whisper | rilaya

twelve

I barged into my house, the shock had already turned into anger. In retrospect, I shouldn't have approached a possible murderer so aggressively but I was too blindsided by my own emotions to be logical.

Storming down the stairs, I tossed my backpack somewhere, trying to get rid of the extra weight.

"How come you never told me you fucking killed someone?!" I yelled, raising my voice at Riley for the first time ever.

Riley stood up from where she was sitting, desperately hiding something behind her back. "What?" She whimpered.

I laughed sarcastically, shaking my head. "I can't believe you have the nerve to try and hide even more things from me." My words felt like they didn't belong to me, like some else had taken over my voice.

In a swift motion, I moved my hand past her body and grabbed the papers that she was hiding behind her back. "Are these your murder plans for me? Am I your next victim?" I spat before looking at them.

Tears filled the brim of Riley's eyes. The idea that I was the reason for Riley's sadness physically hurt me, but I was too in shock to care.

"Maya..." She began, trying to grab the papers back from me before I could look at them.

Quickly, I pulled them back when they were just centimetres away from her reach.

Riley wiped her tears and attempted to appear brave by standing tall and looking me in the eye. Her attempts were useless. Anyone could see through her and the fear she tried to mask.

"Peaches, you have to listen to me." The brunette pleaded. "You're in shock right now, this isn't you. Calm down before you do something you regret."

Peaches? When did Riley start calling me that?

I shook my head back and forth, waving my index finger at her. "No, no, no. I know what you're doing. This is all a part of your sick game where you trick me into trusting you and then you use it against me."

I was being absolutely hysterical, this is definitely a new low. I was never the type of person that thought about my actions and the possible consequences before before I did them. Now, Riley is discovering this fact about me.

My hands gripped the papers so tightly that the knuckles on my fingers were turning white. It wasn't until Riley placed her hands over my own, rubbing my knuckles that I realized what I was doing.

Her touch was so soft and loving, even despite the fact that I was just yelling at her. It was almost impossible to be upset with this girl, no matter what she did.

Riley's eyes widened when she saw me begin to look down. She winced, but didn't try to hide it anymore. Instead, she held her breath as I looked down to read it.

Plastered all over the front page of this newspaper was a picture of Riley, grinning with all of her front teeth showing. It was most likely a school picture, but definitely not menacing whatsoever.

The title was impossible to miss.
Written in large, bold, capital letters, was:

MISSING TEEN RILEY MATTHEWS IS WANTED FOR MURDER

I gasped aloud when I read the words. This confirmed that I wasn't going crazy, that I had a right to be upset, even if it was at the girl I had fallen head over heels for.