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I apologize for any mistakes. This is my first time writing anything GMW. This is just something that’s been floating around in my mind and I decided to write it. I own nothing except the plot. Feel free to leave a comment good or bad! Thanks for reading.
~~.~~.
“You’re so lucky to have him. I mean, you’re dating Jacob Morton. He’s hot, he’s an upperclassman, he’s popular and he could have any girl he wants, but he wants you.” Peyton stressed, staring at Riley’s tear-filled eyes.
Riley twisted her mouth to the side, sniffling and clearing her throat, “…yeah, I guess I am lucky.” She said softly.
“See? You’re overthinking things. You’ve gotta stop blowing shit out of proportion if you want this to last.” She said flipping her brown hair and shrugging.
Riley bit her bottom lip and sighed, “I know I’m lucky to have him, but…I just wish he wasn’t so mean all the time.” She said fidgeting with her hands.
Peyton scoffed and rolled her eyes, “So what? Couples fight! Matt and I do it all the time. Besides, we all know Jacob only reacted the way he did was because he cares about you. Just—stop making him mad so much.” She said placing a gentle hand on Riley’s shoulder. “Here, use this.” She said opening her purse and sliding the concealer towards her.
Riley stared at her and watched as Peyton got up and left the table. Riley timidly took the small tube and got up, walking towards the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror, the bruise on her cheek making her eyes fill with tears. She sighed and sniffled, taking the small tube and opening it. She poured a little bit onto her finger and dabbed it on her cheek, blending it all in. Once she was sure it was covered completely, she placed it in her purse and walked out of the bathroom.
Riley laid in the hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling. She couldn’t believe this is what was happening with her life. This was how her sixteenth birthday went. Her junior year wasn’t supposed to go like this. Then again, a lot of things had changed. She heard a soft knock on the door and sighed as she closed her eyes, hoping whoever was behind the door would just go away.
“Ring Power.”
Riley’s eyes snapped open as she heard her voice. Was this real? They hadn’t spoken all sophomore year and most of junior year. Was she really here?
“Come-Come in.” she said softly.
Her heart hammered in her chest as she saw the door open and she watched her quickly enter. Her blue eyes red from crying, her face puffy as if she hadn’t gotten much sleep, and her hair was in a messy bun. She wore soft boots, sweats, and a large sweatshirt. She had no doubt that it was Lucas’, something that still gave her a slight pang in her chest. She knew it shouldn’t have. Too much time had passed, but since her love life sucked so badly, it made her want to vomit seeing Maya so happy still.
She watched as Maya walked towards her, standing by the side of the bed and taking her in fully. So much had changed. Nothing she predicted freshman year reigned true. She and Maya weren’t better than ever by junior year, if anything, they’d grown further apart. The core six weren’t the same. The very thing she feared happening, happened. They stopped being each other’s safe place.
“Hi.” She said softly.
She watched as Maya’s blue eyes snapped towards her, as if she were in a trance and seeing her for the first time. She felt self-conscious; she knew she looked a hot mess. She had a black eye that was now swollen shut, her bottom lip was red and busted, her nose was broken, her jaw had a large bruise on it, fingerprints were around her neck and her right arm was in a hard cast. This isn’t how she wanted anyone to see her. She looked down and sighed, nervously picking at the blanket covering her legs. All she wanted to do was get out of here and go home. She missed her bed, she missed Auggie, and she missed how her life was before Jacob entered it. “Look—”
“How could you not tell me?” Maya asked in a shaky whisper.
Riley stared at her for a moment, her eyes sad, “…it’s a long story.” She said glancing down in shame.
“Give me the short version.” Maya said quickly lifting up and sitting on the bed now.
Riley bit her bottom lip, sniffling and sighing, “Maya—things just got—complicated for us and—and I thought I could handle it on my own.” She said softly.
Maya sniffled and sighed, finally sitting next to her on the bed, “Why did it start? Wh-When?” she asked staring at her.
Riley sighed, “Maya—”
“No!” Maya said quickly, cutting her off and shaking her head, “No, you don’t get to shut me out any longer! I want to know why you kept this from me?” she asked a little louder.
“It’s not like we were exactly talking Maya!” Riley yelled back at her.
“Whose fault was that?! You completely shut me out, Riley!” Maya yelled back at her. “Freshman year after the spring formal, you completely disappeared!”
“I didn’t disappear Maya! You still saw me around school all of sophomore year!” Riley retorted.
Maya scoffed, staring at her, “No, no, you don’t get to play the “we grew apart” card on me! Freshman year, you kept your distance after me and Lucas became official! Not to mention that I didn’t see you all summer!” she said through gritted teeth.
Riley rolled her eyes, “Maya, you split your time between Lucas and art camp. I was not going to interfere with that, and you know it.” She said with a shake of her head.
“So, what the hell happened sophomore year?! Because you sure as hell disappeared then too!” Maya said angrily.
Riley rubbed her forehead, sighing deeply, “Maya, sophomore year we all got busy! I joined the book club, and the debate team, and I had a boyfriend! You had a boyfriend and started hanging out with other artists in the school! Don’t act like us growing apart is all on me! It’s high school! It happens!” she yelled in frustration.
“You ran away from your home, you locked the bay window and left me out there alone, Riley!” Maya yelled back at her.
“I didn’t leave you alone! Are you forgetting that you still had Farkle, Smackle, Zay, and Lucas?! You know your boyfriend? You had plenty of things to keep you busy!” Riley stressed with a shake of her head.
“So, that’s what it was all about?!” Maya asked in frustration. “You couldn’t handle seeing me with Lucas, so you just disappear on me? Why didn’t you tell me that-that it still bothered you?!” she asked with a deep frown.
“That’s what you got from that?!” Riley yelled at her. “I mentioned everything that’s happened, and all you did was focus on Lucas?!” she asked in disbelief.
“Because THAT’S THE TRUTH!” Maya screamed at her. Both girls, breathing heavily, stared at one another as they finally processed the elephant in the room. The girls promised nothing, or no one would come between them and it did anyway. They were supposed to be stronger than ever; they were supposed to be forever.
Riley stared at her, swallowing the lump in her throat, “…I needed time to myself.” She whispered.
Maya closed her eyes, sighing, “Riles—”
“No, you asked, I’m telling you.” Riley said firmly, staring at her. She took a deep breath and shook her head, “…I was happy for you, I still am Maya. All I want is for you to be happy.” She said sincerely. “But—I watched the guy that I’d cared about since you pointed him out to me, choose you and—it was a really hard pill to swallow. I’ve always been insecure Maya and—and that situation made it worst for me.” She said with a quiver in her voice. “This was bigger than the eighth-grade yearbook…this was high school, and things were changing for us, whether we wanted them to or not. I-I couldn’t escape the whispers, I couldn’t escape the looks. Once again, I was feeling exactly how I’ve always felt; alone.” She whispered.
She bit her bottom lip, glancing down at her lap, “I thought I would get past it—make peace with it, but it didn’t feel like it was ever going to come. Then the summer came, and I wasn’t able to focus because I knew you wouldn’t want anything to change, but—” she paused as tears filled her eyes, instantly spilling, “but it had changed Maya and we couldn’t ignore it any longer. I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I had to figure out why I felt so terrible about seeing you happy and—and as I figured it out—I realized that my insecurities were the root of it all.” She said sadly.
“It’s always mattered to me what everyone else has thought about me and—and it just continued to break me down. So, I had to get better. I wanted to stop second-guessing myself and-and stop with that low self-esteem crap.” She said with a scoff and shake of her head. “And I thought about what I wanted going forward. I didn’t want to feel the way I felt anymore especially when it came to dating. The triangle, Lucas’ indecisiveness—me feeling like I wasn’t good enough—trying to adjust to high school--it was taking a toll on me mentally and emotionally and I took the summer to get better and it worked.” She said proudly. “Then, I connected with Jacob some more and for the first time, in a really long time, I was happy.” She said with a sad smile and shake of her head.
Maya remained silent and continued to stare at her. She wasn’t sure when it happened, but she’d managed to hold Riley’s hand in hers and she was terrified of letting go.
Riley sniffled and sighed, wiping a tear away with her free hand, “I had the boyfriend I dreamed about Maya. He was older, he was handsome, he was popular, and I didn’t worry about him liking other girls. When I told him about the triangle and how broken I felt, he made me believe that I was enough for him. I had a boyfriend who made me feel special, who made me feel like I was the only girl in the world and—and I felt like I was on cloud nine when I was with him.” She said softly. “My entire sophomore year was like a dream for me and it was because of how happy I was with him. Things were different for me and-and I liked how it felt.” She whispered.
Maya swallowed and sighed softly, “Okay. When—When did things change with Jacob?” she asked quietly.
Riley sniffled again, staring up at the ceiling, “Over the summer.” She said softly. “We—We had a fight at a party and—he pushed me to the ground.” She whispered. She closed her eyes as she thought about the memory again. She remembered how scared she was. “We’d fought before, but this time it just—it felt different.” She whispered as more tears rolled down her cheeks. “He apologized and—and I forgave him. I didn’t think anything of it.” She whispered sadly. “But then, things just—just got worst. It went from him pushing me to-to him shaking me. Then, one day at his house, he and I got into yet another argument and I—” she paused with a frown, “I forgot what I said, it either hurt his feelings or made him angry, but—he slapped me. He slapped me really hard and I can still remember him apologizing and telling me that I’d hurt him too and—and I just—I didn’t know what to do.” She said with a shake of her head.
Maya felt the tear roll down her cheek as she stared at Riley’s bruised face. The hand she held was confined to a hard cast. She couldn’t believe this happened. She couldn’t believe she wasn’t there to protect her. “And—And what happened this time?” she asked with a shake to her voice.
Riley felt more tears roll down her cheeks as she stared back up at her, “I broke up with him and—and he lashed out at me. Called me every name in the book. Told me I was stupid to break up with him. Told me I was pathetic. He told me he wasted so much time with me and I can remember yelling back at him. I told him he was the weak one, that I deserved better than him and—and I remember him just turning red and he-he punched me.” She said in disbelief. It was as if it were all hitting her just now. She felt her bottom lip quiver, her entire body started to shake. “He punched me, and I-I fell, and I remember he just—he wouldn’t stop.” She said as a sob escaped her. She couldn’t finish it, her body didn’t let her as the sobs consumed her completely and this time, there wasn’t anything else she could do about it.
It didn’t matter that they hadn’t spoken. It didn’t matter that they’d “grown apart”. Maya just knew that her best friend was hurt, and she had to protect her. She instantly wrapped her arms around Riley, held her tight, and cried right along with her. No, their junior year didn’t go the way they’d planned, but at least now, they could figure it out and start a new because they were Riley and Maya. They were forever, no matter what obstacles came their way.
~~.~~
“I hate what happened between us.” Maya whispered as she laid next to Riley.
Riley laid her head against hers, sighing softly, “I’m sorry I shut down and didn’t talk to you.” She whispered.
Maya sighed, “…I should’ve known. I should’ve known me being with Lucas would—”
“No, no, stop.” Riley said quickly staring at her. “…Maya, seeing you and Lucas together, yes, it was hard, but in time I made peace with it. I made peace with it because I realized he and I were not meant to be. He wasn’t for me and I am okay with that because, in the end, it meant he was right for you.” She said with a smile. “I thought I had a boyfriend that genuinely loved me and for the most part, our relationship was perfect until it wasn’t.” she said with a shrug. “I don’t need the Riley Committee. I haven’t needed it in a long time. I’m going to be okay.” She said with raised eyebrows.
Maya stared at her for a long time, a small sense of relief washing over her. It washed over her because she knew deep down it was true. Her best friend was a lot stronger than she gave her credit for. “I know you will be. I will be right there by your side to make sure of it.” She said softly. “Time and distance have nothing on us, Riles.”
Riley gave her a teary-eyed smile and giggled lightly, “We’re forever.”
“We’re forever.” Maya repeated.