Take Two

Sudden Realizations

Riele sat cross-legged on the floor of her dressing room, her nose in her phone. Rehearsal had just ended, and they were off from work tomorrow. She twiddled her thumbs on the screen, texting her mom about when she'll be coming home. Just then, she heard a knock on the door.

"I'm entering," Jace announced.
"Yes, please come in, it's not like privacy exists anymore," Riele said sarcastically. The blond chuckled as he went to sit down beside her.

"Whatcha doin'?" he asked goofily, pressing his cheek against her shoulder.

"Texting my mom to pick me up," she replied, not looking up from her phone.

"Why?"
"So I can go home?"
"It's a Friday night and you want to go home?"
"I mean, I don't really have any plans, so-"
"Nope, now you do, come on." Jace stood up abruptly, grabbing Riele's arm and dragging her out the door.

"Wait, Jace! Let me tell my mom!" Riele exclaimed, trying to keep up with the blonde.

"Where are we even going?" Riele asked when they got into Jace's car and he started to drive.

"We're meeting Sean, Ella and the others at the mall," Jace replied.

"The others?"
"Uh..."
"Isabela's going to be there, isn't she?" The blonde scratched the back of his neck. Riele rolled her eyes.

"What about Griffin?" Riele asked.
"Yup."
"And why are we going?"
"Everyone's going. Maeve and Owen should be there, too, and Tom. I didn't want to be the one who didn't show up," Jace explained. Riele sighed.

"Alright, why not? Could be fun," Riele reasoned. She couldn't help but feel doubtful. Jace would probably act like they're dating the entire night just to make Isabela jealous. She sighed.

Earlier that day during lunch, she felt something different. When his hand reached across the table to hold hers, when they walked out of the restaurant with their hands laced together, it felt different.

It felt real.

And it pained her.

She knew that anything romantic that had happened between the two lately was solely to make his ex-girlfriend jealous, and she kept trying to tell herself that.

"You're the best," Jace said, smiling at her.

But she couldn't stop the way her heart started to race whenever the blond did anything remotely sweet or attractive or just wonderfully Jace in his own being. She couldn't stop the way he could instantly make her grin from ear to ear even at her worst times, and she couldn't stop the fact that she was falling for him.

The rest of the way to the mall was pretty quiet. Riele decided that if Ella was there, she was going to spend most of her time with her and away from any Jace and Isabela drama. The two had some catching up to do, anyway.

Jace and Riele met the gang at the food court. They were sitting around two tables. Isabela and Griffin sat close to each other, and so did Maeve and Owen. Riele let out a breath of relief when she spotted Ella.

"Riele!" she called, waving her over. The two best friends hugged before sitting down beside each other. Jace took a seat next to Riele.

"What's up, Jace?" Sean asked, the two doing their handshake.

"Not much." He placed his arm along the back of Riele's chair. Riele noticed Isabela looking at her, then shuffled in her seat awkwardly.