whisper | rilaya

five

Last night, sleep was the last thing that I could even thing about. After I climbed into bed with Riley, my mind kept racing and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I had so many unanswered questions that were driving me insane.

When I woke up to an empty bed this morning, my paranoia went through the roof. It only calmed when I saw Riley sitting on the floor at the foot of my bed. She was looking through my sketchbook, glancing at each drawing briefly before turning the page.

"Are you in love?" She asked me without looking up.

My voice caught in my throat at how blunt the question was. "Why?"

This time, her head looked up to meet my gaze. "You're avoiding the question, Maya. Are you in love?"

I shook my head quickly. "No. I'm not."

Riley shut the sketchbook and furrowed her eyebrows. My answer wasn't enough to satisfy what she was looking for. "What's your muse then? Art is always driven by our emotions, I can see it in yours."

"My muse?" I repeated for clarification, to which she nodded.

"Heartbreak."

A frown appeared on her face, she was displaying pity for me. "I'm sorry."

I shook my head. "Don't be. You get used to it when you have a shitty dad." I joked and got up from my bed to sit beside her on the floor.

Neither my mom or Shawn were awake yet, so I took this opportunity to ask her the questions that were eating me alive.

"Riley." I said, grabbing her attention. It was the first time I said her name aloud. It rolled off my tongue effortlessly, like I had been saying it for decades.

Once her complete attention was on me, I asked her my first question.

"Where is your family?"

"I don't know." She shrugged.

"What city are you from?"

Riley paused briefly to think. "No idea."

"Do you remember what happened last night?"

"Other than learning your name? No."

"How old are you?"

"16, 17?" She guessed, looking down at her body to make the proper judgement call.

I sighed heavily, growing frustrated. "Jesus Christ, do you know anything?" I asked, a little more rude than I had originally intended.

A frown formed on Riley's face at the comment. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "Thanks for letting me stay the night, I think I should get going."

I ran a hand through my hair, feeling guilty for making her upset. "Listen" I cut her off. "I didn't mean that, it's just that you don't seem the slightest bit worried about anything. You literally have no idea what's happening. Aren't you scared?"

Riley shook her head. "Not really. I used to be scared." She paused. "Until you found me last night, and now the feeling is gone." The brunette admitted.