skinny love- rilaya

the library

Riley whips her head around, making me stumble backwards to avoid her hair hitting me in the face. My heart is still pounding, my cheeks burning up.

Lucas walks in, Farkle not far behind him.

"Everything okay?" He asks, completely oblivious to the real reason behind Riley and I's argument- thank God.

"Yeah. I just get really passionate about history." I lie, and he seems to buy it, oddly enough. Anyone who knows me knows I couldn't care less about history- or school at all, really.

"Well, it's getting late. Maybe we should head home?" Lucas suggests, and honestly, after all that happened, crawling into my bed sounds amazing.

We head our separate ways, and the walk back to my apartment is less than comforting. The sun is setting, which makes the trek through the bad part of town even scarier. I can't afford a cab though, so I just hold my breath and keep walking until I eventually reach the front steps of my apartment building.

Throughout the rest of the night, the image of Riley's face just inches from mine is engraved into my brain.

She looked so innocently beautiful, those shining chocolate brown eyes locked with mine, filled with so many emotions I couldn't even begin to pick apart what she must've been thinking in that moment.

I try to shake the thoughts out of my mind, not knowing why I was even that close to her face in the first place. It was like there was a force pulling me towards her, one that I couldn't control.

It makes me wonder what would've happened had Lucas not walked in.

But, there's no point in dwelling on the moment, because it's passed and I'm sure Riley's forgotten all about it by now. I should too.

Crawling into bed, I lay my head against the pillow and stare blankly up at my ceiling, my thoughts keeping me awake. As much as I try to tell myself to stop over analyzing the moment between Riley and I, I can't stop. For some reason, those eyes staring down at mine cannot be erased from my memory.

-

It's a restless night, and by the time 6 am finally rolls around, I'm exhausted. I sit up in bed, audibly groaning and I rub the sleep (or lack of it) out of my eyes.

Standing up, my knees a bit wobbly, I grab my outfit for the day, a white dress with a black peter pan collar, and knee high black boots. After I'm dressed, I run my fingers through my long wavy blonde locks, ruffling them up a bit and deciding that's good enough for the day. I swipe some mascara on my eyelashes, then some lipgloss on my lips, and I'm ready for the day.

My mom has already left for work, so I grab a bagel to eat during my walk to Riley's house, slinging my backpack over my shoulder and starting the journey.

-

As I climb up to the bay window, I try to figure out what I'm going to say Riley. I hope it won't be awkward between us.. Her and I have never experienced that. Crawling through the window, I plop down at the bay window and look around, not seeing Riley anywhere.

"Honey?" I sing, and almost instantly, Riley's head pops out from behind her closet door.

"Peaches!" She squeals, running out wearing an adorable little plaid skirt, paired with a white shirt. Smiling, I open my arms as she runs over, almost knocking me over with the force of her hug.

Thank goodness things aren't awkward.

Pulling her down to the bay window beside me, I rest my hands in my lap and look over at her. I want to bring up what happened at the library, but I decide it's best if I just leave it be. Ignorance is bliss, right?

I decide whatever happened at the library isn't important. Riley and I are sisters, Lucas isn't going to come between us, and nothing will change that.

As much as my feelings are telling me there's more to the situation, I have to ignore them, because Riley matters more than anything in the world to me, and I don't want anything to get in the way of that.

If that means suppressing whatever is inside of me, then so be it.

Anything for Riley.

--

Short chapter because I don't know, deal with it. Lot's of drama coming. It's about to get lit.