𝐕𝐔𝐋𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 ✰ v. hacker

TWENTY-FOUR | IRL

𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒚

As she made her way across the street to to the Taco Bell, she could see the group of boys gathering there. A few of them she recognized, but the rest she only knew their faces. Naturally, she was nervous. Not entirely confident in her skating skills, she hoped she could keep up with the rest of them, and also was nervous at trying to make a good impression on them.

Was this Vinnie 'introducing her to his friend group'? Or was he just inviting her because she was a pretty good skater and thought she'd enjoy it? Hopefully both, she thought to herself.

As she got closer, she immediately picked Vinnie out of the group. It was like her eyes were just drawn to him, magnetized by some special force. She could spot that man if he was in a crowd of a thousand people. He turned and saw her as she came up to them, his smile broadening.

"Hey, Ri," he hugged her tightly, and she held on, enveloped in his warm grasp. After he released her, he turned and introduced her to the guys. Riley already knew Justin (Mia's soon-to-be boyfriend), Anthony, and Jordan, but she met the others with a bright smile. They seemed very welcoming and she soon felt at ease. Vinnie's hand stayed on the small of her back while they walked around, making small talk with the rest of the guys.

"We usually get something to eat before we skate, but today I brought something," Anthony announced, speaking up. They all turned to face him as he dug his hand into his backpack. As he pulled them out, they all burst out laughing.

"Twinkies?" Vinnie called out. "What, is this middle school or something?" The guys hooted with laughter.

"Avani bought me a whole box as a joke," he explained, shrugging. "I hate them, so I thought I'd share the love and give them to you guys." He chucked one at Vinnie's face.

Turning towards Riley, Vinnie handed it to her, asking, "You want this?" She laughed. "No thanks, I'm good, really." He threw the Twinkie at Justin.

After they had stopped laughing at Anthony, they made a plan and mapped out their route to the skate park. Then, they all hopped on their boards and got on the street to start skating down the boulevard.

"You good?" Vinnie called out to Riley, as the skating got underway. She nodded, grinning. Her hair was blowing in the wind, and luckily, they weren't at a pace that was too fast for her to keep up. She had never skated in a group on a main road, and the rush of adrenaline was thrilling.

Vinnie watched her as she glided beside him. Her face was lit up, and her smile seemed to never leave her face.

Out of all the girls he'd ever met, had never felt so attached to someone in his life. Yep, was definitely falling for her.

✰✰✰

They had been skating at the park for a good long while, laughing and trying new tricks and falling on their faces. Riley had a new scrape on her elbow and knee, and luckily, Justin had had a first aid kit and some bandaids.

Somehow, they had gotten on the topic of makeup, and the boys had gotten the idea into their heads to put on dramatic eyeliner and take a bunch of angsty pictures with cigarettes. Since Riley was the only one with an eyeliner pen, she had been applying it to the boys eyes, and was now putting it on Vinnie.

"Keep your eyes closed, Vin," she pleaded, laughing. She steadied his head with her hand under his jawline, but he was having trouble not keeping his eyes open to watch her. Carefully, she drew a bold wing and a lower wing with jagged edges.

"All done."

She stepped back to inspect her work, and he looked up at her expectantly. "How's it look?"

"Good." She answered, pulling out her phone to show his reflection. He turned his head, admiring the look from all angles and nodding.

"Of course it does." He said as he winked at her playfully. "Go on, I've got to do Anthony's," she blushed, waving him away.

He thanked her and hopped up, brushing her arm as he passed by. Anthony came up next, sitting down, and closing his eyes. Riley laughed, joking about how easy he was compared to Vinnie. They made small talk while she drew on his eyeliner, talking about how it had been for her to move to LA, and things like that.

"Are you serious about him?" Anthony asked suddenly.

Riley stopped. "What do you mean?"

"About Vinnie." He went on, "He doesn't just invite any girl to skate with us, you know."

"Oh." Blushing deeply, she didn't know what else to say.

"I hope you are. I've never seen Vinnie so soft with anyone before. And I've heard from Kio that he's told you things about himself he's never told anyone else. He's been hurt before, and I want to know that you're actually serious about him before Vinnie gets too involved." Anthony sat back and opened his eyes, eying her intently.

"I'm serious about him." Riley answered sincerely, nodding. "I don't think I've felt a relationship with someone so deeply before, and I mean it. So yeah, you could say I'm serious about Vinnie."

"Good." He smiled. "Then I approve." He closed his eyes and sat forward again, letting Riley resume the look.

Later, Vinnie came up behind her, touching her arm gently. "What did you and Anthony talk about?"

Blushing for probably the fifth time that night, she smiled and shook her head, looking up at him. "Oh, nothing."

✰