16: Quinn

I miss having Riley next to me. Not even a day has passed since I last saw her and I miss her already. I probably sound so pathetic, but I can't help it.

I lay in bed with Malcom and Susie and just listen to them talk about their week. "Earth to Quinn, you there?" Susie asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"No, she's too busy thinking about her new girl," comments Malcolm and I throw a pillow at him.

"Oh, so she's gay? Or bi?" Asks Susie.

"No, she's straight. And there's nothing going on between us, we are just good friends," I say.

"Sure. She thinks of you as a friend, but you. You're falling for her aren't you?" Susie says.

"Maybe," I answer as I hide my face in my pillow.

"Oh you're in too deep girl. Maybe you shouldn't get too close to Riley," suggests Malcolm.

"I can't help but want to be around her every chance I get. I don't want to be distant from her, it pains me to do that," I reply.

"You're such a hopeless romantic," Malcolm adds.

"You would be too if you became friends with the person who you have been crushing on for about the last three years," I explain.

"Damn. That's rough. I wish it wasn't that hard for you two gays," Susie says as she come over to give me a hug.

"Sometimes I wish I was straight, everything would be so much easier," I admit.

"Hey, don't say that. You'll be with someone one day who will make this all worth it," Susie advises.

"Can that happen sooner than later so our girl can get over the straight one," Malcolm jokes.

I laugh along with the others, but I kind of don't want to get over Riley. My heart is dead set on her even if it will never happen.

I sigh and we change the topic to something more lighthearted and just hang out for the rest of the day to relax.

The next day I wake up early and get ready to get to school. When I'm done changing and doing the necessary things in the bathroom I head down for breakfast. Then my mom drops me off at school and I head to my first class so that I can see my beautiful Riley.

However, she's not in the hallway like usual. She and Mason are nowhere in sight and I start getting a wierd feeling about that. I wait for a minute then decide to just head inside and that's when I spot Riley. She is already sitting at her desk and I walk over to her. I try to wave, but she is too preoccupied with studying her notes.

"Hey, how are you?" I ask.

"I'm alright," she answers then goes back to reading. Hm, something is off, she didn't really answer with her usual peppy tone or smile her adorable smile that I love so much.

I sit down next to her and ask, "Hey, is everything okay?"

She looks up from her notes and replies with a monotone yeah. Obviosuly I know something is off, but I don't want to push her so I give her a few more minutes before asking a question about the class.

She looks up at me and hands me her notebook and explains the answer. However, I pretend not to understand so that she has to talk to me. Riley rolls sighs and repeats herself, but I still look at her like I'm lost.

She pinches the bridge of her nose in frustration then looks at me. I give her a sheepish smile that I know she can't resist smiling too. Riley rolls her eyes at me and I see her start to smile a little. There's my girl.

"You finally going to tell me what's up with you? I'm worried," I tell her.

Riley shifts in her seat a little. It and sighs before answering, "I just had a small fight with Mason yesterday. That's all."

"What happened? Did he do something? Did he say something to you? What the hell did he do to you?" I frantically ask. If he hurts her I'm going to kick his ass.

"No, nothing bad happened and he didn't hurt me. We just had an arguement and now I don't feel like talking to him for a bit," she replies. Just for a little bit? Damn, I was hoping that they had broken up.

"Don't worry. I'll stick by your side during this. Iean I don't know what the arguement was about, but I have a good idea that it wasn't any of your fault. And you can talk to me about it if you want," I say.

"Thank you, but I dont feel like talking about it," she replies. I don't dare push her. She can tell me when she is good and ready. I just need to show her that she can trust me and open up one day. That I won't judge or leave her.

"Okay, but I just want you to know that you can come to me for anything," I repeat.

Riley gives me a soft smile before saying," Thank you." Then she unexpectedly gets up to wrap her arms around my shoulders and pull me in for a half hug. The act is so small but it warms my heart and makes me feel so happy. I wish we could keep this position for the rest of the day, but we can't because class starts.

For the rest of the class period, Riley acts like her normal self and I'm so glad about that. I hate to see her so upset, I just want to do anything to see her happy again. After class we head out of the room and walk together to our next class even though we don't have the same subject. I just don't want to leave her by herself yet, I can always run to my class and make it on time later.

As we road the corner, there's none other than Mason leaning against the wall, talking to his football buddies. Riley notices him and freezes. I look at her curiously and she says, "I don't want to talk to him now. I'm not ready."

So, I wrap my arm around her shoulder to comfort her and we take a few steps back and go down a different hallway. I check to make sure the coast is clear and I walk her to her class.

"Thank you again," she says, then whispers, "You kind of have a habit of acting as my hero."

"Well that's part of my job, you know. As your friend," I reply.

"Right. As my friend. I know," she mumbles.

Okay, I thought everything was okay, but she is still acting different. She just seems so upset still. What the fuck did Mason do to make my girl act like this. I need to go talk to the dude and make him fix this now.

I leave Riley at her class and on the way to mine, I decide to take a detour. I head back to the hallway where I see Mason and notice that he is still there. The bell rings and everyone starts walking away, but I grab Mason by the arm and slightly push him again a wall. He looks shocked at first then calms down when he recognizes that it's me.

"You need to fix things with Riley now," I demand.

"What? Did she tell you about our fight? Do you know what's going on?" He asks.

"No, of course I don't know what's wrong. All I know is that you two fought and now she is pretty upset. So you better make things right with her," I repeat.

"Why is it any of your business," he replies. His tone is really bothering me and if he wasn't Riley's boyfriend I would punch him right now.

"You're dating my friend and even though you've known her longer than I have, it's still partly my business now, stupid," I counter.

Mason sighs and eventually agrees to show that he understands. Then he adds, "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make her angry or upset. It was an accident. I'll make it up to her, I promise."

"You better or you deal with me," I reply.

"Jeez, what is it with girls being so overprotective of each other," he mutters.

"Watch it pal, you do not want to have me on your bad side. We are two people who both care about Riley, so let's focus on her. Got it," I say.

He agrees and I let him go so that he can get to his class on time. Then i sprint to mine and try to not think abou what I just did, but I can't. I literally just told my crush's boyfriend to fix things. How stupid could I be? Honestly.

But I had to do it. I can't let Riley hurt. I had to do something and that's what came to my mind. Riley loves Mason so much, I know it. So, in order to make Riley happy I had to help their relationship.

I hope I never have to do this again.