The next morning was surprisingly easy. Lucas had woken up before me, so he had already gotten changed. Thankfully, I had over time stolen a couple of his clothes, like a jean jacket and t-shirt. It didn't matter as much that he was wearing the same pants or shoes. I got up at my usual time, about 7. I was about to get up to get changed when Lucas tossed over some purple tie-dye leggings, a pale pink top with an open back, underwear, and a pale pink bra. My first reaction was that he had gone through my closet, but I was actually happy with the outfit he had chosen, so I quickly got changed and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth before I went to do my hair and make-up. I thought my hair would be crazy, but actually Lucas brushing through it had made it a lot neater. I kept the make-up to a minimum. I definitely didn't need highlighter, since I was still glowing from last night. I went down to breakfast with Lucas.
Thankfully, since the last time Lucas came in with me had been perfectly innocent, my parents didn't think anything of it. So did Maya, Farkle, Zay and Smackle when they first came in, but by the time we were on the subway, Maya and Zay both clearly knew what had happened. Maya practically dragged me away to talk to me.
"Riley Matthews, is there something you would like to tell me?"
"Whatever do you mean, Peaches?"
"What I mean is that both you and Ranger Rick have been glowing since breakfast, and that after months of me telling you to wear that outfit and you saying it was too sexy, you're all of a sudden wearing it."
"Okay, okay. Promise not to say a single word?"
"Swear on my life."
"Well, last night after you guys all left, Lucas came into my room. We may have had another moment."
"Another heavy makeout?"
"A little more than just a makeout."
"Wait, are you saying that my precious little plant is no longer completely pure and innocent."
"I guess not."
"O.M.G. I cannot believe you guys actually did it!"
"Why? After all, we probably would've stopped if you hadn't gotten me those condoms in December."
"Hey, I did that to make sure that if/when you guys did do it, you would be safe. And you were!"
"Yeah, yeah. Listen, we can talk more about this later, but for now, not one word." She gave me a nod and a devilish smile before we got off at our stop and started walking to school.
Once we got to school, I immediately went back to normal routine from before everything happened. I linked one arm with Maya and held hands with Lucas with the other. We made our way through the halls into history class. I am almost positive that my dad knew that I was hiding something, because Lucas and I couldn't go more than a couple seconds without touching the other in some way, since throughout the entire class Lucas had his hand on my shoulder or in my hair. As soon as he turned towards the chalkboard to write down the lesson for today, a note made its way onto my desk.
Okay, last night was the greatest night of my entire life. I didn't think it was possible, but I think I love you more.
I laughed a little bit when I saw that he had added the small ring picture. I couldn't help it. I was in love. However, my dad heard me and immediately erased everything on the board, knowing that he shouldn't even try to connect something to whatever was going on.
"Riley??"
"Yes??"
"What's that you got there?"
"Oh, this? Just a sweet little note from my boyfriend who I love."
"Can I see it??"
"If I let you see this one, will you stop being hysterical every time you see me with a note?"
"Well, oh fine. Yes."
"Okay, here it is." I could feel Lucas become panicked behind me, but I knew exactly what I was doing. I handed my dad the note, and his face went bright red.
"What did you two do last night?! Do I need to kill him?!"
"Relax, dad. Lucas and I walked around Central Park. When we got to this one pavilion, there was music playing so we danced a little bit, and then got some ice cream on our way back." The rest of the class seemed to think the lie I just said was adorable, but my dad was still the color of a cherry.
"Why did he include a little ring picture?!"
"Oh, because on our way back from the pavilion, we saw a guy propose to a girl by one of the ponds. It was so sweet. There were fairy lights everywhere and flowers all around them. I was talking about it the whole way to the ice cream place, so he must've put that in there as a little memory." My dad went over to me and Lucas and closely examined both us and the note. Thankfully, after my convincing story, Lucas had lost all of his redness and appeared to be perfectly calm.
"Is this true, Mr. Friar?"
"Of course it is Mr. Matthews. All of my notes to Riley have been like that; sweet little notes to hold onto as memories."
"Okay, fine. I guess maybe you are capable of being not awful." He gave us both a final glare before turning back to face the rest of his class. "Okay, today we're doing things in reverse. You all just saw the aspect of life that today's lesson is about. Can anyone relate it to a historical event?" I tried to think of something. Not dramatic enough for a war, we'd already gone over alliances multiple times, he covered structures in society a few lessons ago. I was lost. After about a minute of silence, Maya raised her hand.
"Ms. Hunter, you have an event that is similar to what you just saw?"
"Actually, I do. The Zimmerman telegram. During World War One, Germany sent a telegram to the Mexican government proposing a military alliance if Mexico waged war on America. However, it was intercepted by the U.S. While the ending of that event isn't really that similar, the actual deal with the telegram is." I think the entire class was in a state of shock. She actually knew something! We hadn't gone over that at all, so there's no way she learned that from cheating.
"Wow, Maya. You're right. How did you know so much about that?"
"Well, I guess my mind just works in reverse. See typically I don't fully understand what event you're teaching us about until I figure out how it's connected to our lives. By first showing us that part, I guess my mind just zeroed in on specific events that were similar, instead of searching for some random event." Dad still seemed to be a bit in shock, but shook it off and continued with the lesson.
"As Ms. Hunter just explained, the situation you just saw occur between me, Ms. Matthews, and Mr. Friar does indeed bear some resemblance to the events that surrounded the Zimmerman telegram. Now, then, there were three parties involved: Germany, Mexico, and the U.S. Can anyone figure out who is who in this situation?"
"I think it's pretty obvious. Riley's Mexico, Lucas is Germany, and you are the U.S." Zay said from his desk behind Lucas.
"Okay, since I've been teaching you guys stuff, neither of you have ever said something that was actually about what I was teaching. What is going on today?!" My dad said before he calmed himself down. "Why do you think that, Mr. Babineaux?"
"Well, first, Lucas sent Riley the note and you 'intercepted' it. Also, you're scared about Lucas stealing Riley from you right? Well then, him sending her a note is like your enemy sending a note to your closest ally. Also, let's face it, if you could've, you would've waged war on him after reading that note before you even asked him what the note was actually about." My dad stood there with his jaw completely dropped. He desperately tried to speak, but couldn't get past the fact that Zay had totally figured it out. Lost for words, he finally chucked the papers in his hands up into the air.
"Class is dismissed. Get outta here you freaks!"
Me and my friends got our stuff together and headed to the library since there was still like 15 minutes until the bell. I was fine going in there as long as I was with someone and we didn't go over to the corner. We sat down in one of the sitting areas that had some couches and comfy chairs. I sat down on one of the couches with Lucas on my right. Zay was on his other side, Maya was in a chair next to my end of the couch, and Farkle and Smackle were on the other couch that was across from mine.
"So, are you ever going to tell your parents what really happened last night? At least your mom?" Farkle said. I figured that both him and Smackle knew since Maya was definitely going to tell them.
"Why should I? It's my life, not theirs."
"But Riles, you should probably tell at least your mom. That way, she can help hide it from your dad and can also help you with stuff like birth control and protection." I swear I must've been bright red. I can't believe we're having this conversation in public! I buried myself in Lucas' shoulder to hide my redness from everyone else.
"Babe, I think Maya's right. If nothing else, it'll be a lot easier to hide this from just your dad instead of both your parents. Besides, your mom already probably suspects that we did something."
"Okay, fine. I'll tell her after school today."
"Tell her when we go to the bakery after school. That way, we'll all be there if you for some reason needs us, your mom won't be able to make a scene, and your dad won't be there!"
"Zay, what is it with you today? All of a sudden, you're actually smart!" We all laughed at that and then went to our next classes when the bell rang.