m.h.
"Bye, guys," Riley said as everyone left our house, except for Ava.
"Ava, are you staying over?" I asked.
"Yes," she replied. "I'm not going home when Auggie's leaving tomorrow."
I understandingly nodded and we began deflating the extra air mattresses. Riley and I tugged one up to her room. Once we settled the mattress down, I checked the time. 7:00 PM.
I sighed and sat down at the bay window. "Less than 12 hours."
"And we're gonna be sleeping for most of that," she frowned.
We sat in silence for a moment.
"Do you think it's too late to ask if you can come?"
I let out a small laugh and shook my head. "Yeah, unfortunately. It's the end of Riley and Maya."
"It's not the end," she said. "It's..."
"It's what, Riles? It's inevitable," I sighed. "I hate saying that but who knows what we'll be like in a few months? We'll get so busy with other stuff and other people that we forget about each other. I don't wanna forget about you, trust me, but neither of us can promise that we won't because life's unpredictable."
"It's not the end," she repeated. "It's just a little break if anything. I know that we're gonna see each other again, even if it's not every year, at least we'll see each other. But one day, we'll come back to each other. One day, you can move to London or I can move back here. I'm not giving up on us, okay? Promise me that you won't, either."
I gazed at her and hesitantly nodded.
"Okay, I promise."
We sat there for a while. She leaned on my shoulder and watched me draw. By now, it was pretty obvious that I was drawing us. It's all I've been drawing lately. I think it was helping me cope with the fact that she's going.
"You're leaving right when I need you," I softly said, finishing the drawing. "I just wanna be with you and have the time of my life, but life really hates us, huh."
She looked at me. "This isn't goodbye."
"Feels like it," I mumbled.
She leaned her forehead against mine and smiled. "We'll find our way back to each other. Stop being so negative about this."
I rolled her eyes and pecked her lips. "I won't be able to do that."
I took both of her hands with mine. "Or this."
I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I won't even get to see you in person for who knows how long?"
"Stop saying that," she pulled away, crossing her arms. "I can't be positive if you're bringing all of this up."
I shrugged. "It's the truth, isn't it?"
She ignored me and asked if I was hungry. The last thing we had was ice cream a few hours ago, but I didn't feel like eating. She went down to get a snack for herself and came back with a bowl of fruit.
We changed into our pajamas and sat on the 'bed.'
"What are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to act when everything's gonna change in a few hours? Riley, you realize that life as we know it has changed? Our lives are completely up to ourselves now. I won't have you by my side. We're on our own, Riles."
"Maya, please stop," she quietly said, eyes brimming with tears.
I closed my eyes, making my own tears slip out. "I don't want you to go."
