skinny love- rilaya

the natives

"Look, there he is." Riley whispers excitedly as we walk into the lunch room, halfway through our second week of high school. Swinging my lunch box back and forth in my hand, I try my hardest to look like I care.

Across the cafeteria, Lucas is sitting at a table in the corner by himself, nibbling at his sandwich. I can't help but feel just a little bit bad for him, because I do know being lonely feels, and it must be hard to be the new kid.

Even if within two weeks of arriving you already have half the school swooning over you.

These first two weeks of school have been unbearable. Riley's infatuation with Lucas has only gotten worse, and it doesn't show signs of slowing down anytime soon.

So, unsurprisingly, Riley grabs me by the wrist and literally drags me to where Lucas is sitting. "Mind if we sit here?" She asks sweetly, a goofy look on her face, which causes Lucas to smile in return.

Her smile is contagious.

"Of course, ladies." He nods, so Riley quickly sits down in the seat beside him, pulling me down into the chair next to her. Farkle is next to join, and with all four of us sitting there, we sure are an odd bunch.

"So Lucas, tell us about Texas." Riley leans forward, resting her elbows on the table and her chin on her hands, staring at him with wide eyes and a permanent grin.

Ranger Rick starts talking about his days on the farm, riding sheep and playing the banjo or whatever it is he did, I'm not really listening. I couldn't care less about his cowboy adventures, all I care about is how much Riley seems to care. She's hanging on his every word, nodding and commenting on how amazing it all sounds, and he is eating it up. He seems to enjoy the attention she's giving him, and there's a lot of it.

"Great, you harvested some corn or whatever, very interesting," I interrupt in a sarcastic tone, "Now can we change the subject?"

Riley turns to me, an offended look on her face. "Maya!" She whisper yells, "I happen to like his stories about Texas." She adds, thinking no one can hear her, and she doesn't realize anyone can until Lucas gives a "thank you," and her cheeks flush a shade of bright red.

Rolling my eyes, I lean back in my chair and cross my arms, not excited for 30 more minutes of stories about herding cattle and square dancing.

Riley seems to like him though, which means she'll do anything to make him like her back.

It's painful to watch.

So I zone out for the rest of the lunch period as Lucas preaches about Texas, Riley listens, and Farkle jumps into the conversation every once in a while with some useless facts and statistics. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

History class is next in our schedule, which is what Mr. Matthews teaches. Everyone files into the classroom, Riley and I in the front row, Farkle behind Riley and Lucas behind me, because if he was behind Riley she wouldn't be able to look at him.

"Okay class, today we are learning about change. In the 1600's, many people left their homes to colonize the great new land we now call America. This was very different and new for them, but they pushed on, and now America is the most successful nation in the world." He preaches, and I can see where he's going with this. I dealt with him in middle school so I know how it goes.

"Let me guess," I interject, leaning forward. "This is relating to us leaving middle school and facing all these changes and blah blah blah. Am I right?" I ask, quirking an eyebrow.

Mr. Matthews leans back against his desk, stifling a chuckle. "Yes, Maya, that's exactly what I was going for. Your assignment tonight is to study all the challenges and changes the colonists faced and how they overcame them." He explains, and I immediately look over at Riley, who's looking at Lucas.

"I guess this is gonna be a group project." I mutter.

That night, Farkle, Riley, Lucas and I decide to go to the library to research for our homework.

Running my fingers along all the hundreds of books, I watch as Riley sits at a table next to Lucas and they get to work, Farkle beside them, speed-reading the textbook. Trudging over to them, I plop down in a chair and let out a long sigh. "Alright, fill me in. What are the answers?" I ask, and Riley doesn't hesitate to teach me.

"So the colonists came to the new world and they experienced lot's of problems.. Mosquito infested lands, diseases, and most of all, the native americans. They did not get a long in the slightest."

I shoot Lucas a look.

"Well, the Natives were there first. They should be able to keep their land and the colonists should really just go back to where they came from." I point out, my glare fixated on Lucas.

Riley notices, her eyebrows furrowing. "Or, they could all just get along. Why can't they just share the land and maybe even fall in love?" She spits back at me, causing me to scoff.

"No! Why do these people think they have the right to come in and steal land? It's not theirs and the natives don't want them there!" I shout, my voice echoing through the nearly empty library.

An uncomfortable silence follows, as everyone's eyes are on me.

Opening my mouth to say something, I quickly close it and turn, running out of the library. It isn't like me to explode like that, in fact, I try to rarely show my emotions at all.

I just hope no one caught on to what I'm really upset about.

I make it to the stairwell when Riley finally catches up to me. She grabs my arm and with the little strength she has, stops me from running away. Gripping my shoulders, she holds me in place and stares at me dead on. "Maya! What is going on with you?" She asks breathlessly, clearly hurt by what I'd said before.

Not knowing what to say, I just breathe heavily, staring right back at her and trying to formulate a sentence to explain how I'm feeling but nothing seems to be working.

I gently shove her away from me, rubbing my arms where she had grabbed me, quite forcefully.

"Riley.. I don't like how these past two weeks have been." I whisper, glancing up to see her reaction. She looks confused, but guilty, because I know how much she hates to see me upset. She doesn't respond, so I continue, trying to explain what I can't even fully understand.

"I.. It's always been you and me against the world. But now.. It's like I don't even exist." I stare down at my feet, hoping I'm not making too big of a deal out of nothing.

"Maya.." She starts, but I cut her off.

"Not once this week have you asked me how I am. Everything is about Lucas. And that's okay, you like him, I get it.. What's not to like.." I murmur, a queasy feeling in my stomach.

"I just miss when it was us you wanted to talk about all the time."

Riley is quiet for a moment, pondering my words. She doesn't look offended, which is good, she just looks.. Sorry.

"Maya. You're my best friend, my sister.. No boy is ever going to change that." She reaches for my hand, which I reluctantly intertwine with hers. "And I care about how you are. You're the person I care about most of all. I'm sorry I haven't been paying more attention to you, I just.. So much is happening and changing, I don't know what to do." She admits, a weak smile forming on her pink lips.

"Yeah, me neither."

Another silence follows, and we just look at each other. It isn't awkward though, it's.. Peaceful. Her brown eyes are intoxicating, and I can only look away for a moment, to notice her lips, which are parted slightly and covered in her favorite strawberry lipgloss.

I feel myself slowly inching closer to her, my heart beating at a hundred miles a minute.

And then Lucas barges through the door.