Fangirl

I pick up the phone connected to the yellow stained wall, and look at Cole through the glass.

"Why'd you do it." Is the first thing I say. He just looks at me, not sure of what to say. I stay waiting for my answer.

"I already told you." He says simply. What, when he lied to the cop? Wait. He was lying, right? He sighs, knowing exactly what I'm thinking, "I like you, yes." No one would go to jail because of a crush. "I didn't do it just because of that, but just.." He sighs, "Things at my house aren't so good. At all. If I'm being honest, I like it better in here."

"But.. What was happening at your house?"

"Not important. The point is, I'm okay with this."

"But Cole you can't be here, you didn't even-"

"That doesn't matter. I like it in here."

"Well... When are you getting out?" I ask.

"A few months. Weirdly enough, what you did wasn't that bad. Or the first time, for that matter." He cracks a grin. I roll my eyes.

Once my time is up, I get on the bus and go home. My mom is waiting outside for me, on the curb. I approach her slowly, afraid. Why is she waiting for me?

"Hi Riley." She smiles warmly. This just makes me more confused.

"Uh, hi. What's up?" I ask, fixing the bag on my shoulder.

"Have a seat." She takes a deep breath. I frown, and sit next to her.

"What's going on, Mom?"

"Well, Aunt Meredith is having some financial problems. And.. Drug, problems," My eyes widen. "So your cousin is coming to stay with us for a little while." No! No! FUCK NO!

"Max?!" I raise my voice a little more than I meant too. My mother nods slowly. "No! Mom! We have NOTHING in common! Where is she going to sleep, anyway? We only have three bedrooms in the house." I cross my arms.

"She'll be sharing a room with you." She says calmly.

I'm so furious I could kick a tree so hard it fell over. "When is she coming." I say sternly.

"Tomorrow." My mom says, looking at the floor.

"Great, just great." I whisper, and walk into my room. I throw my backpack on my bed, and sit in my computer chair.

Mukeisreal96: Hey how's it going?
R.S: My mom just told me my aunt is a drug addict & my cousin is coming to stay with us. So not good.
Mukeisreal96: Oh wow. Why is your cousin not good though?
R.S: We aren't the same. At all. She doesn't get me, and I don't get her.
Mukeisreal96: Care to expand on that?
R.S: She's all creative, and fun, and wild, while also being a total nerd. She's literally everything a guy wants, I'm not. She's younger than me, too. I'm seventeen, she's fifteen. I stay in my room as much as I can, while she sneaks out at night to go spray paint a brick building. She doesn't even know me that much.
Mukeisreal96: Well I mean, she'll know you eventually, right?
R.S: Yeah, but I already know HER.
Mukeisreal96: How?
R.S: My mom talks about her a lot.
Mukeisreal96: Yeah, but you don't really her till you've gotten to ACTUALLY know her, right?
R.S: I guess. We have to share a room.
Mukeisreal96: Oh. Ew. No good side there.
R.S: Mhm.
Mukeisreal96: Did you know about the radio ticket thingy?
R.S: Yeah,I'm going to call in like four thousand times lol.
Mukeisreal96: Seriously? cx
R.S: Oh yeah. These people saved my life, I have to win. Besides, I already didn't win this contest for plane tickets at my school.
Mukeisreal96: That sucks.
R.S: Yeah. I didn't even come in 2nd place. lol.

*The Next Day*

I sit in my room and look out the window as I watch Max hop out of a social worker's car. She slings a purple duffel bag over her shoulder, and looks at our house with a tired look on her face. She has straight, soft brown hair, but it's thick, and brown eyes. She has a streak of purple in her bangs, while wearing a loose, light red t shirt, skinny jeans, and really old, worn out converse. She runs a hand through her bangs, just as my mom runs over to her. My mom says something to her, with a smile on her face, and she looks at her like she's trying to figure something out, and nods. They come walking to the door, and once I hear the door open I spring away from my window and plop into my desk chair.

The door opens, and I expect to see both my mother and Max, but just Max walks in.

"Hey." She says. Her voice sounds clean, but the edges being raspy, if that makes any sense.

"Oh uh, hi." I say, looking her up and down after I spin to face her.

"I'm Max."

"Riley." I nod. She nods slightly.

"Where do I put my shit?" She asks. It was so casual too. If I were to cuss it would be at an appropriate time, where as she didn't even care.

"Anywhere is fine I guess." I shrug. She removes the duffel bag from her shoulder, and throws it down onto the empty bed on the other side of the room from mine. "I'm guessing this is mine." She mumbles.

"Yeah it is." I say awkwardly. She mumbles 'cool' and unzips her bag. The whole bag is basically just like, two others outfits and a heck load of art supplies. "Where are all of your clothes?" I ask.

She looks at me confused, "Right here?"

"R-Right." I furrow my eyebrows, and turn back to my computer.

"Damn." I hear her say. I turn around, to see her staring at my wall filled with 5SOS stuff.

"Oh, uh, yeah." I laugh a little.

"Who are they?"

"A band. 5 Seconds of Summer." I shrug, but I can't take my eyes off of the pictures.

"Hm." She points to Michael and Calum, "I like these two." She grins, then turns to me, "Names?"

"Michael is the one with the hair and Calum is the one with the dreamy, chocolate eyes." I gush. She chuckles. She didn't react how my friends do though, her laugh wasn't as judgmental.

"So what do you do for fun." She sticks her hands in my her back pockets.

"Write." I shrug, "Obsess over 5SOS."

"And 5SOS is 5 Seconds of Summer, right?"

"Yeah." I nod.

"Hm. So that's all you do?"

I all of a sudden feel extremely embarrassed how un-fun my life is, "Yeah, pretty much." I laugh to calm my nerves.

"Nothin' wrong with that." She smiles at my wall. Huh.

Notes

Tbh Max is the inner me and also my dream friend lmao xD