'Maya, I have to tell you something!' Riley practically shouted as she ran into their bedroom. Maya wasn't the only one there, though. She was sitting on the floor with Smackle and Vanessa next to her. 'Oh, um, sorry, I didn't want to interrupt you', she quickly said as she noticed Vanessa was right in the middle of a sentence. 'That's okay', the girl said, 'Come join us.' Hesitantly, Riley sat down. She had actually wanted to tell Maya about what had happened.
'What did you want to tell me, Riles?' the blonde girl asked. Riley bit her lip, asking herself whether it was a good idea to say something about Lucas and Emily's break-up with the two other girls there. But they were her friends as well, and she trusted them. 'Lucas and Emily... They, um...' 'They broke up', Vanessa finished for her. 'How- How did you know?' 'Zay told me', she said, shrugging. 'But it just happened about ten minutes ago?' 'Word travels fast', Vanessa simply said. 'Wait, so they broke up?' Maya asked, confused. Riley nodded. Maya noticed how her best friend wasn't exactly looking happy about that. 'But that's a good thing. Right, Riles?' Now it was Riley who shrugged. 'I don't know what to think of it. Lucas seems really sad.' 'Well, of course, the girl he liked just left him', Smackle said bluntly. Everyone looked at her. 'Smackle!' Vanessa hissed. 'That's not very sensitive towards Riley.' 'It's fine. I know Lucas liked - or likes - Emily, and not me.' Maya shook her head. 'That's not true, Riles. He's given you enough reasons the past few weeks to think he isn't over you. He even kissed you for God's sake!' she exclaimed. She then quickly covered her mouth with her hands as if she could take back what she'd just said by doing so.'
'What?' Smackle asked. A frown appeared on her forehead. 'You kissed?' Riley looked at the ground beneath her. 'Well, actually he kind of kissed me. It was over so quickly I barely had any time to react.' 'When did this kissing exactly take place?' Vanessa asked. 'The night of the formal', Riley responded, her head still down. 'Wow', Vanessa said. 'That's a lot to take in.' 'I'm so sorry, Riles', Maya apologized. 'I didn't mean to spill the beans.' Riley put her hand on Maya's shoulder. 'It's fine. I don't want to have any secrets for them anyway.' Vanessa smiled at the girl sympathetically. 'It's all so complicated', she said. 'I don't think so', Smackle said, 'It seems pretty simple to me.'
Vanessa raised an eyebrow. 'Simple how?' Maya asked, and Riley lifted her head. 'Well, I mean, you just gotta snatch Lucas away before Emily changes her mind and wants to get back together with that idiot. That pretty, pretty idiot', Smackle continued without thinking. Riley widened her eyes, but had to chuckle anyway along with Maya and Vanessa. 'I'm not going to ''snatch him away'' as you said', she told Smackle. Now Maya was surprised. 'Why not? I mean, he's free now. And you didn't like Emily anyway.' 'That doesn't mean I'm going after her guy immediately.' 'He's not her guy anymore', Smackle reminded her. 'Yeah, but still... It just doesn't feel right. And besides, even if he still had feelings for me, I don't think he would want to jump into another relationship right after his break-up.' Vanessa tilted her head. 'Why did you two break up? I never asked.' Riley bit her lip. 'I guess it was just different when we got back to New York. Too much pressure. It became too hard on us.' Vanessa sighed. 'I can relate. Zay and I had a lot of trouble with our relationship because, well, we were separated. But it's supposed to be that way. Hard, that is.' 'Indeed. Farkle can be such and idiot. But I love him anyway', Smackle told Riley. 'Vanessa's right', Maya chimed in. 'Do you think things are easy for me and Josh all the time? Of course not. If everything went smoothly and we never argued... That wouldn't be healthy at all. Love is hard. But if it's real, then it's worth every damn fight, every little bit of pressure... everything.' Everyone in the room fell silent, and for a moment, Riley just looked at Maya, replaying every word that had come out of her mouth in her mind. 'Yeah, what she said', Smackle suddenly said, breaking the deafening silence.
Riley smiled. 'Thanks girls.' Vanessa shook her head and smiled back. 'Girl, I think you know what to do right now.' 'Find your Huckleberry!' Maya exclaimed. 'Your, pretty, pretty Huckleberry', Smackle added dreamily. Riley lifted herself from the floor. 'Wish me luck!' she said. Her cheeks had turned pink and she felt the butterflies swarming in her stomach. 'You got this, Riles!' Maya told her best friend encouragingly.
Hi everyone :) I hope you liked the new chapter. Thank you all so much for reading. And a special thanks to those who voted on previous chapters! I wish you all an awesome day :)
Love,
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