Lucas
I ran after Riley as fast as I could.
There was no way I was going to let her blame them for this.
I'd come back to fix everything.
My heart was finally starting to heal after Cara's death and there was no way I was going to let Riley get away without trying to explain.
"Riley!" I yelled at her figure descending down the school steps.
"Leave me alone, Lucas. You're the last person I want to talk to right now."
"Why because I stayed in contact with my friends?" I yelled upset, "For protecting you from the things I've done? You can't blame them for keeping you in the dark! I told them not to!"
"Oh yeah some protection you have given me!" she yelled back, "Having our friends lie to my face and break my trust is just peachy!"
She walked down the street as quickly as she could but I knew my long legs would catch her.
"Riley, please just hear me out," I pleaded.
"And why should I?" She asked staring down at her phone which was being blown up by messages from everyone, "Why should I listen to anyone of you?"
"Because we cared about you enough to protect your innocence," I said hopefully.
She stopped and turned around slowly.
"My innocence? Don't give me that crap! This isn't the Riley committee all over again! I'm a freaking grown ass young woman! I decide what I will allow to hurt me. None of you had the right to let me think...."
She began to choke on her words as her eyes misted over.
"To think what?" I asked softly.
Our eyes met and I saw real pain.
"None of you had the right to let me think you left because I wasn't good enough. All of you let me believe that I would never be enough for you because as far as I knew you'd left because you realized you'd been in love with Cara and she'd just died on you!"
I flinched at her words.
"None of you had the right to let me believe I never meant anything to you," she finished sadly.
"Oh Riley," I said upset at myself, "that was never it."
"How was I supposed to know that?" She said angrily, "You never gave me any explanation! And I didn't know you'd given it to anyone else!"
I understood her perspective clearly.
If she'd disappeared like that out of nowhere, I'd be questioning everything we'd ever had.
"I'm sorry you felt that way," I said, "But trust me when I say that I've thought about you everyday since I left. And if I had had a choice I would have been here with you."
"I wish I believed that," she whispered sadly.
The bell rang and kids began to flood out of the school I turned around for two seconds but by the time I'd looked back at her she was gone.
I walked around for awhile before deciding to head towards my car.
That's when I saw them.
And my hear broke into a million tiny pieces all over again.
Riley
'Protecting me? Who the hell do they think they are?!' I internally scream as I walked to my dads car.
I couldn't avoid my family but I sure as hell could avoid my so called friends.
"Riles!"
Of course!
Adam came jogging up carefully.
I turned around so I couldn't see his face.
"What," I asked dully.
"Don't be like that," he said kindly, "We were trying to..."
"Protect me? Yeah I know I heard," I said bitterly, "Problem is Adam, I got hurt 10x more because you all lied."
I looked at him from the corner of my as he hung his head in shame.
"I'm sorry," he said sadly, "I wanted to tell you but I had convinced myself that I was doing the right thing for you. If it makes you feel any better I've only know for about a year compared to Zay and Farkle who knew the entire time?"
"You mean for you," I scoffed, turning to face him ignoring that last part, "Were you worried I'd leave you?"
He shook his head, "I honestly don't know. You haven't told anyone about us and now that he's here you're suddenly acting strange."
I sighed, "I'm acting strange because I just found out that my current boyfriend was hiding the fact that my ex boyfriend was still in contact with him and the rest of my friends."
"Fair enough," Adam chuckled showing his beautiful dimples.
I groaned.
I knew I wouldn't be able to stay mad at him for long.
"You were there for me through it all," I said taking a step closer to him, "I thought I could trust you."
"You can! I promise I've never kept anything else from you."
"I know," I whispered pulling him down to my lips.
Damn he'd gotten tall!
As we pulled apart, we both sighed content.
"I love you," he whispered into my ear.
We'd said it a thousand times but this time felt more forced as I realized Lucas being here complicated things.
I looked into his sea blue eyes and I smiled genuinely.
"I love you too," I said meaning every single word.
"No more secrets," he said embracing me.
"Deal."
I walked back into the school to grab my binder from my locker when I saw him waiting for me.
"How did you know this was my locker?"
"Maya," he said simply.
I nodded and proceeded to grab my things.
"So how long have you and Adam been together?" He asked.
My eyes flew to his face.
I saw the hurt etched into his features but I pushed away the guilt.
I had no reason to feel guilty!
"About 5 months," I replied.
"Congratulations," he said quietly, "You both deserve to be happy."
I felt tears sting my eyes as I shut my locker.
"We could have been happy," I stated.
The silence hung like a gloom that wasn't going away.
I started to walk away when he grabbed my wrist.
"We're still friends though, right?" He asked desperately.
I didn't know how to respond.
"I need you, Riley, you're my princess dancing sunshine."
I shook my head sadly, "No, I'm not, Lucas. You don't know me anymore."
And I left him standing there speechless.