old friends

whataburger

riley hates tests more than anything in the world. especially tests that she's studied for, but still fails.

it's stupid. both the test and riley, but mostly the test. and she's real close to breaking down and either sobbing or dropping out completely.

on the bright side, she only has a few more months of school before she's done for the summer. then she can go home and relax. god knows the last few months will take an entire year to pass, though.

riley spends most of the day at school. when she's not, she's either eating or teetering on the edge of a breakdown.

she thinks back to her conversation with dream.

he seemed nice, if not a little bit reserved. obviously with him not giving his real name out, which riley thought was kinda weird. honestly, she didn't mind though. 'dream' was a nice username, and if she had to call him that for the rest of her life, she'd be okay with it.

she had to assume that he was one of the other people that nick streamed with. he mentioned them a few times, if riley remembers right. him and some other guy, riley didn't really remember his name.

"you good?" nick asks as he climbs into her car, the texas sun already starting to set despite the early hour.

riley nods, "i'm fine, you?"

nick nods, "same."

a silence fills the car as nick bucks up. riley turns the radio on, some awful country music filling the speakers. she shakes her head and connects her phone, switching it to something better.

"so," nick speaks up over the music as riley begins to pull away, "you talked to dream?"

riley nods, flicking her blinker up, "mmhm." she hums.

like a giddy little kid, nick lets out a giggle, "did you like him?"

riley glances over at him. he looks nervous, which isn't an odd look on him, but it's a different kind of nervous. it's like introducing a parent to a new friend or a significant other. you want them to like them, because you like them. you want them to get along, because that friend or s/o means something to you.

riley laughs and shakes her head, looking back at the road.

"he seems nice."

nick tries to force down his smile but fails miserably.

riley comes to a slow stop at a stop sign, leaning forward slightly to see around a larger bush in front of the turn.

"what's his name, anyway?"

nick glances at her for a moment, "uhh, clay."

riley can feel it in her stomach. she's not sure what 'it' is, but she can feel it everywhere. her heart drops and she shakes her head.

"clay?"

nick nods, "yeah, clay. something wrong?"

riley quints her eyes, shaking her head again.

"no, i just..." knew a kid from orlando who was also named clay, "it's nothing, i'm just not feeling right today."