Chapter 4

We'd been sitting in silence for a long time. I liked it, having Riley so close. About a half hour had passed when Riley spoke again.

"We should do something," she said.

"Like what?" I asked.

"I don't know, but this is still a sleepover, we should be having fun," she told me.

"Okay, let's go have fun then," I said, getting up from the couch, even though I was disappointed that our cuddling was over. We went into Riley's room and sat down on her bed. "So, what do you wanna do?"

"Maybe...truth or dare or something?" Riley suggested.

"Umm...okay, truth or dare?" I asked, even though I thought truth or dare might not be the best idea with the context of our current situation.

"Truth," Riley chose.

"Do you think you might be in love with Lucas?" I asked. Riley hesitated to answer, as if she was questioning something.

"No," she replied, after a few seconds. "I mean, I like him, he's great and all, but I don't think I could ever be in love with him."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, he's great to hang out with, he's really nice, he's cute and all, but there's just not really any real romance there," Riley admitted. I paused to think.

"Well, there is that whole 'he's your brother' thing you went through, maybe there's some truth to that," I suggested.

"No, not like a brother, like a friend. I mean, he's cute and nice, but it's almost like we're too similar," she said.

"And like forces repel," I said, quoting Riley from my dream.

"Exactly," Riley said. "I need someone who's different than me, like an opposite that compliments me. You know, like red and green or black and white."

"Yeah," I said, then silently added, 'Or like you and me'. "Have you guys even kissed since that first time on your first date back in seventh grade?"

"Actually, now that you mention it, no, we haven't," Riley said. She remained silent for a few moments, deep in thought, contemplating.

"Okay, truth or dare," she said, snapping out of the trance.

"Truth," I chose.

"Okay, I think I know the answer to this, but if my uncle Josh asked you out, what would you do?" Riley asked.

"I would tell him, no," I told her.

"Really, why?" she asked, surprised.

"I'm over that stupid crush, I found a new one that makes way more sense," I said, smiling shyly at Riley. Riley blushed, flattered. "Okay, Riles, truth or dare?"

"Umm, dare," she said. I raised my eyebrows.

"Ooh, Riles, feeling confident are we?" I teased. "I dare you to...text Farkle and tell him you're secretly in love with him!"

"Maya! I can't do that!" Riley exclaimed.

"Sure you can," I told her. "You can tell him it was a dare after he reacts."

"Okay, fine," Riley whined, taking her phone out of her pocket. After a minute or so, she showed me the screen, in her conversation with Farkle, she'd typed, 'Farkle, I have to tell you something...I'm secretly in love with you...'

"I wonder what he'll say," I laughed.

"I don't know, but I hope it's not too strong of a reaction..." Riley said. "Okay, truth or dare?"

"Truth," I said.

"Come on, Maya, I chose dare," Riley said.

"Okay then, dare," I gave in. Riley's phone vibrated.

"Hold on, that's Farkle," Riley said. She unlocked her phone, and then, after a few seconds, showed me what he'd said.

'What?! Why couldn't you have said that that before I started dating Smackle?! She's getting suspicious now because I'm not letting her see my texts! What are you gonna tell Lucas?!' I read, and burst out laughing. Riley was trying not to laugh because she felt bad, but it was obvious she found it funny, too.

"I'm texting back: Calm down, it was just a dare Maya gave me, I'm not actually in love with you, Farkle," Riley said. She finished typing and put her phone down. "Okay, where were we?"

"You made me pick dare," I told her, laughing.

"Right..." she said, then the mood in the room turned strangely serious, all of a sudden. "I dare you to kiss me."

"What?!" I asked.

"Well...I thought, that, where I'm confused about my feelings, maybe if I kissed you, it might make me realize if I like you or not," Riley explained.

"Are you sure?" I asked, surprised and confused by Riley's somewhat bizzare logic. Riley nodded. I moved closer, my heart starting to beat faster with every inch I closed between us. I looked into Riley's dark brown eyes until our lips met. I kissed her gently, nervous that this might not go the way I wanted it to. Despite my nervousness, kissing Riley felt like I'd sank into the depths of heaven. The feeling of her lips on mine was incomparable to anything I'd ever felt before. There was a long silence once we broke from the kiss. The awkwardness of the situation had washed over us and the tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. "Maybe we should just go to sleep," I suggested, slightly heartbroken that Riley hadn't reacted more positively. Riley didn't say anything, she just held me close and didn't notice as I silently cried myself to sleep.