✓ | 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 ( 𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘀. )

ELEVEN.

"Yeah. Right."

What's the sound of that? Oh, I know, it's the sound of my utterly dry sarcasm seeping through my blatant lies! How fun. I tried not to dwell on that thought too much as I quickly regained myself, suddenly afraid that I'd be the one lost in my own thoughts sooner or later.

"Great," she enthusiastically affirmed, but I could've sworn I heard a slight hint of sarcasm in her tone, too.

"Aren't you still getting over Charlie?" I defensively questioned, perhaps responding a bit too quick than I had intended. But that somehow still didn't stop my mouth from running. "You and Charlie did go out for quite some time, I would have thought you were over boys."

"Well that's certainly an understatement," she muttered almost inaudibly under her breath. I wanted to question her on it, though she cut me off before I had the chance to ask. "Look Riley, I got over Charlie the moment he cheated on me, okay?" I could almost hear her voice cracking on the last few words, and it was for the first time in a long time I had seen Maya that vulnerable.

Though I didn't have much time to ponder on it either as she stood up, slowly walking away from the bed without turning around to face me once. I noticed her clenched fists squeezing so tightly her knuckles had turned white, and I could only imagine just how hard her fingernails would be digging into the palm of her hands. It terrified me.

But in one abrupt move, she released her clenched fists, spinning around on the ball of her foot as her thick locks of shimmering gold hair twirled around with her smooth motion. She cleared her throat loudly, obviously regaining her usual self. Great, another personality change, again. Gee, I can't wait to know which facade she'll be channeling this time.

She observed me for a short moment before resting her hands on her hips as she whined, "This is the longest I haven't been in a relationship and I need a boyfriend. I just can't be head cheerleader without one, it's obviously in the job description."

Ah, there we go. The confident, self-assured, poised Maya we were all familiar with. I knew she was hiding something from me and I didn't want to push her but all these blatant lies she had been throwing around recently were quite absurd. Though I did believe her when she said she needed a boyfriend, because it was apparently in the job description. She had been quite adamant about it, actually, and I was truly afraid she was just using Lucas.

I remained silent, nonchalantly shrugging as I aimlessly looked around my room in an attempt to avoid eye contact with her.

She sighed heavily. "Alright then," she awkwardly mumbled. "I guess I'd better go ... you know, I don't want to be late or anything."

I knitted my brows together, suddenly confused as to what she meant until it finally hit me again. "Oh, your date. Have fun, I guess," I murmured, looking down at my intertwined fingers. She lingered in front of me for a few moments before exhaling softly, as if she had given up. She unlatched my bay window, tugging it open before slowly crawling out.

"Try not to have too much fun without me," I softly teased, deciding to lighten the awkward mood between us. I shouldn't have let my feelings cloud my friendship with Maya, anyway. I was the one who told her I wasn't interested in Lucas, so I was the one who had to deal with the outcome of that. She looked back at me, a small chuckle escaping from her lips before she closed my window shut. And with that, she was gone.

Although I loved her and she would always be my best friend, for the first time, I just couldn't stand to like her. And not because she was about to go on a date with the boy I had completely fallen for, but because it appeared she was only using other people just so she could get what she wanted. I mean, who would even do that?