Playing for Rya

45. Into the Deep

Song: Writing's on the wall by Sam Smith; cover by Emma Heesters.

           

"You told him?!"

It was early afternoon when Kris came barging through her door.

It wasn't difficult to imagine who or what she was talking about, but Rya feigned ignorance anyway.

"Told who, what?" She asked as she shut her front door and followed Kris into her living room.

Both girls were dressed casually, a result of their decision to skip work and stay home while they waited out the press who still hung about the front of their building hoping for a glimpse of her.

So far, she'd remained undecided on how to deal with the situation, and all her calls to Derek's line since early that morning had gone to voicemail.

And so she'd done what she usually did when she had a lot on her mind. She'd cleaned, turning her apartment inside out until every nook and cranny was spotless, and every stray item was back in its place.

She had only just taken a shower and had been about to settle in to do some reading for work when she'd gotten Kris' knock at her door.

Kris rounded on her, eyes wide and arms flailing. 'PETER,' she screeched, 'about Jace and I.'

Rya sighed. She'd known that her conversation with Peter the night before would inevitably lead to this.

To Kris here, now, demanding answers.

'Kris, I didn't say anything to him,' she said, 'he just sort of put two and two together.'

'What does that mean, put two and two together?' Kris paced around in Rya's bedroom as Rya watched her from her vantage position on her bed.

'He speculated that you and Jace might be messing around,' Rya said, 'and I may have implied that he was right when I mentioned that I thought you weren't as snarky with each other as you've been in the past.' She quickly finished.

'Ry!' Kris exclaimed.

"I know, I'm sorry." Rya sighed. "And I didn't say anything else after that even though he kept badgering me with questions and claiming my expression was 'telling.' Whatever that means."

Kris rolled her eyes as she plopped into a chair. 'Actually, what he means,' Kris said in an increasingly exasperated tone, "is that your fucking facial expressions give you away more often than you realize."

"It's my face, Kris, what can I say." Rya responded dryly.

'And when did you two start talking again, I wonder?' Kris continued to grouse.

'Last night.' Rya responded. 'He apologized, quite nicely I might add. Remind me again why you and Jace want to keep hiding this from Peter.'

"We just...wanted to keep it to ourselves for a while." Kris responded in a subdued tone as she settled back into the chair she was in.

Rya nodded, and then a line of conversation between her and Peter from the night before, popped into her head. 'Hey, uhm, did you know that both Peter and Jace had a thing for us in school?...'

"A little." Kris said.

"...and I guess they still do, because you and Jace are dating now and Peter apparently was hoping he and I would, somehow, get together..." Rya paused as her friend's words sank in. "Wait what d'you mean a little?" she asked abruptly, "Are you saying you've known all this time?"

Kris shrugged. "Well yeah, Jace and I, sort of, fell into bed once or twice in third year..." her eyes widened, "wait, Peter had a thing for you too?" Her voice rose in octave as she gaped at Rya who happened to also be staring at her in astonishment.