17: Quinn

Once I get to practice, I notice that Riley isn't sitting st the bleachers. She's still angry with Mason I guess. So, I head towards my team and they are all surprised to see me there pretty early, but no one says anything. I start stretching with them for a few minutes before I hear my name being called.

I turn around and see Mason jogging over to me. "Hey, have you seen Riley?" He asks.

"No I haven't and I supposed you haven't fixed things yet," I reply.

"Well, no not yet. I haven't had time. And I thought I would see her here at practice, but I was wrong. And turns out my practice will be longer the whole week since we start the first game on Friday. So, I can't take her home," he explains.

"So, you want me to take her home," I ask.

"Yes, please. And I promise I'll fix things tomorrow," he says.

"Alright, I'll take her home. But I'm doing it because she is my friend, not because of you," I reply. He nods in agreeance and thanks me again, then leaves to start his practice.

Thankfully my practice today is short so I get to go look for Riley so that I can give her a ride home. I already asked my mom and she said it was fine, so i just need to tell Riley. I'm not to worries about looking for her since I have a pretty good idea of where she will be.

I head to the library and look around, then I notice Riley's back near a chair and desk. She's probably around here somewhere looking for a book or something. So I drop my things next to hers and walk around. I'm not worried about my things because there is hardly anyone in the library.

I to through a couple book aisles before I spot Riley. She is looking for a book in one of the sections and I walk over to her. She doesn't notice me coming towards her as she focuses on trying to find a book. She finally spots it and tries reaching up to grab it, but she's too short.

However, Riley is stubborn as hell and keeps trying and knocks the book of the shelf and it falls. I immediately rush forward and catch the book right in time before it hits her on the head. Unfortunately I lose my balance and smack right into her causing her back to hit the wall.

Riley looks up at me in shock and all I can say is, "Hi." Then I give her a sheepish smile and she smirks at me.

"Nice timing," she replies. I chuckle and focus on her face and get lost in her hazel eyes. I'm so close to her, if I wanted to I could lean forward and kiss her. I hesitate for a little and it seems like Riley does too for a few seconds. We just stare at each other, not saying a single word.

"Are you girls okay?" Someone asks from our right. Riley and I both turn to face the librarian who is looking at us with concern.

I immediately take a step back from Riley and she tries to explain,"We lost our balance."

The librarian narrows her eyes at us and simply replies with, "Uh huh. This floors sure are hard to walk on."

I glance at Riley and she starts turning a deep red from embarrassment so I decide to step in. "Sorry, won't happen again, we were just trying to grab a book. We'll leave now."

I quickly grab Riley's hand and pull her out of that book aisle and fast walk back to our bags. I hand her the book and she shyly takes it from my hand. "Thank you," she whispers.

"It's okay," I say smiling at her.

"How come you always pop up when I need you the most," she murmurs under her breath.

"What can I say? I'm your knight in shining armor," I tease.

Riley giggles before replying, "Sure seems like it. Thank you again, especially for stopping that book from falling on my head. Also, were you standing next to me that whole time?"

"Yes. You were so into getting that book that you didn't notice me leaning against the book shelf watching you," I reply.

Riley hides her face in her hands and mumbles, "How embarrassing."

"No, it was actually very cute. Like watching a stubborn kitten trying to climb," I tease her.

"Oh god, that's worse," she comments.

I laugh and pick up my bags and pick hers up as well. "What are you doing?" She asks.

"Taking your stuff. You're going to follow me," I say walking out of the library.

"Wait, why? Also, I need to check out this book," she yells.

"Ladies, be quiet please," the librarian says to us.

"Sorry," Riley whispers as I try to hold in my laugh. It's very hard and I can't help but let out a few giggles and Riley scorns me.

"Shut up," she whispers while playfully smacking my arm to grab her stuff from me. She takes her bag and walks over to the librarian who looks so down with us.

"May I check out this book," Riley asks. The librarian looks at her for a second then takes the book to scan it then asks for her library card.

"All done. And make sure to ask for help next time, or stay out of the library if you are going to do something else other than reading," the librarian says to Riley.

Riley squeaks out an okay and practically runs over to me from fear of getting in trouble. I smirk at her and she rolls her eyes at me then grabs my arms and pull me out of the library.

"Oh my god, that's the first time I've ever gotten in trouble by the librarian. She probably hates me now!" Riley rambles on.

"Riley."

"What if next time she bans me from the library! Where will I go to do my homework or research assignment!" She adds.

"Riley," I repeat.

"What if I get a bad reputation as a student because of this!"

I've had enough of this so I take a step forward and place my hand under her chin to force her to look at me. This movement shuts her up and she looks at me with a shocked expression. "You're not going to get in trouble. You're okay and nothing will go wrong. So, breathe, Riley."

She tries to look away, but I won't let her. So, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breathe. When she opens her eyes she looks at me intensely. If only I could kiss her now.

"Good?" I ask.

"Yes," she says with a shakey breath and I let go of her chin. She immediately places a hand on her chin and I get worried.

"Did I hurt you?" I ask.

"No, no. Don't worry. I don't know why I did that," she says as she drops her hand back to her side. "Let's just get out of here," she adds walking away.

After ten seconds she stops and turns around to face me and I smirk at her. "Wait a minutes, why was I supposed to follow you?"

"I'm giving you a ride home. Mason can't because his practice will actually be long today. It will be like this for the whole week, so I'm giving you rides," I explain.

"Well, why didn't he just tell me that himself?" She asks defiantly.

"Maybe because you were hiding from him in the library," I retort.

"Oh yeah," she says rubbing her head. "My bad."

"No worries. I wanted to see you again today, so it worked out in my favor," I blurt out, causing Riley to give me a soft smile.

"Anyway, we should get to my mom's car. She's probably already waiting for us," I add.

"Alrighty," Riley says following me.

Holy shit. This week is going to be a lot harder than I thought. Damn these stupid feelings!

I want to do the right thing and help Riley with Madon, but I also really want them to break up so that I can be with Riley. This is an irrational thought though because Riley is straight. Curse my stupid, hormonal brain!

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Author note: This is the last chapter of 2019, at least for me right now.

Happy New Years everyone! I love you all and wish you the best in life!

In case you wanted to know, here are my new years goal list!

1. Finish this story

2. Self publish at least one book

3. Be consistent with my youtube channel!

Also would anyone want to watch personal videos? Like my coming out story? Why I chose my major and why I write?