typical | rilaya au

f o u r

I slammed my locker door shut, only to be surprised when I saw Lucas standing behind it.

"Hey Lucas" I said, smiling kindly at him.

The boy was visibly nervous so I tried my best to make it less awkward.

Lucas and I had a thing in middle school, but now we're sophomores and I just don't feel the same way anymore. I never understood people who dated without feeling something. We broke up at the beginning of freshman year but I know he still likes me.

Lucas flashed me a grin that used to make my day, but now it no longer has meaning. "I just wanted to congratulate you on your race yesterday."

"Oh, um thank you"

He nodded, "Sorry I couldn't be there yesterday, the yearbook wanted me at boys basketball so they sent Mike to take pictures at track and field"

I slung my backpack over my shoulder, and grabbed my heavy textbooks.

"It's alright" I shrugged.

Noticing my struggle, Lucas motioned to take my books "Need help?" He chuckled.

"I'll be fine, you should go before you're late for first period." I replied.

Concern became evident in his voice when he spoke. "No, no let me" he said again, grabbing my books.

I didn't want him to carry my books. Lucas had always seen me as the innocent girl that needed help with everything, and that's not who I am anymore.

"I'm FINE!" I didn't mean to yell, but it happened. The sound frightened both of us, causing the books to fall to the ground.

We both kneeled on the floor, receiving stares from the other students as we picked up the books. "Sorry Riles." He apologized.

Don't call me that. I thought to myself.

Instead, I faked a no hard feelings attitude and replied with "Don't worry about it, I'm just having a rough morning" I made up.  "You should go to class Lucas, the bell's going to ring soon."

He obeyed and we got up at the same time and walked our opposite ways.

~

I sat in the back of the class, scrolling through my Instagram feed while my teacher ranted about quantum physics.

I was a straight A student and everyone knew that, so they understood if they saw me slacking off in class. Not to mention, the physics teacher was also a track coach, putting me up there in his list of favourites.

A picture of a familiar girl showed up on my feed, smiling brightly as she flaunted her gold medal.

The caption read:
"Another year, another win!" @maya_h

Typical. I bet she paid whoever runs her school's Instagram page to caption it that. Who knows what goes on at Washington High.

I tapped on the tag in the caption as my phone took me to another profile. To my disappointment, the account was private. I analyzed the screen very carefully.

Her bio read:
Washington High | 16 | Runner + ice cream enthusiast ;)

I squinted to look at the little circle where her profile picture was. It was surprisingly non-running related. A picture of her kissing a baby on the cheek.

I frowned and hovered my finger over the follow button, debating whether or not I should request to follow her.

During my moment of contemplation, I didn't notice that Farkle was peeping over my shoulder the whole time. He took advantage of this opportunity to reach over and do the honours of pressing it for me.

I looked behind my shoulder to give him a death stare.

"Give her a chance." He smirked

I turned back around to face the front and rested my head in my hands. Only to see that Maya had already accepted my request and requested to follow me back.

"Told you so." singsonged Farkle.

Although grateful for what he did, I turned around and glared at him. "Say one more thing, and I'll drop kick you back to your bowl cut phase."

~

The bell rang as class ended and the students hurriedly left the class. I took my time, being sure to say bye to my teacher on the way out.

Catching me off guard, Mr. Beland asked me to stay back for a bit.

Farkle turned at the doorway and raised his eyebrow at me. "Don't wait up." I smiled.

"Hi Mr. Beland, what do you need to talk to me about?" I said politely, hoping this would be quick.

The tall man fiddled with a pen mindlessly. "I just wanted to let you know something" he glanced down at me and pushed up his glasses.

I nodded.

"You're a great runner Riley." He complimented.

I smiled at him, thinking that this was going to be another lecture about how he wants me to join the school marching band.

"I know you're not going to college soon, but Ivy League schools will be all over you if you had a first place in your resumé." He said flatly.

"They already are, I'm one of the best in the country Mr. Beland." I bragged, standing proudly.

He laughed lightly and continued, "I know, but they're not offering you a scholarship, are they?"

"No sir."

He patted me on the shoulder after my response. "Listen kiddo, no matter what you do, someone's always going to better than you."

I gulped, curious to see what he about to say next.

"They may like you now, but they're not promising you anything. I see potential in you, and I don't want you to end up at some local college because you couldn't take advantage of your opportunities."

Feeling slightly frustrated, I stayed silent and continued to listen to him.

"All I'm saying is a first place would basically secure you a place and scholarship to.." he paused.

"Columbia University." I interrupted.

"Right, Columbia University, Riley." He concluded. "Think about it."

I blinked, shocked by his words as I excused myself from his class. "Thanks for telling me Mr. Beland."

~

The words repeated in my brain throughout the rest of the school day.

A scholarship to Columbia University.

My friends even noticed something was off during lunch. Farkle, Smackle and Zay were currently throwing green peas at me to get my attention.

"Leave her alone guys, she's having a rough day." stepped in Lucas.

I looked up from my sandwich for the first time all lunch to offer him a grateful smile, that was quickly returned.

Farkle looked at me concerned after hearing Lucas' word.

'I'll tell you later.' I mouthed, hoping nobody at this table could read lips besides him.

~

"-and then he told me I could get a scholarship to my dream school Farkle!" I said excitedly to the phone.

He paused, and replied "That's so great Riley! But we're only in grade 10, stop worrying about it so much."

"I know, I know." I agreed. "But all I have to do now, is beat Maya Hart."