Rilaya: Dreaming of you

Chapter 6: Cloudy with a chance of Strange Girls

Maya

I run until I can't anymore, those boys comments shouting at me over and over again in the wind. I'm really not trying to be too melodramatic, but honestly, there's no point in hiding from the fact that I just messed up big time. Out in the distance I see kids playing on a jungle gym, moms with pregnant bellies and strollers, and an old woman feeding pigeons pieces of stale crackers. My hands go to the fence of the gated community, my fingers wedge between the silver metal.

"Hey, why aren't you in school?" A voice asks in a deep, but fake quality that lets you know that they're trying to sound more mature than they are.

A girl with purple headphones and a raven black French braid with a light I haven't seen in a while in her eyes, glances at me, looking to be around the same age as me.

"Maybe I should ask you the same thing." I say, smirking putting a strand of my honey colored hair behind my ear, feeling sly and oh so not like a freshman in high school.

"Maybe you should." She responds, a devious grin playing on her face like a villain in an old black and white film.

"You want to let me in? I swear I don't bite." I smile, showing my best impersonation of a growl.

She laughs, resulting in my cheeks going as red as Mars.

"Sure thing. I'm Elle by the way, and that boy over there with the Alfalfa hairdo? That's my brother, Henry." She points to a brown haired kid with muddy trousers on, playing with some sort of toy engine in the sand box.

"I'm Maya. Maya Penelope Hart." She unlocks the gate, her hand momentarily brushing mine.

On accident, I'm sure.

I get a better look at her, she has black painted lips, retro style glasses, and her skin appears to be between a warm shade of milk chocolate and sandy brown.

"Nice to meet you, Maya Penelope Hart. So why the heck aren't you in school?" She pats the seat on the bench beside her, that she was sitting on before she noticed me.

I huff out a long breath of hot air, knowing that even though I just met a cute girl, that I'm still in some deep shit. Not to mention, Riley.

Crap.

"You really want to hear this? I sorta just meet you." She nods and tells me to start at the beginning.

Tells me that we shouldn't keep all this stuff inside. And sure, it's stupid of me, but my heart yearns a little for this girl I just met, because I can tell that she really means it.

"Besides pulling my school's fire alarm? I sort of, kind of, accidentally...." I trail off, not really knowing how to put what happened with Riley into words.

"Spit it out!" She yells, her voice fading into light laughter, her smile turning into a grin with two dimples on her cheeks.

"I got outed by a few football jocks at my school." I say quickly, watching the clouds blow by in streaks of light and last glimpses of the summer heat.

"Well, oh shit." She coughs into her hand, echoing my thoughts as well.

My hands tighten against the wood of the spruce bench.

Maybe she's not okay with people like me.

"So are you...like gay then?" She asks, her cheeks coloring a little, like roses against an ivory bedsheet.

"Ummm yeah, I think I am." My voice sounds oddly uncertain and small, so I say it again.

"Yeah, no, I definitely am." Elle blushes anymore, awkward laughter following her quirky smile.

She suddenly stands up, looking at her brother in that mud pit, like he called her name, even though he seems pretty occupied with getting as dirty with grass as he possibly can.

"I am too. Well call me if that girl doesn't see what's in front of her soon." She quickly writes her number on my arm with a black sharpie that she pulls out of her shorts.

"Wait, what?" I'm warm all over, my body heat has definitely spiked even though it's nowhere as hot as it was in June.

"See you later, Maya Penelope Hart!" She says, giggling, as she walks away from me into yelling at her brother to not get too much mud soaked into his clothes or he's gonna have to clean them himself.

I turn away from her, my hand unclenching the latch on the gate, letting myself out, still dazed as I realize that I totally just picked up a girl.

Or she picked me up.
Like it matters, I have Riley.

I stop in my path across the grass to go back to school my waiting torture.

I so didn't tell her about Riley, so how did she know?