𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓈 ~ 𝓇𝒾𝓁𝒶𝓎𝒶.

Chapter 19: A Break

~ The next day, Tuesday morning ~

I woke up tiredly, rolling off my bed. I barely had any sleep last night. I couldn't stop thinking about Riley and the stars and everyone I left behind....I shook my head, trying to forget about everything. I packed up all my stuff due to only staying at the small motel room for one night. I pulled my sweatshirt on, grabbed my key, and left the room. I dropped the keys on the front desk and ran out of the motel. "Where to next?" I asked myself. I walked around, reminding myself I was missing school and everything. But, I didn't really care. I found a local park nearby. I ran to it and sat down on a vacant bench. I turned on my phone to see I had a bunch of unread texts. All from Riley.

"Maya, please answer me."

"I can't keep lying about where you been."

"I miss you. Isadora misses you. That other guy misses you."

"Fine, don't answer me. I'm going out to find you."

My eyes widened in panic at the last text. I couldn't let Riley find me. Not by any circumstance. I stood up and started running again. Running to who knows where. I was low on money due to using all of Riley's money. I only had about twenty dollars now. My stomach rumbled, interrupting my thoughts. I saw a Starbucks near me and ran to it. I bought two blueberry scones and a coffee, which was ten dollars. I sat down at a table near the window. I started to eat my scone, super hungry.

For some reason, a girl who was taller than me sat down in the seat across from me. Her black hair was in a high ponytail, and she was wearing short white dress and brown ankle boots. "Did I give you permission to sit across from me?" I muttered under my breath, not even caring what she was going to say to me. Instead, she chuckled. "Yeah, ok. Anyway, I was only sitting here for a few seconds and I figured this out about you. You look like you've ran away, and you're....lovesick? Also, you look like a freshman in high school and had no sleep last night. How did I do? By the way, I'm Kayla," the girl rambled on, putting her hand out. I didn't shake it, my mouth wide open.

"What the hell? Also, you sound like a person who reads book samples on Amazon the right way. Either way, stalker much?" I said, crossing my arms. Kayla rolled her eyes. "I'm just a good observer. And your name is....." Suddenly, my phone buzzed on the table, showing Riley's text. Kayla looked over at it. "Maya. Your name is Maya." I snatched my phone from the table and stuffed it in my satchel. Kayla looked at my satchel, too. "And that bag looks really big so it seems like you're never going back to where you came from. Now that I know the basic facts about you, you might as well open up."

I rolled my eyes, not in the mood. I wasn't going to let some stranger dig into my personal life. "Sorry, Kayla, but I'm not going to explain myself to a complete stranger. If you're looking for that, find someone else. I'm not your girl," I said before standing up and headed for the door. I felt something pulling me back. I turned around to see Kayla once again. "I'm sorry. My first impression was a little....horrible. I'm Kayla Martinez. I'm 17 and I'm good at observing things. And I observed you. You look depressed and saddened. Can I at least help?" She said, plastering a smile on her face. I could tell it was genuine. I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but I didn't want to get too attached to her either. I reluctantly put my hand out. "And I'm Maya Hart. Nice to meet you."

...

I found myself at Kayla's apartment, talking to her about basically everything in her living room. "So basically this girl, Riley, gives you anger issues? She turns on a switch that makes you crazy or whatever?" Kayla pondered over everything I explained about Riley. I just shrugged, taking a swig of my coffee. "Yeah, and then she said she hated me which really turned on that switch. Riley....Riley just gets me. I need her in my life, but at the same time, I need her to stay out of it. What do I do?" Kayla looked down at the floor, fiddling with her fingers like she needed to waste time. I kind of regretted telling her everything, but then again, I told Riley everything when I first met her. "You just need to talk to her. Running away from your problems isn't going to do anything. I know Riley said she hated you, but she probably didn't mean it. She was probably really mad at the moment. If you love her, you'll do the right thing," Kayla told me, giving me a small smile. I gave her a small smile back. She's right. Of course she's right. I told Riley to not run away from her problems, but I ran away instead.