Finding Myself

10: Quinn

After practice ends I make sure to say goodbye to Riley before she leaves with her boyfriend. Mason puts her arm around her as they walk away and it leaves me feeling bothered.

A few minutes later I get a call from my mom and she tells me she is waiting for me. So, I hurry up and jog over to her car in the parking lot and get in.

"Hello, Honey. How was your day?" My mom asks me.

"It was good thank you. Excited to have my friend over tomorrow," I reply.

"Which friend is this again? Susie or Malcolm?" My mom asks.

"Neither. It's the new friend that I studied with yesterday," I reply.

This reminds me, I need to tell my best friends that I can't hang out tomorrow. They won't be bothered, but I know they are going to ask questions.

On the way home, I make sure to text Malcolm. He's not busy now, but Susie is in band so she isn't out of school yet.

"Hey, Malcolm. How's it going," I text him.

He immediately texts back, "just playing video games. Did you just get out of practice?"

I reply yes and he asks if I want to join him, but in order to have a friend over tomorrow I have to do lots of chores today so I refuse his offer. He asks me about tomorrow and I have to tell him, "Sorry, Malcolm, I can't tomorrow. I'm having a friend over."

"Well, it's not me nor Susie since she has to go to a band concert. So, let me guess it's your new friend 😉," he texts back.

I instantly blush because he knows about my long time crush on Riley. I met Malcolm and Susie in my freshman year and we have been best friends ever since. They know me so well, especially how I act around people that I really like.

"Yes. Riley is going to sleepover tomorrow," I text back.

"You guys will be doing more than sleeping," he texts.

"I wish," I reply.

"Please do more than wish. If my gay ass had a boy over, we would have a lot of fun," he comments.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen. Riley is strictly into dick, unfortunately," I reply to him.

"Oh Quinn, you naive girl. Anyone can turn gay if you hit the right spots," Malcolm replies.

"Oh my god, shut up Malcolm."

"🤣😘Have fun with your girl," he texts.

I dont dare respond to him, instead I get out of the car when we park in my driveway. I walk in the house after my mom and immediately start on my homework so that I clean up the house. Since Riley made such a big effort cleaning up hers for me.

After a good two hours I finish my homework and review some notes. Then I go around the house and tidy up a bit before coming up with different ideas for tomorrow.

Of course we need to eat something, so I'll give Riley options. We can make something easy like pasta, order some chinese food or get pizza. I bet she'll also want to study a bit, so we can do that before or after eating. Then to have fun we can play a game or have a movie marathon.

I doubt that Riley is into games like truth or dare and I'm sure alcohol is out of the question. I want her to have an enjoyable time not cross a ton of boundaries that might freak her out.

Then I head upstairs to make sure my room is clean and to get a bunch of comfy blankets so that i can put them on the ground to make myself a bed. I also don't think that Riley and I are at the level to share the same bed now, so I won't pressure her. Also, this way I won't be freaking out at the thought of being so close to her.

I'm already using a lot of restraint to not try a move on Riley. I don't know what would happen if we ended up sleeping in the same bed. But, I so badly want to cuddle with her. I just want to wrap my arms around her and hold her tightly while we both fall asleep. Of course I would give her a kiss on the forehead before falling asleep though.

Ugh, just the thought of doing that has my heart racing and my cheeks feeling warm. And the stupid butterflies in the stomach aren't helping either. Why do I do this to myself! I've never been one to have a thing for straight girls, but when it comes to Riley I just can't help it.

I need to cool down now so I decide to take a cold shower. Ibput in so much effort to not think about Riley while I'm doing that.

When I'm done I change into some pjgamas and get into bed. I toss and turn for a while before exhaustion finally takes me out.

The next day I wake up in such a good mood and skip around my home. "What's got you in such a good mood?" Asks my dad.

"Nothing," I reply. I don't exactly feel like explaining that Riley makes my days brighter and I love being around her. They don't know I'm gay yet. I don't know why I haven't said anything to them, I've known that I was gay for almost four years. I'm just scared that things will change and I don't want that to happen now. So, I'm probably wait until I'm a few months into college to tell them.

Anyway, I quickly eat breakfast with my parents, then my mom and I head out to the car so that I can get to school. When we finally get there I say goodbye and hop out so that I can talk to Riley before class starts. I know  I'll be interrupting her time with Mason, but I don't care. I just like spending time with Riley, she always puts me in a good mood.

When I spot her I smile and she waves at me. I get closer and almost bore myself to sleep because I hear Mason talking about football again. The guy loves the sport so much. A little too much if you ask me. It sucks that Riley is too nice to tell him to change topics, I know she isn't fond of sports.

"Hello," I say. Mason says hello back and Riley immediately asks, "How are you on this fine day?"

I tilt my head and squint at her. "I'm good, thank you," I reply as I watch her almost bounce up and down from excitement.

Mason and I look at each other in shock and then it clicks. She has to be this way because of the sleepover. So, I smirk at Riley and decide to tease her and Mason a bit.

"Watch out Mason, I'm getting your girl mighty excited for tonight," I comment.

"Oh, that's why she is so hyper today, I almost forgot," he mentions, not even acknowledging how I pointed it out to him.

"I can't wait! This is so new to me! I'm a newbie at this, so I need you to guide me through it. I want to have the best time tonight," Riley blurts out.

I stare at her in shock for a few seconds because all I got from that was a ton of sexual innuendos. However, I know for a fact that's not how she meant it so I try to regain my composure quickly. "Don't worry, we'll have fun," I reply chuckling at her enthusiasm.

"Yay. After practice I'll just say bye to Mason and follow you," Riley adds.

"Alright, sounds good," I reply as the bell rings.

Riley quickly picks up her backpack from the ground and practically runs in, forgetting to say any kind of bye to Mason.

He looks at me in shock and I shrug, to pretend like I don't know what is up with Riley. But secretly I'm loving this. Gosh, I must sound so horrible now, but I can't help it.

"Tell her I said goodbye," Mason tells me.

"Alrighty will do, what about that kiss you guys alway do when you part. Don't tell me I'm supposed to do that too," I comment. Secretly I hope he tells me to do that. I really want to kiss Riley, even if it's just on the kiss.

Mason chuckles and replies, "No, don't worry. I'll give her a kiss later I guess." He waves goodbye to me and I head into the class disappointed that i don't have an excuse to kiss Riley.

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Author note: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Next one will be about the sleepover happening.

I don't know when I will update though. Could be anywhere from 1-4 days depending on the wifi since I'll be traveling.

Also, I love writing and updating a lot helps makes me feel very accomplished and happy.

Have a great day!