Chapter Seventeen ~ Idina

In our room getting ready, Maya, Riley, and I are all silent. I put on a dress with a white top and pink bottom skirt that ruffles. I wrap a brown belt around it and add a necklace and some bangles. I put on knee-high cream colored socks and my favorite pair of brown boots.

"Ready?" they ask. I nod. We walk out.

*"Woah gentlemen," Pappy Joe says admiring the three of us as we walk onto the porch under  the starlit sky, "look how lucky you are. You treat 'em right." he says to the boys.

"Thank you, Pappy Joe," Maya quietly thanks. Maya and I stand by the door, awaiting Riley's game plan for this situation. Riley turns to the great big sky.

"I see why you two get homesick for Texas sometimes Lucas and Idina. I never knew that the sky had this many stars."

"Yeah well, that's not all of it is like this, this is all country. In Houston, there were some stars, but not as many as there are here." I say to Riley.

"You know what else?" She asks walking swiftly over to Lucas, "I don't get nervous when I'm with you anymore! We're doing the right thing." talking directly to Lucas, wrapping her arm around him in a sisterly fashion.

"Ah, remember when we couldn't even say hi to each other? We'd go, hi," she mocks them, "howdy, hi. Remember? Now watch this say hi to me."

"Hi,"

"Hi, Lucas! What up has bro? What's up with you man? You good? You cool?" She does some awkward hand motions.

"Hi." Lucas says again not knowing what to do, his eyes seem scared of this new "sisterly" Riley.

"Still got some catching up to do." Riley mocks.

"Riley, I don't even know what's going on right now-"

"What's going on is that we're gonna be the best of friends and care about what each of us has to say for the rest of our lives."

"Yeah I sorta thought we had that. What does 'brother and sister' mean?"

"It means you know, POOM!" She playfully punches him.

"Hey!" he shouts.

"PING!" she punches him again.

"Riley!" he says annoyed.

"Ha, you said that just like a brother would." She points at him.

"Well, can I hit you back?"

"No!"

"Only you get to hit me?"

"Mmm-hmm, we're just like how you were with Maya and Idina." she pauses then comes close to his face like Maya would do, "What's the weather like up there cowboy?" she asks, using a nickname I'd always call him. He is frozen with confusion.

"Ha-hee!" she does Maya's "Ha-hur" incorrectly. Maya chuckles then move from  the doorway where I still stand to sit in between Farkle and Zay on the swinging porch set.

"Pfft. You don't even do it right," I say still leaning against the doorway.

"Oh! Idina, I thought you weren't talking to Lucas." Riley says with fake shock.

"I'm not talking to him I'm talking to you."

"Idina, are you seriously not gonna speak to me?" Lucas asks coming towards me. I move out of the doorway and a few feet closer to him.

"You could have gotten hurt on that stupid bull!" I rant, "What do you think you getting hurt would have done to the people who-" I pause.

"Care about you?" Zay says standing up.

"I think you were gonna say care about you," Maya adds standing next to Zay.

"I'm not talking about me. You think I'm talking about me? You think just because I'm his friend that means I care about him?"

"Yes, I do," Zay says coming next to Lucas.

"Well, I'm talking about everybody here," I reply gesturing my hands to encircle them.

"Alright calm down Idina," Maya says.

"Lucas is okay, he didn't get hurt," Riley reassures coming closer as well, "all of us are okay."

"And now we're gonna go spend our last night in Texas out," Maya says, then turns to all of us changing the subject, "What should we do?"

"I've been reading about Austin, and they call it a music city," Farkle says standing up and walking next to Riley, "they call it the live music capital of the world."

"That's absolutely what we should do," Zay agrees, "Show them the town, and listen to some music."

"Yeah, anyone good playing tonight?" Lucas asks Pappy Joe.

"If I was a young buck trying to impress my friends I might suggest Chubbie's Barbeque Pit, always good eats, always good music."

"But barbequed foods aren't good for you," Farkle replies, Zay and Lucas push us back except for Farkle, as Pappy Joe comes close to him with a dangerous look in his eyes; Farkle holds up his hands surrendering, "Okay, I'll go to Chubbie's, I'll eat your food, I'll listen to your music, but don't expect to change Farkle, Hombre." he replies before heading off the porch towards town, as we all follow except for Pappy Joe who gets back in his rocking chair.

At Chubbie's Farkle ate so much meat I was surprised he didn't explode. While the boys are helping Farkle clean up, us girls went to get some lemonade. We stand at a cocktail table. Riley is somewhat annoyed with me, seeing as I haven't talked to Lucas yet.

"Idina, will you, please say something to him?" Riley asks.

"We know that you care about him, it's okay," Maya adds encouraging me. I take a sip of my lemonade.

"I just don't want anything to change between us. Me and him, or the three of us." I finally admit.

"Nothing you could ever say, or do could ever change the three of us. You're our best friend," Maya says.

"Whoever you like won't change how we feel about you," Riley adds.

"I know, I just don't want to lose that. Even if there's a chance of that happening, I won't take the risk," I say, "besides, what about Farkle. This has all been about Lucas, but I don't even know what he thinks about me. He probably thinks I'm a freak."

"Idina, you are not a freak," Maya says.

"Just talk to Lucas for now, please?" Riley asks. I look down at my drink, unresponsive. She sighs, wipes her hands, and goes over to the boys.

"Hey Huckleberry," she says to Lucas, "Are we dancing or what?"

"Oh, we can do that? Is that a part of the new rules?" he asks.

"Line dancing, sure!" she says as he hops up and pulls her onto the dancefloor. Zay stands up and grabs Maya's hand pulling her onto the dance floor as well. I plop down in my chair back at the table next to Farkle. I'm silent for a moment.

"Idina, what's going on?" he worriedly asks.

"I really don't know," I say annoyed with life, "Do you know because you're a genius. Help me." I plead. He stares intently at me. He scoots his chair closer to mine and pokes out his shoulder. I rest my head on it as I watch my friends line dancing.

"You care about him," Farkle concludes after just listening to the music for some time, I sit up, "You didn't want him to get hurt because you care about him."

"Yeah, but I care about all of us."

"You care about him."

"I care about all of us."

"You care about-"

"I will kill you," I abruptly end our discussion, then ruffle his hair, "No matter how cute you may be," His eyes widen as do mine, "S-Sorry, I- what?" I pretend someone called my name then run onto the dance floor, as do the others except for Zay who's talking to a girl he likes, Vanessa. These girls name Maddie and Tae perform, but it's open mic night, so mostly they have local people performing. But for right now, we listen to a famous country duo.

After they perform Farkle comes over to me with Maya and Riley by his side, they all seem excited about something.

"I signed you up to sing! You're amazing Idina, now go show Austin how you do it," Farkle says to me.

"What? I can't-"

"RING POWER!" Maya and Riley shout, "Now you must." I take a deep breath.

"Okay, I'll do it."

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, going back to our open mic night, we have a special guest from the Big Apple here tonight, give it up for Idina Jennings!" the announcer pulling up a stool, I sit down and adjust the mic stand, as my arms rest against the guitar sitting on top of me.

"Okay, so howdy y'all, I'm here from New York, but I actually am Texan born in Houston," everyone cheers for a fellow Texan mentioning, "Thank you. Well, I once read that only once we look in each other's eyes will we be able to touch each others heart. Tonight, I look into all of your eyes and hope to touch your hearts. I dedicate this song to my best friends, who give me the bravery to be here tonight," I smile at them, "but anyways, so tonight, I'll be singing a make-up song by a duo named Alex & Sierra. Hope y'all like it," I start singing, as I stare directly at Lucas and Farkle.

Little do you know
How I'm breaking while you fall asleep
Little do you know
I'm still haunted by the memories
Little do you know
I'm trying to pick myself up piece by piece

Little do you know
I need a little more time

Underneath it all, I'm held captive by the hole inside
I've been holding back for the fear that you might change your mind
I'm ready to forgive you but forgetting is a harder fight

Little do you know
I need a little more time

I'll wait, I'll wait
I love you like you've never felt the pain,
I'll wait
I promise you don't have to be afraid,
I'll wait
The love is here and here to stay
So lay your head on me

Little do you know
I know you're hurting while I'm sound asleep
Little do you know
All my mistakes are slowly drowning me
Little do you know
I'm trying to make it better piece by piece

Little do you know
I, I love you 'til the sun dies

Oh wait, just wait
I love you like you've never felt the pain,
Just wait
I love you like I've never been afraid,
Just wait
Our love is here and here to stay
So lay your head on me
So lay your head on me

'Cause little do you know
I, I love you 'til the sun dies

As I finish, everyone cheers, and I put the guitar back in its original spot. I run offstage to my friends who attack me with hugs.

"That was amazing!" Riley yells.

"The best!" Maya adds.

"Beautiful," Farkle ends. I smile at him, glad we're passed my weirdness back there.

"Thanks y'all." Then we head back to the cabin. As we get back Pappy Joe has a letter in his hands, waiting for us.

"Dear my favorite children, take care of each other, and enjoy the world," he quotes.

"So Matthews misses us I see," I say, knowing our teacher's words the moment I hear them.

"I don't want this night to end," Maya complains happily.

"What do you do around here when you just wanna look at each other's faces a little longer?" Riley asks. Lucas and Zay smile, then lead us to a campfire area, where they set up a nice fire. I sit next to Maya, Lucas sits on the other side of her, while on the other side of me is Riley, then Farkle, then Zay.

"You guys were lucky," Farkle directs to Lucas and Zay.

"How come?" Lucas asks.

"To grow up out here, to have this sky, and the stars, this has been the best weekend of my life. Thank you." he directs to all of us now.

"Promise we'll always be friends no matter what," Riley says.

"Riley really-," Maya says.

"Promise. No matter what happens I am telling you that I will always be your best friend no matter what." She says to Maya and me.

"Oh, there's nothing Maya or I could do-" I start.

"No, there's nothing either of you could do, Idina. Do you understand?" She grabs one of each of our hands, "It's us three, until the time we, you know," then we all put our hand on our chest, "Bleh," mimicking death. After we chuckle, Vanessa, the girl Zay likes, asks to take Zay out for ice cream, which he jumps at the chance to. Maya steals his spot, so now she sits next to Farkle, who's next to Riley  on a log, across from me and Lucas, as we all stare at the fire. Lucas stares at the fire, and I think about trying to talk to him, but then shut my mouth sadly. Riley and Maya, I guess can tell something is wrong with me.

"Do you want us to buy you ice cream Farkle?" Riley asks Farkle.

"What?" he asks.

"Do you want us to buy you ice cream?" Maya says with more emphasis, trying to get him to go with them to leave Lucas and I alone.

"Oh, are you sure?" Farkle says, oblivious to the situation the girls are scheming up.

"Yeah let's go," Riley says helping Farkle up as Maya stands.

"Riles, Maya, where are you going?" I shakily ask.

"You need to feel whatever you feel Idina," Riley replies sitting down next to me, "It's the three of us forever, remember that,"

"And there is nothing you could ever do to change that," Maya says sitting next to Riley. They stand up and walk to Lucas's side. They sit down on two rocks there. They look at each other for a moment, as if having a mental conversation, then look back at Lucas, who stares at them awaiting their words. Farkle stands, observant of this whole debacle.

"Idina likes you." Riley bluntly announces.

*some lines in chapter direct lines, or variations of lines from GMW*