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 978-1-4847-3246-5
For more Disney Press fun, visit www.disneybooks.com
Visit DisneyChannel.com
Contents
Part One
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Part Two
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Photos from the Show
Riley Matthews was on top of the world. Literally. At least, she looked like she was somewhere out there, floating in space, the earth spinning beneath her feet, as she thought about how amazing her life was—how amazing it was to be alive, period.
“Riley Matthews,” she said as planets spun behind her. “From Greenwich Village, New York City, the United States of America, continent of North America, Western Hemisphere, Earth, the solar system, the universe. The mind of God. And in the middle of all of it is John Quincy Adams Middle School. Me and my friends. Because we are the center of the universe. At least, that’s what I thought….”
Riley crashed back down to Earth. She was in her bedroom. In her bed. Nestled beneath her cozy purple comforter. And she didn’t want to come out.
“Who’s ready for a brand-new year?” Riley heard her mom, Topanga, say enthusiastically as she flung open Riley’s bedroom door.
Ugh. Riley wasn’t sure she was ready for her mom, let alone a brand-new year. She should have been excited about starting eighth grade, but there was one tiny detail weighing on her. Heavily.
“Why are you still in bed?” Mrs. Matthews asked.
Riley yanked the covers off her face.
“Is he gonna be my teacher?” she hissed at her mother.
“What? No! We are not doing that again. That was crazy!” Mrs. Matthews insisted. “New year. New teacher. Get excited, because you and your friends are the kings of middle school now.”
Riley began to smile, her heart filling up with hope. But then in walked her dad.
“First day of a new year!” he declared before noticing Riley was still under the covers. “Why are you still in bed?”
“Are you going to be my teacher?” Riley narrowed her eyes, the sight of him reviving all of her doubts.
“No!” Mr. Matthews shook his head. “Your mother and I went through that with Mr. Feeny.”
“Yeah,” Mrs. Matthews giggled. “He was our teacher from sixth grade to college.”
They all shared a look of bewilderment. There was something very, very wrong about having the same teacher for that many years in a row. Riley thought about what life would be like if her dad was her teacher for that many years. Ick. Ack. No.
“How could that happen?” she asked them.
“In an unexpected—” Mr. Matthews began.
“But completely believable way—” Mrs. Matthews continued.
“Every year,” Mr. Matthews concluded, shaking his head again. Even he didn’t quite seem to believe it had happened. That it could happen.
Before Riley had a chance to process the awful notion any further, Maya Hart appeared outside the bay window of Riley’s bedroom. Maya was Riley’s best friend in the whole wide world.
“What up, losers?” Maya said with a smile. In one swift move, she jumped through the window, kicked off her shoes, dove into bed next to Riley, and pulled the comforter up over both of their heads.
“No, no, no! No doing that, girls,” Mr. Matthews warned as he jumped up onto the foot of the bed. “School!”
“Who’s gonna be my teacher?” Maya asked, peeking out from beneath the covers.
“Your teacher?” Mr. Matthews asked. “Whoever loses.”
Riley stared her father down. “I don’t believe you,” she told him.
“I’m telling you, girls. I’m gonna be teaching your life to a whole new group of students,” he insisted, jumping off the bed.
Riley turned to look at Maya. “Do you believe him?”
“I can’t even believe we’re starting the new year without first talking about how we were on the subway and you took Lucas by the face and—”
“Ah! Ha ha ha! We are not talking about that!” Riley kicked Maya onto the floor as she stood on top of her bed and victoriously flung out her arms, proclaiming, “We’re kings!”
Riley was already dressed in the pink-and-gold top and matching skirt over denim leggings that she had carefully picked out for the first day of school. She jumped off the bed, headed straight for the bay window, and grabbed her backpack, eager to make her escape.
“We’re kings, Matthews!” Maya cheered, skipping over to Mr. Matthews and getting right up in his face. “You don’t get to tell us what to do anymore.”
“Get out,” Mr. Matthews told Maya, pointing to the window.
“Okay, but that was the last one,” Maya said, waving a menacing finger at him.
Riley walked back to her father. “Dad, you have to let us learn to walk through life on our own two feet,” she said. With that, she spun around and followed Maya out the window.
“Hmmm.” Mrs. Matthews picked up one of Maya’s zebra-striped ankle boots, both of which were still lying on Riley’s bedroom floor. “You think they’ll be back?”
“No, I think they’re gonna go with this,” Mr. Matthews replied, picking up one of Riley’s spiky black boots.
Crazy as it seemed, Riley and Maya were indeed headed to school—each one walking on her own two bare feet—and Riley’s parents could hear the sounds of the girls yelping in pain with each step they took away from the Matthewses’ apartment.
“Ow,” Riley said.
“Ow,” Maya echoed.
“Ow.” “Ow!” The girls’ alternating voices could be heard as they made their way down the block.
They had to show Riley’s parents—especially her dad—that they were prepared to endure a little pain if it meant a successful escape. They could only hope that said escape also included not having Mr. Matthews as their teacher again that year.
Riley and Maya finally arrived at school. “Ow.” “Ow!” The cries continued with each painful step. When they got to the landing at the top of the stairs overlooking the indoor quad, they stopped and smiled broadly at their loyal subjects—er, fellow students.
“Hellooo,” Riley bellowed, stretching out her arm in a grand, sweeping gesture. “It is us. The kings!”
As Riley and Maya continued down the stairs and toward the history classroom, they ran into their friend Farkle.
“Hey, look at your feet,” Farkle said, his eyes widening with a bit too much excitement. “They’re naked!”
“Eyes up here, buddy,” Maya scolded.
“Hey, Riley, is your dad gonna be our teacher again this year?” Farkle asked while they walked through the quad.
“He said he’s not,” Riley replied.
“I’ll believe it when I don’t see it,” Maya said.
As they neared their first-period classroom, Riley nearly bumped into Lucas Friar. Her heart felt like it might explode. She was excited to see him but also totally freaked out. In his blue
-and-black-checkered button-down shirt, with his sparkling green eyes and perfectly spiky dark blond hair, he looked even cuter than usual. But ever since that day on the subway, things had become weird between them. Weirder than weird.
“Oh. Hi.” Riley locked eyes with Lucas and tried to remain calm.
“Hey,” Lucas replied slowly. “Hi. Hey.”
“Hi,” Riley repeated.
“All summer.” Maya frowned with disgust.
“Hey,” Lucas said again.
“You have to talk about it,” Maya told them sternly.
“She’s right, we—” Lucas began.
“Hi,” Riley interrupted.
“Oh, hey,” Lucas replied as the perfectly timed first-period warning bell rang.
“Glad we talked about it.” Riley smiled up at Lucas.
“Yeah, me too,” Lucas agreed.
“Bye,” Riley said.
“Hey…” Lucas said as they all headed into class.
“Hey…” Farkle parroted to Maya, who could only roll her eyes at the entire situation.
But then, standing there in the doorway of the classroom, she closed her eyes completely. So did Riley. It was as if they were perched on the edge of a cliff, about to fall into the vast, terrifying unknown.
“I know it’s gonna be my father,” Riley said, shaking her head and swallowing hard.
“I can’t look,” Maya replied.
“Scared,” Riley agreed, and they both placed their hands over their eyes. “Okay, ready?”
“Quick peek,” Maya said. “One, two, three, go!”
The girls lowered their hands just enough to peer over at the teacher who was sitting casually on the edge of the desk at the front of the classroom. He glanced up from the folder he had in his hands. He wore a polished gray suit and purple tie and had skin like a caramel mochaccino. His dark brown eyes looked sweetly in the girls’ direction. Not only was he cute, he wasn’t…Mr….Matthews!
Almost immediately, the girls both covered their eyes again.
“Did you see what I saw?” Riley asked, her heart racing with happy excitement this time.
“Oh, yeah,” Maya said enthusiastically.
“Then why are we covering our eyes?”
“Because it’s gonna go away and I don’t want it to go away and it’s gonna go away.”
Finally, the girls uncovered their eyes and looked at the teacher again. Riley could hardly contain herself. Her eyes widened with amazement and her whole body began to shake.
“Yyyyyyyaaaaaaayyyyyyy!” Riley said, continuing to convulse as she exchanged giddy glances with Maya.
“Thank you,” the teacher said with an awkward smile. “Girls, take a seat.”
Riley and Maya rushed to the teacher’s desk and cozied up next to him.
“Your seats,” he clarified.
The girls headed to their usual desks in the front row and looked up at the teacher, putting on their most captivating smiles, eager to out-dazzle each other.
“Yeah, okay, let’s get started,” the teacher said, standing up and heading to the chalkboard. “Belgium. 1831.”
“Yyyyyyyaaaaaaayyyyyyy!” Farkle’s entire body began to shake in his seat, just like Riley’s had moments before, his eyes equally wide with excitement.
“This is gonna be our best year ever!” Riley beamed as she turned to look at Maya, though she definitely wasn’t talking about Belgium.
“Let’s just get up and go over and look at him up close,” Maya proposed.
The girls slowly rose from their desks and crept up to where their teacher stood at the front of the classroom. They examined him like lions stalking a wounded gazelle.
“Yes?” he asked.
“He said yes,” Riley whispered.
“What do we do now?” Maya asked.
“I’m gonna touch him on the face,” Riley replied, lifting her hand and slowly inching a burgundy-polished fingernail closer…closer…closer to the teacher’s nose.
His eyes grew wider and wider as Riley’s finger approached his face, until he finally lost his cool. “Sit down!” he commanded.
Riley and Maya dutifully obliged, turning around and taking their seats again.
“You two strike me as a couple of girls who are used to special treatment,” the teacher said sternly. “I don’t know who your last teacher was, but I don’t do that.”
“Farkle time, sir?” Farkle interjected, raising his hand.
“Go ahead, kid,” the teacher groaned. “You gotta farkle, you gotta farkle.”
“No, this is where he takes over the class,” Lucas attempted to explain, always the polite southern gentleman. It was one of his most swoon-worthy qualities.
“Oh.” The teacher looked completely baffled. “He takes over the class? And you just talk without raising your hand? And these two just do whatever they want?”
Lucas raised his hand.
The teacher called on him. “Yes?”
“Pretty much, yeah,” Lucas said with a shrug.
“You know what?” the teacher said, struggling to remain calm, his voice growing angrier with each word. “I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to shape young minds. I wanted to dedicate my entire life to being an influential person who commands respect!”
Riley got up from her desk, intent on examining this fascinating new teacher and his fascinating new way of teaching. She raised her hand to his face again, waving her finger all around, slowly stretching it out until—at long last—she placed it right on the tip of his nose.
“I quit!” The teacher threw up his hands in defeat, spun on his heel, and marched straight out the door.
What? NO! Riley’s heart sank as she considered the gravity of what had just occurred. She sat down at her desk and turned to look at Maya. “What happens now?”
Maya widened her eyes at Riley and they both looked at the classroom door—hoping against hope that their new teacher was kidding. That he was just pretending to be upset with them. That he would come back. But no such luck. Instead, in walked the last person on the whole planet they wanted to see: Mr. Matthews.
He stormed straight over to Riley, pointed a finger in her face, and fumed, “You did this!”
So much for the best year ever.
The whole situation was horrifying. Unbelievable. Unacceptable. “I can’t believe you’re going to be my father again!” Riley huffed at Mr. Matthews. His face contorted in confusion. “I said what I said,” she added unapologetically.
“Okay.” Mr. Matthews nodded, beginning to understand.
“Seriously, Matthews. How’s this possibly happening?” Maya demanded.
“I like that it’s happening,” Farkle interjected. “That other guy wouldn’t give me Farkle time.”
“Yeah, he didn’t like it at all when we talked,” Lucas agreed.
“It’s true,” Maya said. “It was like he wanted to talk all the time.”
Riley had to admit each of her friends had a point. “I don’t think he knew that history class is supposed to be about our lives,” she added.
Mr. Matthews’s face relaxed into a slightly amused smile. “Galileo,” he said, setting down his bag on the desk and taking his old familiar place in front of the chalkboard. “Everyone believed the sun revolved around the earth—except for him. Everyone thought that they were the center of the universe and that everything else circled around them.”
“I know someone who circles around me,” Riley chimed in. “A little too closely.”
“Is that what you think is happening?” Mr. Matthews asked, walking over to Riley and then leaning against the front of his desk.
“We’re in eighth grade now,” Riley told him.
“We’re a year older,” Maya said.
“We should be able to head off and explore without you,” Riley continued.
“Okay…” Mr. Matthews nodded. “And you guys think you’re ready?”
“Born ready.” Maya smiled, always the picture of cool
confidence.
But Riley wasn’t quite so sure about that one. “I’ll get there!” she offered.
“Y’know what we’re gonna do, Matthews?” Maya said. “We’re gonna transfer outta here!”
“Yeah!” Riley agreed. Then, not exactly clear on what she was agreeing to, she turned to look at her best friend. “Yeah?”
“Yeah!” Maya nodded.
“Lucas? Farkle?” Riley asked, turning around in her chair. She was still feeling weird about things with Lucas, but she didn’t want to go anywhere without the rest of her friends.
“I don’t think so, Riley,” Lucas replied.
Sigh.
Farkle shook his head in dissent, too. “I really like him.”
“I like what he teaches us, and I like how we’re talking right now and he doesn’t stop us when he could if he wanted to,” Lucas added before turning to Mr. Matthews. The whole class, somewhat confused, joined Lucas in a questioning look as he asked Mr. Matthews, “Why don’t you stop us?”
Mr. Matthews smiled his tiny, somewhat annoying I’ve got ’em now smile. “Yeah, that’s interesting, isn’t it?”
“Well, we’re done with you,” Maya told him, pulling a dollar bill from the pocket of her green army jacket and smacking it into his hand as she shook it. “Thanks for the lessons. Buy yourself something pretty.”
“Thank you.” Mr. Matthews grinned, taking the money. “Oh—but you’re gonna need transfer slips.”
“I knew it,” Maya groaned. “He’s gonna keep us here on a technicality.”
But before the girls could insist that he let them go, Mr. Matthews pulled out two green transfer slips and handed them to Riley and Maya without the slightest hint of sadness. “G’head. Beat it.”
There was no way that just happened. It had to be a trick. Didn’t it?
But Maya made it clear that it most definitely had happened.
“Look at us, Riles,” Maya said, taking her slip and heading for the door with Riley and her own slip following right behind. “Two independent women, takin’ their own road, makin’ their own way with their guts and their brains!”
“Needin’ nothin’ from nobody from this moment on!” Riley joined in, turning to wave a finger at her dad and the class before walking out the door and slamming it behind her.
Let's Do This! Page 1
