Work Text:
“Riiiiileeeeeey!” I sang out to my best friend, walking in the door of the Matthews’ apartment.
“She’s in there.” Mr. Matthews nodded his head in the direction of Riley’s bedroom, looking annoyed.
“Is something wrong?” I asked, concerned by Mr. Matthews irritation.
“Oh nothing’s wrong, unless you count someone’s sweet little princess practically growling at you!” Mr. Matthews announced. I shook my head a little; he was always so dramatic.
“Good luck,” he mumbled half-heartedly.
I shrugged and headed into Riley’s bedroom, sure that Mr. Matthews was just exaggerating.
“Rise and shine, honey!” I ripped the covers off Riley, still curled up in her bed.
“Maya Penelope Hart, you give me back that blanket now,” she snarled. Huh. Maybe Mr. Matthews wasn’t exaggerating this time.
“What’s going on? I thought you were always ready to start the wonderful new day and smile at the sky because the whole world’s your best friend?” I said with mock cheer.
“Not today.”
Now I was definitely concerned.
“Riles, is everything alright?” I sat on the edge of her bed and started stroking her hair.
She sighed, and then stared up at me with sad, tired eyes. “No Maya, everything is not all right. I’ve made a terrible mistake.”
“What happened? How can I help?” I asked in a panic.
She bit her lip and then whispered, looking away, “I stayed up all night watching Pretty Little Liars on Netflix.” Then she added with a heartbreaking look, “And I still don’t know who ‘A’ is.”
I stared at her for a minute, speechless, and then I burst out laughing. Riley gave me an offended look then whined, “It’s not funny! I’m exhausted; I feel like a zombie.”
“I’m – sorry – Riley,” I said between bouts of laughter. She glared at me until I finally got a hold of myself.
“There’s no way I can take that math test today, not when I’m so tired,” she sighed.
“As much as I’m all for skipping school Riley, today is one day we really need to go. I know how much the whole ‘education’ thing means to you, and if you don’t take the test, you’ll get an automatic fail,” I told her.
“I know,” she grimaced and put her head in her hands. “What am I going to do?”
“Oh Riley. Sweet, naive, Riley,” I stroked her hair again.
“You have an idea, Peaches?” Riley’s eyes lit up.
“There is a very simple solution for this situation. Have enough energy to get dressed?” I stood up and held out my hand.
***
“You still haven’t told me your plan,” Riley said as I dragged her along the street.
“I don’t have to, we’re almost there.”
A minute later I pulled Riley to a stop, standing before a little coffee shop right along the way to school.
“A cafe?” Riley asked, still not getting it.
“Yes honey, a cafe that serves food and coffee,” I emphasized the word ‘coffee’ so she would understand my master plan.
“Ohhh,” realization crossed her face, then worry. “But Maya, my parents said I’m not allowed to drink coffee yet.”
“Yes, but remember, I’m your bad influence. And remember that math test? Don’t you want to be awake enough to focus?” I tried to sound persuasive. These were the moments I lived for.
“Yeah I guess,” she said hesitantly.
“Great!” I grabbed her arm, pushed open the door and headed straight to the front counter.
“What can I get you?” The barista behind the counter asked, looking bored.
“I’ll have one medium French Vanilla please,” I smiled confidently. Then I nudged Riley and whispered, “I need some money.”
Riley, unsurprised and uncaring pulled out her little coin bag from her backpack and handed it to me.
“That’ll be $2.25.”
I unzipped the pouch, fished out the right amount and handed it to the man. He turned around to prepare the drink, and a few short moments later was handing me the hot beverage.
“Thanks.”
“Come again.”
Once again I began towing Riley until we were outside of the small cafe.
“Okay Riley, this is a French Vanilla,” I said slowly.
“What’s in it?” She asked cautiously, but seemingly curious.
“It’s a mix of coffee, loads of sugar, and vanilla, I guess,” I shrugged. I didn’t know how else to explain it.
I held out the cup, and Riley warily took the warm cup. She raised it to her face and sniffed it, and I rolled my eyes. “It’s not going to kill you,” I sighed.
She gave me one last careful glance, and then took a sip. Her eyes grew wide, and it was as if a rainbow had popped up in front of her. She brought the drink back to her lips and continued drinking, at a fast rate as well, and I was actually worried she might choke.
“Riley, Riley, slow down!” Jeez, the kid must’ve really liked it.
She confirmed my thoughts by saying, “This is really good,” and gave me a big goofy Riley grin.
“Good, I guess. Feeling more awake yet?” I raised my eyebrows.
She took a minute to think and then said, “Yes, I think I am. Let’s go ace that test, Maya,” she smiled, holding out an arm.
I linked mine in hers and mumbled, “Well, one of us will.”
***
The next couple days, Riley insisted on stopping at the little coffee shop on the way to school to a buy a French Vanilla. Thinking nothing of it, I complied and watched as she bought her new favourite drink. Maybe it wasn’t the best thing that she was suddenly getting coffee every morning, but it did help wake her up more. I mean, she did always seem extra jittery now, and I had gotten some strange and questioning looks from Mr. Matthews in history class when she would make a sudden outburst, but I didn’t really think it was problem, that is, until Lucas, Zay, and Farkle approached me on the subject.
“We have a problem,” I heard Lucas say behind me, as I grabbed a book out of my locker. I twirled around, confused, and saw Zay and Farkle standing beside him – Farkle looking concerned, and Zay amused.
“What, did your horsey get loose?” I joked.
“This is serious, Maya,” Lucas insisted.
I raised my eyebrows, and motioned for him to go on.
“Riley has a coffee addiction.” He simply stated.
I furrowed my brows. “Pff, it’s not an addiction, she just likes it. A lot.”
This time Farkle spoke. “In the past few days I’ve noticed Riley asking to be excused from class a lot. I was curious, so yesterday I asked to be excused as well, and I followed her. She was going to her locker, and when she opened it, there were at least twenty empty coffee cups. Not only that, but she pulled out a full cup and just started drinking it in the hallway,” he concluded.
I bit the inside of my cheek. I didn’t know she had been drinking that much coffee. And that didn’t really sound healthy.
“Okay okay, I see your point,” I admitted. “She hasn’t really been acting like herself lately, either.”
“She’s just extra perky. I kind of like it!” Zay grinned.
The three of us simultaneously rolled our eyes. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw the girl of the hour.
“Riley!” I shouted, and she stopped, and upon recognizing the group, walked over with a huge smile.
“Hey guys what’s up are we planning something fun to do like go to a movie or the park or I guess we could go somewhere new like go carting that sounds fun don’t you think and we could get pizza because man I love pizza who doesn’t look pizza?” She said breathlessly, still with a huge grin.
I stood with my mouth wide open. “You’ve created a monster,” Farkle whispered beside me, and I knew it was true. Zay chuckled beside us and said “This is hilarious!”
“Okay, Riley, honey,” I put my hand on her shoulders, “We need to have a talk.”
“Talk? Talk about what? Talk about ponies and rainbows and –” I slapped a hand over her mouth.
“We’re going to talk about you.”
I led Riley to the bench in the hallway, and the guys followed.
“Riley, it has occurred to the four of us that you’ve been drinking a lot of coffee lately. Too much coffee.”
“Hey, it doesn’t bother me!” Zay butted in, and I gave him a swift glare until he mumbled “sorry”.
“Too much coffee? What do you mean? I feel great like I could do anything I mean I have so much energy I could probably climb a mountain if I wanted to,” she finished, matter of factly.
“Farkle’s seen your locker Riley, you have a problem!” I shouted, trying to get through to her.
She bit her lip and looked down, then looked up at me and asked quietly, “Do you really think I have a problem?”
“Yes,” I said immediately.
She gave a heavy sigh, and then spoke. “There’s no one I trust more in this world than you Maya, so if you think I should give up coffee, I will.”
I relaxed and looked to the guys who looked relieved and happy with her statement – all except Zay. Fricken Zay.
“We’ve got to go to class,” Farkle said after checking his watch.
All of us rose from the bench and began heading down the hallway, except for Riley, who was lingering by her locker.
“You coming?” I asked.
“Yeah, yeah. I just...just need to grab something from my locker. I’ll catch up to you guys.” And the way she said it, from knowing her so well I knew she was up to something, so I nodded and rounded the corner, but stayed there to keep an eye on her. Riley looked nervous as she opened up her locker and, my suspicions were confirmed.
“Oh no you don’t!” I grabbed Riley from behind, snagged the coffee out of her hand, and promptly flung it into the trash.
“Maya no!” She cried out, watching the coffee land in the garbage bin.
“I’m doing this for your own good,” I said, staring deep into Riley’s big eyes.
“But Maya –”
“Uh uh,” I interrupted her. “You don’t need it. I’m going to help you get through this, alright? You and me. Do you trust me?”
She stared at me with pouty lips, but nodded.
“That’s my girl.” I pulled her into a side hug and kissed the top of her head, leading her to class.