✓ | 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 ( 𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘀. )

SEVEN.

a/n: IM BACK GUYS.

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. . .

lucas friar
She was laughing that same little giggle of hers that she always had and I couldn't help but wonder why on earth it suddenly began sounding like music to my ears.

We were lying on her bedroom floor, studying for the latest history test Mr Matthews had so abruptly thrown at us. I had just told her some joke about her father's history class as she lightly threw her head back in laughter, short breaths escaping from her lips.

"You know it's true, Riley," I mused, chuckling lightly as I shook my head in utter amusement.

She bursted out into a loud laugh again, her hand quickly clasping over her mouth as she tried to calm herself down. She slowly paced her breath, still giggling. "Okay, you're right. But seriously, we have to get back to studying before my father finds out we're not doing any work and kills us both."

I released a small chuckle, nodding my head at her as she sighed and dropped her head back down to continue reading. She looked positively calm about all of this but my heart couldn't help but beat the slightest bit faster as I continued to stare at her. The way her little brown eyes would light up like there were a billion constellations just shining in them. The way her smile would create deep dimples in her face the shape of a moon crescent. The way her delicate fingers would subconsciously fiddle with the 'R' shaped jewel on her necklace whenever she was feeling nervous or anxious, or just deep in thought. I had been spending too much time with her, and this new level of intimacy I found with her was beginning to destroy my life.

She was staring intently down at the textbook in front of her, twirling a thick strand of curly hair within her fingertips. I noticed her finger release the brown locks and lightly graze over the surface of her necklace, slowly fiddling with it as she bit down on her bottom lip.

"Is everything okay?" I said. I hadn't even processed the words until they had already left my mouth, bringing shock to my own ears as well as Riley's.

She abruptly lifted her head up, furrowing her brows for a brief moment before relaxing them. Calmly smiling at me, she replied, "No, everything's fine, Lucas. Why would you think otherwise?"

"Oh, no reason. You just looked a bit worried about something, that's all," I lied, throwing in a wide smile to somehow make myself seem a bit more convincible. I wasn't exactly going to tell her that I knew something was wrong because she always played with her necklace whenever she felt anxious about something. She would think I was some sort of creepy creep creep, the fact that I stared at her long enough to pay attention to her small habits.

"Oh, okay." She looked at me strangely, almost as if she was unable to recognise me because she was too deep in her thoughts. She suddenly muttered something incoherent under her breath and looked back down at her book.

She had been doing a lot of that quite recently. She would look at me with the most strange expression on her face before quickly shaking it off and practically pretending it never happened.

I had only just realised that I was still looking at her as her fingers fiddled with her necklace. I had also realised that she had been looking at the same page for over five minutes now, and it took no genius to figure out that she wasn't actually reading. Something was clearly on her mind, and I was more than determined to figure out what it was.