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★ ☆ ✰ ✮ ✯
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Neveah and Maya was concerned. Riley wasn't up and downstairs so they can walk to subway for school with Jake and Lucas. So, Neveah told them that they'll meet them and would see what's going on with the brunette.
Maya helps pull Neveah up on the stairs outside Riley's window, Neveah huffs. "We could've just walked through the front door, ya know?" She eyes Maya as the blond shrug her shoulders.
"It was quicker this way." Neveah shakes her head and blows the strand of curly hair out of her face then follows Maya to step inside the apartment through the window.
Neveah fixes her clothes and looks up as she stands beside Maya to see Riley still bundled up in her bed. Riley gives them a puppy eyed stare, "Cough, cough. Sniffle." Both of the girls' eyes widen as they rush to the edge of the bed.
"No, no, no, no. You can't be sick." Neveah says as she rushes to place her hand on Riley's forehead while Maya adds.
"I don't know how to do this life thing without both of you there."
Riley gently pushes Neveah's hand away and pouts, "I think I have the foo foo plague."
Maya and Neveah furrows their brows, realizing the girl wasn't actually sick. Neveah glances at Maya who was staring at her girlfriend.
"You do? And what do you take for that?" Maya asks.
"Foo foo medicine. And it makes you really sleepy. 'Night 'Night. Bye." Riley hides under the covers.
Neveah lifts up her hands as if holding a phone, "Okay, so I'm looking up your fake disease on the fake internet..."
"Can I have a sick day, please?" Riley begs.
Maya skims her finger against Neveah's hand as she 'reads' the website. "It wants to know if you have a crushing weight on your chest. Do you have a crushing weight?"
"Yep. Crushing weight. Yep. Yep." Riley yelps as Maya sits on her. "Oh, no! Oh, no! Veah, Maya, I really do." Neveah crosses her arms with a raised brow and smile. "I have the foo foos! It's like there's an elephant on my chest."
"Nah, she's, at most, a labradoodle." Neveah comments, Maya nods her head a little offended at Riley's words.
Maya finally gets off of the brunette as she and Neveah yanks the covers off of Riley. "Maya, Veah, you have to get far, far away from me. I don't you want you to catch this." Riley gives them a pleading look.
Neveah wasn't buying it, she thinks that something's bothering her God-sister. Maya on the other hand was playing along.
"I know. That would be terrible." Maya teasingly rolls all over Riley causing said girl and Neveah to laugh. She sighs once she was satisfied. "Okay, now can we please go to school now and get out of Rileytown?" Riley stares at the blonde with a stunned expression, Neveah gives her a concerned look just as Maya. "What? I just said, 'Can we get out of Rileytow- oof." Riley shoves Maya off her bed.
"Riley!" Neveah says as she helps Maya from the floor who keeps her eyes on her girlfriend. "What is it with you? That's just a word we made up."
"I know what that means. It means that I'm goofy and silly and weird." Riley frowns, which is weird because the girl never genuinely frowns. It's more of a puppy eyed, pout.
"It means you're unique, Riles." Neveah gives her a smile but it falters when Riley sends her a small glare.
"I don't want to be unique. I don't want anybody to notice me." Maya and Neveah share a concerned look before turning back to Riley.
"Since when? Rileytown is where you live. We even made your own flag and national anthem, remember?" Maya runs into Riley's closet and pulls out the flag that had a painting of the three girls.
Neveah and Maya hold onto the pole of the flag and waves it as they sing, "Rileytown, oh Rileytown...whee!" Maya pauses as Neveah sits the flag down.
"Yeah, that took us four days to write." Maya sheepishly says as Riley gets out of the bed to confront the two. "Is this serious or are we having fun?"
"You are both bullies."
Neveah laughs in shock, "Okay, that's not fun." She points.
"I don't like being laughed at, guys. Nobody likes being laughed at." Riley continues.
"We're not laughing at you-" Maya starts as Neveah's protective side kicks in fully.
"Who's laughing at you?" Neveah sternly questions, a serious look on her face.
Riley tries not to show too much emotion as she looks at her best friends. "You never should have come up with it, and you're both bullies. Okay?" With that, she leaves the room.
"Riley..." Neveah calls before stepping back next to Maya, the two girls glance at each other. "What just happened?" Maya shakes her head, just as confused as they eye the door where Riley exited from.
★ ☆ ✰ ✮ ✯
"In what ways do human being resolve conflict?" Cory asks the class, Neveah was staring at the back of Riley's head still replaying what happened this morning along with Maya.
"Bring in the mama." Zay speaks up, Eva raises a brow at the boy while Jake points in agreement.
"They talk it out." Farkle guesses.
"They go to war." Lucas inputs, Farkle turns to him.
"Why can't they talk it out?"
"They go to war!" Lucas emphasizes with a playful glare.
"Oh, okay. You and me against Farkle." Zay instigates, Lucas agrees and shake his hand. Jake and Eva looks in amusement as the three start going back and forth.
"They talk it out." Farkle leans forward.
"They go to war!" Lucas says back.
"Let's get him!" Zay tells the blonde boy as Farkle gets a styrofoam ball gun and shoots at Lucas and Zay. Jake shields his face as some of the balls make its way to his desk.
"You shoulda talked it out." Farkle shrugs his shoulders and puts the toy gun away.
Cory shakes his head at the kids before continuing, "Many conflicts escalate and do not end well. The story of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr is a prime example. Anybody know what happened?" He looks at his daughter. "Riley?"
"Please stop picking on me." Riley looks up at him, Cory furrows his brows with a smile.
"What?"
"They had a duel." Farkle answers, "Burr killed Hamilton."
"In 1791, Burr captured a senate seat from Hamilton's father-in-law, which launched their rivalry. Then Burr accused Hamilton of publicly insulting him." Riley receives a text on her phone, Cory looks at her. "Riley, no one should be texting you in class."
"I agree." Riley nods her head before shifting sideways to look at Neveah and Maya. "I don't you want you guys to say 'Rileytown' anymore."
The two girls frown. "We like Rileytown." Neveah says.
"Yeah, we like you and we like to say whatever we want." Maya adds.
"Now, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel to resolve their conflict." Cory continues.
"Maybe that's what we should do." Riley says, Neveah scoffs and leans back into her sit, crossing her arms.
"Maybe you want to hear what happened to them first." Maya tells the brunette and allows Cory to finish.
"Hamilton believed the duel wasn't morally right, so he fired his pistol in the air. Burr, believing he had been shot at, fired at Hamilton and killed him." Neveah and Maya gives Riley a look.
"So, why am I telling you guys a story about what happens when you fail to resolve a conflict peacefully?" Jake raises his hand. "Jake?"
"People get hurt."
Cory nods his head, "What do we need to learn?" He looks at Riley.
"I need to learn how to resolve a conflict." She rushes out, her friends turn to her all confused.
"What's going on?" Cory worriedly asks, he turns to Neveah and Maya for an answer.
"She thinks we're bullies because we keep saying something she doesn't like." Neveah tells him.
"A bully isn't someone who says something you don't like. A bully is someone who uses power and intimidation to hurt others. There's a big difference between having a conflict with friends and having a bully." Cory gestures to the two girls as he walks to Riley's desk. "So don't just throw that word around."
"There are other words you shouldn't just throw around, either." Riley turns at Neveah and Maya.
"What? Like Rileytown, the place where you live because you're there right now?" Maya tells her girlfriend.
"I asked you both not to. Why do we have to keep on talking about this?" Riley argues.
"Because the most powerful tool in the human being arsenal is the ability to solve conflict with words." Cory explains.
Riley narrows her eyes between the two girls. "You think I'm goofy, silly, and weird."
Neveah scoffs, "No kidding. You're unique and wonderful, and we love it here in Rileytown." She gestures between her and Maya.
Riley stands up with a glare, "I challenge you both to a duel."
Cory sucks in a breath with a nervous laugh, "Okay, you're not really understanding this at all. Girls, please help her understand."
Both of them stand up as they look up at the tall brunette. "We accept."
"Duel to the death." Neveah adds, she glares at the girl.
Cory gives up and points at them, "Thank you very much." He sarcastically says as the three girls have a stare down.
★ ☆ ✰ ✮ ✯
The eight friends were in Topanga's using it as the battlefield since customers weren't there yet. All three girls stand on opposite sides with ice cream cones in their hands as weapons.
"So, how are we doing this?" Neveah asks Maya as she narrows her eyes at the brunette across from them.
"Two on one. We give it away and hope that Riley does the same." Maya says, Neveah hums as Farkle slides over to them.
"You will come back to me after the war, won't you, Darlin?" Farkle says in a Southern accent.
Neveah gives him a small smile and tip-toes to peck his cheek. A cheeky smile falls on his face as he blushes.
"Why are you my second, Huckleberry?" Maya raises a brow at the blond boy.
"Well, it was decided if things get out of hand, I was the best choice to contain you."
Maya scoffs out with a laugh, "Oh. You think you can?"
Lucas nods his head. "Yeah, but I'll probably pay for it pretty good. Along with Zay when he has to help Farkle with Neveah." He nods his head over to Neveah who was holding the ice cream cone with a heavy grip, causing the cone to get crushed a little and a bit ice cream seeps onto her hand.
Maya sucks in a breath and eyes Zay who looked a little nervous at the curly haired girl. "Yeah, you're better over here." Lucas hums in agreement, intimidated by the short girl.
"Why would you let them do this?" Cory whispers to his wife as they stand behind the counter watching the kids.
"Oh, it's a slow day and the ice cream expires tomorrow." Topanga nonchalantly shrugs.
The three girls turn and presses their backs against each other, Maya starts scratching her backside against Riley's side causing Riley to crane her neck.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm itchy." Maya cutely says with a smile, Neveah giggles a little as Zay walks to their side.
"Maya, Neveah, as the ones challenged to this duel, you get the first shot." He tells them, the two nod their heads. "All right, you'll take three paces, turn, and fire."
Farkle looks at Zay impressed, "How do you know how to do this so well, Zay?"
"Well, back in Texas, we call this a Wednesday." Jake glances at his boyfriend for confirmation, Lucas nods his head. "Ice cream ready? One...two...three...turn...fire! Wait a minute. Something's wrong." Jake and Lucas pull him away from Riley and Maya's path. Zay sighs in relief. "Oh, that would have been bad. Fire!"
Maya and Neveah glance at each other then turn to hand the cones to Cory and Topanga. Cory holds Neveah's watching as some of it gets onto his hand because of the somewhat crushed cone.
"That's the best way to resolve a conflict I ever saw." He raises the cone to lick the ice cream and smiles. "This tastes one day before expired."
Topanga shakes her head at her husband and hands Neveah a wipe to get the sticky substance off her hand before turning to her daughter. "Riley, take a hint, please, so we can all be done with this."
"This will be done when you treat me like an ordinary person who nobody notices." She tells her best friends, the two frown.
"You're not. You're a sweet, weird little goofball and we love you just the way you are." Maya says.
"So deal with it." Neveah finishes and the two goes to give Riley a hug but said girl smears the ice cream cone in Maya's face before taking the access and does the same to Neveah then walks out of the bakery. Everyone looks at them in shock as the two stand there, face covered in ice cream.
Lucas and Farkle goes to them and dry their faces with a towel. Neveah grabs it from Farkle and cleans her face herself before wiping the floor and bringing it to the counter.
"No need to contain us, guys. We're fine." Maya assures them. Eva gives them a worried expression, "How are you fine? You don't look fine."
Neveah shakes her head and points to the door, "Because that's not Riley at all. Something's really wrong." She glances at Maya as Cory and Topanga starts heading to the door to find out what's wrong with their child.
"Mr. and Mrs. Matthews..." Maya stops them, "Riley, Veah, and I have a conflict. It won't teach us anything if you guys step in."
The two adults glance at Neveah who nods her head in agreement.
Cory nods his head, "Okay. We're here if you need us."
Neveah gives him a small smile, "We know."