𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓈 ~ 𝓇𝒾𝓁𝒶𝓎𝒶.

Chapter 21: Last Chance

Maya's POV

~ Thursday morning, at Kayla's apartment ~

I found myself in a foggy scenery, close to a cliff. I had no idea where I was. Everything was blurry.

I could see a brief image of a girl standing near the cliff. It looked like as if she was planning on falling off it. I have to save her, I thought. So, I quickly ran to the girl before anything happened. I looked at her face carefully and saw that it was Riley. She looked pale, and her eyes looked down at the long fall ahead of her. My heart started to beat rapidly than ever before. I tried to say something, but words weren't able to come out of my mouth at the moment. I was speechless.

I wrapped my arms around Riley's waist tightly, protecting her. Her feet were about to fall off the edge, but I caught her in time. "Let go, Maya," she choked out, her eyes fluttering shut. I had no idea what to say. I was scared to death. Why would Riley want to kill herself? I pondered over, my arms never letting go of her waist.

"I'm never letting go," I managed to say, resting my chin on Riley's shoulder. I could hear Riley grunt. "I messed up, Maya. Big time. I let you go. Now, it's time for you to let me go. I love you so much," Riley muttered before taking my arms off her waist. I tried to grab her, but it was too late. Riley fell off the cliff. She was gone.

"Riley! No!" I yelled, tears streaming down my cheeks. A pool of blood was visible in my view. My breathing turned into heavy gasps. Riley was gone......

...

I jolted up from my terrible nightmare, screaming. I almost automatically covered my mouth, trying not to wake up Kayla. Unfortunately, that didn't work. Kayla ran into my room, her eyes wide. "Maya, I heard you screaming! Are you ok? What happened?" She rambled, worriedly.

I didn't want to worry Kayla. She had other important things going on in her life, and I didn't want to distract her from reaching her goals. Sometimes, things were better left unsaid, and I planned on keeping it that way. "It was nothing, Kayla. You don't need to worry about me. It was just a stupid nightmare," I quickly said, biting my lip nervously. Kayla let out a deep breath, as if she was relieved. "Ok then. If you say so. By the way, there's some leftover pancakes in the fridge. You have to get ready for school soon, and so do I....."

Before Kayla could finish, I wrapped my arms around her neck and hugged her tightly. She gasped surprisingly before hugging me back. "Thank you so much, Kayla. For everything. You're like the big sister I never had," I thanked her, smiling. I could tell Kayla was smiling, too. "No problem, Maya," she replied.

We finally broke away from each other and went our separate ways. I took a quick shower and brushed my teeth. Then, I got dressed in a yellow sundress and a light brown leather jacket. I ran downstairs, into the kitchen. Since I was running late, I grabbed a red apple, rinsed it, and grabbed the rest of my stuff. I slipped my feet in my overused Converse and waited for Kayla by the door. A few minutes later, she came out from her room, dressed in a simple pink sweater and jeans. We went outside to her car and Kayla drove me to school.

"Bye," I said to Kayla before heading to the front doors of the school. Luckily, classes didn't start yet. I made my way to my locker and took out my required books. I ate my apple while I waited for the bell to ring. I almost dropped my apple at the sight of seeing her. Flashes of my nightmare from the previous night creeped into my mind. I wanted to grab her waist, I wanted to kiss her until I couldn't anymore. But that was all over.