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❛ ʟᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ & ʟᴀᴄᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ ᴏғ ʟɪғᴇ ꒱


❝ THAT'S KIND OF HOW LUCAS
AND I ARE— BUT WITHOUT THE
WEIRD FLIRTING THING YOU
GUYS SEEM TO HAVE GOING ON ❞

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Thankfully, Maya broke up with Farkle as soon as he gave the ring back to his mother. Miya told herself that it was only a relief since it meant she wouldn't be fifth wheeling for the rest of the year and she was mostly able to convince herself that this was true. Things went back to normal after that— or at least as normal as they could get when she hung out with Riley and Maya regularly. The Matthews girl was also feeling similarly content with how the week was going. As she closed her locker, she turned to her two friends with a bright smile on her face.

"Y'know what I like? Life," she stated happily. "And I like it when it doesn't change. We should sing our happy song."

Miya sighed, though she had been enjoying the relatively easy week as well. "You know it's gonna change now that you've said that, right?"

"Yes, join me the in the hope-is-for-suckers club!" Maya exclaimed. She threw an arm around the Asian girl's shoulders as they made their way to class. Addressing Riley's comment, she added: "we don't have a happy song."

"I wouldn't go that far," Miya disagreed, untangling herself from the blonde's hold. "If we did have a happy song, I would sing it with Riley."

Riley beamed at her and her arm took up the spot Maya's had been in moments ago (though much more easily since she was the tallest of the three.) "Thank you! Why would you sing it, Miya?"

She thought about it for a second before she answered, "I didn't get any homework yesterday."

"That's the attitude I'm looking for, Maya," Riley commented pointedly. "I would sing it because everything is exactly as it should be. I don't like change; it fills my pockets with pennies of uncertainty."

They took their seats: Riley and Maya in the front, Farkle and Lucas behind them, and Miya behind her genius best friend. The desk to her left— behind Lucas— had been empty since the start of the school year. She hoped that whoever did eventually fill it would eventually become a friend of theirs.

Cory stood in front of the class. The words Belgium, 1831 were written on the board. "Alright. So, should we actually finally learn about what happened in Belgium in 1831?"

To everyone's surprise, Farkle replied firmly: "no."

"No?"

"I always get my hopes up and then something happens to hurt my little Farkle heart," he explained. "Well, this time I refuse to believe."

"In 1831. . ." Mr. Matthews began.

Despite himself, Farkle looked up eagerly. "Yes. . .?" He froze. "Wait! Anything going to suddenly happen to you?"

Riley shook her head. "No changes, lovin' life."

He turned to Lucas. "Anything gonna happen to you?"

"Nothing ever happens to me."

"Maya?" Her snore answered his question. He turned to the last variable— the brunette who sat behind him. "Miya?"

She shrugged. "My big thing happened at the beginning of the year when I joined the class."

He beamed, gripping the sides of his desk in excitement. "Oh my gosh, this is it!"

"In 1831," Cory started again, "Belgium—"

The door opened. A dark-skinned boy with short hair walked in. He was holding a stack of papers in one hand, his arms spread wide in apparent offence. "What? Y'all started without me?"

Sounding as if a demon had possessed him, Farkle snarled: "get out!"

The noise made Maya wake up from her nap and she blinked blearily around at the disruption. The new kid smiled, unphased. He pointed his finger at the students and moved it slowly amongst them. "Somebody in this room is going to be very surprised to see me."

"Is it me?" Riley asked.

He smiled at her. "Don't know, sugar, but could you be any cuter?"

She looked down bashfully. "Well, I can't answer that."

"You got a transcript, kid?" Cory wondered, addressing the unknown boy.

"I do." He handed over his papers. "Check out them grades. Here, let me sing 'em to you: de-de-de-de, de. . . de. . . f."

Maya chuckled. "Yeah, I know that song."

"Me too," Miya said. "Except you have to go up an octave for mine."

"Isaiah Babineaux," Cory declared, reading off the transcript. "From Austin, Texas."

Everyone turned to stare at Lucas since he was the only one from the same place. He lifted his head from where it was buried in his hands to give his friend an exasperated look. "What are you doing here, Zay?"

"Well, the first thing I'm doing is waitin' for a better reaction from you."

Riley sat still in her seat, trying to process the events that were unfolding around her. "Miya, Maya, something's changing."

"Well, yeah," the Asian girl replied sympathetically. "You kinda jinxed it this morning."

Zay leaned against Cory's desk. "Okay, Mr. Teach, where do I sit? You know, usually I'm more of a back row kind of guy." His gaze fell on the girl who occupied the said row and his eyes widened at her 'nerdy' appearance. "Woah, that is unusual."

Their teacher gestured to the empty seat next to Miya. "Have a seat right there, Mr. Babineaux."

Riley turned so her eyes could follow the new boy's path as he went to his seat. Her gaze fell on Lucas, her face more serious than it usually was. "Lucas, do you know this Isaiah?"

Zay grinned at his fellow Texan. "Yeah, tell 'em you know me good."

Lucas twisted around and gave him a faux-pleasant smile. "How 'bout we talk later, okay?"

Zay held up his hands in a pacifying gesture. Cory gave him a warm smile. "Well, Mr. Babineaux, if you work out as well as last year's new student, we're happy to have you."

He startled at this information, looking over at his best friend in shock. "Wait. What? Lucas, you're doing okay here?"

Riley frowned. "Why wouldn't he be doing okay here?"

She didn't get a response as Zay questioned the other boy: "not currently on probation? No disciplinary action? They just let you wander free?"

"Sit down!" Farkle growled in the same demon-voice he had used earlier. He continued in his normal tone: "okay, new guy's all settled in and there's still class time left. So, do it! Do it while I'm still tingly!"

Cory picked up where he left off, repeating his introductory words: "So, in 1831, Belgium declared. . ."

"What is the secret of life?" It was Yogi who dared to speak up, his attention focused on the curly-haired man at the front of the room. Farkle glared at him and he lowered his head apologetically. "I'm sorry, Mr. Farkle." He then addressed Mr. Matthews: "I know I'm not your daughter, but I too have value in this world. What is the secret of life?"

Their teacher chuckled and he made a 'what can I do' gesture. As he went for the eraser, Farkle warned him: "don't do it. Put that eraser down and nobody gets hurt."

Cory merely grinned at him as he began to erase the words Belgium, 1831. The genius lifted his shirt so he could bury his head in the collar. He let out an anguished scream, unable to bear the sight of the precious words disappearing.

"Yogi has asked the primary riddle of the universe: what is the secret of life?" Mr. Matthews wrote the question on the board. "People spend their whole lives trying to figure it out. I was lucky. I had a teacher who cared enough about me to make sure I knew. Lucas, you got an opinion on this?"

Maya turned to face him, smirking. "Yeah. What do you got, Mr. Moral Compass?"

As Zay questioned Lucas' integrity, Miya leaned forward and tapped Farkle on the shoulder as he emerged from his existential crisis. "Hey— I know how badly you want to learn about Belgium 1831. Why don't you just Google it?"

He faced her, an affronted look appearing on his features. "I can't just look it up, 'Nacci! First of all, that would be betraying name my father has made for himself— I'd have to Minkus it. Second, it's not the same as learning it from Mr. Matthews. If I don't learn it from him, it's like getting a hotdog when I really want a hamburger. They're both meat sandwiches but one is delicious and juicy while the other is an abomination to the culinary industry."

She met his gaze incredulously, not quite understanding how he could be so worked up about this when the obvious solution was right there. But she decided to save their future argument for after class and they both tuned back in to the revelations Maya and Riley were having. The blonde was watching Lucas critically before her attention slid past him to Zay. "It occurs to me you're trying to tell us Ranger Rick was a little different back in Texas."

"A little?" he repeated with disbelief. "What do they know, exactly? 'Cause I wouldn't wanna say anything wrong. They know you're a year older, right?"

"Yeah," Lucas said, pinning him with an annoyed glare. "Now they do."

Zay gave him a once-over. "Oh, yeah, it's my fault. Look at ya!"

Cory finally spoke up to get the class back in order: "okay, that's enough, Mr. Babineaux."

The new boy arched his brow at the older man. "Oh, so you know about him?"

Their teacher paused before he admitted reluctantly, "I know all about Mr. Friar."

". . .Excuse me?" Riley asked loudly.

Maya gave her best friend a concerned look. "Riley, you're shaking."

"Dad? You know something?"

"Back in Texas—" Lucas began to explain.

Cory stopped him, observing the boy worriedly. "Lucas, are you sure?"

He nodded. "Back in Texas I did something; I had to leave."

"It was great!" Zay reminisced enthusiastically, oblivious to the tension in the room. "I mean, they threw him out of the whole school!"

Riley's eyes widened. "What?"

"I came here to get a new start," Lucas told her, turning to give his best friend another glare. "Nobody knew me here."

Zay raised his hand proudly. "I know him!"

The Matthews girl couldn't take her eyes off of Lucas. "Do I know you?"

🌎🌎🌎

When they left art class for lunch a few periods later, the Maya-Riley-Lucas issue was still very prevalent. That was all well and good since Miya still had to knock some sense into her best friend; if he wanted to learn about Belgium 1831 so badly, why didn't he just look it up? She fell into step beside Farkle as they made their way to the cafeteria. "What was it you were saying before about learning in Mr. Matthews' class being different?"

"You're still on that?" he asked, groaning as he geared up for one of their (in)famous arguments.

Before he could start, however, a third person joined them, their presence being announced by a heavy arm landing on Miya's shoulders. (What was with everyone doing that gesture today?) "So, you two seem pretty tight with Lucas. Any friend of his is a friend of mine, and you definitely seem like someone I want to get to know. You're adorable."

This last part was directed at the Asian girl, who flushed a little as Zay gave her a bright smile, his white teeth flashing against his dark skin. Farkle spluttered indignantly. "Miya? But that's Miya, how can she be. . . adorable?" The way he said the final word made it sound as painful as pulling teeth— something too bizarre to even think about.

The new boy gave him an incredulous look and used his arm to shake the brunette slightly. "Have you seen her? Trust me, she looks sweeter than my grandma's cookies."

"I-I don't know about that," Miya stammered, not used to being complimented. "But. . . um, thanks. I'm Miya, by the way, and that's Farkle."

He stared at her in shock. "What did you just call me?"

Miya's eyes narrowed, not liking where this seemed to be going. She knew that Farkle got a lot of crap for being both a genius and standing out. She'd had her fair share of bullying— even now, in this new school— and usually let Jonah defend her. He wasn't here, though, and she was finding that it was easier to stand up for her friends than it had been to do so for herself. She put her hands on her hips as she stared Zay down. "That's his name, dummy, and if you've got a problem with it then you're going to have a problem with me."

The dark-skinned boy put his hands up in a pacifying gesture. "No problems here. Just. . . who would do that to you?"

"His parents," she replied sharply. "And I happen to like his name."

Although he was used to his friends advocating for him, Farkle was a bit surprised by Miya's vehement defense. While he didn't know much about her British school— she often deflected whenever he'd tried to ask— he knew she hadn't had it easy. He thought that maybe the heatedness of her rebuke was because Zay's comment had touched a nerve. He could tell that the Texan's question was just the traditional surprise that came from someone hearing his name, which he'd gotten used to.

He reached out and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She looked towards him, some of the fight leaving her. "Miya, it's okay. He doesn't mean any harm by it."

"Of course I don't!" Zay agreed. "I mean, have you heard my name? What kind of name starts with a z? There's not even a z in Isaiah, so where the heck did they get it?"

Miya relented then, looking mildly embarrassed. "Sorry. It's just. . . we're best friends, y'know? And there's. . . history of that happening, so. . ."

Zay nodded as they resumed their path to the cafeteria. "Yeah, I get it. That's kind of how Lucas and I are— but without the weird flirting thing you guys seem to have going on."

Miya quickly shook her head, waving her hands in front of her. "Flirting? Us? No way! That arguing is just because we're stubborn and have different opinions on things."

Farkle nodded vigorously in agreement. "Yeah, we're not. . . whatever that is. We're just. . . being intellectually stimulating with each other. That's all it is."

Zay raised an eyebrow, clearly amused by their reactions. "Sure, sure. Whatever you say. I just call it how I see it, and it looks a lot like flirting."

"Well, you're seeing things wrong," Farkle corrected him. "We're just friends. That's all."

As they entered the cafeteria, Zay chuckled, shaking his head. "Alright, I'll leave you two to your 'just friends' thing. But if you two get together before the end of the year, just remember that I called it first."

They joined the line for food as the Texan went to find Lucas. There was a slightly awkward silence between them, which was made only more apparent by the chatter of the other students around them. Neither one could quite meet the other's eyes and Miya knew that one of them had to say something, soon, or things would get uncomfortable very quickly.

"So. . . that was weird, right?" she asked at last, laughing a little. "Zay's totally wrong, though. He just got here! There's no way he could have us figured out in— what, two seconds?"

"Yeah, weird," her best friend said, nodding rapidly again to show his fervent agreement. "He can't know more than me— I'm the genius here! Ha!" He added his own, trademark laugh at the end. "Anyway. . . back to why I can't just look up Belgium 1831. . ."

Relieved that he'd changed the subject, Miya readily began to argue about his stubbornness passionately. But still. . . she thought about the twist in her stomach whenever he talked adoringly about Riley and Maya and how she always wondered why he couldn't talk about her like that. But 'just friends' could wonder about why their best friend would never like-like them. . . right?

🌎🌎🌎

The next day, Maya, Riley and Lucas were still at odds with each other. The aftermath of Zay's transfer seemed to have bled into the Matthews' home, since Belgium, 1831 remained absent on the board. Today's subject was: Al=6 and Fred=8. As she sat down in her usual seat, Miya quietly greeted Zay; she was warming up to him even if he did seem to have an affinity for chaos. Eventually, the bell rang and Cory started class.

"Al washes a car in six minutes. Fred washes the same car in eight minutes. How long does it take Al and Fred to wash the same car together?"

Apparently, this did not answer Riley's problems as she'd hoped, since she asked, "how is this anything?"

Miya watched Farkle hunch over his paper and scribble out numbers hastily. Once he was done, he blurted out: "three minutes twenty-five point seven seconds."

Their teacher smiled as if he'd been expecting this answer. He pointed to the boy knowingly. "Wrong."

Farkle stared at him uncomprehendingly. "I'm sorry. What did you just say?"

"You're wrong."

"I'm wrong?" he repeated furiously. "You're a history teacher teaching English, science, whatever you've got going on at home, you waltz your wife in here on career day—"

"She's a respected attorney!" Cory explained indignantly.

Farkle ignored him. "My father says she was one of the options he was considering to be my mother!"

Miya couldn't help her smile, amused by how her best friend didn't hold back when he was angry. The curly-haired man let out an exasperated sigh. "What do you want from me?"

"Mr. Matthews teaches us about a lot of things," Lucas chimed in. "He's open-minded that way."

Riley disregarded his pointed look in her direction. "He can be open-minded because he knows who we are."

The Texan chuckled at her remark as he shared a glance with their teacher. "Oh, she took us both out."

"I teach this way, because in my old school I had a very strict teacher," Cory told them.

"Mr. Feeny," Miya shared with the class. "My mom always says that he was the best teacher she ever had."

"Your parents had the same teacher?" Zay asked, surprised. "What are the odds of that?"

"I can do the math on that!" Farkle offered eagerly. He glared at Mr. Matthews. "And I won't—be—wrong."

Cory smiled at his students' exchange. "To this day, I still don't really know what he taught. But I do know that in his class there was no talking, no interruptions—"

"So you didn't like him?" Zay— with perfect timing— interrupted. He pointed at Miya. "'Cause she just said he was the best."

"He was," the curly-haired man replied. "I loved him."

"Then why don't you teach like him?" Farkle wondered.

Mr. Matthews began to pace around the room. "Because I would never try and be like him; I could only fail. I only succeed with you guys if I get my teaching across as effectively as he did."

"You do," Maya said. She turned to Zay and confirmed, "he does."

He gave the blonde a grateful smile. "Thank you, Maya. And I will, now. Al washes a car in six minutes. Fred washes the same car in eight minutes."

"He thinks it's math class!" Zay exclaimed. "Somebody stop him! You— genius boy that I met yesterday— set him straight!"

But Farkle only shook his head and let Cory finish his lecture: "so your assignment today is to wash a car. Together."

"With him?" Riley huffed, jabbing her thumb in Lucas' direction.

"Especially with him."

Not one to let things go, Farkle grumbled, "if you do it correctly, you will find the answer is three minutes twenty-five point seven seconds."

Cory only shook his head at the boy's insistence. "If you do it correctly, you will find the secret of life."

🌎🌎🌎

At the end of the day, their history class gathered outside to wash one of the teacher's cars. Farkle had everyone take a turn as he timed them to see who would match the numbers in the problem that Cory had given them. Miya had taken ten minutes; the delay had been due to her attention to detail as she spent extra time scrubbing the headlights. That put her out of the running for being a candidate, so she waited with Riley, Maya and Lucas as the other students went.

Zay had taken eighteen minutes and by the time he was done, Farkle had dismissed him entirely. Taking advantage of the fact that his presence wasn't needed, he elected to sit in the car. He'd said it was to: "give you guys the best chance at recreating a realistic scenario. But I'm gonna need someone to entertain me while I wait. I piiiick. . ." He drew out the word in a sing-song tone as his finger hovered over each member of the quartet. "You!"

He'd landed on Miya, who looked surprised to be chosen. "Me? Um, okay."

The Texan didn't wait around for Farkle to reveal the 'winners' of the car wash test; he sat in the vehicle almost immediately. Miya had a hunch that the chosen pair would be Riley and Lucas— things just seemed to work out like that. So, she followed the boy's lead and took a seat on the passenger's side. Maya was going next and they watched as she moved so slowly that she had a chance of beating Zay's already-delayed time.

They sat in silence for a bit as Miya didn't quite know what to say to the new boy. She wrapped the hem of her shirt around her finger as many times as it could go and let it unwind, repeating the gesture while she waited for him to speak. Zay seemed perfectly relaxed; he was laid back in the driver's seat in what would have been a dangerous incline if they had actually been driving and his arms were bent so that his hands were resting behind his head.

"So," he began after a couple of minutes, "you've got the genius, the fun one, the troubled one and the hot one. Where do you fit into all of this?"

Although he didn't give any context for his question, Miya could guess who he meant— Farkle, Riley, Maya and Lucas. She shrugged, her head turned to look out the window at their classmates, who had gathered around a nearby picnic table. "I don't know. I kinda just got here."

"Really? You're new, too? Up top!" He offered his hand in a high-five. Caught off guard by his enthusiasm, the Asian girl stared at his hand without returning the gesture. Zay put his hand down, cheerfully shaking off her non-response. "Not a high-five person. Got it. When did you join?"

"At the beginning of the year," she replied. "I got here a week early."

"A week early?" Zay repeated, chuckling a bit. "Nerd alert! You got straight-As too?"

She huffed a laugh at that. "Not hardly. I guess you didn't hear my version of your de-de-de-de de, de-f song yesterday. I'm the same except replace the Ds with Cs and the F with a D."

"Any particular reason that you're lumped in with us freeloaders?"

Miya shifted uncomfortably, uncertain as to how he would react to her explanation. Besides Maya, Zay was probably one of the coolest people who had ever spoken to her— and hadn't been mean. She hoped that whatever had gone on with him and Lucas would pass and they'd all become friends. If she told him the true reason, well. . . he might not want to. But he'd probably find out anyway and it would be a good way to test his character. So, she decided on the truth: "I have Dyslexia. It makes things like reading and studying a lot harder for me."

He nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I know what Dyslexia is. Unfortunately for me, there's no real reason except what my old school counsellor wrote me off with. The gave up on me back in Texas so that's why I followed Lucas here."

By this point, Maya had finished washing the car. The four teens talked for a little while before Lucas picked up the bucket and Riley grabbed the hose. The brunette started washing the front of the car, as far away from the boy as possible. Miya watched the pair with some amusement. "This will go well."

"Is he really doing well here?" Zay asked suddenly, sounding more concerned for his friend than he had let on before.

The Asian girl smiled. "Yeah, he is. He's changed so much that Riley never guessed what his behavior used to be like. From what Farkle's told me, he's become a very good friend of theirs. I guess from what I've heard he can be a little aggressive in his overprotectiveness, but nothing that would get him in serious trouble. I don't know him as well as the others, obviously, but he's been nice to me."

She jumped slightly when the spray of water became louder. The stream from the hose hit the window as it bounced off Lucas' body; Riley had turned the full force of the hose on him in retaliation for her hurt feelings. He jumped on the car's hood in an effort to get away from her attack, rolling over it to the other side so that the vehicle would be between them. Riley followed him mercilessly, causing Zay to laugh at their antics.

There was a pause in the onslaught of water as Riley demanded something of Lucas, but it didn't last long. He had to duck again as she resumed pummeling him with the spray. Faintly, they could hear Farkle shout: "WASH THE CAR! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO WASH THE CAR! WHY AREN'T YOU WASHING THE CAR?"

The Matthews girl reacted to her friend's insistence by turning the hose on him. Farkle stumbled backwards in shock and let her be. There was another lull as Lucas cautiously approached the angry brunette. Miya watched as Riley let him take the hose from her. She sighed. "And here comes the payback."

"MAYA!"

Sure enough, the Texan returned the favor by spraying Riley. She backed up against the fence as Lucas spewed water all over her front. Since they clearly weren't on task anymore, Zay and Miya got out of the car to join their friends. Maya sat on an upturned bucket to watch her best friend scream from Lucas' attack. The new boy took a seat on the other bucket while Miya remained standing next to them.

"Wow. Yours is really something," he commented.

Maya nodded. "She's a lot of work."

"What happens to her when you're home, sick?"

"Oh, I can never get sick. But hopefully with my name-twin here, I might get a vacation day in a couple of years once I've trained her up a bit." Miya smiled, pleased that the blonde thought she could have a talent in Riley-wrangling. Maya continued: "So, just between us, what did Ranger Rick really do? Did he tip over a cow? Did he put eleven gallons in a ten gallon hat?"

"I think I already said too much," Zay admitted. "And he'll tell you what he wants to tell you."

"You were really best friends?"

He chuckled at her disbelief. "Oh, there were never better friends."

Maya arched a brow at the challenge. "Oh, I think there were. If Riley was coming from Texas, at least she'd tell me she was coming."

"Like I said, something happened." He paused as they watched Lucas continue to douse Riley, who hadn't stopped screaming. "Your friend's a fountain."

But Riley didn't need their help; she was a little smarter than they gave her credit for. It was her turn to trick Lucas as she exclaimed, "wait a minute! Wait! Wait! Lucas, I lost my contact lens!"

She started to pat the ground frantically as if she were searching for the small seeing aid. Lucas dropped on his knees to help her, apologizing hastily before the realization hit him: "oh my gosh. Riley, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that. Wait a minute. Since when do you wear. . .?"

The awareness came too late. The brunette stood up and went over to the filled bucket that was still waiting to be used. She picked it up and poured it over the boy's head before he could stand as well. Soapy water sloshed over him and he spluttered to keep it out of his mouth. Riley kept the bucket covering his face, using his disorientation to push him against the car.

"You were the first boy I ever liked!" she yelled at him. "That's a big deal for me. Are you worth it? Tell me and I'll believe you. I want to believe you. Are you worth it?"

"Yes," came Lucas' reply, which was muffled from the bucket.

She breathed a sigh of relief and took the bucket off his head. Before she could say anything else, Farkle marched up to them, his stopwatch and clipboard in hand. "You two have completely ruined this experiment for me! You are significantly over three minutes!"

Riley perked up as if there was any hope that they were within the timeframe. "By how much?"

"A day!" he snapped back. "And you haven't even dried the car yet."

Riley and Lucas exchanged a mischievous glance, suddenly on the same side again. The Texan picked Farkle up by his arms while the other teen took his legs. Together, they used their friend's clothes as a towel. As he protested their use of his person, Zay observed them from afar. "You're a tight little group, aren't you?"

"Yeah, we are." She stood and went over to join her friends. "Hey! Farkle's right! This is a serious assignment! Put Farkle down!" She bent to pick up the fallen hose. "Now line up right there! That goes for you too, Miya! Don't think I don't see you slacking off over there!"

While she could see exactly what Maya's intent was, the Asian girl jogged over to the other teens and stood in line with them. There was a burst of warmth in her chest that came from being included, even though she was new, even though they didn't know her as well. She stood up straighter, grinning as Maya barked the order.

The blonde continued: "I'm gonna show you how you do this right! Open your mouths! Open 'em!" She chuckled as they obediently followed her demand. "Amateurs."

The quartet shrieked and laughed as she sprayed them with water. They lifted their hands to cover their faces, but to no avail— unlike Riley and Lucas, Maya didn't hold back and she couldn't be fooled into giving up her weapon.

🌎🌎🌎

"Al washes a car in six minutes. Fred washes the same car in eight minutes," Cory repeated, echoing his words from the day before at the start of the next class. "How long does it take Al and Fred to wash the same car together? Farkle?"

Frustrated, Farkle burst out: "they were snapping towels at each other! I said, 'the car's not even dry yet!' And they went—" He stood up and imitated the way Riley had sprayed the hose at Lucas. "She's the fountain!" The genius shouted garbled nonsense to copy the screams that Riley had emitted when she'd been doused in water.

As he sat down again, their teacher smiled at him, amused by his reenactment. "So, not three minutes twenty-five point seven seconds?"

"I was wruhh. . ." he mumbled under his breath, unable to say the entire word.

"Excuse me?"

Slightly louder, he grumbled: "I was wruhh!"

"Well, it takes a big man to admit when he was 'wruhh.'" Cory straightened and addressed the rest of the class. "There is no answer to this equation. Except on paper. Except in a math class. Which this isn't."

"Is there an answer in life?" Lucas asked.

Mr. Matthews nodded in acknowledgement of his question. "Ah. Now we have arrived at the secret."

"Lucas' secret?" Riley wanted to know.

"Bigger than that," her father replied.

"Riley, sometimes things come out when they're supposed to come out," the Texan told her.

She frowned at him, concerned. "As long as you're not different than I think, because I think a lot of you."

"I used to be different than I am now," Lucas admitted.

"What happened?"

"I came here," he answered simply.

Miya thought about his response. Although she'd only been going to John Quincy Adams for a couple of weeks, she felt that the place had changed her already, too. She'd stood up for Farkle against someone she normally wouldn't have dared to speak to. And sure, not everything was great, but being surrounded by a group of people who accepted her for who she was had given her a boost of confidence that being just Jonah's friend never had. She wondered what she might be like in a year from now, in two years from now— how this school and these people would change her further. It could only be for the better since Farkle was already a great person and she trusted that he had found friends with similar qualities.

"And there's your answer, Yogi," Mr. Matthews was saying to the boy who'd proposed the question in the first place. "There's the secret of life. People change people. No matter what I teach you in here, learning from the people you care about is more important than the words on any page. That's why I let you talk in here sometimes. That's why it's interesting. Mr. Babineaux might've appreciated that, if he was here. Where's your friend, Mr. Friar?"

He let out a defeated sigh. "I don't know. I can't always be responsible for him."

"Sure you can," Cory corrected him gently. "But maybe in a different way now."

"Look," the boy said with a huff, "Zay's mouth gets him in trouble. He thinks he's tougher than he is, maybe. But he's my friend, and I care about my friends." He met the brunette's eyes pointedly. "Riley, you understand that better than anyone." To everyone's surprise, he lost his temper in a bout of irritation as he snarled: "what was I supposed to do?"

Riley looked down uncomfortably. Maya gave him a warning glare. His tone softened as he realized that he'd shouted. "I'm sorry I got mad. I'm working on it, okay?"

"LUCAS!"

They could easily hear Zay's yell from the hallway. The Texan let out another sigh, resigned to his fate of defending his friend. "Oh, not again. I'll be right back, sir."

Mr. Matthews shot him a worried glance. "Lucas?"

"I'm okay, sir."

"Lucas," their teacher said again, more sternly.

"I'm okay, sir," he repeated reassuringly. "if I manage to not come back expelled, then you have all changed me."

Probably against Lucas' wishes, his friends and teacher followed him out into the hallway. There, they saw him talking to an older-looking, muscular guy. He wore all-black clothes and was clearly trying to mimic a 'tough-guy' air. Zay stood off to the side by the benches, safely out of the way.

"Are you the one?" Lucas demanded, unafraid of standing nose-to-nose with the other student. "Because there's one in every school, isn't there? So, in this school you're the. . ."

"Yeah, it's me," he responded gruffly.

"Daddy?" Riley asked nervously. "Are you going to stop this?"

Cory watched the teens carefully. "Not yet."

Their friend looked down at the other boy's shoes. "I couldn't help notice your pointy boots. Back in Texas we appreciate a nice pointy boot." He stomped on the guy's foot. While he was reeling from shock, Lucas grabbed his arms and held them to his sides. "They can end a fight real quick, unless somebody knows to put his heel on the soft part where all of your toes are."

Miya watched the interaction critically. If she didn't know any better, this would look a lot. . . different from an outsider's perspective. There was obvious tension between the two boys and the way that their faces were close together. . . well, it made her think of Jonah, for some reason. And while she knew that Riley and Lucas were kind of an item, they were all teens who were trying to figure out how feelings worked. Maybe there was a reason for Rucas' awkwardness when they had become a couple. After all, Maya and Riley had a lot more chemistry than the brunette and Lucas ever did. But then again, she could just be reading into the situation too much— she was still getting used to the having-a-lot-of-friends thing, after all. It was probably best to keep her thoughts to herself for the time being and let things develop naturally.

"Now I'm sure you'd like to throw a punch." Lucas was still threatening Zay's harasser. "Except I got both your wrists and I'm as strong as a horse. I don't even work at it. I just am."

The other guy didn't seem phased this. "The way I see it, all that matters is what happens after you let go."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I know it'd be simpler to just start takin' shots at each other, but I'm gonna tell you something, and you really need to hear this. In the end, you're gonna be the one on the floor. And I'm gonna be the one who walks away."

"Whoa," Maya breathed out, impressed by the threat that her normally easy-to-tease friend issued.

"He's gonna be a veterinarian," Riley said proudly.

Lucas was oblivious to their conversation as he finished his speech: "so, I'm gonna do you a favor and let you keep your reputation. Now I'd like you to let me keep mine, otherwise we're gonna be twenty and still be in middle school. You want that?"

"I am twenty," the bully grunted, but conceded defeat and walked away.

Lucas went over to talk (scold) his friend and they let him have some privacy. Riley and Maya returned to class while Farkle and Miya walked a bit slower behind them.

"Do you think I'm different than when I started a few weeks ago?" the Asian girl asked her best friend. (He was a genius, so if anyone would know, it would be him.)

Farkle didn't hesitate as he nodded. "Yeah, of course. It's kind of unavoidable since you're spending time with new friends. That's what Mr. Matthews was saying, wasn't it? People change people."

"The secret of life," she confirmed with a nod. "But am I changing for the better?"

"Of course!" he said again, this time more emphatically. He grinned teasingly at her. "You even let me win our how-to-learn-about-Belgium-1831 argument the other day!"

She rolled her eyes at his humor as they reentered their history classroom. "Well, don't get used to it. It's my turn to win next time!"

A/n: this admittedly isn't my favorite chapter (I've been finding that it's really hard to figure out what Miya should say during class. It's not too bad in other scenes, but when Cory's 'teaching' everything already kind of flows together so it's more difficult to figure out where to insert her lines) but I wanted to get it out before the 8th. TUA s4, baby! 

That being said, this will be the last update for a bit since I'll be focusing on my Five Hargreeves fanfics. I'll come back to this story once they're done— it's why I wanted to stop on this chapter so I'll have an exciting one (the time capsule episode) to be motivated to write when I return!