With Open Eyes

Did you hear?

The day started off like any normal school day until right after lunch. It started with a few people at first but somehow managed to infect the whole school in no time. Whispers mentioning Lucas and Riley it was all a blur of speech as I walked quickly down the halls in search for Riley or Farkle.

"Could you imagine how heart broken he must be?"

"I bet she just went out with him to be popular."

I thought our little talk at the frozen yogurt place would stop him but obviously I didn't get through to him. A part of me was disappointed I had a sliver of hope that he'd be a decent guy at least for Riley. She must've seen some amount of good in him to agree to go with him but this was over the top he needed to fix this before Riley got hurt even more.

"Can you believe she slept with someone else that same night?"

I was getting sick of all these rumors I wanted to just yell at everyone to stop. These lies were going to hurt her and I couldn't find her or stop them. I didn't care about getting to my next class all I cared about was finding Riley. I kept pushing everyone in my way scanning the faces I passed by until I collided with someone. It was like running into a fence I ended up losing balance and hitting the floor. I groaned grabbing the persons hand.

"Maya what's going on?" Mr. Matthews voice sounded concerned, "all these rumors."

I could sense he felt just as helpless as I did and I could hear the worry in his voice.

"I'm sorry Mr. Matthews," I looked him in his eyes, "I swear I'll find her and fix all of this."

He nodded slowly trusting me with this. As I turned away to continue my search his voice interrupted "Hey Maya."

"Yeah?" I said looking back at him.

"Take her home once you find her." I gave him a thumbs up and continued on my search.

"That poor guy must've gotten his heart broken!" A girl said as I walked past her and her friends. I just rolled my eyes and kept on moving trying to get to Riley's locker in hopes that she might be there. The freshman lockers weren't too far away now and my heart rate seemed to quicken as I got closer. The halls were starting to thin out as the time got closer to the final bell which made it easier for me to get through.

"Poor Lucas." I swear I was tired of hearing all these dumb people and their dumb comments on a subject they know nothing about.

I stopped at the end of the hallway seeing Riley slumped against the wall sitting as she stared at her locker. I got closer seeing the things written on her locker. I could feel a pain and tug at my heart imagining what she could be feeling right now. This was too far. She was the sweetest person anyone could meet how could someone do this?

"Hey come here," I crouched down next to her offering her my hand, "you don't need to be here. Let me take you home."

She grabs my hand and stands up as if she was on autopilot. She didn't talk to me she didn't say a word the whole time, just followed as I led her through the halls and out into the parking lot and into my car. Even when I got her home she just unbuckled her seatbelt and got out moving slowly to her home. I followed after her hoping that she would surprise me and tell me all this isn't real. I wish I could take her place I hate the fact that this is happening to her and that she isn't talking. She has to be feeling something. Thinking something. The silence was driving me crazy.

Riley was sitting on her bay window staring out the window for almost an hour and the only thing I could do was sit close by. I didn't want to pry I knew she would speak when she was ready. Time was steady and slow and I hadn't noticed that I had gotten comfortable enough on the ground to fall asleep. I felt something nuzzle into me and opened my eyes seeing Riley laying next to me asleep. I kissed her forehead glad that she wasn't just staring out the window like a zombie anymore. I got up slowly making sure not to wake her. Picking her up gently I put her into her bed covering her in blankets before I joined her.

I scrolled through my phone at some missed texts and calls from Farkle and decided to update him so he wasn't worried. He was still at school and said that it hadn't gotten any better. I didn't know how long all this would last and it made me nervous. Would Riley ever be able to get over this. Would she make it out of it the same? Or would we all have to get used to a zombie version?

I felt Riley shuffle in her sleep and she shot up in surprise. "It's just me Riles." I out down my phone and sit up scooting closer to her.

Her eyes were puffy and red and I could see them starting to get teary. I felt terrible seeing her like this. She turned away from me wiping her tears away before turning back giving me a fake smile before she looked down at her blanket.

"It's okay to cry," I reach out tilting up her chin so she would look back up at me. "It's okay to have feelings about what is going on."

"They think I deserve this but I didn't do what they're saying. I didn't lead him on I didn't sleep with you. I mean we slept but not in the context they're using. And that's just what I've heard there's probably so many other rumors spreading."

"We will handle it when you're ready but for now let's just ignore everything and everyone." I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and lean in kissing her cheek gently. She nodded slowly in agreement and we laid back and turned on her tv deciding to binge watch the Harry Potter movies and forget all about today.