Lollie Parker

Lollie sat at the Matthews dining table with Maya and Riley.

Eating macaroni and cheese.

For breakfast.

"How long we avoidin' this?" Riley asked.

"Not avoidin' nothin'. Just life moving on beyond that thing that happened between me and Noah." Maya said.

Lollie only sat there and ate her food.

Riley went up to Maya and makes a kissing noise.

"I know what it was. You don't have to fish-face at me."

"There was a kiss!" She said.

Lollie choked on her food, "Sorry."

"There was?" Riley asked.

"Yes."

"What was there?" Riley asked.

"He just grabbed my head, stared at me, then he kissed me." She said

"Did you like it?" Lollie asked.

Maya nodded, "I did."

"That's a good move." Riley said.

"I didn't hate it."

"Let's discuss!" Riley said.

"Let's not. Other things are happening. Life has gotten over this." Maya said.

Riley picked up the ketchup and opened it.

"If you pour ketchup on that mac and cheese, I will never forgive you." Maya said.

Riley did it anyway, "Life isn't over it, Maya. He kissed your face, you went on dates. That's a good move."

"I didn't hate it."

"But now, what are you guys?" Lollie asked.

"Life wants to know, Maya. Life wants to know right now." Riley said.

"No, it doesn't."

"I know who does." Lollie said.

Riley hit her in the shoulder.

"It does. Look around. Nothing's happening. Maya until we talk about," She started to make a kissing sound, "nothing is ever happening again."

Harper stood around the room and taught about Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." Maya said.

"Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility focused on the multiple loves of two young women." Harper said.

"Well, would you look at that?" Riley asked.

"Ms. Austen felt there were two approaches to love. "Sense," meaning what?"

"Good, intelligent judgment." Farkle said.

"And "sensibility"?"

"When feeling is getting in the way of that." Lollie said.

"So, what you think you should feel versus what you feel?"

"You know what's a good book?" Maya asked, "Hop on Pop."

"Come on, Maya. What's not to love about figuring out love?" Harper asked.

Maya looked back at Lollie, "Help me."

"I think what Maya is trying to say, is that Hop on Pop is an easier read."

"Mm-mm. No. I'm out of this. I'm just gonna sit back and enjoy whatever happens for once." Riley said.

"Charlie Gardner." Harper said.

"Unbelievable." Riley muttered.

"I saw the movie of this." He said.

"Why?" The class asked.

"'Cause I'm sensitive."

"Why?"

"'Cause I got a mother and a bunch of sisters who took over the TV and sat on me like a beanbag chair."

"Did you learn anything from the movie, Mr. Gardner?" Harper asked.

"No, but I might've noticed that in order for a relationship to work, you need sense and sensibility."

"Why?" Lucas asked, "Where was everybody?"

"Oh, you noticed that, did ya? Miss. Austen teaches us that romance comes with conflict. Two young women with different ideas about what love is. One hid her true feelings to protect others. She thought this made "sense". The other had more feelings than she knew what to do with. She was overwhelmed by "sensibility"." Harper explained.

"What about the character who knows all the secrets of the character who's hiding her true feelings?" Farkle asked.

"He's driven to madness and dies alone and scared." Harper said.

"Thank you."

"Sounds accurate." Lollie added.

"Good." Riley said.

"Fneh."

"Fneh."

"What happens to the two girls, Harper?" Maya asked.

"Oh, yeah, the two girls." Harper said.

"Everything's always okay between the two girls, right?

"No. Love is never easy and often comes at great cost. And the relationships that seem the strongest are the most tragically torn apart."

"You know what's a book where no one gets tragically torn apart?" Lollie asked, "Hop on Pop."
﹏﹏﹏﹏

Lollie and Charlie walked down the street and were heading towards Topanga's eating popcorn and licorice.

"Tell me."

Lollie laughed, "Tell you what?"

"How good this snack is."

"Pretty great considering we had to watch a movie just to get."

Charlie smiled at her.

"We should do that again." Lollie said.

He quickly looked down, "Do what?"

"Go to the movies. You know, to watch the trailers and make fun of the movie."

"I would love that."

Lollie smiled at him.

The two opened the door to Topanga's and saw Riley and Maya sitting by the door.

"I hear you're having a party." Charlie said.

"How?" Riley asked.

"Come on, Charlie Gardner. We'll get things sorted out at the dance!" Maya said.

"Ball! America!"

"Oh. Well, am I included in the things who need to be sorted out?" He asked.

"Well, Mr. Gardner you are in excellent standing and well regarded in the village."

"He never makes it easy, does he?" Riley asked.

"Speaking of tough decisions." Maya said.

Noah, Lucas, and Farkle walked in.

Noah smiled, "Hi, Charlie Gardner just asked me if I was invited to your party. I just wanted to ask and see if I was."

"Well, of course, you're invited, Noah." Riley said

"Well, I do. I'm coming, right?" Farkle asked.

"Uh, everybody's coming. I thought of the party, like, two seconds ago. I don't know how Charlie does it." Riley said.

"What'll be interesting is who's with who at midnight. Also thanks for hanging out with me Lollie."

"For why? For why would that be interesting?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, why would that be interesting, Riley? Hey, remember when you did this?" Farkle asked.

Farkle grabbed her forearm and pulled her outside.

"You two went to a movie together? Alone?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, we saw some dumb movie. Popcorn?" Lollie asked.

"Is there licorice in it?"

Lollie looked in the popcorn, "Not a lot. You should try it, it's good."

"I'm good."

"Yeah, the movie was pretty boring. Lollie and are going to see one of the movies we saw a trailer of." Charlie said.

"You are?" Lucas asked.

Lollie nodded, "I think was an action movie. That hype for the trailer was so much better than a movie."

"That's why we watch the trailer, so our disappointment for the movie is already inside us." Charlie said.

"Okay. I want the popcorn now."

Lucas grabbed a handful and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Why?"

"It keeps my mouth shut." He muttered.

Lollie couldn't understand him, "What?"

He shook his head.

"Okay, everybody. Riley's house. We're ringing in the new year. I'll be with Smackle at midnight. Who will you all be with?" Farkle asked.

Lucas swallowed the food in his mouth, "You and me?"

Lollie smiled, "Always."
﹏﹏﹏﹏

The group of friends sat in Mr. Matthews's class as he taught about friendship, growth, and feelings.

"We form friendship before even we know what friendship means. We just know, "Hey, I like this person."" Mr. Matthews said.

"It's nice we're all looking at each other." Charlie said.

"We grow before we even know what growth means. We just know, "I see things differently now." And finally, we feel. And you know what we know from feelings? Nothin'. We just feel. It's how we know we're alive. But you have to be careful with feelings. They can tear apart friendship and growth."

"Friends come first, and growth is knowing that your friends' happiness comes before your own." Riley said.

"That's nuts."

"You tell her, Hambone!" Farkle shouted.

"But Dad, you've always lived that way."

"Not always, Riley. I didn't use to. But I learned the way you're learning now. Every event in history comes from people feeling something and then acting on those feelings, or sometimes being smart enough not to. That's how you grow."

"Is that on the test?" Noah asked.

"It is."

"When is the test, sir?" Lucas asked.

"Every day. Happy New Year, everyone." Mr. Matthews said.
﹏﹏﹏﹏

"Do you give in to your feelings or let your mind rule over your heart?" Harper asked.

"I follow my heart. It gets me into trouble." Maya said.

"What about you, Riley?" Farkle asked.

"My mind tells me to do what's right."

"Can anyone answer which is more valuable to follow?" Ms. Burgess asked.

"Your heart." Lollie said.

"Now that depends on the situation." Noah said.

"No, it doesn't." Ms. Burgess said.

"Just taking a shot!"

"Very passionate."

"Thank you!"

"And that's where we run into trouble."

"You set me up!"

"Lollie, why the heart?" She asked.

"Your mind might say one thing and mean the other. While the heart is focused on one thing only. Whether it's a person, goal, aspirations, anything. It's focused on that for a long time."

Ms. Burgess nodded, "The untamed heart can be reckless and sometimes harmful to yourself and to others. But pure intellect, never following your heart, is a life unlived. Sense and Sensibility. What's the most important word in the title?"

"Sense." Riley said.

"Sensibility." Maya said.

"Lollie?"

"Both. All three even. You need to use both head and heart."

"Very good."

Farkle leaned towards Riley's ear, "You have until New Year's Eve. This horn blows at midnight."
﹏﹏﹏﹏

Lollie ran downstairs as quickly as she could and opened the door.

"If we leave now I don't have to answer questions and I don't want to answer questions so let's go."

Lucas grabbed ahold of her arms.

"Slow down." He chuckled, "What's going on?"

"Winter Lollie Parker!" Fran shouted.

"That's what's going on."

"Why didn't you ask me for help with your outfit? I have great style."

Fran looked up and saw Lucas and Lollie at the door.

"Oh! Your boyfriend is here!"

"Hi, Ms. Andrews." Lucas shook her hand.

"He's so polite."

"That's swell, can we go?" Lollie asked.

"Bring her home by ten." Fran said.

"You know the New Year doesn't start till midnight."

Fran gasped, "Look I'll let it slide this time. I won't tell Bailey."

"She knows."

"Get out of here before your father sees."

Lollie faced Lucas, "If we don't leave now. We won't leave ever."
﹏﹏﹏﹏

Lollie and Lucas eventually left and made it to Riley's apartment.

They just so happened to arrive at the same time as Farkle and Smackle.

"I will certainly be with you. Unless my third wheel tries to intervene." Smackle said.

"I'm not your third wheel, Smackle. I just arrived at the same time." Lucas said.

"Desperation doesn't look good on you, Lucas, even though everything else does."

Lollie laughed.

"Smackle!" Farkle shouted.

"Which part was I not supposed to say out loud?" She asked.

"You can say whatever you want. She's mine."

"Tell her that!" Lucas said.

Lollie looked over and saw Noah and Maya talking at the bay window.

Lollie and Lucas walked over towards the dining room table and grabbed a snack.

Charlie walked towards the two.

"You two want to play a game?" He asked.

"Sure." Lollie said.

"No."

The two of them looked at each other.

"No." Lollie said.

"Sure."

"Let's play." The two said.

"What's the game called?" Lollie asked.

"The Couples Game."

"What is it?" Noah asked.

"Shows if you'd be a good couple or not. Wanna play?"

"No!" The others said.

"What's wrong, Noah? Scared?" Charlie asked.

"No. I just don't want to play, but since everyone is looking at me now I'll guess I'll play."

The group sat around the coffee table.

"Riley, think you might find this interesting. Would you like to be my partner?" Charlie asked.

"Sure."

"You and me?" Noah asked Maya.

She smiled, "Sure."

"I like it better when we're on the same team, my former nemesis. And now, I go like this." Smackle said.

She put her head on his shoulder.

"Okay, first question is for us. "What is your partner's favorite movie snack?" I know this. It's popcorn and licorice." Riley said.

"When something funny happens and she thinks she's laughed too hard, she looks around the theater to see if anybody heard her. And if she thinks something scary is gonna happen, she reaches out and grabs your arm." Charlie said.

Lucas picked a card, "What's one thing your partner likes to do in their free time?"

The two of them smiled at each other.

"She likes to read."

"She also likes to draw." Charlie added.

Lollie smiled.

"I mean... I could have told you that." Lucas said.

"But you didn't."

Lollie grabbed Lucas's hand.

"Noah pick a card." Lollie said.

"How would you describe your personality: subway or campfire?" Noah read.

"That's a stupid question. If I had to choose maybe a campfire. The light from the flame is really cool depending on how you look at it." He answered.

"Our turn." Smackle said, "What is your partner's most ticklish place on their body?"

"Farkle, Smackle, how would they possibly know anything like that?" Riley asked.

Smackle started tickling behind his ear and he started making this weird noise.

"Huh. Okay." Riley muttered.

"Um, we'll do one more. "Have you ever kept a secret from somebody you love?" Riley looked down at the cards, "Game over."

"Why? Because you know secrets are dangerous?" Farkle asked.

"No, Farkle. Because it's almost midnight."

"And you know what happens at midnight."

"Okay, it's time to go up to the roof."

After a few minutes, the gang went up to the rooftop to watch the fireworks.

"Hi, Farkle. Hi, girl who's not going to be with Farkle at midnight because I am because he's mine." Smackle said.

Smackle grabbed Farkle by the arm and pulled him to the side.

Lollie walked up to Riley, "Hey. You okay?"

Riley looked at her.

"Please give me more time."

Lollie was confused, "What are you talking about Riley?"

Riley sighed, "I know how I feel. I just don't know how to tell him just yet. Farkle said he's going to tell him at midnight. Just please give me more time."

"I can't control Farkle, Riley. He's only doing this so at least Noah knows how you feel too."

Riley nodded.

Lucas approached the girl, "Can I borrow her?"

Riley smiled, "She's all yours."

Lollie walked over towards the corner.

"Are you okay?" Lollie asked.

They could hear people counting down.

"I mean why wouldn't I be?"

"You just seemed really bothered down there."

"Five."

"I'm fine. I promise." He smiled.

She didn't believe that, but she knew he wasn't going to tell her the truth.

"Four."

Lollie only smiled at him.

"All that matters is that we're both here." He said.

"Three."

"Happy New Year, Lucas."

"Two."

"Happy New Year, Lollie."

"One."

Farkle looked over at Riley who was walking back inside.

"Riley still loves Noah."

Riley stopped in her place and looked over at her peers, "Happy New Year."

After a while, the majority of the people left.

Lollie told Lucas that she would stay with Noah.

She sat on a bench and looked over at Riley and Maya who had a big gap in between them.

Noah walked over towards Lollie and sat down.

"You okay?" She asked.

"I mean, I just found out that another girl likes me so I guess I'm living my best life."

Lollie only looked down.

She really didn't know what to tell him this time.

"But, it's okay." He added.

"I know you don't want to hurt anybody." Lollie said.

"You're right. I'm going to go talk to them now. I'll let you know when I'm ready to go."

Lollie nodded and he went to go sit with the two girls.

Farkle approached them, "I did the right thing, I hope you can forgive me."

Lollie knew that Farkle was only doing what he thought was best for Riley.

And maybe he did.
﹏﹏﹏﹏

Word Count: 2613

Episode: Girl Meets New Years

Pages: 45

I. Hate. This. Chapter. So. Much.