Riele sat cross-legged on the floor of her dressing room, her nose in her phone. Rehearsal had just ended, and they were off from work tomorrow. She twiddled her thumbs on the screen, texting her mom about when she'll be coming home. Just then, she heard a knock on the door.

"I'm entering," Jace announced.
"Yes, please come in, it's not like privacy exists anymore," Riele said sarcastically. The blonde chuckled as he went to sit down beside her.

"Whatcha doin'?" he asked goofily, pressing his cheek against her shoulder.

"Texting my mom to pick me up," she replied, not looking up from her phone.

"Why?"
"So I can go home?"
"It's a Friday night and you want to go home?"
"I mean, I don't really have any plans, so-"
"Nope, now you do, come on." Jace stood up abruptly, grabbing Riele's arm and dragging her out the door.

"Wait, Jace! Let me tell my mom!" Riele exclaimed, trying to keep up with the blonde.


"Where are we even going?" Riele asked when they got into Jace's car and he started to drive.

"We're meeting Sean, Ella and the others at the mall," Jace replied.

"The others?"
"Uh..."
"Isabela's going to be there, isn't she?" The blonde scratched the back of his neck. Riele rolled her eyes.

"What about Griffin?" Riele asked.
"Yup."
"And why are we going?"
"Everyone's going. Maeve and Owen should be there, too, and Tom. I didn't want to be the one who didn't show up," Jace explained. Riele sighed.

"Alright, why not? Could be fun," Riele reasoned. She couldn't help but feel doubtful. Jace would probably act like they're dating the entire night just to make Isabela jealous. She sighed.

Earlier that day during lunch, she felt something different. When his hand reached across the table to hold hers, when they walked out of the restaurant with their hands laced together, it felt different.

It felt real.

And it pained her.

She knew that anything romantic that had happened between the two lately was solely to make his ex-girlfriend jealous, and she kept trying to tell herself that.

"You're the best," Jace said, smiling at her.

But she couldn't stop the way her heart started to race whenever the blonde did anything remotely sweet or attractive or just wonderfully Jace in his own being. She couldn't stop the way he could instantly make her grin from ear to ear even at her worst times, and she couldn't stop the fact that she was falling for him.

The rest of the way to the mall was pretty quiet. Riele decided that if Ella was there, she was going to spend most of her time with her and away from any Jace and Isabela drama. The two had some catching up to do, anyway.


Jace and Riele met the gang at the food court. They were sitting around two tables. Isabela and Griffin sat close to each other, and so did Maeve and Owen. Riele let out a breath of relief when she spotted Ella.

"Riele!" she called, waving her over. The two best friends hugged before sitting down beside each other. Jace took a seat next to Riele.

"What's up, Jace?" Sean asked, the two doing their handshake.

"Not much." He placed his arm along the back of Riele's chair. Riele noticed Isabela looking at her, then shuffled in her seat awkwardly.

"So, when did you two become a thing?" she asked, leaning forward onto the table. Jace and Riele looked at each other.

"Well," Jace started.

"We're not a thing," Riele interrupted the blonde, giving him a stern look.

"Oh, my bad," Isabela said, leaning back into her chair and placing her head on Griffin's shoulder. Jace sighed.

"Anyway, you all should totally come to my party tomorrow night!" the brunette exclaimed.

"Party?" Ella asked.

"Yep! For my movie that's about to come out! It's going to be at my house, and I want you all to be there." She looked at Jace when she said this, a smile on her face.

"Uh," he started, scratching the back of his neck. "I don't know..."

"Oh, it wouldn't be awkward, would it, Jace?" Isabela asked him, placing a hand on Griffin's chest. Riele rolled her eyes.

"No," Riele spoke for him. "Not at all. Jace, I'll be your date." The blonde grinned while his ex glared at her. The two may not be together, but one date couldn't hurt.

Right?

The tension was building up around the table, before Ella abruptly stood up.

"Okay, uh, Riele! Come to Forever 21 with me, so I can find a dress for tomorrow," she said, taking the dark-haired girl's hand and dragging her away from the table.

"What is going on?" Ella asked when they got out of earshot from the others.

"What do you mean?" Riele replied, looking through the clothing racks of Forever 21. Ella raised her eyebrows.

"Alright, alright," Riele sighed. She explained how Jace and Isabela had recently broke up, and all the drama around her Instagram and trying to make her jealous.

"Wow," Ella responded after Riele explained the situation. "So that's why you and Jace have been acting all couple-y. I thought you were going out."

"Nah," Riele replied while absentmindedly picking out clothes from the racks.

"So you don't like him?" Ella asked.

"Hmm?"
"Do you have feelings for Jace?" Riele looked away, then pulled a dress from the rack in front of her.

"Hey, this dress would look so cute on you!" she exclaimed, trying to change the subject. Ella narrowed her eyes at her, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Riele." The dark-haired girl sighed.

"I don't know," Riele finally responded. "Maybe?" Ella squealed.

"Shh! We're in public!" Riele whispered. Ella continued to hop in joy, grinning from ear to ear.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed. Riele looked down and smiled.

"Are you going to tell him?" Ella asked.

"No way!" Riele responded. "I know for a fact that he doesn't like me. Anything he's done with me was just to make Isabela jealous." Riele went back to sorting through the clothing racks, then pulled out a dark purple dress.

"How would this look on me?" she asked, holding it up in front of her. Ella yanked the dress from her and placed it back on the racks.

"Hey!" Riele said.

"Anyone with eyes could see that Jace likes you," Ella said matter-of-factly. Riele shrugged.

"I doubt it. I'm nothing like Isabela. Why would he-"

"I'm going to hit you if you ever compare yourself to Isabela, or anyone actually, ever again," Ella spoke. Riele widened her eyes.

"But-"
"Up!"
"I just-"
"Ahp!"
"Ella-"
"Shut up." Riele rolled her eyes.

"You really think he likes me?" Riele asked doubtfully.

"And you really think he doesn't?" Riele pondered for a moment.

"Well, there was this one time he held my hand, and Isabela wasn't anywhere around," Riele mentioned.

"See!" Ella exclaimed. "Now why would he do that if he didn't have feelings for you?" Riele stayed quiet.
"So," Ella spoke when she didn't reply. "You're going to tell him, and he's going to kiss you, and blah blah blah, happily ever after." She grinned. Riele raised her eyebrows.

"That is highly unlikely," Riele replied, going back to the rack in front of her.

"Riele, you'll never know unless you try! I mean, what's the worst that could happen?" Ella asked.

"Uh, he could reject me, it could ruin our friendship-"

"Oh, please," Ella interrupted. "Come on, Riele! Tell him tomorrow at Isabela's party! You're his date-"

"To help him make Isabela jealous-"

"But he wants to be there with you!" Ella exclaimed. Riele shrugged.

"Come on, Ri." The dark-haired girl sighed.

"Fine," she mumbled. "I'll tell him."

"Yay!" Ella cheered before Riele shushed her. She cheered again in a whisper, causing Riele to laugh.

"Well, come on then! Let's find you a dress!" Ella said before dragging Riele to the dresses section of the store. Riele shook her head.

What had she gotten herself into?


Chapter 4! Sorry for the wait! It's been a busy past few days lol.

Finally we have some conflict going. Don't worry, more of Jace/Riele in the next chapter. This was more of a chapter for Riele and realizing her feelings.

To the guest who commented under the name Mimi, this story is on Wattpad! All stories uploaded here are also on my Wattpad profile. My username on that site is the same as it is here, shapesintheclouds26. :)

I'd just like to thank you for all the wonderful feedback about this story and even some of my others. I am still pretty new to this site and I couldn't have felt more welcomed. You all are so kind and I appreciate all your reviews. Even if you just read my stories, it means a lot to me. So thank you.❤️ Also, Happy Thanksgiving!

As always, thanks for reading! :)