The Definition of "Coming of Age"

We need to talk

It's gotten to the point where neither of the girls could ignore whatever it was they were feeling.
They knew exactly what it was, but they were to afraid to admit it.

Maya decided that they couldn't just ignore their feelings.
The next time they saw each other, Maya requested that they meet at the Bay Window, where all of their feelings and problems were discussed.

Riley looked at her with a concerned look when she made the request.
It was the same look Riley gave her when she was worried, or when she knew she was hiding something.

As the girls quickly made their way up the steps, Riley couldn't wait for them to make it to the window before she began asking questions.
"What's going on, Maya?" She asked, tilting her head to the side and furrowing her brows together.

"This is it." Maya thought to herself.
The blonde looked and her and took a deep breath in, visibly stressed.
"Riles, I think I wanna talk about our friendship." Maya cringed at how worrying and dramatic that sentence sounded.

"That sounded really scary, I swear this conversation isn't going to be bad." Maya said quickly to reassure her now worried best friend.
"Oh, well what is it about our friendship that we need to talk about?"
Riley asked slowly.
Maya lead her to the window and both girls took a seat facing each other.

Maya found it hard to look into her eyes, she didn't wanna make this awkward, but how could you not?
She fell in love with her best friend, I'm sure that's as awkward as it gets.

"Riles, I," she began. She swallowed her breath and stopped before embarrassing herself.
Meanwhile, Riley waited with curious eyes.
She desperately wanted to know what was going on with her best friend.

Maya sighed and tried again.
"We've been friends since the beginning of time. We're always together and we basically rely on each other for everything."

"Is there something wrong with that?" Riley asked nervously.
Maya quickly looked up to her best friend. "No no no, there's nothing wrong with that." She said, worried that her friend was taking this the wrong way.

"No, what I was trying to say was, we've been best friends for a long time. And, during this long time, I-I feel like maybe our feeling have changed for each other."
Maya explained unconfidently.

Riley suddenly picked up on what her best friend was talking about. Her eyes widened and Riley looked uneasy.
"Am I obvious?" Riley asked meekly, now looking at Maya's boots.

She focused on how the small belt on her boot sparkled, trying not to make eye contact with Maya.
"Riles, what do you mean?" Maya asked, trying to look Riley in the eyes.

"I didn't think you'd find out, I'm really sorry." Riley continued, as if the question was never asked. "I just don't know how I ended up falling for you, even with Lucas around and everything, I just don't know." Riley babbled.
Her cheeks were red and her eyes were wide ask her speech became faster.

"Riley, riles!" Maya said, stopping Riley's mess of words.
"I'm not mad at you for what you feel." Maya said to reassure her best friend.
Riley looked at her confused.

"I don't know how," Maya began smiling at the brunette "but I ended up falling for you just the same. As cliche as we sound. "

Riley giggled at Maya's comment, she felt a weight lift off of her shoulders at the sound of her confession.
"Actually, I do know how it happened." Maya added.
Riley reached out to grab the blonde's hands and smiled at her.
"Cause you're the sweetest best friend I could ever have, and the most beautiful girl I could ever meet."

The Bay window was the birth of many great ideas, and Riley and Maya together was the greatest one.