whisper | rilaya

twenty two

The cafeteria line stretched for what seemed like miles. I tapped my foot impatiently, rolling my eyes back when the group of popular kids pushed their way through and butted in line.

Riley was part of that group now.

"Hey, are you okay?" Lucas tapped my shoulder from behind me.

I tore my eyes away from Riley to look at Lucas. "Just peachy. Why?" He analyzed me with worried eyes, like he was trying to read an alternate message.

"Stop that." I muttered.

His thick eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Stop what?"

"I said I'm fine, stop trying to look for evidence that proves I'm not." I retaliated.

Lucas and I stepped forward in line when it was finally our turn to be served. The cafeteria lady splattered wet, lumpy mashed potatoes into my plate and shooed me away. "Next!" She called out, trying to be as quick as possible.

In my hurry to get away from the frightening lady and to find a table, I bumped into a familiar body. "Sorry." I said, keeping my head down and my voice low. I already knew who it was from where my head was compared to her body. Her neck used to be the perfect height for me to cuddle my head into.

"Can we talk?" Riley asked desperately, looking around. Her group of 'friends' had already walked away and sat down at a table. "Please" she begged.

How could you say no to someone you love?

"Okay." I nodded.

The brunette grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the cafeteria and down an empty hallway. The feeling of her hand against mine was enough to make my heart race.

When we were alone, she placed two fingers underneath my chin to lift my head up and make eye contact with me. "I've apologized a million times Maya. You won't answer my calls or texts and your mom always sends me away when I knock. It's been a month since we were last together. I miss you. I loved you, and I still do. Please don't break my heart like this."

Her confession was completely authentic. I've been in her exact position too many tines. Being real with someone else has always been my biggest challenge.

"Did you mean what you said? Not just the part where you accused me of murder. Did you mean it when you said you didn't want to be with me anymore?" I asked, my voice still low. I hated the fact that Riley could probably feel me shaking since she was tilting my chin up with her hand.

"No!" She replied. "Of course not. We all say stupid things when we're upset. I just happen to say stupid things all the time."

I shook my head in frustration, stepping back from Riley. "What are you doing?"

"What?"

"This isn't you, Riley. Why are you hanging out with Danielle and her posse all of a sudden?" I interrogated.

Riley and I haven't talked for weeks. Ever since the trouble surrounding her name died down, she decided to integrate herself into the bad crowd. Lucas broke up sigh Danielle for Riley's sake after finding out that Danielle was the snitch. Farkle hasn't been talking to anybody lately, he hasn't been able to handle seeing Riley around. It was too strong a reminder of what he had lost when his first love was killed.