How Rare and Beautiful // Rilaya

That the Universe was Made

{MAYA'S POV}

Laying in Riley's bed, staring up at her ceiling emotions ran through me like water. I hurt because I knew I'd hurt Farkle even if he was being passive aggressive about it. But I also felt at peace. I was at peace with myself for the first time in a long time. Because I was finally honest with myself. I was in love with my best friend and I was finally okay with it. 

It was four in the morning and I had woken up from a bad dream. Nothing too scary just an old memory of my father. As I lie there, thinking, my phone buzzed. It buzzed several times. I didn't check it. I couldn't. I was certain it was Farkle. He had come out of his passive state and was ready to confront me about my lying. I knew Farkle and I were still good friends but I couldn't bare it if he was angry with me. 

I ignored the buzzing and prayed that Farkle wouldn't be mad at me. 

I drifted off to sleep soon after. My sleep wasn't very good. I kept waking up and drifting off for a few minutes at a time. At one point I woke up just enough to hear my buzz once again. I was just conscious enough to think, 'Gah, he's still at it!' before I fell back into my dim sleep.

The mid day sun flooded through Riley's bedroom window, illuminating the bay window. My eyes opened slowly and as I realized the time of day I shot up and sat on my friends bed for a minute before getting up and getting dressed. 

I grabbed my phone off the bedside dresser before walking out to the kitchen to make something to eat. 

The TV was on but no one else was home. I knew it was my mother's doing. Where we lived if you went out you left a light on and the TV going. That way when you were out, the people scouring the streets for vacant apartments to rob skipped over yours. No one brakes in when they no someone's home. 

The channel was some type of educational channel about elephants. I watch with intensity while I made myself a sandwich. It was a story about a study conducted with African elephants. The African elephant is a highly sociable animal and they form strong bonds with each other. So much so that when one elephant dies they stay with it's carcass until it is gone. They'll even answer to the sound of the dead elephants calls. 

The program was coming to an end when an urgent rapping on the front door made me jump. 

"Come in!" I yelled. After my heart attack passed. 

Before I even got the words out Farkle had burst into the room. 

"Farkle you scared me to dea-!" I said clutching my chest. 

He ignored me and ran into the living room. "Did you see the news?!" He interrupted me. Something was bothering him. He was out of breath and had a crazed look in his eyes. 

"No I was watching this show about elephants. You know they basically go insane when members of their friends or family die. I love you Farkle but I don't think I'd go crazy!" I joked trying to brighten up the tenseness of the situation. 

Farkle ignored me once more. He took the remote and turned it to a news station. At first I didn't know what I was seeing. Piles of rubble, smoke, and fire. People running. What looked like policemen with guns. Bloody people carrying even bloodier people. Everyone yelling in foreign languages. 

"Farkle what happened?" I asked. My heart breaking for the people. But things like this happened everyday and he'd never come to find me like this. What made this different. 

"Where is Riley?" He asked simply.

"In Europe...you know that. What's going on?" I asked. 

"No!" Farkle yelled. "What country!? Where is she right now?" 

"Uh...um, today is Tuesday? She should be in Paris, France. Why? Farkle you're scaring me what's going on?" My heart was racing. 

"SHIT!" Farkle cursed jumping up from the couch and kicking the Mattews's coffee table. 

"Farkle what's going on!" I yelled standing up. 

My friend turned to me with tears running down his face. "The news story." He sobbed, pointing back to the television. 

My eyes flickered to the screen again. I read the words and listened to the language. French, they were speaking French. 

"Again we send our prayers and deepest sympathies out to the families of those lives who were lost today after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit Paris, France. So far three Americans were killed. We will continue to update as this story progresses." The news anchor spoke. 

Time slowed. As if whoever stood over us dictating our lives wished for me to live in this moment a few moments longer than all others so I could process what was going on. But the time given to me was still not enough. I took out my phone. The messages from the night before were from Riley, not Farkle. I called Riley's number. Almost immediately the call went straight to voice mail. 

"Hello you have reached Riley Matthews. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you." Her beautiful, professional voice said. 

"No." I said mostly to myself and tried again. 

For a second time the phone went to voice mail. 

"Hello you have reached Riley Math-" 

"No!" I said louder. I stopped the voicemail and called again. 

Again I got nothing but a recording. 

"NO!" I yelled, my heart pounding and my blood pressure rising. Panic filling me to the brim. I couldn't see, my vision was blurring. When I couldn't see well enough to call Riley I began to get frustrated and chanted the word 'no' over and over again. 

A hand grabbed my shoulder and another tore my phone from my grip. I tried to fight the person. But I couldn't. The tears blurring my vision combined with sobs that racked my whole body. I collapsed in the arms of the person who'd brought me this tragedy. I wanted to beat him and yell at him and tell him to get out. But I couldn't. I didn't have the strength. So leaned against him and just cried. 

"Shhh...shhhhh...." He soothed. "She could be okay. We don't know know if she was one of those three people. We don't know she's dead. It's okay. It will okay. Calm down. Calm down. Shhh..."

His words were true. All we knew was that there was a possibility. We had no proof she was gone. We had to belief she was alive. We just had to!

Did Riley and her family survive or not? Comment your thoughts down below.