riley sargeant has been around racing her entire life. with her older brother logan being a formula racer, she was thrown into the world against her will but started to find a love for it. while her brother was a racer, she went a different route...
I sat with Riley on the balcony of my room. She was quiet and looked out across the city as she messed with that butterfly pendant. I didn't move. I didn't want to scare her. There was some tension that didn't leave after the dinner was over. I had left early saying that we were both tired and we had long days, anything I could think of to get us out of there.
She was quiet during the walk back and I knew she was distracted because nothing was said as I held her hand the entire walk back. She just held my hand and walked like she wasn't entirely there.
"Riles, my love?"
She looked at me after flinching a bit. "Hm?"
"Would you want me to order some tea?"
She nodded. "Lemon with only some honey."
"Of course, charm."
I walked back into the room, making sure that I kept an eye on her as I ordered the tea for her and her usual one for myself. After it was ordered, I went back to sit on the balcony. She was on the floor still, knees to her chest. I took the spot next to her and put my arm around her shoulders. Nothing about her gaze broke as she rested against me.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
She nodded and I waited. Riley wasn't the type to just spew words. She would take the time to find them, making sure each and every one was perfectly placed to convey what she wanted.
"The club... it was my escape, at first." She shivered a bit and I pulled her closer so she was sitting between my legs. She leaned back and I wrapped my arms around her.
"It was such a piece of shit when I found it. Hell, in the beginning I didn't have money to buy it. I was fifteen and running because it seemed like my life was falling apart. The dance academy was hell. I was suffering and it seemed like I was never going to progress. My parents were... parents. My friends didn't feel like friends because they were doing better than me, leaving me behind."
I listened as if I could see this version of her. And there were little parts of her now that almost seemed to mirror that. The way she seemed to look off into the distance, the anxiety in the way she held herself and messed with her pendant.
"So I danced on those broken floors almost every moment that I could. I danced and I danced and I danced. Until I got better. Until I became the best. And the day of my sixteenth birthday, me and a friend bought the place. He put it under my name because he knew how much it meant to me."
"It took us a year to get the place up and running but when we did. God..." She finally looked at me, turning so we were face to face. I could finally see those beautiful eyes and watch as the color came back to them, that spark that made me fall in the first place. "It was heaven, Lan."
"Tell me about it."
She nodded. "The dance floor is huge. And it was so welcoming. I made sure that everyone had the chance to come. Beginners to those who devoted their entire being to dance. There were no stupid rules, no perfection. Just dance. There was no set music and it changed with each song. I wanted it to be a place for dancers to push themselves like I did. To find the love they had for it again. And it was."
"It sounds beautiful."
"It was my oasis."
"Can I ask where the name ZombieLand came from?"
She snorted, then it broke into a giggle, finally reaching a fully blow laugh. All I could do was smile as she laughed. All that tension gone from her body as she came back to look at me.
"Logan used to make fun of me when I came home, saying I looked like a zombie. So I just decided to call it that. ZombieLand."
I laughed with her this time. "I think that's the most perfect thing I've ever heard."
"Very me."
"Oh, very Riley."
"Can we watch a movie and eat some junk food or something? If not, I might go hit Logan."
I laughed as I stood up, holding my hand out for her. She took it, letting me pull her to her feet as we walked back into the room. "As much as I would pay to see that, I think it would be best if you didn't."
"Even if I really really wanted to."
"Not today, my charm."
A knock on the door made me pause, holding up a hand for her as I went to get our tea. I placed another order for whatever crisps and junk food they had before turning back into the room to see Riley going through my clothes.
"Can I help you?"
"Well now you sound like me." She turned around, pulling on one of my jumpers.
"You're just stealing my clothes?"
"You want to walk to my room to grab my stuff?"
I thought about it for a second. She looked fantastic in my jumper as she did what looked like taking off the sweater she'd been in. And if this was the way I got to see her in my clothes, then I would accept it.
"Exactly. Now, tea."
I handed it to her and made my way to the opposite side of the bed. I waited until she got comfortable before setting my tea down. She could see the smile growing on my face.
"Lan."
"My darling charm."
"Don't you dare do it."
I just smiled as I flopped onto the bed. Riley gasped, holding her tea up like it would spill but I could hear her laughing as I moved to sit next to her. When I was finally straight up, I got a pillow to the face.
"Riles!"
She started laughing and even though I wasn't mad, I rolled my eyes to hide the laugh I was fighting.
"You're a mess."
She shrugged. "You still keep me around."
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