I'm so incredibly annoyed with, but feel bad for Mason. The entire time I was studying with Riley, she was so preoccupied with him. He didn't really progress on his homework and she wanted to help him. I don't know how their relationship works. She's so smart and he isn't, he's just good at football. There's nothing wrong with being good at something other than academics, but I don't think it's the best to be in a relationship where one person is obviously super intelligent. It feels like Riley is constantly putting Mason before herself in everything.
So, when Mason finally leaves, I feel so happy. I know my whole plan was to get over Riley by seeing her being all lovey dovey with Mason, but plans have changed. I want to get to know who Riley is without Mason around.
Riley comes back after walking Mason out and we resume studying, but I can tell her mind is elsewhere. We've studied enough for now so I suggest we stop and just hang out. Yes, I have other intentions when making that comment. I want to get to know Riley more.
I don't know where to start, so I just ask her a question about school since I know she'll definitely talk about that.
"So, where are you thinking on applying to for after high school ends?"
"My hope is for UCLA. That's the dream," she responds. It's a really good school and she's worked so hard, so I'm hoping she gets in. That would be an amazing opportunity for her.
"Why that school," I ask, hoping to understand her more.
"It's a great school and Mason is trying to go there as well. It would be awesome if we could both go," she replies which makes a knot in my stomach.
"Okay, I get that, anyway, what are your hobbies?" I ask trying to change the topic back to her instead of it going on Mason.
"Um. I just study a lot," she replies.
"Riley that's not a hobby," I chuckle. "What do you like doing when you're not studying?"
"Well, I just watch TV, mostly the travel channel or animal planet because I like learning more," she replies.
I smirk at her until she realizes what she just said to me. All she can think about is learning. Riley widens her eyes and then face palms and I can't help but start laughing.
"Oh god, I'm not a total boring person, I promise," she blurts out.
I stop laughing to say, "I don't think you're boring at all. You're just complex," I reply.
Riley scowls at me, "I think I prefer boring in that case."
We both start laughing for a while until Riley out of nowhere adds, "I used to love playing the piano in my free time."
"Wow, smart and musically talented, take my heart already," I tease.
Riley chuckles and says, "I'm not that great at playing piano anymore. I stopped playing a couple of years ago."
"How come?"
"I don't know. I guess I just didn't have time to do everything before, so I gave it up to do the best I could in school to make sure I could go to places like UCLA," she replies.
I can tell this is a touchy subject for her so I try and change the mood a little. I don't think she is ready for someone to tell her that she needs to calm down and start thinking about herself and what she really wants now. I'm not close enough to her to tell her that and I don't want her to push me away now.
"Think you can teach me a few things on the piano? I've always wanted to learn how to play it."
"Yeah, I can teach you the basics. Come with me," she replies. I follow her upstairs to her room. She opens the door for me and I walk in. There are posters of informational facts about animals on the walls.
"Do you ever get a break from learning new things? Or do you even dream about school?" I tease. Riley rolls her eyes at me and chuckles.
Riley walks over to the small piano in the corner of her room and removes a bunch of papers that are laying on top of it. While she does that, I take the time to look around her room. It's super neat, there isn't a single mess except for all the stacks of paper that were on the piano. I guess she was right about not having used it for a couple of years. No wonder, Riley tries fixing it up now before showing me it.
While walking around her room, I notice a rather large terrarium on the floor next to her desk. There is a tortoise inside of it.
"Woah, who's this little guy?" I ask.
"Oh, that's Wally, he's a Mediterranean sour thighed tortoise," she replies.
"Why in the world do you have a tortoise as a pet?" I ask.
"Why are you saying it like that?" Riley chuckles. "He's actually awesome. He's got an amazing personality."
"Okay, whatever you say," I reply laughing.
"I didn't pick him out. I had to take care of him because his owner left," Riley adds.
"How old is this guy?"
"He's around fifteen years old," Riley replies.
"Oh my god. This turtles is almost as old as us!"
"He's a tortoise," Riley adds while chuckling. "Now, leave Wally alone and come over here."
I listen to Riley and she motions for me to sit down next to her on the beach and I do. "I'll teach you the basics, okay."
"We break the piano in chunks, or octaves," Riley begins.
"You have to learn things to play an instrument!"
Riley looks at me in surprise and cocks her to the side to look at me in disbelief. "Yes, obviously. Have you never played an instrument before?"
"Nope," I reply.
"Don't they make you play instruments in like fifth grade though?" She asks.
"My school did not do that," I reply.
"Oh okay. Well since you don't want to learn, I'll just play something simple and you play the exact same keys after me. How does that sound?" Riley asks.
I nod my head and Riley begins. She presses a few keys and then stops. I try to do the same ones that she did, but I forgot the last two ones. I try again, but still can't remember. I try a couple more times and still can't get the hang of it. Riley chuckles at me but encourages me to keep trying. After a while she suddenly grabs my hands and puts them on the keys and puts her hands over mine. She makes me press all the keys in the right order this time.
"Do you think you have it now or do you want to go over it one more time?" She asks me.
Honestly, I wasn't paying attention the first time because all I could think about was her skin on mine. I have goosebumps everywhere and I have to look down so that she can't see me blushing. I should say that's enough learning for today, but I really want to feel her hands on mine again.
"I think doing it with you one more time would be super helpful," I reply. I shouldn't have said that, but I can't help it. My plan is falling apart.
Riley grabs my hands again and moves them to play the correct keys. I can't help but look up at Riley and smile at her. She smiles back and all I want to do is lean forward to kiss her. We are just a few centimeters away from each other and I can't help but look at her lips. I think Riley notices how close we are and we quickly turns to face the piano.
I regain my composure and stand up. "I think that's enough learning to play piano today. How about you play your favorite song. I really want to hear you play," I tell her.
She nods and starts to play a song as I walk around her room again. I have to stop in my tracks and listen to Riley though, she plays so beautifully. Like, wow, I wasn't expecting her to be that good. The beginning is so soothing and it picks up as she continues. The music starts to overwhelm me and impact me to my core that I have to close my eyes and feel every melody.
She is really good. She's amazing. I don't understand why she ever stopped playing.
When I open my eyes, the first thing I see is a picture frame. I walk to it and pick it up. It's a picture of Riley and her parents when she was younger, but there is also someone else with them. A boy.
"Who is this boy in the picture, Riley?" I blurt out.
Riley instantly stops playing the piano. She looks over at me and notices what I have in my hands. Riley just stares at the frame for a few seconds before getting up to walk over to me. She reaches for the frame and I had it to her. She stares at it for a few more seconds before putting it face down on her desk.
"Don't worry about it," she finally says. "We should get back to studying," she adds and walks out of the room.
Oh shit. I fucked up.
I need to fix this. So, I quickly run down after her and before I can apologize for asking, we both hear the front door open.
"Riley, we're home," her parents yell.
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Author note: I couldn't wait until next week to share this chapter with you guys. Hope you enjoyed it.
Also, yes Edison from Atypical helped me create Wally and also the fact that tortoises live a very very long time.
Who is your favorite character so far? Mason, Quinn or Riley, ect?
Who is the most interesting character to you as well?