It was a quiet night. Auggie was sitting at the end of the coffee table drawing pictures with his new set of colored pencils, while Riley was hanging upside down on the couch playing Ninja Fruit on her phone. With her back against the seat cushion, feet tangling over the back of the couch, and hair hanging down and splayed all over the floor, Riley was slicing her way to a new high score when they heard a quick knock at the door, followed by the sound of it being thrown open only to find one of their favorite relatives standing in the threshold.
"Muh family!" Josh called out.
"Josh!" Auggie exclaimed as he ran across the room to hug his uncle.
"Hey!" Riley called, before flipping her legs over her head and landing on her knees in front of the small, round coffee table, which Auggie had been sitting at with a loud Oomph! Wiping the hair out of her face, she sprang on to the balls of her feet, extended her arms out like she was ready to karate chop someone, and yelled, "I'm a ninja!"
Josh just stood there with his arm around Auggie and an amused look on his face as he replied, "I can see that."
"Yeah...you should stick to fruit." Auggie added dryly, referring to her recent obsession with the app, she had been playing.
Riley straightened herself, pushing some hair behind her ear as she rolled her eyes at her brother. Then, with a smile on her face, she spoke.
"It's good to see you, Uncle Josh."
"You too." He said, chuckling softly.
"So, what brings you here?" Riley asked.
"I had to take care of some things at NYU, so I figured I would just come surprise you guys and stay the night."
"You're sleeping over?!" Auggie asked excitedly.
"Yep." Josh answered, holding up the black duffle bag he had been clutching in his other hand, that wasn't around his nephew's shoulders, as proof.
"Yes!" Auggie shouted, making a "cha-ching" gesture with both of his little arms.
"Aw, you're here and staying the night? Yay!" Riley said, clapping cheerfully. Then suddenly, something clicked in Riley's head, causing her eyes to widen. "Wait... you're here and staying the night? Oh, no..." She trailed off, worry evident on her face.
"Um... are you happy about it or not? I'm a little confused." Josh responded, his brow still furrowed from his niece's words.
"Of course, I am." Riley assured. "I just... I'll be right back." She finished quickly with a tentative smile, then grabbed her phone from the couch and scurried down the hall to her bedroom.
"Did that make sense to you?" Josh questioned, turning to Auggie.
"Nope," Auggie stated. "But she never makes sense to me." He finished with a shrug of his shoulders, then went back over to where he had left his art supplies and proceeded to show Josh all of the drawings he had done.
Josh praised his nephew's talent all the while wondering what the heck was going on with his niece.
Riley was pacing across the open space in her room between her bed and the bay window as she dialed Maya's number for the third time.
"Come on! Pick up!" Riley pleaded into the phone, hoping to get a hold of her friend before it was too late. Maya was due to arrive any time now for their own sleepover, but now that Josh was here to stay the night, Riley wasn't so sure Maya coming over was the best idea, especially since the last time they had seen each other was the morning after that college party she and Maya had crashed to "save" Josh. The two of them had ended things on seemingly good terms, but that didn't mean that having them both over wouldn't be awkward for everyone involved. Suddenly the ringing stopped and Maya's voice flowed through the phone.
"Hey, Riles, what's up?" She greeted.
"Maya, hey..." Riley trailed off, not knowing exactly what to say. She knew that honesty was the best policy, but she didn't want to hurt Maya with the truth. She was weighing her options in silence when Maya spoke up again.
"Riley? You still there?"
"Yeah, I'm here. It's just- I don't think tonight is gonna work out for our sleepover." Riley told her.
"Why not?" Maya said, utterly confused. They had been planning this night all week and had so been looking forward to it.
"Because...I'm feeling a little under the weather." Riley lied. She hated lying, but she hated how emotional Maya could get over Josh even more, not that it was her fault exactly. You can't help the way you feel, right? "Yeah, uh, my stomach feels queasy... I'm lying in bed as we speak." She added to her lie.
"Oh really?" Maya replied, sounding unconvinced. "Cause you look fine to me... cute top by the way."
"Oh, thanks!" Riley beamed, coming to a halt, facing her bed, and smoothing out her top, a tie-dye tank with fringe at the bottom and a silver sequent peace sign on the front of it. "I got it- wait...how did you-"
"Turn around, honey." Maya cut off her friend's question.
Riley turned around and saw Maya in her window, waving and smirking at her as she held her cell phone to her ear. She just waved back and smiled sheepishly, giving a little wave of her own as she said, "Hiiiii."
Instead of responding, Maya decided to just end the call, tossing her phone into the front pocket of her large, purple and black satchel, which hung across her body securely. It was technically her book bag for school, but since she was never one to bring books home, it was mostly used as a sleepover bag. Meanwhile, Riley had tossed her phone onto her bed, and unlocked the window, allowing Maya to gain entry to her room.
After closing the window, Riley took a seat on her bench next to Maya who had just discarded her bag on the floor.
"Look," Riley began. "I am so sorry for lying to you like that. Are you mad at me?"
"I'm a lot of things right now, mostly surprised and confused, but mad? No, I'm not mad at you, Riles." Maya replied.
"Really?" Riley queried, glad that she didn't seem to upset her friend too much with her fib.
"Really." Maya confirmed. "I know you, Riley. You wouldn't lie to anyone, especially me, if you didn't have a really good reason."
"You're right, and I do." Riley nodded curtly as she spoke her words seriously.
"So what is it?" Maya wondered aloud.
Riley took a deep breath before launching into what was, no doubt, a touchy subject for Maya: Uncle Josh.
"Josh is here. He made a surprise visit and is staying the night." She explained.
"Oh." Maya said casually, trying to remain indifferent to the situation.
"I should have just told you that from the beginning." Riley responded as she pushed some of her long brown locks back behind her ear.
"So, why didn't you?" Maya asked curiously.
"I don't know. I guess, I thought I was protecting you." Riley tried to explain.
"Protecting me? From what?" Maya probed further.
"Well, it's just..." Riley trailed off, pausing a moment to collect her thoughts. "I know things haven't been easy for you where Josh is concerned. I mean, it's obvious that his constant rejections hurt you more than you'd like to admit. Take the dorm room fiasco, for instance. Afterward, you were majorly depressed."
"Yeah, I was...until the next day when Josh said he would stop looking at me like I was a kid." Maya supplied.
"Still," Riley went on. "It was hard seeing you like that, and I guess, I just thought it would be better for you to be a little disappointed with me than to be all torn up over Josh again."
"Well, I appreciate that you care so much." Maya smiled. "You're a good friend." She added as she put her arm through Riley's to emphasize her words.
Riley just smiled back brightly and said, "Thanks. I learn from the best."
They just smiled at each other a moment, until Riley took a deep breath and spoke up again.
"Look... you're still welcome to spend the night, if you still want to, but if you don't, I completely understand."
Maya gave a curt nod as she responded, "I want to."
"You sure?" Riley inquired, giving her an out if she needed it.
"Yeah... I mean, do I still have feelings for Josh? Of course. Is he still too old for me and therefore rejecting me? Of course... but the thing is, he's your uncle, Riley, and he's gonna be a part of your life, even more so once he starts at NYU, and I don't wanna let his presence get in the way of our friendship. That's why I'm moving on." Maya said assuredly.
Riley just cocked her head to the side and gave her friend a skeptical look.
"Or at least I'm gonna try to." Maya amended. "And the first step in moving on is becoming friends with Josh...or at least being able to be in the same room with him and not act like a total nutball..."
"You do act like a nutball around him." Riley nodded in agreement.
"Well, not anymore." Maya affirmed, causing Riley to shoot her yet another look of skepticism. "I mean it; I'm done wasting my time pining after someone who doesn't like me back."
Riley chuckled softly as she shook her head at her friend, realizing just how blonde she was.
"What? What's so funny?" Maya questioned, confusion evident on her face.
"Your assessment of Josh's feelings, that's what." Riley answered.
"What are you talking about?" Maya tried again, feeling totally lost.
"Haven't you noticed the way Josh looks at you?" Riley inquired, deciding to reveal a few things that she has noticed about Maya and Josh's interactions since the Christmas party last December.
"He doesn't look at me in any way, except like I'm nutball, which we've already established." Maya said, rolling her eyes. While she remained indifferent on the outside, Maya immediately replayed all her exchanges with Josh in her mind, trying to recall any particular look he may have given her. Unfortunately, nothing stuck out, but that was probably due to the fact that she always got distracted by those blue orbs of his. They never failed to entrance her.
"What about the way he always gives you the same exact response to your- should we say... admiration?" Riley went on.
"Trust me when I say that I am very aware of his response." Maya said as she stood and crossed the open space in front of her before plopping down on Riley's bed. "He only says the words every time he sees me." Maya replied, tone dripping with annoyance, then threw herself backward so she was half-lying down on the bed.
Riley just smirked as she crossed her legs and folded her hands on her top knee. She couldn't help but take things a step further. "Then you are also aware that Josh has never actually said that he doesn't like you." She elaborated.
At that, Maya propped herself up on her elbows and arched a brow at her friend. "So?"
"So...maybe he hasn't said it because he can't say it, because if he did, it wouldn't be the truth." Riley clarified.
Maya's mouth opened and closed a few times as she considered Riley's words and how to respond to them. Thinking back, she knew that Riley was right about Josh to an extent. He never did say anything about his feelings for her, just the same-old, same-old "I'm too old for you" speech. However, Maya wasn't so sure about the rest of her friend's statement, and she was a little scared of even considering it.
Settling on a reply, Maya extended her arms and pushed herself upward so that she was leaning on her hands and voiced her uncertainty aloud.
"Just because he's never said that he doesn't like me, doesn't mean that he does, Riles."
"Doesn't mean he doesn't." Riley tossed back with a shrug.
Maya kept silent other than letting out a loud breath as she ran a hand through her hair nervously.
Riley sighed before speaking again, "Look, I wasn't trying to make you uncomfortable, just aware of the facts." She said, moving to the bed and sitting beside Maya.
"The facts being that Josh sometimes gives me googly eyes and has feelings for me?" Maya asked dryly, making sure she was comprehending what exactly her friend was saying.
"Yeah." Riley half-smiled. She also wanted to add the fact that she was pretty sure Josh's constant use of the phrase "I'm too old for you" was more of a reminder for himself than for Maya, but due to Maya's current mood, she figured now wasn't the best time to mention it.
"Why?" Maya questioned, tone serious and somewhat annoyed, but not angry.
"Because...I don't want you to give up on Josh... not completely." Riley confessed.
Maya's eyes widened a bit in surprise, but her voice sounded almost amused as she responded, "Excuse me? Since when?"
"I know, I know, I haven't exactly been the biggest supporter of your feelings for Josh. I was just worried about you getting hurt with the age difference and all." Riley went on. "But someday, before you know it, that three years isn't gonna matter anymore, and then..." Riley trailed off.
"And then what?" Maya wondered aloud.
"I think that's up to you and Josh." Riley smiled as she placed a hand on Maya's shoulder.
Maya sat quietly for moment, letting Riley's words sink in. Before she had a chance to respond, there was a light knock on Riley's bedroom door. The girls turned their torsos in unison to find Josh peeking his head through the door.
"Hey, Riles, I- oh, hey, Maya. Didn't know you were here. You staying the night?" He asked, noticing her bag near the end of Riley's bed.
"Yes...I am." Maya nodded confidently. She could do this. She would just treat Josh like a friend, a platonic-unintimidating-yet really attractive friend that she didn't have feelings for whatsoever... like Lucas.
"Cool." Josh answered with a grin. "So, I was thinking of ordering a pizza. You guys hungry?"
"Starving." Riley answered as she rubbed her stomach for emphasis. "Mom and dad left money on the dining room table for us to order in."
"Where are they anyway?" Josh questioned.
"Friday night's date night." Riley explained. "Tonight, they were going to an early dinner then to see Mamma Mia at Palace Theatre. It's dad's favorite musical. It should actually be starting soon." She noted as she checked the time on her cell and noticed it was a quarter after seven. No wonder she was so hungry.
"Ah, I see." Josh nodded.
Just then, Auggie shoved himself between the doorframe and Josh, carrying a brightly colored, square box in his hands.
"Can we play a board game?" He asked, excitedly.
"Sure, little man, just let me order some pizza first." Josh said, ruffling his nephew's hair.
"Yay!" He exclaimed as he did a little jump for joy. "Riley, Maya, you guys have to play too!"
The girls looked at each other and shrugged before Maya replied. "Sure, Augs, why not?"
Auggie did a little happy dance, then ran to the living room to set up the game as his older playmates followed suit.