Three Perfect Days (A Riley McDonough Fan Fic)

Riley's Short Story

Riley’s Dream

 

He was about to enter a house that in the bottom is his mind was very familiar, like he’d been there so many times, yet he couldn’t recognize the house. As he entered, a girl with flowing brown hair and hazel eyes opened the door for him, Connor and Toby.

                “Who?” She said in a teasing way to Connor, who stepped forward first.

                “You must be Chloe, the owner of the house,” Connor said.

                At the mention of the girl’s name, Riley’s subconscious was jumping and flipping but Riley in this dream didn’t really recognize neither the girl nor the house. Riley studied the girl. She was wearing a floral high waist shorts and a crop top. Typical summer outfit but somehow, on her, it looked more extraordinary.

                “Nope,” she continued to tease. “And you are?”

                “Connor.” Connor held out his hand and the girl shook it.

                Toby stepped forward and did the same thing. “Tobias but you can call me Toby.”

                Riley came last. He held out his hand shyly, locking eyes with her. “Riley.”

                “Oh, so you’re Riley,” she said as her face lit up. She smiled at him so purely that Riley was shocked she knew—or heard of—him.

                Inside, there was a group of people playing cards and one of them was Chloe. Riley stood in the corner and watched how she played. She laughed and laughed until there was nothing there. It was funny how Riley found it attractive.

            In the garden where Riley was chatting with Connor and Braiden, Chloe came out. Apparently she knew Braiden because she went to our group to talk to Braiden. He watched as she talked to Braiden. Her eyes glowed in the dark and it became as beautiful as the stars above, not that it wasn’t beautiful before. Whatever they were talking about, Riley couldn’t hear—even though they were only inches away. He was so busy studying Chloe that he couldn’t hear anything. That nothing was processing in Riley’s mind.

                The scene shifted and they were playing Paranoia (a drinking game where you answer questions with questions). It was Riley’s turn and someone had asked him who the hottest girl amongst the crowd was. Riley drank from the cup, stood up and went to Chloe and whispered, “Who’s the cutest guy here?”

                Chloe stood up, drank from the cup and scanned the crowd. She begged not to answer the question but then the other’s—her friends, he assumed—won’t let her not answer Riley’s question. So she walked around, stopped in the middle of the table for a second, and the continued walking toward Riley. She whispered to his ear, “Who’s the ugliest girl here?”

           Riley blushed as everyone had their eyes on him and her. Some protested that Chloe couldn’t return the question to him but then she defended her answer by saying, “But he’s my answer to his question.”

                The scene somehow shifted again and Riley was saying goodbye to her. Riley didn’t want to leave but his friends were leaving and so he had to. He rode to the nearest open fast food and bumped into some girls from the party. He took the opportunity to ask for Chloe’s number.

                “Why are you asking for it?” A girl asked with a smirk on his face.

               “I just wanted to say sorry,” he said but he couldn’t remember what for. All he knew was that he needed the number because he needed to talk to her.

             The girls wrote her number on a napkin and gave it to her. He went home with his eyes on the napkin waiting to charge his phone so that he could text her. Before he could text her, right then and there, Riley knew there was something about this girl. He was completely and utterly attracted to her and it could be the beginning or the end of it all. But he didn’t care, he had to take chances for he could never sleep peacefully again without knowing he tried.