whisper | rilaya

twenty three

The seasons have slowly been changing and today was the first snowfall of the year. I sipped my bitter coffee and stared out the window into our backyard from my kitchen.

"Hey mom?" I called over my shoulder, keeping my gaze on the view outside.

The sizzling of bacon on the stove that she was cooking over made my stomach grumble. "Yes baby girl?" She replied.

"Is true love real?" I asked. This was the first genuine question I had asked since the incident that left us on poor terms. I still haven't told Shawn or Katy much about the situation yet. The only detail they know that the public didn't is that I was in love with Riley. Emphasis on the word was.

As soon as they found out, they wanted me to cut off all forms of communication with her because they thought she was a bad influence. Of course, that didn't even come close to keeping me away from my girl. But as far as they know, I am now out of love with Riley Matthews. What they don't know won't kill them.

My mom placed a plate with toast, bacon and scrambled eggs on it- my favourite. She smiled warmly as she set it down, letting her blonde curls bounce on her shoulders. Shawn was already off to work at this time, we never saw him at breakfast unless it was the weekend. "Of course it is. Sometimes it just takes us a while to find our true love, that's all. All that matters is that you and Shawn are now the centre of my universe. Life works in funny ways sometimes Maya."

I nodded, blindly agreeing to her optimistic words and holding on to them desperately. What Riley and I had was real and I knew it. We both knew it. But lately everything has been too quiet. The rumours about Riley have died down and I heard that the police even moved on to investigating another suspect; one of Mason's jealous football teammates. It was strange for everything to be so calm, it just gave me an unsettling feeling that screamed something big was about to happen.

I shoved a big spoon of scrambled eggs into my mouth and moaned in appreciation. "Thanks mom." I said, referring to both the advice and the food.

"Anytime, Maya." She turned her attention to the newspaper and flipped through pages mindlessly.

After a few moments of silence, she looked up again. "You think that you've found it?"

"Found what?" I asked, slightly confused.

"True love." She smiled. "That's why you asked me about it, wasn't it?"

I blushed and took a bite of my toast to avoid having to answer. I continued to shove food into my mouth until I looked like a chipmunk.

The woman put her elbow on the table upright and rested her face in her palm teasingly. "Soo.." she cocked an eyebrow. "Tell me about this pretty girl that's stolen your heart." She urged.

I shook my head in embarrassment. "No! We are not talking about my love life at the dinner table mom. Not in front of your salad!" I gestured to the bowl in front of her.

"Alright" she chuckled and allowed me to drop the subject. "I'm just glad that you're finally over that Riley girl, that's all. I'm telling you Maya, she was no good."

My teeth grinded together in anger but I tried my best to subdue the emotions. "Yeah, whatever." I shrugged, pretending not to care.

From seeing how quickly my shoulders tensed and my posture was no longer relaxed, my mom quickly understood that I didn't want to talk about this anymore. Thankfully, she changed the subject. "How have things been with you and Shawn lately? I know he's been trying his best to get to you. I told him you were stubborn when he comes to change, but he never listens." She chuckled.