Lost and Insecure {Rucas}

No Idea

Riley examined herself in the mirror. She decided her knee-length dress covered her thighs good enough.

She told herself she wasn't going to let herself be affected by that little comment, but covering her legs up a little wouldn't hurt anyone. Plus she still thought she didn't need to tell her friends, she was fine.

Riley walked out of her room, and sat down at the table. Waffles and bacon were waiting for her. She looked at them, her stomach feeling queasy. She nibbled on the bacon for a bit, not touching her waffles.

"Not hungry this morning, are we?" Her mother asked, sitting down with Auggie.

"Not really." Riley shrugged.

Which, honestly, she wasn't.

"Your father went to school early for a faculty meeting today." Her mother informed her.

"I'm never going to be a teacher. I'll be done with school by then." Auggie said, shaking his head.

Topanga laughed, and Riley smiled. The intercom buzzed, and Maya's voice filled the apartment.

"Hey losers, it's Maya. Tell Riley to come on down." She said.

"That's my cue." Riley said, pushing her plate away from her.

"Have a good day honey." Topanga said, just as Riley excited the house.

"Hey Riles." Maya said once Riley was in view.

"Hey." Riley smiled, tugging on the sleeve of her dress.

She hoped Maya didn't notice how bad her legs looked. Or, maybe how she looked in general. Stop it Riley, you look fine, she told herself.

"You ready to go?" Maya asked, walking towards the subway station anyways.

"Yeah." Riley said, skipping to catch up with Maya.

The ride to school was mostly uneventful, the only thing that happened was that Riley tripped over some strangers foot, and almost fell. But Maya caught her, like Maya always would.

Once they reached the school, Riley turned to Maya.

"I have to go to the library to do some research for a paper."

"I'm not going there. See you later Riley." Maya told her, walking away.

"See you later Maya!" Riley called after her.

Riley made her way to the library, walking to the nonfiction section. The bookcases were long and tall, and she was in the darkest corner of the library. It was one of her favorite places to go, with musty smell of old paper and that darkness that wasn't too dark.

She never told anyone, but Riley secretly loved reading. She loved being able to transport herself into a magical world. It was the closest she could get to being there herself.

She eventually found the book she needed about some scientist she'd never heard of. She turned the corner, deciding she would get a book for herself while she was there.

"Well look who it is." Someone said.

She saw the boy from yesterday, leaning on a bookshelf. Maybe he liked leaning on things, Riley thought.

"W-what do you want?" Riley asked, stumbling over her words.

She suddenly became very self-conscious, and wished she wore a floor length dress instead.

"I was getting a book, and happened to you here. Wanted to say hi."

"Well hi." Riley said, trying to scoot around him.

But as she did that, the boy stuck his foot out, tripping Riley. Her head banged on the side of a bookshelf, sending a throbbing pain through her skull.

The boy laughed, and Riley whimpered.

"Maybe you wouldn't fall so hard if you weren't so fat." The boy spat, walking away.

Riley slowly picked herself off the ground. She left her book on the ground, and sped out of the library. She made sure to keep her hand over head. She raced into the bathroom, making sure no one was in there, she looked in the mirror.

There was a long red mark on her forehead, and it was bleeding a little bit. She dug around in her book bag, pulling out a bandaid. She stuck it on forehead, covering it up completely. She fixed her hair so it was covering her bandaid.

She sighed, and her eyes filled up with tears a little bit. Why would someone want to do this to her? Maybe it was because she was fat. Even if none of her friends said she was fat, maybe she really was.

Either way, she didn't need to tell her friends. Riley fixed problems, she didn't create them.

She wiped at her eyes, stepping out of the bathroom.

"Hey Riley," Maya said, seeing her step out of the bathroom. "I thought you were in the library?"

"I was, but I had to pee."

Lies. All Riley said she was lies. No wonder that boy wanted to bully her.

"Okay." Maya said.

Maya noticed the way Riley had changed her hair. It was hanging over her forehead, and looked quite strange. She didn't say anything, because Riley was quite strange herself. But in the best way possible, of course. Maya loved her Little Plant, she'd never insult her.

"Let's head to class." Riley said, linking her arm with Maya.

Riley was her happy self, but expect this time is was a facade.

And Maya had no idea.