a/n: GUESS WHO HAS OFFICIALLY RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD AND PROMISES TO PROVIDE YOU WITH SOME GOOD CHAPTERS IN THE COMING WEEKS? hint, it's me.

. . .

riley matthews

"You told me yourself that you didn't like him, so now I'm going on a date with him tonight. Do you have a problem with that, Riley?"

If someone was to ask me how much I wanted to punch Maya Hart in the face right this very moment, I wouldn't even hesitate to answer.

I had to physically restrain myself from throttling my best friend right then and there in my bedroom at seven thirty in the night, instead releasing a sarcastically bitter cackle that only pleased her. "No, I don't have a problem with that. I'm just confused as to why you've suddenly started to show interest in him. I mean, since when did you even know who Lucas Friar was. You only ever seem to pay attention to the boys on the football team," I muttered rather bitterly.

It was harsh, but it was true. Heck, even I'd admit that I used to only pay attention to the boys on the football team. That was, until Lucas.

She paused antagonistically, as if I had brutally offended her. Perhaps I said something that I shouldn't have but choosing to think with my brain over my heart all the time was tiring. Using sense over sensibility was only meant as a defence mechanism, but what was I really trying to defend, anyway? Getting hurt was inevitable. People who had sensibility were bound to make stupid and reckless decisions so why couldn't I just make stupid and reckless decisions for once?

She remained still and for a moment there, I was afraid I had actually gone too far. Me, going too far. What a wild concept.

I looked at Maya, her eyes narrowing as she thoughtfully chewed on her bottom lip. She was looking straight past me with a certain dullness in her blue eyes that I had only began noticing recently. These past few weeks, Maya had a habit of getting lost in her thoughts. They were subtle, but any moment Maya wasn't talking or doing anything, I could immediately tell she was in her own little world.

I had began noticing it after the incident in the cafeteria with Missy. Nobody could miss the way Maya was staring so intently at her during the prolonged period of awkward silence that was shared between the three of us. Something was definitely on her mind, though I knew there would be no point in me asking.

If there was one thing Maya was good at, it was lying. And not in the manipulative, menacing sort of sense. She was absolutely amazing at keeping up a facade that would fool almost everybody, including me. It wasn't a nice thought knowing that your best friend, whom you were supposed to know completely inside and out, was able to hide behind a false facade without your knowledge or awareness for so long. It hurt.

We both remained in an excruciatingly prolonged period of silence until Maya suddenly cleared her throat. She unexpectedly plastered a wide smirk on her face, and I could tell it was forced.

"It looks like someone's a little jealous," she arrogantly cooed, teasingly fluttering her long lashes at me as if nothing strange had just happened in the past few minutes. I didn't know how to respond, and perhaps that was because I was still in slight shock at her sudden personality change.

She impatiently sighed, standing up from the bay window seat as she plotted herself next to me on the bed. "Riley, he's just ... cute. And we go way back. I don't see what the problem is, considering we've already established that you're definitely not into him, right?"

"Yeah. Right."

What's the sound of that? Oh, I know, it's the sound of my utterly dry sarcasm seeping through my blatant lies! How fun. I tried not to dwell on that thought too much as I quickly regained myself, suddenly afraid that I'd be the one lost in my own thoughts sooner or later.

"Great," she enthusiastically affirmed, but I could've sworn I heard a slight hint of sarcasm in her tone, too.

"Aren't you still getting over Charlie?" I defensively questioned, perhaps responding a bit too quick than I had intended. But that somehow still didn't stop my mouth from running. "You and Charlie did go out for quite some time, I would have thought you were over boys."

"Well that's certainly an understatement," she muttered almost inaudibly under her breath. I wanted to question her on it, though she cut me off before I had the chance to ask. "Look Riley, I got over Charlie the moment he cheated on me, okay?" I could almost hear her voice cracking on the last few words, and it was for the first time in a long time I had seen Maya that vulnerable.

Though I didn't have much time to ponder on it either as she stood up, slowly walking away from the bed without turning around to face me once. I noticed her clenched fists squeezing so tightly her knuckles had turned white, and I could only imagine just how hard her fingernails would be digging into the palm of her hands. It terrified me.

But in one abrupt move, she released her clenched fists, spinning around on the ball of her foot as her thick locks of shimmering gold hair twirled around with her smooth motion. She cleared her throat loudly, obviously regaining her usual self. Great, another personality change, again. Gee, I can't wait to know which facade she'll be channeling this time.

She observed me for a short moment before resting her hands on her hips as she whined, "This is the longest I haven't been in a relationship and I need a boyfriend. I just can't be head cheerleader without one, it's obviously in the job description."

Ah, there we go. The confident, self-assured, poised Maya we were all familiar with. I knew she was hiding something from me and I didn't want to push her but all these blatant lies she had been throwing around recently were quite absurd. Though I did believe her when she said she needed a boyfriend, because it was apparently in the job description. She had been quite adamant about it, actually, and I was truly afraid she was just using Lucas.

I remained silent, nonchalantly shrugging as I aimlessly looked around my room in an attempt to avoid eye contact with her.

She sighed heavily. "Alright then," she awkwardly mumbled. "I guess I'd better go ... you know, I don't want to be late or anything."

I knitted my brows together, suddenly confused as to what she meant until it finally hit me again. "Oh, your date. Have fun, I guess," I murmured, looking down at my intertwined fingers. She lingered in front of me for a few moments before exhaling softly, as if she had given up. She unlatched my bay window, tugging it open before slowly crawling out.

"Try not to have too much fun without me," I softly teased, deciding to lighten the awkward mood between us. I shouldn't have let my feelings cloud my friendship with Maya, anyway. I was the one who told her I wasn't interested in Lucas, so I was the one who had to deal with the outcome of that. She looked back at me, a small chuckle escaping from her lips before she closed my window shut. And with that, she was gone.

Although I loved her and she would always be my best friend, for the first time, I just couldn't stand to like her. And not because she was about to go on a date with the boy I had completely fallen for, but because it appeared she was only using other people just so she could get what she wanted. I mean, who would even do that?

. . .

lucas friar

Out of everyone who I thought would've objected against my date with Maya, Zay Babineaux was the last person I'd expect.

"What about all that we had talked about? You know, about liking Riley and moving on from Maya?"

I groaned exhaustingly, collapsing back onto my bed in a sudden, loud thud. "How many times do I have to explain this to you? That was before Maya asked me out on a date, Zay. Do you really think I'm going to turn down an opportunity like that? I may be insane but I'm not that insane."

"Actually, you are." He shuffled over towards my bed, grabbing my pillow and hitting me in the face with it. Despite the softness of pillow, I felt a sharp stab of pain. Zay continued talking. "I would even go as far as to say you're beyond insane. You're ... whatever the hell the next one is. I don't know, I'm terrible at finding synonyms."

I sat upright, lightly laughing at him as I shook my head in amusement. "This is why I don't like spending time with you, Zay," I joked, finally standing up.

He chuckled though his expression suddenly hardened. "Is it because I'm a constant reminder of the cold, harsh reality of the world we all live in which you may have forgotten because you're off in your own fantasy land of a thousand rainbows and a thousand Maya Harts?"

"Yikes, Zay. That was slightly deep," I sarcastically muttered.

"Well there are a lot of things I'm pretty good at being deep in."

I choked on air and I could've sworn a part of my soul died. "Okay, now if you don't mind me I'm just going to go to the bathroom and cleanse myself in the tears of a thousand virgins for purification," I said.

"I can guarantee you that by the time you're done cleansing yourself of whatever, they all won't be virgins anymore," he remarked, smirking widely at me.

I could faintly hear the sound of the rest of my soul screaming as it slowly deteriorated inside of me. Sure, I wasn't the most innocent person in the world, but I wasn't exactly Satan's spawn either. Clearly, Zay was.

He chuckled, throwing his head back in a fit of unrestrained laughter. I glared at him. "I know this may be somewhat entertaining for you but I could not be any more disgusted. And how would you know any of this? You've never even been in a relationship," I stated.

"I'm just waiting for the right person," he responded, still slightly chuckling under his breath. Then his expression hardened. I preferred it more when he was laughing like a complete maniac. "So what about Riley? What happens with her now?"

I furrowed my brows together, narrowing my eyes at him. "What do you mean? What about Riley? This isn't even about her, it has nothing to do with her. It's about me and Maya. Look, I just don't care about Riley. I got what I've always wanted and I'm happy."

I was happy. I was actually happy.

I would be lying if I said that I didn't care about Riley one bit, but perhaps it was always in a friendship sort of way. Or even a sibling sort of way. The way a brother liked a sister, just like I had said to her all those weeks ago. And suddenly everything was all beginning to make sense to me now.

"If that's what you believe, then okay. Have fun on your date, Lucas. I should go."

I cracked a minuscule smile at Zay before he headed out my bedroom door. I faintly heard him mutter something like ridiculous just before he had shut my bedroom, but I was too careless to even bother bringing it up with him. I was becoming too careless about most things, anyway.

. . .

What was so good about the movies was that it required no talking, whatsoever. This was rather convenient for me once I saw Maya approaching in the distance, immediately rendering me speechless.

She was absolutely gorgeous.

Her blonde locks were softly curled, pinned up at specific places. She wore a thin, white jumper with a short blue denim skirt and white sneakers. Despite how pretty her outfit was, that wasn't what had struck me. It was her eyes, shining a bright sea blue that contrasted against the paleness of her skin. I immediately felt lost in her orbs, drowning within the depths of the blue hues.

Everything sort of passed by like a blur and before I knew it we had bought our tickets, gotten the usual popcorn and chocolate snack and found our seats within the cinema.

Throughout the entire movie, my heart was beating loudly in my chest. I didn't even know why I was so damn nervous. We were just watching a simple movie. I had to admit, I had no idea of what the movie was even about. It was quite hard to focus with Maya sitting next to me, our hands lightly brushing every so often as we took handfuls from the popcorn and chocolate bag.

All this time I was afraid she might've been too bored or that she would've suspected things to be awkward between us. Though once the movie had finished and I had told her I would walk her to her car, I realised I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. The date had somehow turned out to be perfect in the most imperfect way.

"I had a good time, Lucas."

"I had a great time too," I said, the words coming out a little faster than intended. Oh well, I assumed I already had made a complete fool of myself throughout the entirety of the date so it would've been okay to let this one slide.

She giggled softly, the both of us instinctively stopping as we finally reached her car. We both turned to face each other, and that was when my heart started to beat rapidly again. I looked into her alluring sea blue eyes, my gaze reflexively flickering down to her lips every so often. I was trying my hard to be subtle but my god I could never be subtle around this girl. I slowly leaned closer to her, lingering for a few seconds longer. And before I knew it, I had kissed her.

. . .

it was such a pain writing about lucaya but i made it whoo hoo and they are my highkey friendship otp anyway.