Like the Back of My Hands (Rilaya)

Chapter One: I've Just Seen a Face

Maya tilted her head. "If you're in love with her, shouldn't your mouth be running 80 miles an hour with things about her?"

"Well..." Riley straightened her posture. "I just saw her on the bus."

Maya raised an eyebrow before laughing. "You mean to tell me that you are madly in love with a person that you just met on the bus?" she questioned as Riley nodded. "That is so sad."

Riley furrowed her eyebrows before scoffing. "It is not."

Maya nodded. "Oh honey, it really is." she laughed. "How can you possibly fall in love with someone you don't know? It's a ridiculous idea."

"It's called 'love at first sight!'" Riley argued.

Maya shook her head. "That shit doesn't exist. You can't fall in love with a person whose story you have never read. You learn to love. Who told you this bullshit?"

Riley crossed her arms. "Disney movies."

"So an American corporation that only cares about making money and sending unrealistic messages to children everywhere? You poor thing." Maya pouted.

"You don't know anything! I do love her! She looked at me and I felt something." Riley said. "It felt a lot like love."

"Or a heart palpitation." Maya retorted.

"You're so negative about love. Who hurt you?" Riley asked. "Because love is a beautiful thing and an amazing experience."

"Nobody hurt me. And I certainly believe love is out there." Maya nodded. "But you, you're not in love. You can't fall in love that quickly. Love grows, it develops and becomes amazing. Nothing is instantly amazing. It takes work to get there."

"If it's true, it will happen any time," Riley said, feeling her insides churn.

Maya chuckled. "What you are experiencing is attraction, not love. Don't confuse the two."

Riley shook her head. "You can't dictate what I feel. And what I feel is love. I can't stop thinking of her...her brightness. She radiates. You can't not love someone who glows."

Maya hummed. "Let me read the rest of what you typed." She said as she held out her hand.

Riley furrowed her eyebrows. "Why would I give you, a girl who is completely making fun of my feelings and making me feel like a stupid, naïve child, my phone so that she could continue to do said thing? I already don't like you and I just met you. Guess there really is such a thing as hate at first sight, too."

Maya smiled. "Phone," She said with a nod.

Riley rolled her eyes as she gave the girl her phone and crossed her arms. "I swear, if I hear one more judgment from you..."

Maya waved her off as she looked down at Riley's phone and started to read.

Dear girl with the blue hair and yellow coat,

You smiled at me. And that's all it took to leave me completely hooked on you.

There's something about you. Something bright. It's not just your hair and coat, it's something else. Something about you makes it all feel magical. Unreal.

You have to be unreal. You can't possibly be from this Earth. No one can radiate as much as you do.

I'm currently listening to "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles. There's nothing more romantic than songs from the 80's. But anyways, I think the song played for a reason.

It's telling me something.

You are that flame— you light up and everyone in the room looks at you.

In a room full of faces, my eyes will still make its way to your gorgeous dark skin and blue hair. And I'll look at you and smile. Wanna know why?

Because love has a way of guiding you in the right direction. And my direction is looking right at you.

I hope to see you again. I'll make sure to look out for blue hair and a yellow coat. I know I'll remember you.

Love,

Riley.

Maya looked up at the girl, opening her mouth before closing it again.

"What? Cat's got your tongue this time? I told you it was real." Riley scoffed, shaking her head. No one could doubt her and love. They intertwined perfectly.

"This isn't the first letter you have written like this, is it?"

Riley raised an eyebrow.

"This isn't the first time you supposedly fall in love." Maya said. "You've done this before. It feels natural...but how do you fall out of love?"

Riley pursed her lips. "It's going to be different this time."

"How?"

"I will remember her face. I can't forget a face like that."

Maya stood up and handed the phone to the girl. "Notice how you say 'face' more than anything. You remember appearance," she noted. "But do you know her dreams? Fears? Quirks? Has she told you secrets? Has she told you her favorite things? Has she given you any reason to love her besides the fact that her face was pretty?" she questioned. "No."

Riley furrowed her eyebrows. "That's not true!"

"You can't fall in love with faces, Riley." Maya continued. "You can't look at a face and mold them the way you want them to and expect to call that falling in love. You're not in love with her, you're in love with the idea of her face becoming what you want it to be."

Riley's jaw clenched. This girl acted like she knew Riley like the back of her hand. But she was wrong. "Well rest assured, I won't be falling in love with your face," She growled.

Maya chuckled bitterly. "I know. It's obvious why you won't." she said as the elevator made a screeching sound before starting to descend.

"Why?" Riley asked with a scoff.

Maya smiled tightly. "Because you realized who I am as a person, and my face suddenly isn't as beautiful." She said as the elevator door opened. "When you really get to know a person, you start to see the ugly part of their faces." She walked out of the elevator.

Riley stood there, watching as the girl left. Riley put her headphones on, "I've Just Seen a Face" by The Beatles was playing. 

As you can see, I am steering away from what I use to write and starting fresh. Anyways, hello. I'm Jennifer. I write and stuff. And I hope this story is just as good as my previous works. I've been shipping Rilaya for a while now and I tried reading some Rilaya stuff, but there wasn't as many fics as I would've liked. And I am impatient, so I decided to try writing my own fic. 

Please give me feedback! I love, love knowing what readers think of my work. It always helps improve my writing :)

For those that are still reading my ongoing story, "Soluna," I am still writing it and I'll finish it. I decided to tackle another work in hopes of crawling out of this writing slump. 

I wrote this first chapter months ago in my creative writing class with different names and decided to tackle writing a whole story now. At the start of every chapter, I'll include a few songs I'll recommend you listen to whilst you read the chapter. Hopefully, you don't mind my music taste lol 

I'm really excited for this story. It's kind of steering away from the themes I usually write about--which is mostly angst. This is more heart-warming, fluffy, humorous--but still with a tiny bit of angst (who am I if I don't include angst in my writing?). 

Anyways, you can message me here on Wattpad OR you can reach me on 

Twitter: jenniferdontpls

Tumblr: loovelikee-fools

You can reach me on any of these. 

As I always end these author notes, 

Take care, wonderful humans, 

-Jennifer