Friend Power Read online

  Copyright © 2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc.

  Cover design © 2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Disney Press, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney Press, 1101 Flower Street, Glendale, California 91201.

  ISBN 978-1-4847-8621-5

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Part One

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Part Two

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Photos from the Show

  It was a typical morning at the Matthews apartment. Riley sat on her usual bench at the breakfast table with her dad to her right and her mom and little brother, Auggie, seated across from her. The eggs, toast, and fruit were standard before-school fare. The only thing not typical? Riley’s best friend, Maya Hart, wasn’t there with them. Yet.

  “All right, weirdos, listen up and listen up good!” Maya declared as she rolled in like a tornado and zoomed through the living room. “I only got like a minute before he walks through that door!”

  “Who’s coming through the door, Maya?” Riley spun around on the bench and smiled.

  “Your uncle Boing,” Maya replied.

  “Oh, Maya, you gotta get offa this!” Riley reached out to give her friend’s shoulder a concerned squeeze. Ever since poor Maya had met him, she’d had a serious thing for Riley’s uncle Josh—her dad’s much younger brother—hence Maya’s nickname for him: Uncle Boing.

  “Nope,” Maya insisted, pacing around the apartment as she shared a new theory about her tragically one-sided crush. “The reason he’s not interested is because I’ve been playin’ it wrong. See, my strategy of turning into a total nut job at the mere sight of him ain’t working out as planned.”

  Riley shook her head, amazed that her best friend, who was normally so wise when it came to pretty much everything in life, could be so clueless about this. “Maya, it’s nothing you’re doing. It’s the age difference.”

  “Three years older!” Maya scrunched up her face, not buying Riley’s interpretation. “Your dad married your mom and he’s like twenty years older!”

  Hmmm. She did have a point.

  “We’re exactly the same age!” Riley’s dad, Cory, interjected.

  “What?” Riley spun back around on the bench and shot a bewildered glare at her father. Her parents stared back at her in amazement, as if she should have realized this. Well, okay, she knew they were about the same age. But her dad had a different kind of vibe from her mom. An old person vibe.

  “I just need to be cazh.” Maya returned the conversation to her previous line of reasoning as she sat down next to Riley. She swung her chunky black suede boots up onto the table and leaned against her friend awkwardly, tossing back her long blond hair and striking a pose that was anything but casual. “How’s this?”

  Riley’s mom, Topanga, immediately got up and marched over, then pushed Maya’s feet away from the food. “Yeah, how’s this?”

  Just then, Uncle Josh walked through the door, looking extremely mature in a bright blue button-down shirt and black vest. “Hey, family,” he said with a broad, dimpled smile.

  “Yeah, hi, I don’t care,” Maya muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes and twirling a piece of hair around her finger.

  “My brother!” Josh called out to Riley’s dad as he tossed his bag on the couch and walked to the breakfast table.

  “My brother!” Riley’s dad called back. He was excited Josh had come to visit.

  “So, Riley,” Maya said while inspecting her nails, continuing to focus her attention on anything but Josh, “shouldn’t we be, like, heading to school now, since there’s nothing here for me of any interest?”

  Ha. Okay, fine. Riley was more than happy to play along with her best friend’s plan. “Sure, let’s go,” she agreed.

  “Think she’ll make it out the door?” Auggie whispered to his big sister, proving that Maya’s calm, cool, and collected act wasn’t fooling even the youngest person in the room.

  Riley leaned across the table and looked into her little brother’s eyes with a sly smile. “I give her ten seconds before she jumps on his head!” she predicted, then got up and followed Maya to the door.

  “I came up here because I wanted to do this in front of all of you,” Josh announced. “I hold in my hand an envelope from New York University.”

  When she heard those words, Maya stopped so suddenly that Riley bumped right into her back. “Oh, are we stopping?” Riley practically sang with a giant knowing grin as she looked from Maya to Josh and back to Maya.

  “I’m not stopping, I’m resting,” Maya insisted, feet firmly planted until Riley gave her a gentle nudge forward.

  “What’s in this envelope tells me where I’m going to be for the next four years,” Josh continued, prompting Maya to stop—and Riley to bump into her—again.

  “Oh, are we stopping?” Riley repeated, choking down a laugh. Maya was being about as casual as a prom dress.

  “I’m not as young as I used to be,” Maya explained feebly before continuing to trudge to the door.

  “Good luck, Josh!” Riley called out.

  “Yeah, hi, I don’t care,” Maya added as they finally exited the apartment.

  As if under a spell, Josh stared after the girls and took a few steps toward the closed door. “Is it just me or is there a new maturity in Maya that I haven’t seen before?” he murmured. “I find it intriguing.”

  Suddenly, the door swung open and a wild-eyed Maya, no longer able to contain herself, screamed, “Where will you beeeeee?” She ran to Josh and jumped onto his back, grabbing for the envelope in his hand and nearly knocking him down as he spun and staggered around the room, desperately trying to get her off him.

  “Hold on to your dignity, woman!” Riley shouted.

  “Too late for that,” Auggie pointed out as Josh continued to flail around.

  “Get offa me, ya little ferret!” Josh kept spinning in a desperate attempt to free himself from Maya, who was still trying to snatch the envelope from his clutches.

  “Give it!” Maya screamed, finally getting hold of her target.

  “It’s my life!” Josh yelled back.

  “Well, it affects me, too!” Maya insisted, tearing open the large manila envelope and beginning to read the letter while still seated on Josh’s back like a rodeo star. “Dear Applicant Boing—”

  “It doesn’t say that!” Josh shouted, trying once again to shake Maya loose.

  “This year we are only accepting married applicants—” Maya continued.

  “It doesn’t say that!” Josh repeated, louder.

  “Therefore, we regret to inform you—”

  “Regret to inform me?” Josh’s face fell and he finally stopped trying to eject Maya, who continued to read in a softer voice.

  “We regret to inform you that you will be spending the next four years…” Maya paused briefly and then blurted out excitedly, “IN NEW YORK WITH MAYYYYYAAAAAA!”

  “I got in?” Josh asked in amazement as Maya slid dow
n to the floor. “I got in!” Josh’s face lit up like a Christmas tree as he spun around to beam at Maya.

  “We got in! Congratulations, Josh!” Maya gushed, opening her arms to give him a hug.

  But before they could connect, the whole family swept Josh into a group hug and Maya fell backward onto the couch.

  “Yayyy!” shouted Riley.

  “Way to go!” Mrs. Matthews joined in.

  “You did it!” Mr. Matthews bellowed.

  “I don’t know what this means!” Auggie added in his adorably oblivious way.

  “Congratulations, buddy,” Mr. Matthews said, wrapping an arm around Josh. “I’m so proud of you!”

  “That means a lot to me, Cory,” Josh replied.

  As she observed the family celebration, Maya switched back into casual mode. “All very exciting, I’m sure, but Riley and I have our own educations to which to attend…to which…” Maya’s voice trailed off as she took Riley’s hand and led her toward the door.

  “This is so great,” Josh raved to Mr. Matthews. “And my buddy who goes there invited me to his dorm tonight to meet some college friends if I got in.”

  At the front door, Maya paused and Riley bumped into her. Again.

  “Oh, are we stopping?” Riley cooed, as entertained as she had been the past two times.

  “Nope, we’re doing something else now,” Maya replied slyly, pulling Riley back into the apartment. As they breezed past Josh, she ever-so-nonchalantly inquired, “When is this little party, yeah, whatever, hi, I don’t care?”

  “Ten o’clock tonight,” Josh told her.

  “And where is this little party, yeah, whatever, hi, I don’t care?” Maya asked.

  “Greenwich Hall,” Josh replied.

  A victorious grin spread across Maya’s face.

  “Are we smiling?” Riley beamed back at her best friend. “I’ll smile. I’ll smile anytime. What are we smiling about?”

  “Bay window. Bay window right now!” Maya linked arms with Riley and hauled her upstairs to Riley’s bedroom. “Can I sleep over at your house tonight?” she asked when they were safely inside.

  “Yay!” Riley agreed, always happy to have a slumber party with her best friend in the whole wide world.

  “But not really,” Maya continued.

  “Aww.” Riley frowned.

  “I’m going to that party,” Maya announced.

  “Ooooh, you’re going to sneak out?” Riley bounced up and down in her chunky black boots until her memory of the specifics brought her back down to earth. “But he said it could go till ten o’clock!”

  “No, it starts at ten,” Maya said, correcting her, as she walked to the window seat.

  “It starts at ten?” Riley shuddered at the absurdity of a party—or anything—starting so late at night. “Who even heard of such a thing?”

  “That bothers you, huh?” Maya smirked.

  “It starts at ten?” Riley flung up her arms and marched over to sit next to Maya on the comfy purple cushions.

  “There are going to be college girls there,” Maya explained carefully. “And they’re pretty. And they’re smart. And they’re witches.”

  Riley shook her head, growing more disturbed by the second as she raised a single eyebrow. “I don’t like witches.”

  “We can’t let Josh fall under their spell, Riley,” Maya insisted. “I’m sneaking out.”

  Riley couldn’t allow it. “You will be grounded forever and I will lose my best friend,” she cautioned Maya. “Don’t do this!”

  But Maya wasn’t budging. “No. I am not gonna look back and regret the things I didn’t do. I wanna look back and regret the things I…did do!” Even Maya didn’t seem entirely convinced by the last bit.

  “You can’t do this,” Riley said. “Your conscience will always bother you.”

  “I don’t have a conscience.”

  “Everyone does,” Riley argued, but she could see from the blank look on Maya’s face that her best friend wasn’t buying it. So she quickly switched gears. “And until yours shows up, I’m going with you.”

  “Oh, really?” Maya said. “You’re ready to sneak out the window and crash a ten o’clock college party with me?”

  “I am so ready!” Riley insisted, desperately trying to convince herself as much as anyone else. But she needed to clarify something, for the record, one last time. “It starts at ten?”

  Maya nodded.

  Ugh. There were so many things wrong with the plan. It wasn’t just about when the party would start but about where—and how—everything would end. But that was precisely why Riley couldn’t let Maya go alone.

  Later that morning, Riley was finding it impossible to concentrate on the day’s history lesson. Her mind was too focused on the future as she played out all the possible ways things could go down if Maya really snuck out that night.

  “Okay, how are we pulling this caper off?” Riley loud-whispered to Maya.

  But her best friend was still adamant about going alone. “Riley, if we snuck out for an adventure, I know you’d tell your parents,” she said with a sigh.

  “I promise I won’t!” Riley insisted.

  Mr. Matthews looked up from his desk. “Who’s talking?” he barked at the class.

  Ever the dutiful daughter and student, Riley immediately and instinctively raised her hand. “We are, it’s us!”

  Oops. Riley cringed, realizing she’d done exactly what Maya had predicted.

  “You ain’t going,” Maya concluded as Mr. Matthews continued with his lecture.

  “What is a lie?” he asked, standing in front of the chalkboard, where the word conscience was written in big, bold letters. “What are the effects of a lie on the human soul?”

  Ohmygosh. Did he already know what Riley and Maya were planning to do that night? Could Riley’s dad see everything that was going on inside her head without her even telling him? How did he do that?

  “Why are you looking at me?” Riley demanded, widening her eyes innocently in the hopes that her dad would move on—which, fortunately, he did.

  “The man who summed up the price of a lie was Edgar Allan Poe in The Tell-Tale Heart,” Mr. Matthews said, holding up a copy of the book and then gesturing to Farkle to take over the lesson.

  But before Farkle could say anything, Isaiah “Zay” Babineaux began speaking with a dramatic intensity. “So, this guy chops somebody up, hides him in the floor. He’s cool for a while but all of a sudden”—Zay was delighting in every gruesome detail as he opened and closed his hand like a beating heart—“boom boom…boom boom…boom BOOM!” Zay smacked his hand down on his desk so hard that everyone nearly jumped out of their seats. “His guilty conscience made him hear the heart beat under the floorboards. So he gave himself up. Some people just aren’t cut out for this stuff.”

  Farkle was not happy that Zay had stolen the spotlight. “He called on me, y’know.”

  “I know stuff! I know a lot of stuff,” Zay fired back, then walked over to stare Farkle down as he added in a sinister voice, “I know stuff about you.”

  “You don’t know anything about me,” Farkle insisted quickly, his eyes darting away from Zay.

  “Boom boom,” Zay repeated, once again opening and closing his hand like a beating heart as he pushed it closer and closer to Farkle’s face.

  “Why would you do that?” Farkle’s voice trembled and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

  “Boom boom,” Zay continued, louder.

  “I don’t understand why you would do that!” Farkle’s voice was pleading.

  “Boom BOOM!” Zay nearly shouted.

  That was it. Farkle couldn’t take it anymore. He broke down and confessed to what he apparently thought Zay was trying to get out of him. “All through kindergarten I never fell asleep once!” Farkle sputtered. “I was faking all of my naps! Faking ’em! I can’t do it! I don’t know how Maya can just fall asleep anywhere!”

  At that revelation, Mr. Matthews began to examine Maya, his jaw
dropping in awe as he realized that although her eyes were wide open, the girl was fast asleep, judging from the buzz saw–like noises she was making.

  Undeterred, Mr. Matthews carried on with his lesson. “Okay, so, guys, the point of the story is that the conscience is more powerful than we realize—” He suddenly paused and slammed his book down on Maya’s desk.

  “I never wake you up!” Maya shouted as she bolted awake.

  “—for those of us who have one,” Mr. Matthews continued with a smirk. “Now, just as the truth comes out, so, too, will a lie. How will you live your lives? How strong is your conscience?”

  Oh, no. No, no, no! Riley’s face crumpled and her palms grew sweaty as her heart—her poor little telltale heart—beat in double time, echoing in her head with a haunting boom boom. Her father was definitely on to her and Maya! He knew everything about their plan to sneak out that night. They were doomed. Doomed!

  Maya, observing the freaked-out expression on Riley’s face, narrowed her eyes and informed her friend, “We haven’t done anything yet.”

  “Oh, yeah!” Riley breathed a sigh of relief. Her face broke into a giant smile and she began swaying to the magical, innocent sound of happy elf music that played in her head when all was right with the world. Everything was still okay. Riley was content to be in her happy place and move to her internal music knowing she hadn’t done anything wrong…at least not yet.

  As Riley’s mom served a dinner of chicken, veggies, and potato tots that evening, Riley turned to look at Maya. Riley knew that with the right approach, she could get her friend to see that having her at the party would be the best thing for both of them.

  “Before you give up on me completely, you gotta give me a trial run at least,” Riley proposed, grabbing Maya’s arm intently. “You gotta, Maya. You just gotta.”

  Maya’s eyes bulged out and she began to make a groaning noise, kind of like her head was a balloon and Riley was slowly making the air escape from it. Riley knew that sound all too well. It was the sound of victory, the sound of her finally wearing Maya down!

  “Yayyy!” Riley grinned. “If I succeed?”

  “I take you,” Maya grumbled. “And if you fail?”