riley responds. "And we know it, and we tolerate it, and we have not changed it."
"So, if the world creates opportunities for us to do something good or evil every day, and if that world is full of poverty, hunger, and war, doesn't the state of the world answer the question?" Riley inquires. "Doesn't it prove that the world is evil? That we are evil?"
"You win, Riley." Cory responded.
Riley shakes her head. "Oh, I didn't want to."
"Excellent debate, Ms. Matthews." Cory told her.
"It was Riley." Farkle speaks up. "She beat us."
"So, that's it?" Riley furrows her eyebrows. "People are really evil?"
"Well, let's find out." Cory smiles. "Switch sides."
Riley smiles. "This is a world we live in where children wake up at 4 in the morning to save starfish because something in them knows it's the right thing to do. Why do we lose that? Where does that go? We are born with the choice of good or evil inside of us, and as much fun as it was yesterday to do something bad, now it's today,"
She looks at Zay with an apologetic expression on her face. "And I know that doing a bad thing isn't fun at all."
Lucas looks at Zay. "She feels bad, man."
"I don't care." Zay shakes his head. "I want my cookie back."
"Sorry, buddy." Primrose chuckles lightly. "That's not possible."
"Zay," Riley wipes a tear that fell down her face, turning to face Zay. "I feel terrible. But I know that you're going to forgive me. I know that you're a good person."
Zay scoffs. "Possibly. In time. In a thousand years."
"Now. I am asking for forgiveness now." Riley chuckled lightly.
Zay walks over to stand in front of her. "No."
Riley turns to face where the desks are seated. "So I wrote this song."
Shaking his head, Zay outstretches his arms to her in a gesture for a hug. "I forgive you!"
"Please," Looking at him, Riley sighs. "Really forgive me."
"Ugh, why?" Zay questioned as he lowered his arms.
"There are two voices in us." Cory speaks up. "Both sides know how to present their point."
"Which voice wins?" Maya asked him.
Cory points at her. "That is the only debate that matters. That's the only reason the sun shines in the middle of the night. There is good and there is evil."
"I found that if you choose good," Cory continues while looking at the class with a smile. "The world is more than willing to help you out."
"Zay, this is the fault of Sassy Haltertop." Riley says to Zay. "She sits on my shoulder and she told me to do a bad thing."
"Yeah," Zay nods. "I think everyone has that, but why did you listen?"
"Because I never did before." Riley replied.
"There are two sides. You consider both, and you decide who you are." Cory continued.
"Look, Riley, I know who sits on your other shoulder," Zay said. "And Sassy Haltertop doesn't stand a chance against you."
Riley smiles at him, looking at him with a hopeful glint in her eyes. "So, you forgive me?"
"Yes," Zay nods, looking at her with a small smile. "I do. Because I know who you really are. So I forgive you right now."
"Thank you." Riley reached forward and wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he wrapped one arm around her waist.
Primrose raises her eyebrows, sharing an amused expression with Farkle when Riley suddenly starts singing. "Flour and sugar and butter and love that makes a cookie I tookie, I'm sorry I tookie. Forgive me!"
Zay looks at Riley weirdly, trying to get out of her grasp. "Let go of me, woman!"
"No, you need to sing back." Riley sang, guiding him out into the hallway.
"Lucas!" Zay yelled, obviously hoping that Lucas would help him get away from Riley.
Lucas laughs along with his friends. "You gotta sing, man."
****
After school that day, Primrose, Riley, and Maya went to Topanga's where Two Shoes Louie was sitting near the door of the bakery.
"Good afternoon, Two Shoes Louie." Primrose greeted, looking at the kind man with a smile on her face.
"Primrose the flower!" Two Shoes Louie looks at the three girls with a smile. "Maya, Papaya! Bright Eyes!"
"Hi," Riley greets him as the three best friends stand in front of him. Riley looks at him with an apologetic expression and Primrose could tell that she was really guilty about not giving him two dollars yesterday. "I'm really sorry that I didn't give you the two dollars the other day."
She outstretches her arm that held a bag of take-out food, looking at Two Shoes Louie with a smile. "But I brought you spaghetti and hot dogs."
Two Shoes Louie smiles, taking the bag from her. "I love spaghetti and hot dogs. Listen, Bright Eyes, I asked you for two dollars because I was only two dollars away from being able to afford a pair of matching shoes."
"You were?" Riley asked him.
"Yeah." Standing up, Two Shoes Louie nods. "And I wanted it to be you that gave it to me. But it wasn't you. It was somebody that I didn't know whose eyes didn't shine at all...Who didn't even look at me."
Riley gestures to the different shoes he wore. "But you're still wearing your same different shoes."
"Oh, yeah. Yeah." Two Shoes Louie nods, taking out something from his pocket. He offers two dollars to Riley. "Would you take this two dollars?" When Riley shakes her head, he continues to offer the two dollars to her. "Oh, come on. Take it."
Riley hesitantly takes it from him and Two Shoes Louie smiles. "Nice seeing you." He points at Primrose and Maya, looking at them with a smile. "You too, Primrose the flower, and Papaya."
Two Shoes Louie walks up the steps and a few seconds later he peeks around the railing, looking at the three girls with a grin. He then steps out from behind the railing. "Bright Eyes!" He walks over to stand in front of the three girls, looking at Riley. "Do you have two dollars?"
"Hmm." Riley shares a smile with Primrose and Maya before looking back at Two Shoes Louie. "Well, I believe I do." She gave Two Shoes Louie the two dollars he gave her.
Two Shoes Louie smiles at her. "I wanted it to be you."
"You're a good man, Two Shoes Louie." Maya commented, sending him a smile.
Two Shoes Louie nods and smiles. "I'm trying every day."