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Riley Matthews was a romantic.
She believed in the soulmate legends. She trusted that the names written on her wrist were her soulmates. She thought she was lucky. Riley Matthews had four soulmates – two on each wrist. She thought she was the luckiest girl in the world.
The first soulmate she met was Maya. Her wrists conveniently did not have last names along with the first, but as soon as she saw a blonde girl climb in through her bedroom window, she felt the world become a little more alive and she knew.
“Who are you?” she asked, her voice high and nervous.
“I’m Maya,” she said.
She sounded tough. Riley loved her immediately.
---
“Mommy, tell me about my soulmates,” she would say when she was younger.
Topanga Matthews was wary of soulmates. She was born without names printed in neat, black ink on her wrists, and fell in love in spite of it. Her soulmate was not predestined by fate. And here her daughter sat, four names and a pleased look on her face.
“You know Maya,” Topanga would say after only a moment’s hesitation. “You two are going to be best friends forever.”
Riley grinned and nodded. “And the others?”
Topanga would pick up her wrist and point at the name under Maya’s. “This person, Farkle? He’s a ridiculous little guy, and I’m sure you’ll love him more than you ever thought you could love anyone.”
“And the others?” Riley’s eyes were wide, excited, dreamy.
“Your right wrist holds the names of two very special people, indeed.” Topanga would smile down at her little girl, so full of wonder. “Isaiah and Lucas. Your soulmates. They probably are very excited to meet you – they know there’s a Riley out there somewhere.”
Riley’s smile would grow wider, wider, wider. “Thanks, Mommy,” she would whisper before going to bed, pleased and anticipatory for the new day.
---
“Maya, how come only my name is on your wrist?” Riley asked one day a few years later.
She and Farkle and Maya were all sitting in the bay window, eating popsicles and talking about nothing important. Until Riley mentioned soulmates. To Riley, soulmates were important.
Maya’s head snapped up. “What do you mean?” she asked. Ten-year-old Maya already had a small voice with a harsh edge on it, and that edge would come out when she was especially surprised.
“I mean,” Riley frowned, “I have four soulmates. You have one. Why?”
“I, personally, believe the soulmate legend is crap,” Farkle volunteered.
“You’re only saying that because you don’t have my name,” Maya sneered at him. “And you want to love us both equally.”
“Yeah,” Riley interrupted, “but Farkle has two names. Mine and Lucas’s. Why do you only have the one?”
Maya frowned and glanced down at her left wrist, twisting the bracelet she wore to look at Riley’s name. “I don’t know, Riles. Maybe you’re just better soulmate material.”
Riley wasn’t pacified, but it was all she could get out of Maya that day. And that was okay. She had all the time in the world with her best friend.
---
Lucas was Riley’s ideal.
He was tall, and strong, and polite, and cute, and she could talk with him. Awkwardly. But Riley was sure that would go away in time. They were soulmates, and she could talk with Farkle and Maya without hesitation. She was sure it would be the same with Lucas.
“Dad,” she asked one night at the dinner table.
“Yes?” he answered, glancing over at her.
“Do you think I’m supposed to love all my soulmates the same?” she asked.
Cory raised his eyebrows, surprised, before shaking his head. “I don’t, Riley.”
“You don’t love your soulmates the same?” Riley asked. “In what way?”
Cory smiled a little and shook his head. “Well, for one, I married one of them and didn’t marry the other one.”
“But you loved them differently?”
“I didn’t even love one of them,” Cory said. “One of them… We would have worked. But Topanga was waiting for me.”
Topanga smiled and looked at Auggie, ruffling his hair. “And he came to me.”
“Do you think the soulmate system even works?” Riley asked.
“Not really,” Cory admitted. “I mean, your mother doesn’t even have a name. And your brother’s soulmate is Ava. Ava Morgenstern. I’m pretty sure the soulmate system is bogus.”
Riley laughed and took a bite of her food.
“Besides,” Cory continued, completely serious, “I didn’t get Shawn on my wrist. I know the system is bogus.”
Riley looked at her mom and grinned. “My whole life!” they chorused, before the whole table burst into laughter.
---
Zay was different from how Riley ever pictured her last soulmate. He was sarcastic, and always seemed to know what was going on before she did, and he called her cute all the time without being awkward about it. He got into fights and always needed Lucas to get him out of it. But he was smart, and kind, and funny, and Riley wasn’t disappointed. Not in the least.
“Can you get any cuter?” he asked her when they first met.
It left her glowing for days. Her soulmate.
---
She loved them all differently. All throughout middle school and high school, her love for her soulmates developed and changed as she did.
Maya was her best friend, first and foremost.
They kissed, once. In her bedroom. Maya was describing a piece of art she had seen. She was rhapsodizing about colors and shading and depth and Riley saw the entire universe in her face for a split second. Without thinking about it, she leaned in and kissed her best friend.
It was pure and perfect, and everything Riley wanted in a first kiss with Maya.
But Maya pulled away. They didn’t speak about it again.
---
Lucas, however. She kissed him many times.
Riley was positive that Lucas was her happily-ever-after, her Cory and Topanga romance that would last for the ages. They dated on again, off again for a while, always with the understanding that they would get back together whenever they were done dealing with the situation at hand.
Lucas was her light. He was good and gentle and talked to her as if she was the most amazing person on earth. Riley loved him. She would love him forever.
And he loved her.
But they didn’t need each other. They didn’t challenge each other. They didn’t grow because of each other. They grew most when they stood side by side, best friends. They were not the power couple of the ages.
Riley knew that was okay. Not everybody could be Cory and Topanga.
---
For a while, Riley fretted over a rift between herself and Farkle.
She hated when they fought. It was her fault, and she was sorry, and had apologized and asked what she could do to fix the problem, but she got the same response every time.
“Please, just give me some space.”
At least he said please, she would tell herself.
“What happened between you two?” Lucas finally asked.
Riley sighed and glanced across the room at Farkle, who was leaning over to whisper something in Smackle’s ear. “I mentioned that her name wasn’t on his wrist.”
Lucas hesitated. “It’s not?”
Riley shook her head. “And he knows how I believe in the soulmate system, and he said that I was essentially pointing out that I don’t think they’ll stay together.”
Lucas sighed. “Oh. I had no idea. I’ve never seen Farkle’s wrists.”
Riley’s head snapped to Farkle’s wrists, surprised to see a watch on one and a leather bracelet on the other. “Oh. I didn’t notice he had put those there.”
“Ever since I’ve met him,” Lucas added. “Which, coincidentally, was after he met Smackle.”
Riley bit her lip and sighed. She put her head on Lucas’s shoulder and reached out for Maya’s hand, gripping it tightly.
Maya glanced up from her drawing in surprise.
“I hate when our group isn’t bonded.”
“Riles, I don’t think you can fix this,” Maya said slowly. “He’s very upset. And he’s proven that he doesn’t really want to make up with you. Not right now, at least.”
Riley sighed before her eyes opened wide. “Wait, how old do you have to be to get a tattoo?”
“You’re too young,” Maya said immediately. “You have to be eighteen.”
“Gosh, I can’t wait two years,” Riley said, wrinkling her brow.
“Or you can have parental permission,” Zay suggested, coming around to sit in his seat. “Why are you wanting a tattoo? Are you going to get a butterfly?”
Riley began to imagine all the butterfly tattoos she could get and stared off into the distance wistfully before snapping back to reality. “No. I need to talk to my father.”
She waited until her whole family was home before bringing it up. Her parents agreed without much thought, and Riley texted Lucas, Maya, and Zay.
When they all showed up with tattoos on their jewelry free wrists the next day, Farkle noticed immediately. He looked up at Riley, his eyes misted over. “Really?” he asked.
“I think we make our own soulmates,” Riley said thoughtfully. She ran her finger gently over the ‘Isadora’ tattoo and smiled. “And Smackle?”
Smackle was staring at Zay’s wrist in disbelief but reluctantly turned to Riley. “Yes?”
“You’ve always been part of my squad. We didn’t have to permanently put your name on our wrists to prove it, but we wanted to. Because we love you.”
Lucas spoke up. “I know I’m risking an accusation of flirting by talking to you—”
Smackle laughed.
“But it isn’t fair that you’ve been in our group for years now and aren’t on any of our wrists.” He smiled at his friends. “So we decided to get everyone’s names.” He held up his wrists, five names neatly written in black ink: Riley, Farkle, Maya, Isaiah, Isadora. “My soulmates.”
Zay held up his wrists. “We’re all soulmates. No matter what fate says.”
Farkle leaned over and touched Riley’s left wrist, his fingers lingering over his own name. “I’m sorry I let this come between us. I do love you. But I love Smackle, too.”
Riley’s eyes filled with tears but she managed to nod. “I know,” she whispered. “I love you, Farkle. I love all of you.”
Maya reached over and put her hand on top of Farkle’s. “Are you going to get some to match?” she asked.
“Maya, look at you,” Farkle said in awe. “Five soulmates.”
“Five soulmates,” she agreed. “Plus Uncle Boing, but I thought I should wait to put his name on my wrist.”
Everyone groaned, but nobody could hide the ridiculous smiles blooming on their faces.
“Where do I get a tattoo?” Smackle asked suddenly.
Riley glanced at her bare wrists without meaning to. “We’ll take you there,” she promised, smiling broadly at her newest soulmate.
Cory cleared his throat from the front of the classroom. “Anyway, I believe Dave was asking a question before this cuteness happened. And, Zay, I believe you were late to my class.”
Zay shrugged. “Oops.”
“Uh huh,” Cory said, a small grin on his face. “All right, let’s continue with class, everyone.”
---
At graduation, Lucas gently ribbed Farkle for being salutatorian as Smackle walked up to give her valedictorian speech. Riley sat with her body as close to Maya as possible, holding Zay’s hand on the other side.
Smackle took the microphone and began her speech in the customary way, with gratitude and acknowledgments and…
Riley sat up a little straighter at Smackle’s next words.
“I used to believe that fate dictated who we are,” Smackle said, not bothering to look down at her notes. “That you were born with brains, and your level of attractiveness was unchangeable, and a name on your wrist would determine who you would spend the rest of your life with. Over the last four years, however, I have learned that fate does not determine who you are. With a little hard work, some good friends, and a good tattoo parlor, you can make your own fate. I’ve learned this from my best friends and my soulmates.” Smackle turned slightly and made eye contact with her five friends before turning back front.
“If you remember anything from high school, remember your friends. Obviously, logarithms are important and will be useful for the rest of your life.”
Everyone laughed. Smackle beamed.
“Do you think she’s serious?” Maya whispered to Riley, her face aghast.
Riley laughed again.
“But your friends,” Smackle continued, “they’re the real lesson of the high school experience. They’re what you will take with you, if the friendship is true. Mr. Matthews taught us many, many lessons that were applicable to our lives, and this was the best lesson he ever helped us with. The secret of life. People change people.”
Riley’s eyes filled with tears as Smackle finished her speech and said thank you, turning to come back to her seat.
She glanced down at her wrists. None of them hid their wrists anymore. They were bonded by ink and tears and friendship, and nothing could ever break them apart.
---
Riley Matthews believed in the soulmate system. She believed that her soulmates were those she couldn’t see herself living without. She loved them all differently, and none of them were perfect. But she loved them all equally, and no names on her wrist—or lack thereof—could change her unwavering faith in her soulmates.