Notes and Words

Chapter 9 - The Start of New Beginnings

A week had passed since she had dinner with Josh, Maya, and Lucas, and she couldn't be happier. Now the trip was a day away and she was packing two bags, one for her trip with her friends to the beach, and the other for her trip home to see her family. She didn't want to think about what her family was going to think when she met them in a few weeks, she just wanted a moment under the sun with the friends she had made. No bullies, no questions. A quiet knock on her balcony door drew her away from what she was doing. When she went to open it she saw Maya standing on the other side with a bag of take-out and a smile on her face. Riley was still trying to get used to the idea of Maya dating her uncle, she knew that the two of them loved each other and it was nice but that also meant that if they got serious in the future Maya would be her aunt.

"I came to sleepover," Maya said, her bag on the floor next to her feet. "I figured we can have a girl's night just the two of us before the guys invade tomorrow."

Riley laughed she hadn't thought about anything like that before. "I've never had a sleepover."

"That's why you have me in your life," she said as she walked in. Riley put her bags by the door and set up the little table she had in her room for them to eat.

"So what do we do at sleepovers?"

"Well usually it's make-overs and watching cheesy movies, but since we have to get up early how about a quick facial, and a movie. Well after we eat these tacos, and you tell me how serious you are about Lucas."

Riley felt her face flush at the thought of her boyfriend, the word still felt foreign to her even though they have been together for a few months now.

"Well," she started before she looked down at her hands. "I think I love him, I know that I'm in love with him but it's still all new to me, and I haven't really told him."

"Why haven't you told him?"

"I guess I just wanted to make sure, I mean how do you know you love someone?"

"Well let's see, do you often check your phone to see if he has sent you a message? Or is he the first thing you think about in the morning after you wake up?"

"Yes," Riley answered.

"Is he the last thing you think about before you go to bed?"

"Yes."

"When you're together what do you talk about? Have you talked about the future?"

"We talk about what we want to do after we graduate, he wants to be veterinarian, I'm still trying to figure it out but I want to be a writer."

"Riley, you're in love with him and you should tell him. You have both gone through so much together, if he didn't love you he wouldn't have agreed to meet your parents. Use this trip and get your feelings out."

"Okay," she said thinking about what Maya had said throughout the night, she barely slept because she was trying to figure out how to tell him. They've taken their relationship slowly, and she knew that this was a huge leap from where they were. She was afraid about what it would do to them, but she also remembered that with love you had to take risks in order to move forward.

The next day she woke up after only having four hours of sleep and got ready, while still thinking about how to tell him. Her mind was fuzzy with the need to sleep but instead she threw cold water on her face to wake herself up. When she finished Maya was ready to go, smiling at her friend. The group had decided to meet up at the park by her dorm in order to get an early start, they were going to take the train to where they were going to stay but when the girls got there Riley noticed a van parked near where Lucas was standing. His face was set in stone and Riley was worried over what had happened.