A Girl Like You [Rilaya]

New Student

Riley's POV

It was a typical Tuesday morning. I was putting my books away in my locker when my friends Lucas, Farkle, Zay, and Smackle approached me.

"Hey, guys," I greeted my group of friends with a smile and a small wave.

"Hey, Riley," they all said back.

"We're going to the cafeteria before class," Lucas told me.

"I have a math test first period and I forgot to eat breakfast," Zay explained.

"Do you want to come with us?" Farkle asked.

"Yeah, sure," I said shutting my locker as I started walking with them. 

We chose a table and Zay and Lucas went up to buy breakfast. Lucas came back with an apple while Zay came back with a chocolate chip cookie.

"That's a healthy choice, Zay," Farkle joked making us all laugh.

"I"m cookie-deprived!" Zay exclaimed. "Since Riley ate the only cookie my grandma sent me last week," he said looking at me and making everyone else laugh even harder.

"I'm sorry, okay? And I already apologized for that," I defended, blushing a bright red.

Our conversations and laughter were cut short by the bell signaling our first-period class was about to begin. We all collected our backpacks and threw away our trash. I was just about to head out the door when I heard my name being called.

"Riley!" I heard a familiar voice shout from across the room.

I turned to see my father briskly walking and trying to flag me down or something.

"What is it, dad?" I asked.

"I need you to show a new student around," he said. "This is Maya Hart and it's her first day here. Maya, this is my daughter Riley."

Sure enough, there was a girl of about 5 feet standing next to him. She had striking blue eyes and naturally flowing dirty blonde hair.

"Can you do this favor for me?" my dad asked.  

"Y-yeah s-sure," I stuttered suddenly distracted by something.

My dad walked away leaving just us. My stomach started to churn and  I couldn't think straight. Great, that egg I had this morning must've gone bad or something, I thought to myself thinking back on my breakfast and thinking it to be the only explanation for my uneasiness.

"W-what class do you have?" I asked nervously.

"English, room 204," she responded.

"I have that too. It's this way," I said starting to walk in the direction of the class.

"So what brings you here?" I asked trying to make conversation as we walked through the hallways. "It's kind of strange."

"What do you mean 'It's kind of strange'?" she asked.

I mentally scolded myself for my awkward and poor choice of words.

"I mean it's kind of strange getting a new student in the middle of January, so what brings you here?" I rephrased.

"I just moved to New York last week with my mom. She has this dream that she'll become this great actress on Broadway or something despite the fact that she's working as a waitress at a run-down diner," she said flatly.

"It's kind of like her fantasy she has of my father actually coming back," she said with a small, slightly bitter laugh.

"Oh," I said quietly unsure of what to say.

"I'm sorry," she apologized shaking her head. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"No, I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me that," I said, entranced again with her features and the mysterious circumstances surrounding her.

"204," she said.

"What?" I asked snapping back to reality.

"Room 204, English," she repeated.

"O-oh, r-right," I said stuttering again. I followed Maya into the classroom and took my regular seat. The feeling of butterflies in my stomach returned as I realized that the only seat left was next to me. 

When she took her seat beside me my heartbeat quickened and the room felt slightly warmer. She sat down and smiled at me making thoughts race through my head. That's when I realized that a girl like you, Maya Hart, was going to drive me crazy.

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