Rilaya: Dreaming of you

Chapter 1: Back to School Blues

The light shined through the rain splattered windows, awaking Maya from continuing dreaming of things that she knows she shouldn't. The day contained, like usual, Riley walking beside Maya to the subway, and Maya wishing she could hold her best friend's hand without getting followed by a string of insults. It was just another day in New York City for the two best friends, just another day of dragging themselves out of bed to go to school and pretend to care, but life was changing before their eyes, and neither Maya nor Riley knew how to stop it.

Maya

I draw her eyes in the sky as we walk to school, and I count the small perfections of her beauty as I unsuccessfully try not to think about everything that's been going on lately.

"Maya?" Riley says, as her hands clench and tighten around her backpack strands.

I look over at her, her voice interrupting my thoughts.

"Hmm?"I respond, my eyes searching hers, seeing her eyes go even browner than I thought was possible, her pupils getting larger as we get closer to the crowds of freshman that are at the moment, flooding the entrance of the school like a pack of wild animals.

"Do you ever feel like the world is changing before our eyes?"

The air suddenly stiffens, at least for me, and for a moment, my mask drops and I allow myself a moment of showing my true emotions to her, anxiety, scaredness, and unpreparedness.

"Riley, it's going to be fine, I promise! Everyone's going to love you! Honestly, who wouldn't love a beautiful, kind girl who brings happiness with her into every room she enters?"

My face starts to heat up, as I realize I've said too many compliments than necessary.

"You really think?" She asks, her face gleaming, as she suddenly has a skip in her step, and I have to jog a little to keep up with her.

She seems to have completely unnoticed my embarrassment, because she's back to her Riley self, hair tossing behind her, striding to meet up with Farkle and Lucas, with all the confidence in the world.

"Yeah, why would you even doubt yourself? You're perfect in every way. You're too perfect."

I whisper under my breath, as I watch her meet up and greet our friends like Pluto is a planet, and like everything's fine.

Stop being stupid, everything is fine.
I shake my head, trying to get rid of all of these annoying thoughts that keep on seeping through my brain more and more everyday.

It's a new day, a new year, you're going to be fine.

I force a smile onto my lips as I follow Riley's lead, and join her and our friends in the shade of the old willow tree, that I have no idea how is still standing.

" Yeah, what's your schedule look like? What electives did you sign up for? Do we have the same lunch period?"

Riley asks all of these questions in an excitement that I cannot begin to understand, to Lucas and Farkle, who respond with the same quirky, unrealistic, happiness that seems to be plaguing this school from the inside out. Don't get me wrong, I guess I'm excited to meet my new dictators, aka teachers, and be exposed to the stupidness of jokes, that my ever present peers provide for us, but I'm really just not feeling it today.

"Maya? Did you hear me? I said, do you want to go find our lockers before school starts?" Riley asks, a smile still playing on her face, but concern raising her eyebrows up.

"Yeah, yeah sure Riles. Sorry peaches, I was just thinking about all of the exciting amounts of homework that I will be doing this year."
I say, a sarcastic smirk on my face, as a trail of laughs follow.

Thats what they expect from you: sarcastic remarks, laziness, and humor.

Her laugh continues even when we're hand and hand and far away from the others, and all I can feel is hope and desire gnawing at my heart.

"Maya, I can already feel it, this is going to be a good year."

Riley sighs, her words echoing in my head as we walk forward into the unknown: high school.