The Rule Breakers

Chapter 33

Skylar

We kiss all the time now. And it's heavenly. Perfect. Everything about it, about us is perfect.

But my grades are faltering. I swear with every kiss, a letter grade goes down. I've always been a decent student. Not the best, not the worst. My absences from last year are what kept me from doing my best. Since that's been fixed, I shouldn't be lacking.

Riley peppers my neck in kisses across the center console of his car, and I stretch out for him to have better access. We've never gone further than this, and he's made it clear that he's not interested in other parts of me. He says he loves me for my personality, for my inner and outer beauty, but because of his asexuality, sex is off the table. Not that I really care. I feel too young for it anyway, and for him, I'd live without it forever.

If there is a forever. For now, there's a today. 

Because of my grades, Riley keeps suggesting we sneak into school and change it. We've done it enough times that we know chances are we don't get caught. I shrugged, not looking him in the eyes. He blames himself for my grades going down. I blame myself. 

Now we sit outside of Dotty's Diner in his Mercedes, his lips all over me until he pulls away. 

"After this semester, I'll sneak into the principal's office and change it myself," he tells me, and I throat my head back in annoyance. 

Why can't just shut up and kiss me?

"Stop trying to help me and my grades. They'll fix themselves." 

"That's not how it works, Skylar." He says this with a dumb smirk on his face. We both know my grades won't magically go from D's to A's. 

I say, "It's exactly how it works," and mentally prepare myself to spend long nights studying. 

He leans in one last time and plants a kiss on my lips before we exit the car and walk to the diner, hand in hand. The last time we were here together, Riley and I weren't friends. I didn't even like him much. He annoyed the crap out of me daily and pushed me until I felt like I needed to scream in his face. 

"Well, well, well," Dotty says as we enter into the small building. The smell of fresh pancakes makes my mouth water. "Roofus and Skylar, huh? I knew it. I just knew it."

Riley shrugs and says, "I guess."

With a hearty laugh, Dotty gives him a gentle pat on the back. And then she turns to me. "Is he treating you well?"

I think about how he treats me. How he's the gentle to my rough. How when we kiss, it's like fireworks every single day. How he's never changed since I met him, treating me as he has since the beginning. Just without the awkwardness.

I grin. "He's treating me great."

"Love to hear it," she says and turns back to Riley. "How's your Mimi doing?"

I look over at him. We've talked about this, how there's no reason for him to lie to her anymore. It's part of why we came. A bit of closure is necessary, even if it hurts.

He clears his throat. "Actually, I've been meaning to tell you..."

"Mimi's passed, hasn't she?" Dotty guesses.

Riley looks right at me with wide eyes, silently asking what he should say next. I nod my head once, encouraging. I can't be the one to direct him with this. He has to do it himself.

His gaze is focused on the ground. "Yeah, she died a while back."

 Mimi leans in for her a hug, catching Riley off guard. "I'm so sorry," she says. "I've known for a while. I just wanted to hear you tell me yourself. Whenever you were ready."

"You– You knew?" The shock on Riley's face is weird because he's always unfazed.

"I figured it out the minute she stopped showing up. Your grandmother would never pass on Al's famous French Toast."

"Of course not," Riley says. "She'd be here with a fork in one hand, a knife in the other."

Dotty nods in confirmation and they continue to talk about Riley's grandma as we're shown to our booth. It's the same one we sat in last time. Every few steps, I get a whiff of someone else's food. Home fries, bacon, coffee. It's enough to make my stomach growl loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. 

"Hungry?" Riley whispers in my ear. A shiver rolls down my spine at the heat of his breath so close to my skin even though just minutes ago he was all over me. 

It doesn't take long for us to order. A plate of waffles for both, not eggs this time. From the way, his shoulders are back and he can't keep the smile off his lips, I'd say he feels relieved. His Mimi must've been a heavy topic weighing his mind down. 

"I feel like I can come back here again," he says after he swallows a bite. "Like, really come back."

"You don't already?" I ask.

"No. It's hard to come without your favorite person. Even harder when she's brought up every time."

My heart hurts for him, but he's smiling so wide that he's making it hard to feel bad. I don't know what to say, so I cut up a piece of waffle and shove it into my mouth. 

 "And now I can come here with my other favorite person. Any time we want," he says, and those words make me feel like this is just the beginning of something great. That my life is on the right track, and I'm finally free from all the sorrows I've faced in the past.