Dear August

|Thirty-Four|

The sun was beginning to set across the horizon of mountains that we were now engulfed in. Leaving streaks of pink, red, yellow, and orange paint across the sky. The seemingly endless driving made me tired as hell.

I lean against August's shoulder as I attempt to catch a nap through the bumpy and winding drive. Drifting in and out of sleep I catch bits and pieces of the groups conversation.

"Will she be angry?" I hear Luca's voice sound from beside me.

"No. She needs this. You should've seen her the other day. She was a mess," Finley says from the front.

"This'll be good for her," Joey says.

August says nothing in the conversation. Instead he draws soothing circles on my back, making me drift further into sleep.

I'm woken when the car stops. I open my eyes and stretch, looking out the window to try to figure out where we were.

A hotel. Thank god, the sweat building up on my neck from the heat was only slightly unbearable. I stretch and yawn.

We all hop out of the car and Finley hands out key cards for the rooms.

"So I got two rooms, one for me Joey and Riley. One for Luca and August. Unless of course you guys want to change it up a little," she shoots a knowing look to me and August. We stay silent.

"Nope, no. The assignments right now are fine," I nod and smile awkwardly. Finley and Joey shoot me disappointed looks.

I had started to forget what a shower felt like. The steam caressed my body as I stepped out of the shower. Using the towel to wipe the steamed up mirror, my reflection comes into view.

This is what Riley looks like. Light silky hair, soft skin and freckles, dark brown eyes. Not a rats nest on top of my head, greasy and unwashed skin and dark circles lining the underside of my eyes. I'm starting to look more like myself.

The girl staring back at me in the mirror the other day wasn't me. That girl was filled with sadness, anger towards the world.

The real me tries to see the happiness in everything. Tries to laugh and joke whenever she can. I love the world. The things that spring and summer brings. Refreshing rains and brightly colored flowers. Green grass and leaves growing back on trees.

This is the real Riley.

I step out of the bathroom, drying my hair with a towel. Finley and Joey look up at me from one of the beds and smile.

"Nice shower?" Finley asks, setting the tv remote down.

"Probably the best one I've had in five days," I laugh as I throw my wet hair towel at them, making them shriek and scamper away from it.

"Ugh," Joey groans as she turns to lay splayed out on her back. "It's so hot!"

Despite all of us being in shorts and tank tops the heat was still pretty scathing.

"You should feel the heat in Arizona in the summer. Way worse than this."

"Do you miss Arizona?" Finley Asia, propping herself up by her elbows.

I think a second. Sure, my childhood was there. Everything I ever knew. But for some reason, the longing to go back faltered out only a few weeks after the move.

"No," I shrug. "I mean, yeah, I was raised there and everything. But, I don't know. I guess I just feel more at home in Colorado."

They both smile wide at the comment.

"Wouldn't have anything to do with your amazing friends would it?" Joey asks, playing with the blanket on the bed.

"Don't flatter yourself."

"Hey!" She grabs one of the pillows and throws it at me.

I giggle as I try to deflect the attack.

"Okay, yes. It may have something to do with it. And, I don't know. Maybe the fact that I had to rebuild a lot. Arizona was my childhood but it was also a toxic one. With my dad leaving us, and all that. And some crazy ass shit happened in that small town. A teacher went to prison for having sex with a student. And let's see. . ." I pause and think about all the other insane things that happened in that small town. "Oh, and one time some kids at school got suspended because they stole a bathroom stall door."

I laugh at the memory, as Joey and Finley laugh along with me.

"What about AHS? I mean in the few months I was there nothing really crazy happened."

Finley and Joey share a knowing look.

"Well, there's loads of shit," Joey laughs.

"Like that one time that kids tried to do a backflip over the stairs and landed on his head and got a concussion?" Finley laughs.

"Or when the seniors last year replaced all of the trophies in the trophy cases with spray painted dildos?" Joey giggles.

"Oh, and that time the juniors and seniors blocked off the teacher parking lot and made them pay a fee to get in?" Finley half yells.

"Or that one time this girl and guy teamed up to sell her nudes to sugar daddies?"

"Oh, that was fucked up."

"Yeah it was."

"What the hell?" I laugh. "That school is more fucked up than I thought."

"Oh yeah. Senior year is going to be amazing cause our senior pranks will top everything," Finley says.

I hop up onto the bed next the Finley and cross my legs.

"What do you guys have planned?" I ask.

"A few things," Finley shrugs. "Like we're gonna make a pool day in the senior lot. Everyone's gonna bring a bunch of baby pools and like a slip and slide and stuff. It's gonna be amazing."

We stay up till the a.m. hours, talking about everything we have planned for the summer, senior year, and after all of that.

One thing I can be certain about the future is that I'll be happy, because I have four of the most amazing friends anyone can ask for right by my side.

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Sorry, this is kind of a filler chapter :(
Also, yes everything I mentioned actually happened at my school. My school is wack bro.

Anyways, don't forget to comment and vote. Ily 🥰❤️