Rose, Ebony & Snow || Farkle Minkus

9

I woke up to the sound of 'London Lights' by With Confidence. It wasn't my alarm, it was my ringtone. My alarm was 'Sex' by The 1975. Who was calling me at—

I looked over at the wall clock that was propped up against my bookshelf. I never had time to actually nail it to the wall.

Who was calling me at 5:26 AM? I still had another 34 minutes to sleep. I wasn't too tired- actually, I was wide awake. I usually don't get much sleep but this time I slept for over 7 hours.

"Hello?" I answered the phone, not bothering to check who it was. They woke me up at 5:30 AM so it had to be important.

"Good morning Neveah!" Riley's cheerful, but tired, voice rang through my ears.

"Riley? Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I'm getting ready for school. I woke up earlier today to give you a heads-up. You're coming to eat breakfast with Maya and I. Be at my place at 7AM."

"Riley, wh-"

She hung up and I groaned. I guess I'm getting up now.

I did my makeup then put on black skinny jeans and a red bell-sleeve top that was probably my aunt's.

I decided to curl my hair today since I had time to spare, waking up this early.

6:48 AM.

I slipped on Farkle's jacket and sprayed on a bit of cinnamon brown sugar perfume. I loved the smell and taste of cinnamon. Being known for my love of cinnamon was definitely a weird thing to be known for at school, but it started when my mom passed away. She used to take me to Cinnabon every weekend and we'd split a cinnamon bun. I've haven't carried on the tradition but the smell of cinnamon gives me a sense of warmth and safety.

I grabbed my school bag, then locked the apartment before leaving for Riley's.

I got there in about 10 minutes and buzzed in. "Hey it's Neveah."

Riley let me up and greeted me once I reached her door.

"Hi Neveah, we were just about to start eating breakfast, right Peaches?" Riley turned to Maya who was already at the table, stuffing her face with pancakes. 

"Hey Snowy," she said with a mouth full of food.

Riley lead me to the table where there was a plate already prepared for me. I shyly sat down and Riley began to eat. I took a few bites but didn't have much of an appetite. I usually skipped breakfast.

"Why'd you invite me over for breakfast?" I looked down, playing with the sleeves of Farkle's jacket. It was obvious that she was treating me differently because of what I told her and Farkle last night. She's probably already told her parents, Maya and Lucas.

"Because you shouldn't skip breakfast," Mr Matthews walked into the kitchen, answering for Riley. Yep, she told her dad.

"You better not be late for history class today, Neveah. I've got a great lesson planned," he kissed Riley's forehead and walked towards the door. "Bye girls, see you in class."

"Yeah, why are you always late for history, Rosenthal?" Maya asked, pouring more syrup onto her plate.

"My locker is on the floor above and on the opposite side from the stairwell. That area is like a stampede when the bell rings and I'm a klutz so I drop all my things 80% of the time."

"As a fellow klutz, I understand," Riley giggled.

"And I usually can't find my cinnamon hearts but Farkle gave me some that I keep in my pencil case so I'm 5 seconds ahead of schedule now."