Okay, let me get something straight before we start here- Isadora Smackle was smarter than me. Alright? I said it. She was smarter, and better, and that day at the inter-school debate I was beyond...well, I was whatever the next thing is. I guess you could say I was jealous.
Anyway, the tension was so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. Smackle had just finished her speech and the time for revealing the winner had come.
"Well, before I announce the winner, let me remind you all that our final debate of the season will be held right here next week, where our thought-provoking topic will be "Is beauty only skin deep?" I saw Smackle making a face as Mr Matthews received the paper.
"So the winner of today's debate is..." Farkle stood up but Mr Matthews pushed him back down into his seat. Oof. That must've hurt.
"Isadora Smackle, Einstein Academy!"
Riley turned to Maya, Lucas and I as everyone clapped. "It looks like our debate team could use some help," she said, stating the obvious.
"Yeah," I agreed. "Smackle's definitely got game."
"She beats Farkle every time. You think he's gotten used to it by now?" Riley asked. I looked over to Farkle only to find him lying on the floor and moaning.
"It hurts," he moaned. The crowd just avoided him by stepping over him. Maya, Riley and I got up.
"Nope. Good thing we're there for him. Being there for him is the most important thing we can be-- " Maya started, then looked to the left with wide eyes. It was a platter of melon balls.
"Melon balls."
"Ooh," Riley breathed and they walked over to devour them. I let them go and approached Farkle, sitting down on the floor next to him."You okay, big baby boo?" I teased. He smiled at my voice and pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"Well hello, girlfriend lady," he said."You're such a weirdo," I said as he scooted closer.
"You have a valid point. However, I am separated from the general weirdo populace as I am your weirdo."He was going to lean in for a kiss when some footsteps interrupted us. It was Smackle. Wow, who else would cut into our moment like that? Not Riley or Maya. They wouldn't.
She took Farkle's hand and shook it. "Valiant effort as usual, my arch-nemesis. Perhaps a smoothie would take the sting out of my latest victory," she told him.
"Isadora, I have a girlfriend. But yeah, perhaps you're right. We'll go see," Farkle said, taking my hand. He was about to stand up and sorta...pull me with him when Smackle totally kneed him back onto the floor. Seriously. Her knee was on his back.
"Smackle, you fool! You forgot how literal he is. Farkle," she stood up as she spoke to herself. "I meant would you like to get a smoothie with me?"
Farkle stood up that time and I followed suit. He held up our entwined hands. "Isadora, what part of "Arch-Nemesis" and "I have a girlfriend" do you not understand?" I blushed as he squeezed my hand.
"Farkle, you might find this hard to believe, but I am a significant amount of fun. Would you like to see my fun face?"
"That would be of interest to me." Smackle didn't do anything different. "Proceed."
"I'm doin' it!" She protested. Thankfully, Riley walked over.
"Well, Farkle, good job being smart and everything!" She praised him and hugged Farkle. Now, this I didn't mind, because they've been friends for years and years. And they respect our relationship.
"Thanks for coming, Riley. Sorry you had to see me lose again," he said a little bit disappointedly. I rubbed my thumb over his knuckles comfortingly.
"Wonderful debate, Farkle. A memory that will live with me right up until the next thing happens," she assured him. Farkle smiled a little and walked away with me. We went to sit on the Regular Bench outside our homeroom.
"You did really good, Farkle. Maybe you'll rub off on me someday," I joked. He scoffed.
"And maybe I'll catch up to your 806 As someday," he replied. I leaned my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. Then, with a sudden thought, they shot open.
"Dude," I said, poking his cheek. "You still owe me a kiss from just now." He opened his eyes (I hadn't even realized they were closed. Dang it! Hadley Friar, ruiner of perfect moments.)
"Oh right. I do."
-
Despite the kissing, I was still torn up about Smackle and Farkle. I needed to win Farkle back from the clutches of that short little whiz kid.
So I consulted the only person I knew that could ever understand- Riley.
"Haddie, you're jealous", she told me over the phone.
"Yeah, I am. But it's for a relationship!" I begged. After ten more minutes of my pleading, Riley gave in."Alright alright!" She exclaimed exasperatedly. "Come to my house as soon as you can. Maya will be there with me and we'll make you sparkle for Farkle." I rolled my eyes at her joke and hung up laughing quietly to myself.
So I made my way over to her apartment at around late afternoon. When I rang the doorbell the door opened in less than a minute, held open by a smiling Riley. She reached out to hug me.
"Yaaay! Maya, look who's here!" She said happily. Maya smirked from behind her.
"Your latest victim is here. Yaaaay," she deadpanned. I raised my eyebrows. "Victim?"
Riley let go and just as I was about to stand up properly she put an arm around my shoulders. "Don't you worry Hadley we'll make you..." She stepped up onto her couch. "Irresistible!"
Just then, Mr Matthews walked into the living room. He took one look at us and went, "Yeah, okay." Riley smiled and pulled me into her room.
Alright, I gotta admit, Riley and Maya weren't horrible at giving makeovers. In fact, they were pretty good- i had always admired their fashion sense. Pretty soon they had me dressed in a killer outfit with nice hair and everything. (Also, three green nails and two white ones. Why that? Why did they not have a logical explanation for that?)
When they were done I slowly opened my eyes, having shut them when Maya tried to eyeliner me. She managed to do it, by the way.
"I'm...pretty?" I asked nervously. Riley and Maya grinned at each other, obviously pleased with their work.
I walked over to Riley's mirror and examined myself. They had curled my already wavy hair into ringlets which they had loosened up by ruffling my hair. It was nice to have someone work on your hair while you tried not to inhale perfume. They had given me this pretty flowery dress and reused my denim jacket from earlier. To complete the ensemble I had a pair of (peach? Flesh? I DON'T KNOW) heels to go with it all.
"You're the hottest little owl in the whole forest," Maya said, pleased.
"Now you're ready to go out with Farkle!" Riley said happily.
"To what now?" I asked, confused. Riley smiled even wider.
"Oh, I don't know, I might've contacted Farkle while Maya was convincing you purple does not go with yellow telling him to meet you." I mentally took a note never to tell her about my romances again.
Nah, I'm just kidding. Imma gonna tell her everything.
-
Farkle was waiting in a booth when I came in. As I tried to walk through the door like a normal person, Riley pushed me back out.
"No no no! You have to walk more sophisticatedly," Riley scolded. I raised my eyebrows as high as they would go and scoffed.
"Seriously Riles? I appreciate you guys making me over and everything, but why does my walk matter?" I asked before ducking under her reach and entering anyway. Maya, who was already inside, spoke in an Italian accent.
"...Hadley Fri-yah," I heard her finish as I approached Farkle's table.
"You guys made her over?" He asked, looking up at Maya. Riley came in after me.
"Yup," she said. "Y'know, just us girls playing with our hair and clothes."
"But why?" He asked. I was completely taken aback by his response to everything. I thought he would like the new me.
"I liked Hadley the way she was. Now it looks like she's trying too hard." I looked down at my shoes.
Farkle sounded like he was comprehending something- and he probably was. He's always comprehending something. Life, the universe, the significance of life in the universe- I was surprised how his overthinking didn't mess with his mind.
"But...you wouldn't want to impress me unless.." I guess Riley couldn't take it anymore and I looked too guilty to be saved, because she blurted, "Hadley's scared of Smackle taking you away from her."
I looked up through my hair. Farkle was looking at me in complete and utter shock. "Is this true?" He asked. I could only nod.
Farkle got up. I thought he was going to leave so I prepared for the worst- but he only came to sit next to me.
He tilted my chin up. "You didn't have to change anything to make sure I'm yours," he said quietly. I saw Riley and Maya slip out the door from the corner of my eye.
"I'm just paranoid about this kinda stuff," I said softly. "Childhood incidents and all that."
He turned to face me properly, taking both my hands. Sometimes he blew on them to warm my perpetually cold hands. "Smackle and I are just enemies. I've known of her liking for me for awhile now, and I'm not going to let that bug me anymore."
I leaned in closer to him and he let me rest on his shoulder. "You're the first person I'm going to really trust besides my brother."
"Don't let me down, okay?"
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Yeah okay this one was a lot of Harkle fluff and drama and stuff but I really couldn't figure out a way to work her into the story with Smackle. I'm trying to keep to a strict writing schedule for regular updates so I'm still getting used to writing on a limit. Also, I'm not going to do Girl Meets 1961 because it has a whole lot of...flashbacks, which will be insanely hard to write out. I'm gonna make it a filler chapter instead with Riley, Maya, Hadley, Lucas and Farkle.Thanks for reading!