Finding Myself

6: Quinn

"Hi, mom. Hi, dad," Riley says as she hugs her parents.

"Hello, sweetie," her mom replies as she walks in and then freezes as she notices that I'm standing in the hallway.

"Oh hello, you must be Quinn, right?"

"Yes, you're right," I reply politely and smile at them while I try to get over my fear of accidentally pressuring Riley to much just a few minutes earlier.

"I figured. Riley told us about you," she replies. The thought of Riley actually mentioning me is enough to make my heart race and I instantly start blushing.

Riley's dad walks over to me and extends his hand for me to shake and adds, "It's nice to meet you. You don't seem intimidating at all! I don't see why Riley was so nervous to have you come over."

"You were intimidated by me?" I question Riley as I smirk at her from across the room.

She turns bright red and tries to explain herself, "No. I was just a little bit uneasy because I don't normally have people over that's all."

"A little uneasy? Are you kidding Riley, you were freaking out," her dad teases. He then leans closer to me to whisper, "She wouldn't stop running around the house to clean and make it spotless for you."

"Oh my god dad, you're not helping me at all right now," Riley replies back.

"My job is to love and embarrass you as much as I possibly can," her dad replies while giving her another hug before walking away.

"So, I make you nervous?" I tease Riley.

Before Riley can try to explain her way out of this situation, her mom speaks up, "Of course you make this girl nervous. She was terrified that you wouldn't like her at all or want to be her friend."

I look from her mom to her and sincerely say, "Riley, I do like you and of course I want to be your friend. If I didn't then I wouldn't have started talking to you or come over to study. So, don't worry about that."

I can see Riley start to relax and shyly smile at me. I wish I could have said more. Like how I think she is so adorable and sweet and smart. She's incredibly beautiful and understanding and oh my god I have a bigger crush on her than I thought I did.

"Quinn, would you like to stay for dinner? We are going to make some enchiladas tonight. I assure you that they are very yummy," Riley's mom offers.

"Oh no it's okay, I don't want to intrude on your dinner," I respond.

"Oh come on, Quinn. I can't exactly let you go home after saying those nice things to me. It would be bad hospitality to let you go home on an empty stomach," Riley blurts out, immediately making me change my mind.

"Okay, I'll stay, just let me text my mom so she can pick me up later," I reply.

"Don't worry, you can tell your mom that Riley will drop you of at your house," Riley's mom says.

"You can drive?" I ask Riley.

She sheepishly replies, "Yeah. I just go with Mason since I don't have a car."

"Well, okay, I'll tell my mom that now," I say. Riley's mom smiles and heads into the kitchen to start working on the food with her husband and I stay in the hallway with Riley.

"Since when did you get so persuasive?" I tease her.

"When I realized I made a friend," she replies giving me a big smile. Fuuuuuuckkk she's so cute, I can't take it.

I quickly call my mom and I ask her for permission, then I follow Riley back into the living room to study some more as her parents make the food. After a while I can smell how good the food is so far and my stomach starts growling.

Riley looks at me and starts smirking, "Looks like someone is very hungry."

"I can't help it, it smells so good," I reply.

Riley chuckles and adds, "Let's take a break and go see how much longer before it's time to eat." I don't dare argue and follow her into the kitchen.

Riley's mom is finishing up the sauce as Riley's dad is putting the rolled up chicken tacos into the pan. It sizzles as it misses with the oil and the smell in the kitchen is amazing. My stomach growls again and Riley's parents look at me in shock then they start laughing.

"I can't wait for you to taste these enchiladas. For the sauce we use a recipe that my grandmother taught my sisters and me when we used to go visit her in Mexico," Riley's mom tells me.

"These enchiladas are part of the reason why I fell in love with her," Riley's dad adds.

"How did you two meet?" I ask.

"Oh, I can tell you that story, I hear it on a weekly basis," Riley announces. "They met in Acapulco, Mexico over the summer when my mom went to visit. My mom used to help my grandmother with her restaurant and my dad was a server. They met and had a grand love story filled with forbidden love and much heartbreak, but they still ended up together despite everyone's wishes."

"Wow, that sounds like right out of a romance novel," I comment.

"That's exactly what it felt like," Riley's mom jokes.

"Well that's what happens when you fall for an extremely romantic Hispanic like me. Riley needs to start taking tips from me, she has much to teach her white boyfriend," Riley's dad teases.

"Don't listen to him, he's as romantic as a rock," Riley's mom replies making everyone laugh.

While her parents are busy talking about their past, I lean over to Riley so I can whisper close to her ear, "Teach me a bit of that romance language when you can, I will greatly appreciate it." Then I wink at her and she instantly starts blushing and I can't help but start laughing. "You're way too easy to tease, Riley," I add.

As I chuckle a bit more, I'm suddenly hit in the face with a tortilla. I look up in shock at Riley who is laughing uncontrollably.

"I can't believe you just hit me with a tortilla!"

"That's my girl, she learns from the best," Riley's dad proudly says as he laughs along with his daughter.

"I'm forced to live with two children. You see what I have to deal with, Quinn," Riley's mom adds.

I chuckle as I lean down to pick up the tortilla that Riley threw at me and I get up to throw it at her, but Riley has better reflexes than me. She easily dodges the tortilla and it hits the wall.

"Missed me," she says smirking.

"Next time I won't," I tease back.

"Okay, food is ready, so enough of the tortilla throwing contests," Riley's mom announces.

I help Riley set up the table and her parents bring out the food. Her mom adds sour cream and cheese to everyone's dish and we dig in. The first bite I take is amazing and I continue eating happily.

"This is delicious," I say and Riley's parents thank me.

"Riley, you need to teach me everything that your parents taught you about cooking," I comment.

Riley's mom chuckles before saying, "Riley can't cook anything. She sucks cooking. The only thing she can make that's slightly good is pasta!" Riley hides her face behind her hands as her parents laugh.

I love this family. They have such a wonderful relationship with each other. And the more that I get to see Riley opening up, the stronger my crush on her is getting. The whole plan today was to get rid of this crush and all I have done is reinforce my feelings for her.

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Author note: I'm finally done with my finals so I can focus on writing this story. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I will be uploading new chapters 1-3 times a week.

Disclaimer, that's how my  family makes enchiladas, no idea if other people do it like that.

Fun fact, the way the parents met each other in the story is actually how my parents met each other in real life for the most part.

I also made a Tik Tok, I just post random things from when I travel around. My username is teddyishere2.

Have a great day.