whisper | rilaya

seven

The sun never seemed to rise quick enough.

I frowned, looking at the clock to see that it was only 4am. I was up all night trying to tell myself that there was a reasonable explanation for all of the coincidences that linked Riley to the unnamed girlfriend that Lucas described yesterday.

A gentle knock on my door shook me out of my thoughts. I knew it wasn't Shawn or my mother from their inability to knock before coming into my room.

Riley peeked her head through the tiny crack in the door and smiled at me tentatively. "Morning." She greeted sarcastically.

I was staring at her too intently to form words. Riley was wearing some of the closeted that I lent her. She was taller than me, which caused my t-shirt and cotton shorts to cling to her body in a tight fit that made it hard for me to breath.

I don't remember lending her my favourite Arctic Monkeys tee.

When I didn't reply, and she caught me staring, Riley closed the door behind her. She looked down self consciously at her shirt.

"I might have stole this when you were gone. It looked too cute." She giggled.

A smile crept up my face, accompanied with the sound of her laughter. I made a lazy effort to scoot over to make room for her on the bed. Riley took the action as an invitation to sit and joined me, sitting cross legged.

"Well, I'm wearing your hoodie so I guess we switched outfits. Except you rock my clothes way better than I do." I joked.

My hands gestured to the oversized white sweater that I've been wearing to bed lately. The smell of her at night was comforting, and was almost enough to make me forget that the real thing wasn't actually beside me.

Riley moved closer and suddenly our bare legs were brushing. She whispered in my ear in an effort to avoid waking up others in the house. "Don't say that. You look hot in everything" She said huskily.

My face heated up and I felt guilt overwhelm me when I momentarily hoped that her boyfriend was the same Mason that died so we could have a chance to be together.

I shook those thoughts away, wanting to hit myself for even letting my brain think of something like that.

"Do you want to talk?" I asked, steering the conversation to something different.

Riley nodded shyly and laid down on her back on the bed with her arms tucked behind her head. "I can't tell you anything about me. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't love to know about you, Maya."

"There's not much to know about me. I'm boring" I shrugged, looking down at her from where I was sitting.

Riley stifled a laugh before playfully kicking me in the side. "Are you kidding me?" She whisper-yelled.

"Even your name is interesting. Come on, Maya Hart" Riley teased. Her face contorted into a more serious expression. "Break down your walls for once, for me." She pleaded

It never ceased to amaze me how she could make me believe that we were the only two people in the world. That all of our problems- my father, her memory, our situation, was all erased.

Deep breath. "I grew up in Los Angeles. Everything there is straight from a movie, Riley. Each day felt like a dream. I loved it. Art is kind of my thing. It's how I communicate when no one will listen to me." My voice is gentle, like I'm afraid to break but knew that she would still catch me in the end.