accidentally meeting you [rilaya au]

12

it was the next morning, and as much as riley didn't want to wake up and go through her day as if the night before didn't rip her apart at the seams, she knew she had to. it was a school day sadly, and riley never allowed herself to miss a day of school. maya softly shook riley awake, being careful not to be too aggressive. the shakes went on for a moment or two before riley turned, batting the girl away.
"okay, okay. i'm awake."
"i'm surprised i woke up before you. you seem like such an early bird."
riley scoffed, "there's much you need to learn."
the brunette sat up, pushing herself to the end of her bed as she rubbed the sleep from her glassy eyes. she watched as maya walked to her door, grabbing the handle. her arm signalled for riley to exit first, and that's what she did. she got to her feet and trotted along to the door as if it was her only job.
"i feel awkward," maya admitted.
riley stopped in her tracks, turning around using her heels. "why's that?"
maya shrugged. "because i don't know your family, duh. what else?"
riley giggled, grabbing ahold of maya's wrist and began to drag her down the hallway and into the dining room, sitting her down and pushing her chair in. she scurried to the seat next to maya, sitting down and wiggling around to get herself comfortable before pushing herself in. when riley refocused on the situation at hand, she saw her mother, father, and little brother were already gathered around the table, all still half asleep and practically dead.
"bad timing for introductions, but," riley said cheerfully, "dad. auggie. this is maya. maya, this is corey, my dad, and that's my little brother, auggie. you already met my mom last night, so that part's already done. anyways, she's a part of the family now. thanks."
riley looked over to see if she had made maya uncomfortable, and, without surprise, she did. not like she could have done much to not make her uncomfortable. her just being under this roof was a new and foreign thing to her. just the sense of family was foreign to her, and riley knew that just by looking at her.
maya just waved at riley's half-dead family before messing with the food that was set out for her on a red glass plate decorated with painted white daisies. it was riley's mother's favourite breakfast to make: french toast covered in fresh strawberries, powered sugar, and strawberry syrup. it was all tied together with a touch of whipped cream on the top. riley sat and watched, her fork missing her mouth on multiple occasions. as she sat and watched aimlessly, the blonde rocked back and forth as if she had something to say but couldn't. her eyes kept meeting her plate and then meeting riley's gaze. riley took note of this as she moved in closer.
"can we eat in your room? is that allowed?" maya asked, trying to whisper as softly as she could. "i'm too uncomfortable."
riley just nodded before taking both of their plates into her hands, leading maya back to her room, using her foot to shut the door once the other girl entered. maya's plate was set upon her nightstand while her plate remained in her hands as she sat on the floor, using the nightstand as support for her back. she poked her fork into the french toast once again, stuffing a bite that was too big for her into her mouth. as she did so, she heard maya's faint giggle fill the room, causing her to giggle along with her.
maya looked at riley with a cunning smile plastered on her face. "want to skip school?
riley swallowed her food. "my parents will kill me."
maya continued to have that cunning smile glued onto her face as she shrugged. "your mom will get it. we're traumatised. school work will add emotional distress into the mix."
riley sat there as the word "traumatised" echoed inside the walls of her head, bouncing back and forth, ringing loudly like an alarm clock. traumatised was right. she was so traumatised that she started to become selfish and believe that she was the only one that deserved to have feelings. it made her sick to her stomach to think about those things, and she was trying so desperately to change those thoughts before they stuck around permanently. that wouldn't be good for her or anyone around her.
riley chuckled, throwing her freehand up into the air as she said with a mouth full of half-eaten french toast. "fuck it. let's do it."
maya rooted for herself and her victory and getting riley and her goody two-shoes ass to finally do something involving some sort of risk. riley just laughed and laughed as maya continued to jump up and down, woo-ing and cheering for herself. it made her feel all fuzzy inside to see maya so happy; so genuinely happy as that was something she never really saw from her.
"we need to go through my bay window. the best place to sneak out. i've never used it for that, though. we will have to say we walked to school or something. they'll believe me."
"okay, well, stop blabbering, then, and let's get to it."
riley swung her door open, yelling down the hall to tell her parents that they were leaving out her window to walk to school since it was early enough for that. the sun hadn't even began to peer through the trees like it would every morning, giving them both time to get changed and clean themselves up.