Girl Meets the Mind of a Genius

Genius Meets Girl

Farkle (con)

I knock on the window and peek in. I can see Riley on her bed, jumping up.

She walks to the window and stares at me, biting her lip.

Please do it Riley. Please open the door.

After taking a deep breath, Riley unlocks and lifts up the window, walks away, and sits on her bed with a blank face.

I jump in and sit on the bay window seat.

We just stare at each other in silence.

I have no idea where to start.

She glares at me, "What do you want?"

"Well hi to you too," I say jokingly.

She doesn't budge.

"Tough crowd," I mumble.

"Seriously, Farkle?" Riley stands up and starts pacing, "We fought, you ignored me for a month, we fought again, you ignored me for another month, and now you expect to waltz in here and be my best friend."

She stops and turns towards me, "No. It doesn't work like that."

I look up at her and raise my eyebrows, "I heard you want to make up just as much as I do."

"What?" Riley exclaims, "Did Maya tell you that?"

I shrug.

She absolutely did. I think Maya wants Riley and I to get together even more than we do.

Riley shakes her head, "Well, she's wrong, genius. I thought you were supposed to be smart because you're the valedictorian."

I perk up, "How did you know I was valedictorian?"

She gets that nervous look on her face when she knows she messed up, "Things get around."

"I just found out today."

She's lying. She wanted to know.

"Okay, then maybe my dad, but it doesn't matter." Riley sits back down on her bed.

"You wouldn't know if you didn't care," I smirk.

"M-maybe I just wanted to congratulate Smackle," she stammers.

What an awful cover-up.

"To be fair to you, that might be true. She did know without me telling her."

Riley's head snaps up, "You're talking to Smackle? So you're back together now?"

I can see her holding back a frown.

She's jealous.

I give her a knowing look, "Well I know you're not about to go congratulate Smackle for dating me, so I assume you want to know for some other wild reason."

Riley cracks a tiny smile before crossing her arms, "Don't question my motives."

She's is loosening up. This is working.

"And don't dodge the question," she says firmly.

I tilt my head, "Since when are you so interested my love life?"

Riley blushes and looks down, "Fine, don't answer."

I can't believe I made her jealous. I definitely know she cares now.

But I can't tease her too much or she'll get defensive.

"No, Smackle and I aren't dating."

Riley looks up at me hopefully.

I stare down at my feet, "Even if I was interested, I wouldn't deserve a second chance."

"Why not?"

"I don't love her, at least not the way I should."

I catch Riley's eyes, "Not when I'm in love with someone else."

She just stares at me.

I can't tell what's running through her head, not after everything we've been through this past year.

Riley was right, feelings complicate everything. Life was easier when we were all just friends.

But I don't like easy, I never have. I like a challenge. Getting Riley back is the biggest challenge I've faced yet.

She breaks the silence, "You never told me why you were here."

I point behind me, "It's the same reason you opened the window."

"Why's that?"

"I miss you."

The room goes dead silent and Riley doesn't stop looking at me.

She shakes herself out of it, "You said that last time, but you still left."

I take a deep breath, "I didn't listen to you. You were trying to tell me something and I was too headstrong on protecting myself that I couldn't even listen."

"I'm really sorry, Riley," I look down, "You deserve better."

"Okay," she says quietly.

"So you forgive me?"

She stands up, walks to the bay window, and sits next to me, "I'll decide that after tonight when we find out if you leave again."

I nudge her, "Come on, I said I'm sorry."

Riley smiles for the first time in so long, "I'm just saying."

Without thinking at all, I pull her into a hug.

"I won't leave again," I say softly.

She squeezes me a bit harder, "I won't let you go."

I can't believe I ever thought that I would get over her, and I can't believe I ever doubted how much I love her.

But before I do anything, I need to make sure I'm not digging my grave for Lucas to throw me in.

I pull away from her, "So, what happened with you and Lucas?"

Riley frowns, "We broke up."

"Well yeah, but you lasted a month after your birthday. I'm surprised you two didn't just end it immediately."

After how he approached me post-party, the odds were 50/50.

"Me too," she sighs, "He was upset that we didn't tell him anything, but he agreed we didn't really do anything wrong. He said he understands that we're close and there's a connection there that won't...,"

She looks up into my eyes, "it won't fade."

"It won't," I whisper.

"A-and he's right about that," Riley turns away.

Someone needed to break that tension.

She takes a deep breath, "He said if you backed off a little that everything would be fine. Luckily for him, you left all together."

I shake my head, "Wait, he didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Riley sounds confused.

"He told me to leave."

A/N

The next few chapters will go between some flashbacks and the present. I laid out a timeline at the end of each chapter just to make it clear. Hopefully that helps.

Thank you all for encouraging me during this book. I already love writing it, but it's nice to know that other people like it too.

Have a great day,

- K