School Girl Crush

“Hey, Mr. Craig. Can I talk to you for a sec?” Riley asks.

“Sure, Riley. What’s up?” You answer.

…

Despite Riley asking if she can talk to you, Riley just stands in front of you. Almost as if she’s waiting for you to talk to her. Since she’s taking a moment to gather her thoughts, you just stare at the young lady in front of you, finally noticing things you didn’t seem to notice while at the party.

Riley’s wearing a flowery sundress with a loose cropped cardigan that she’s wearing unbuttoned. She’s wearing a headband to pull her hair back, forcing you to focus on her soft yet angular facial features more. She’s accessorized with some pearl earrings and a necklace, and her overall look gives a much more demure vibe. It’s a stark contrast to her clothing’s aesthetic back when you first met her in the Red Rum.

She was naked when you first met her in the Red Rum.

‘Not that brain! Afterwards! What she was wearing afterwards!’

You mean the sexy schoolgirl outfit?

‘I mean what she was wearing in the Gold Room! Jesus Christ!’

You mean this?

‘The fully clothed version!’

Hey, it’s your brain, dude.

You shake off the mental images that your brain is now bombarding you with, and it’s this action that finally gets Riley to talk.

“You okay, Mr. Craig?” Riley asks you.

“Yup!” You answer, a little too enthusiastically, causing Riley to raise an eyebrow in suspicion. “All’s good… in… the… hood.” You add awkwardly, and you notice that Riley’s look turns from suspicion to outright confusion.

“So~! You wanted to talk about something?” You ask, clapping your hands together for emphasis, trying to get back on track. Your question seemingly passes the ‘feeling awkward’ baton back to Riley, who suddenly looks embarrassed again and looks away from you.

“Oh, yeah… um…” Riley hesitates to speak again. “I just… I wanted to say I had a great time last time.” Riley tells you.

The images of her naked body immediately flash in your mind’s eye, and you have to bite the inside of your cheek to quickly snap you back into reality.

“Viv and I did too.” You tell her. “We really couldn’t thank you and Erica enough for… um… experimenting with us.” You add awkwardly, and this gets Riley to chuckle.

“Oh, psshaw! Anytime!” Riley waves off your appreciation. “I mean literally... anytime.” Riley adds, making you awkwardly chuckle and rub the back of your neck from her obvious offer.

“Oh! I mean, whenever you’re free, you know? No pressure!” Riley immediately adds afterwards, probably realizing what it is she actually said.

“Yeah! Of course, of course.” You reply. “I’ll ask Viv to schedule something some time.” You tell her.

“Oh, right! Viv! Yeah! Go~~!” Riley replies, almost matching the awkward unwarranted enthusiasm you answered with just earlier after your mind bombarded you with memories of her naked body.

“Okay. Cool. Cool.” You reply.

“Cool, cool, cool.” Riley says, still with an awkward smile.

“So, um, yeah. Thanks for supporting Viv and Becca tonight. I’m sure they’re happy you guys came.” You preface, trying to direct the conversation towards goodbyes and ending the surprising awkwardness between you two.

“Right, right. Viv and Becca. Yup. I came tonight to support them. Yup.” Riley mindlessly agrees.

“Well, you and Erica have a safe drive home, yeah?” You tell her.

“Yup! You too, Mr. Craig!” Riley says with a polite smile.

“Okay then. Well…uh… good night, Riley.” You finally say.

“Good night, Mr. Craig.” Riley says back.

…

You notice despite saying your goodbyes, Riley’s still standing on the same spot.

You get your keys out of your pocket to signal you’re going, and it’s enough of a hint that you’re gonna start walking away now.

“Bye!” Riley exclaims, before turning around in a panic and walking away.

You give her one last wave goodbye before making your way to the driver’s side of your vehicle. But before you do, Riley turns around and calls out to you.

“Wait, Mr. Craig!” Riley shouts, making her way back to where she was standing.

“Yes, Riley?” You ask her, a bit concerned after seeing the conflicted look on her face. “Something wrong?” You ask her.

“Uh~... nothing. Nevermind. Bye! Good night!” Riley replies, before turning around again and walking away.

Before Riley could even take a few steps away, you hear a loud honking noise from the car right across yours.

*HONK! HONK!*

“Don’t give up, girl!” You hear Erica shout, and you see her sticking her head out of the driver’s side window from the car that just honked.

“Tell him how you feel!” Erica shouts towards Riley, who slightly turns to her side to face you after hearing Erica’s encouragement, before turning her head to look towards Erica’s car again.

“Riley?” You ask out of concern. “What’s going on?” You ask her.

“Jesus Christ! How dense can you be!?” You hear Mrs. O’Brien shout from inside your car.

“Grammy! Don’t interrupt them!” Maddy tells her grandmother.

“But he’s taking too long, Maddiecakes.” Mrs. O’Brien sweetly replies. “And your idiot of a grandfather is drooling all over me.” Mrs. O’Brien adds.

*HGHG HKGKH* Mr. O’Brien loudly snores as if on cue.

“I’ll be there in a sec, Mrs. O.” You tell Mrs. O’Brien.

“Hurry up!” , “Take your time, Jay!” Mrs. O’Brien and Maddy respectively tell you.

“Riley?” You go back to addressing Riley. Riley turns her head towards Erica’s car again, and that’s when you both get blinded by Erica who flashed her headlights when Riley turned her head towards her.

“Don’t even think about it!” Erica shouts. “Woman up!” Erica continues to encourage her friend.

“I wanted to ask you something… but, I mean… I heard you guys were going through some stuff… and, maybe this isn’t the right time to ask… so-uhh~... yeah, I better not just ask it.” Riley tries to say, before convincing herself to give up midway. “I-I’m sorry for keeping you, Mr. Craig.” Riley tries to walk away again, but you grab her by the wrist to stop her.

“It’s okay Riley. You can ask whatever it is.” You assure Riley out of concern.

“She doesn’t want to ask!” Mrs. O’Brien shouts again.

“Shut up, Grammy!” Maddy finally has had enough of her grandmother, but her post-outburst clarity kicks in immediately and she apologizes profusely to her grandmother.

“She wants YOU to ask her!” Mrs. O’Brien clarifies what she meant, after forgiving Maddy for her outburst.

“Ask her what!?” You turn towards Mrs. O’Brien to ask, and you see her facepalm at your incompetence.

“Just look at her, Jay.” Maddy advises you calmly, and you quickly whip your head towards Riley to see her smiling in amusement.

“You’d think after everything we did, we wouldn’t need cheerleaders for us to talk to each other.” Riley jokes, seemingly a lot more confident now.

“Uh… I think it’s exactly because of what we did that we’re being awkward now.” You joke back, getting her to smile even wider.

“At least it’s not just me then.” Riley replies with a chuckle.

…

“Okay.” Riley says, after taking a deep breath to gather her confidence and calm herself down.

“I didn’t just come tonight to support Viv and Becca. I had a more selfish reason.” Riley finally admits, and the realization of what Mrs. O’Brien was trying to tell you hits you like a ton of bricks.

You really are dense sometimes.

“I couldn’t ask you all night because I wasn’t sure what was happening with you. I got to the party late and I heard you stormed out and everyone was so worried about you and Becca. I didn’t know if tonight would be the right time to be selfish.” Riley continues to preface, and Mrs. O’Brien’s point is becoming much much clearer.

Given the choice on how she wants to get what she wants, she prefers one way over the other. And that’s why she’s hesitating. The only reason she’s trying to push through is because she thinks it’s the only way the topic could be broached. Because you’re an ignorant and dense motherfucker.

“I was wondering if—” Riley finally gets the courage to ask, but you interrupt her.

“No.” You interrupt.

“Oh, um. Yeah, I guess… I should’ve expected that.” Riley says in obvious disappointment.

“What!? No! I wasn’t answering! I just meant you’re not the one who should be asking!” You clarify in a panic, and maybe it’s just your imagination, but you hear three simultaneous facepalms in the background. “At least, if you’re going to ask what I think you’re going to ask.” You explain.

“Riley,” You address her more calmly, holding her by her hands now.

“Would you like to go out some time?”