whisper | rilaya

nine

Riley smiled innocently and continued. "So I go and help her pick up the pieces of paper. And then she invites me on an adventure! How could I say no, Maya?"

"Like this."I cleared my throat for a dramatic effect. "No."

"I was on my way to my boyfriend Lucas' house. My papers ending up in your backyard was just a coincidence, really! Did you know you guys live on the same street?" Danielle asked.

"You're dating Lucas Friar?" This took my by surprise. From what I've observed, they were complete opposites.

She nodded eagerly, "He's such a catch, isn't he?"

I shrugged, pretending to be clueless, and mumbled "Not like I would know anything about cute boys." and sipped the cup of tea in front of me.

We continued to talk until the 1 hour timer I set on my phone earlier began to ring. I was the first one to stand up, tucking my phone in my back pocket and gesturing Riley to follow. "Nice talking to you, Danielle." I said, trying my very best to be polite.

~

The walk home was silent. Every so often, our shoulders would brush and we would both become flustered by the contact. It was hard to be upset with her when everything she did was so gentle, like she was afraid to be broken.

The sun was beginning to set, indicated by the street lights that turned on. Riley followed my steps blindly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a couple men staring at her a little too closely. It was disgusting, seeing the way their eyes glanced downwards and behind their shoulders at Riley as we walked past. Out of instinct, I wrapped an arm around her waist protectively. She inched into my touch, too lost in her own world to realize what had just happened.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked as we turned the corner down my street.

"I don't want you to think I'm trapping you in my house like some evil dungeon master or something, but why did you leave like that? I got so worried, Riley. I thought something happened to you and I blamed it all on myself. Do you know what that does to someone?"

She stopped walking to grab my shoulders and turn them so I was facing her. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"Not to mention, the reason you left was because of Danielle." I said bitterly.

"Why do you hate her so much?" Riley asked me, picking up the pace as we began walking again. "I get that she said that one thing to you, but other than that she seems fine to me."

I frowned, bothered my Riley's sudden interest in this girl she barely knew.

"It's not about that, okay? There's something about her that's not sitting right with me. Like why does she have school papers blowing into my backyard during summer break?"

There's a fine line between caring for someone and being overbearing. Shawn often struggled with this when he tried to connect with me.

I started to wonder whether I'm crossing that line with Riley when I told her "I don't think you should hang out with her anymore."

Riley let out a sarcastic laugh. "So now you're deciding who my friends are? Just because I don't have a memory doesn't mean you can make my choices for me."

Our steps became synchronized and I no longer worried about whether or not she knew the way home.

"Stop arguing with me! You know what? Do whatever you want, I could care less." I lied. "Just please, tell me next time you go somewhere. I don't want to go on another goose chase."

Sometimes it was easier to pretend that you didn't care about someone than to show that you did.

"Why does it matter where I go, anyways? It doesn't affect you." Riley's voice wavered when she talked, like she wanted to reciprocate the feeling of not caring. But she couldn't.

"I just want you to be safe, okay? It's already not the best idea for a teenage girl with no memory to explore New York alone." I stopped once we entered through my backyard, sliding open the door that led into my basement.

The lights flickered on with our entrance.

I didn't bother looking back to check if she was still behind me, I knew she was. The steps were creaky but I climbed up them quickly, only turning back once to tell her one last thing before I left for the night.

"You better remember something soon, I don't have enough willpower to put this much time and effort into you when you're going to leave in a week and forget I ever existed."

We both knew that her time here was limited. My parents were only so oblivious, and they were bound to find out about her one day. Riley is on a strict timer to remember who she was and we don't have time for her to fool around like this.