☪ five times our muses almost hold hands, and the one time they do.
♫ five times riley and farkle almost hold hands…
Riley and Farkle used to hold hands all the time when they were younger, but now they’re high school kids, and it’s not normal. People already looked at her funny when she and Maya walked onto the bus with their arms linked that morning, so while she watches people test their powers and get sorted into hero and sidekick class, she sits with her hands folded under her legs, so that she can’t reach out to her friends. Maya on her right would think it was silly anyway; she doesn’t want to use her powers to be a hero anyway, she thinks it’s vastly overrated and that sidekicks are just as important. But with each car falling on students with super strength, or each flyer being launched into the air, Riley gets more and more tempted to reach out and grab Farkle’s hand for comfort. But then Farkle’s name is called, and he becomes a hero before her very eyes, while she’s left sitting fidgeting and worrying about her powers that still haven’t come.
She has no right to be mad at Farkle. She knows that, but she can’t stop being mad anyway. Riley had promised that she’d tell her parents that she didn’t get into hero class, but she’d been waiting to do it in her own time. What was so wrong with that? It wasn’t Farkle’s place to spill the beans, even if it had been an accident. Riley knows she’ll forgive him soon -- she’s almost ready to by lunchtime, because she’s so miserable in sidekick class and Maya’s doing so well in it, and Riley just wants her friend back. But then Lucas Friar and Zay Babineaux sit down at the table with her and Farkle and Maya, and she can’t talk to Farkle about why she’s so upset because it’s one thing to admit her lie to her best friends, and a totally different thing to talk about it in front of two cute new boys. Farkle can tell Riley’s uncomfortable as the others gush about their classes, and he reaches out under the table like he wants to squeeze her hand for reassurance. She thinks about taking it for a second, to let him know that they’ll be okay -- that she’ll be okay. But then Zay starts talking about how his mom thinks it’s hilarious that he’s a sidekick, and she remembers how shocked her parents look when they realized that sidekick was all Riley was, too, and she puts both her hands firmly on the table, ignoring Farkle until he gives up and lets his own hand drop back into his lap.
Things get better pretty fast -- especially when Farkle offers to invite some of his hero friends to go to a movie with them, including Lucas Friar. Riley spends five-ever getting ready, and it’s just her luck that she even ends up sitting next to Lucas in the dark, holding a popcorn bucket that she shares with him and Farkle and wondering if their hands will accidentally brush in the darkness. But then the movie gets to a scary part, and Riley throws what’s little of their popcorn up into the air as she shrieks in fear, and on her right, Farkle, and her left, Lucas, both giggle at her reaction. They’re not even mad about the missing popcorn, but Riley is, because now she has nothing to do with her hands, and Farkle’s is resting on one armrest, Lucas’s on the others. Riley gets scared again and her first reaction is to grab Farkle’s hand like she would have as a kid, to make her feel better and to let him spoil what’s coming next so it’s less scary... But then she remembers she’s a big girl now, and she wants to impress the cute new boy beside her. And maybe, just maybe, she wants to take his hand instead, so she forgets about Farkle and puts her hand close to Lucas’s instead, spending the rest of the evening on edge more about whether or not he’ll take her hand than she is about what’s happening on the screen.
Farkle had a party. With the hero kids. Without them. And Riley gets it, she guessed; why he’d want to impress his new friends, make a place for himself in the hero program, find a place where he can fit in without needing his two sidekicks there always. But still, when she walks into his house to ask for homework help and finds everyone there having a good time, it stings, and she tries to slip away as quickly as she can. Farkle sees her and his face drops, and for a second, Riley considers grabbing his hand and dragging him outside. If she talks to him, she’ll feel better, she always does. He probably has an explanation, and they’ll hug and make up and it’ll be okay. It has to be okay, because they’re Riley and Farkle and something is wrong with the universe if they’re not getting along. It’s almost as messed up as when she fights with Maya. But Riley doesn’t want to stay. Everything since she got to Sky High has been a mess and she wants to just get away and go home and cry, so when Farkle reaches out to grab her hand and keep her from going, she jerks away, and darts out into the night... conveniently discovering that she’s finally gotten Josh’s superspeed in the process.
Sky High’s under siege. By Farkle’s dad. Riley’s heart breaks for him as they all stand in a line, fighting off his minions, swatting them away from the school they’ve all grown to love so much. But now, there are only a few people left still standing -- Maya’s healing people, binding up their wounds with makeshift plant-wraps. Zay’s ushering people to safety, and Lucas and Lava Girl are melting away all the ice that people have been frozen inside of during the attack. But Farkle is facing off against his dad, and Riley doesn’t want to let him do it alone. She takes a step forward, trying to reach out for his hand, to give him some of her strength. “This is my fight, Riley -- please, I have to do this by myself,” he tells her, and Riley’s sad. She’s sad that there’s nothing she can to do make this better, besides stand there and offer backup if he needs it. But at the same time, he’s so brave and so strong, and Riley just watches in awe as he makes the final stand between good and evil.
…and the one time they do.
She kissed him. After the battle was done, in a moment of pure adrenaline and relief and exhaustion and a million other feelings she can’t remember, Riley threw her arms around Farkle and kissed him. It always happens in movies, when the hero saves the day -- he finally gets the girl. Riley guesses she’d been conditioned to think it was the right response, but she doesn’t know. She spends all weekend thinking about it, until Monday when they get back to school, and then she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do. Because she knows without a shadow of a doubt that she’s been wasting her time chasing Lucas Friar when the right guy for her has been there all along, and she’s scared that she waited too long, or that Farkle doesn’t feel the same. But then Farkle’s standing at the bus stop waiting for her, smiling at her like she’s the sun, warm and bright and everything he’s ever needed, and she knows it’s all okay. It’s not too late at all, and they can talk about it and figure out exactly what they are later. For now, though, Riley reaches out and slips her hand into his, and beams up at him (when did he get so tall?) as she walk onto the bus, their fingers still intertwined as they sit down next to each other.
