Below the Sky

Chapter 3: Riana

Chapter 3. Riana

Lila and I were paddling across the lake. I looked into her eyes, and grabbed her hand.
"You know you're gorgeous, right?" I asked her. Lila looked at me with a dreamy expression on her face. Her eyes seemed to hold the answer to my question. Lila did know she was pretty, because I told her it multiple times.
"You're also really special," I said as I moved closer to her. At first, as the space between us decreased, Lila backed away. However, soon she became more comfortable. She welcomed my closeness, craved it.
We were inches apart. I eyed Lila's lips, hungry. The electricity coursing through my veins was ecstatic. When I was sure it was the right time, I leaned in closer. Are lips were centimeters apart. I could feel Lila's breath on my face, little puffs at a fast rate from nerves. We were so close, I was already buzzing from her face just being this close to mine...

I jolted up in bed. Had I just had a dream about kissing Lila? No, I shook my dream from that night out of my head, and pulled my legs onto the floor.

"Morning Riana, how'd you sleep?" Laurel asked me as I climbed down the stairs. She had bacon and eggs on the stove, and I caught whiffs of their strong smell as I walked into the kitchen.
"I slept pretty good, you?" I asked her.
"I slept well, but you know Bill can snore so much sometimes, and it's exhausting listening to that all night. Last night wasn't too bad though, so that's good." I nodded my head at her in agreement.
"Is Bill up yet?" I wondered. I wanted to go get started on our work for the day.
"He's still sleeping sweetie. He should come downstairs for breakfast soon though." "That's good," I said. "Are Oliver, Maya and Lila up yet?" I asked.
"Maya's still sleeping, and Oliver and Lila got up at the crack of dawn to go for a run." I couldn't imagine waking up that early to go out and run. It'd be torture.
I sat down at the counter, and Laurel got a plate down from one of the cabinets above the sink. She filled it with eggs and bacon, and slid it over to me along with a fork and knife.
"Thank you," I said.

Laurel's cooking was delicious. I normally didn't love eggs, but the way that Laurel cooked them made them not only tolerable, but actually good. The bacon was also so crispy and oily, but still really tasty.
"So, what do you think you and Bill will be working on today?" Laurel asked me. I finished chewing a piece of bacon, and answered, "We'll probably be looking at some old court cases. We're going to learn about the case today, that ended bus segregation in Alabama."
"That's cool. It must be so interesting to work with Bill. He's one of the lawyers that are up there."
"Ya, it's really fascinating studying all these old cases. The one's he's worked on are really cool too," I said.

Suddenly I heard the porch door swing open, and Lila and Oliver came crashing into the kitchen. Their faces were both tomato red, and they were dripping sweat.
"How was your guys's run?" Laurel asked them. She pulled two more plates out of the cabinet and started dishing up their breakfast.
"It was good. We went all the way to the school and back," Lila said. She grabbed a fork and started digging into her eggs.
"How many miles is that?" Laurel asked.
"Well I can't be certain for sure, but I think it's about five miles." Lila was sitting next to me, and I was very aware of how close her leg was to mine.
"That's nice. Hey Oliver, will you go run upstairs and see if Papa's up yet?" Oliver happily obliged to his Mother's request, and sprinted up the stairs, even though he'd just gotten back from a run.
"So, what are you going to do for the rest of the day?" Lila asked me. Most of her plate had already been devoured.
"Me and your Papa have a lot of cases to study today. I'm pretty excited about that. I might have some free time later though," I said. I noticed the smallest of a smile forming on Lila's face out of the corner of my eye.
"That's cool. I'll probably just lazy around, basically do nothing and not be productive in the slightest."
"Ya, I get that," I told her. Lila finished eating, and walked over and placed her dish in the sink.
"Okay, bye Riana, and Mama." With that Lila hurried after her brother up the stairs.
"I should probably go get ready for the day," I quickly put my plate in the sink too, then ran up the stairs. However, when I got to my room I didn't really start to get ready. Instead, I flopped on my bed, and thought about the day to come and my feelings about Lila.