"the sun shines during the day. ms. matthews will argue the affirmative," cory gestured to riley. she wore a large grin on her face. "good morning, everybody. you know why people say that in the morning?"
riley asked the question, even though she was going to day the answer. "poom!" she gestured toward the window that had sunlight shining through. "nailed it."
"how can you possibly lose?" maya asked in awe.
"like this," misha pointed to farkle with a grin. maya gagged.
first of all, let's understand that day and night are merely words invented by human beings to communicate simple conceptual constructs apropos of nothing."
"ooh!" misha exclaimed. "he's won!" she yelled. "my boy is a winner, unlike this cabbage patch kid," misha continued.
farkle dramatically winked at misha. "barf," maya gagged.
"anyway, science tells us that the sun is always shining and what appears to be day and night is merely our angle of proximity at a particular time to the earth's revolution." he continued. misha had no idea what he was talking about.
"aaand, for extra credit, there's no such thing as time," farkle finished with a smirk. "time!" riley yelled, to mock him. "our debate topic therefore, is false. the sun does not just shine during the day, it also shines during the night, just not on us."
misha clapped, but was the only one who did.
"i win!" riley yelled. "how do you win?" misha scoffed. "because I have high hopes. because when you believe passionately..." she trailed.
cory interrupted her. "and our debate winner is farkle minkus!" riley gasped in surprise. "i don't understand. i said what I believed. how could that be wrong?"
"there's no wrong, riley. but there are rules to a debate," cory explained. riley laughed. "okay, who cares about the rules when we know that the sun shines during the day?" she asked as if the answer was obvious.
"that's interesting, isn't it? 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?"
he continued. "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. "
she shook her head. "i'm not trying to start a war. i just think it's okay to feel strongly about what you believe in," riley elaborated. cory shook his head. "riley, it's not enough to go through life without considering the other point of view."
misha leaned over to maya. she whispered "next they're going to argue." maya shook her head.
"oh, i'm sorry, i couldn't hear you. the sun was in my ears!" she exclaimed. the class laughed. "riley," mr. matthews scolded. "cory," she mocked.
"how do you do that?" maya asked in disbelief. "here we go," misha laughed. "i love this class so much," zay joined in.
"being passionate about what you believe in is the only way to live. o don't need your facts, and i certainly don't need your points of view," riley ranted.
"aand now they are going to switch sides," misha predicted to maya. the blond shook her head.
"switch sides," mr. matthews instructed. "what?" maya and riley said in unison. "switch sides. argue the other side."
they switched positions and farkle wore a confident smile. "farkle?"
"the sun shines during the day. you know how i know? poom!" he gestured to the window in the same way riley did. "hey!" she yelled in defense.
"poom is my acronym for 'polar oscillation in orbital motion,'" he explained with a grin.
"is it hot in here?" misha fanned her shirt in her hands. it's hot in here, right?" she had never been so attracted to someone talking about science before. farkle chuckled at her.
"what's happening? farkle, what do you really believe?" riley turned to him in total confusion.
"farkle, what do you really believe?" cory repeated for him. "the sun shines all the time. when we see it, it's day. so for us the sun shines during the day."
riley was still confused. "how do we know what you really believe if you can switch sides that easily?" he shook his head. "i'm not changing what i believe, but a good debater needs to be able to argue both sides."
mr. matthews nodded. "right. 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."
riley scoffed. "oh, i don't think i'll need to be ready to argue something as simple as whether the sun is out or not."
he interrupted her ramblings. "are people naturally good or evil?" riley answered. "good." mr. matthews ignored her answer. "all of you will argue good. only one of you will argue the other side."
maya looked to misha. "i did not expect this.
"ms. matthews," he began. "you wouldn't dare," riley mumbled. "you will make the case for evil," he continued.
just then, the bell rang. most students stood up. zay laughed. "boy, you have killed us all," he told matthews.
"yes. yes, i have."
farkle walked up to misha. "let's go, we're all meeting up at topanga's. riley frowned. "how could people possibly be evil?" she asked.
misha shrugged. she grabbed farkle's hand, a new habit of hers. they walked to her locker and then his before leaving the school.
it was warm outside, so farkle and misha walked to topanga's. they talked about their days boringly.
they were the first to reach topanga's. farkle ordered snacks for everyone and put it on his father's tab for later. he sat onto the chair, patting the spot next to him for misha to sit on.
she sat next to him and leaned on his shoulder. soon, riley, maya, and lucas strolled in. "we have to help riley with her project," maya announced.
"actually-" misha started but was interrupted by lucas. "you know what?"
the friend group stared at him and he shrugged. maya pulled out her laptop and opened it. "how 'bout we just start with a small, simple, little place like new york city. let's see what's happening in our own backyard."
riley nodded.
"okay. today's local item... 'no day at the beach.'" maya read it aloud. "what's that?" riley asked them. farkle answered the questions, as he was already informed on the topic. "new york city beaches are overrun with trash."
maya continued by reading off of an article. "bottles, cans, wrappers litter our beaches to the point where wildlife is endangered and people no longer go barefoot." riley's constant grin turned into a frown. "but i like the sand between my toes."
misha smiled at riley. "riles, that's something we can all do to fix." lucas agreed. "yeah, we can all go to a beach and help clean up."
riley's frown became her normal smile again. they did research on local news for a while, until they felt like riley was educated on what was happening in new york city.
"so, how do you feel?" misha asked the tall brunette. riley shrugged. "i feel transformed. evil's gooey tentacles have squeezed my pure heart. but i'll never believe that people aren't good. you know how I pass the newsstands and the headlines are screaming right at you in the face? i look at the pretty magazines."
why did she always ramble like that?
"but do you ever look at the news?" lucas asked.
"mm. i know what's trending. i know what's up with what's up." she used awkward hand gestures as she talked. this made it obvious she wasn't being one hundred percent truthful.
"hmm. so you look at the news every day?" farkle asked her. "hmm, not every day, no," riley said more honestly. "do you look at the news any day?" misha asked, suddenly frustrated at her not looking at the news. "hmm... not any day, no."
the group nodded.
"hoe about we just look at the headlines from today." maya typed really quickly. the keyboard clacked loudly as her nails hit the keys. misha couldn't see what was on the screen, but she could tell it wasn't pleasant.
riley's eyes grew in shock. "where is this?" she looked panicked. "this is our world." maya frowned. the keyboard clacked again loudly. "oh, my gosh," riley gasped. she looked up at her friends. "do you guys know what goes on out there? climate change, poverty, war?"
they all nodded. "this is the way that the world is?" they all nodded once again. "we try to keep it from you," lucas admitted. "you're all in on it?" riley asked.
"the riley committee," farkle named it. "i pay dues," misha told them. farkle looked to misha with confusion. "there are no dues..."
"quiet!" maya yelled. misha shook her head. "it's worth it anyway. i think it's wonderful to have somebody among us who looks for the good in everything."
"well, that's over."
"why?"
"because i've seen things. i'm not simple riley anymore," she explained. misha scoffed. "riley, don't let reality change you." lucas agreed. "yeah, reality's only as powerful as you let it be."
riley shook her head. "knowing things changes you. i'm supposed to argue that people are evil, and now i can. i have started my research, and i will continue down this dark journey that i can only call, 'riley matthews: evil person.'"
there she went with the rambling again. the group snickered. she was ridiculous.
riley frowned at the laughs. "what, you guys don't think i could be bad?" they shook their heads. misha was still laughing, but she managed to say "um, okay. do the worst thing that you can think of right now."
riley nodded. "hi, to everybody but you!" she yelled to misha. misha held her heart as if she was actually in pain.
"i'm sorry!" she exclaimed. misha laughed. "it's okay, riley."
there was a moment of silence, and then zay walked in. "my cookie came," he yelled. "cookie day! everyone say it!" the brown boy instructed. they all obliged with monotone voices. "cookie day."
he held up the cookie with pride. "i hold in my hand one grandma gandy cookie. now grandma gandy could send me a whole batch, but she doesn't 'cause then she knows i wouldn't appreciate it as much."
misha nodded sarcastically. she'd never seen zay so excited about something before.
"looks like she's right," misha stated. "i mean, grandma says that there's value in just one thing, that you appreciate it more because there's just one. maybe so, because when i look at this, i think about her making it for me, and her thinking about me the whole time." as he talked, zay waltzed his way over between lucas and riley. he stood with a grin.
"that's a good thing she does, riley. doesn't grandma gandy seem like a good person?" lucas asked, over dramatically. zay frowned. "my grandma's getting pretty old now. this could be the last cookie i'm ever gonna ge-"
riley bit into the cookie.
"riley!" her friends scolded.
"are you kidding me?" zay yelled. "okay, that was bad," maya pointed out. "bad? what could she do worse than that?" zay said angrily.
riley chewed on the cookie. "this cookie is only okay." zay gasped.
misha laughed. every one in the group turned their head her way. "don't laugh about my cookie!" zay started charging towards her. lucas pulled him back.
riley stopped off to maya, the group of friends following close behind.
-
they made it to riley's house just after her. misha went through the door because she was in a skirt. everyone else was already in the room.
"riles, we all have that, okay? that's how we're made. we all have a little angel and a little devil that sit on our shoulders and try to win us over." maya told her. "i have a devil?" riley asked.
"even you. "
"she's wearing a red, sparkly halter top." riley declared. "what's her name?" misha asked. "sassy haltertop."
"mine's stabby mcgee. we should get 'em together," maya told her. misha shook her head. "riley, apologize," misha demanded.
"we came over to give you the chance to apologize," farkle told her. riley slightly shook her head. "we know you feel awful about what you did," lucas said. zay scoffed. "doesn't look like she feels awful."
"would you just say you're sorry?" misha asked. "i can't," riley said with a frowned. "why?"
she was hesitant to speak. "it wouldn't be honest," riley mumbled. misha frowned. "riley, this is ridiculous. just apologize. and zay, it was just a cookie!" misha scolded the both of them.
"you ate my cookie, man!" he pointed to riley and then looked to misha. "and misha, you don't understand the power of grandma gandy's cookies!!!"
riley shrugged. "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."
"well, okay for you, then. riley, please apologize."
and with that, the boys climbed through the window. "i'm going through the front door..." misha said with an awkward smile. "yeah, skirt," maya insisted.
farkle waited for misha in the lobby. he had a frown on his face when he saw her. "what's wrong cutie?" she asked. they held hands as they walked, and this brought shivers up both of their spines.
"why don't you think what riley did was wrong?"
misha shook her head. "i don't think it is right of her, but you guys are overreacting. this should be expected from riley. we're teenagers, and she has never been 'rebellious' or whatever. she's just acting out because she never has before."
farkle slowly grew an understanding for why misha thought that way. "alright, i get what you're saying. we are overreacting, but she shouldn't have done that."
misha nodded. they talked about random things like pokemon and how farkle has been doing since his parents split. he lived with his father now because his mother left. he hasn't spoken to her.
his father was broken. he didn't know what to do. misha's dad invited them over for dinner this weekend because he was empathetic for him.
eventually, farkle ran out of things to say, which meant they were walking in silence, as they reached misha's building. misha didn't mind the silence. she liked to say silence allowed her to "take her surroundings in." in reality, her focus was on the way holding hands with farkle was so comforting to her. maybe it was the way he rubbed her hand with his thumb, or maybe it was just because she didn't have much experience holding hands, so this was all new and exciting to her.
she dreaded the moment they reached her apartment door. the two faced each other, saying their goodbyes.
"text me?" farkle asked as he stepped away.
"nah, i'll be on the minecraft realm later though!" misha joked. she stepped inside her home, but not without taking a peak at the boy walking away from her.