winter's wind carried schoolgirl chatter among the bare trees. riley hummed 'vincent' by don mclean, her cherry lips chapped in the frost and soft chocolate pigtails gently bouncing upon her neck. she gathered a small handful of dahlias with withering petals brought on by the mountains' icy temperatures. she liked to nurture flowers before their season ended and they left until another year passed by; but though dying, magnificent pieces of nature they were. riley clutched the flowers in her numb hands, fingertips sore and violet.
as she continued to the campus library, she felt her skin grow warm at the thought of finally finding solace in her favorite activity of the end of each school day: sky gazing. the west-sgw library--sgw, school of gifted women--, old and abandoned because of the new and improved library buildings much closer to most of students' classes, held a sky gazing room, or at least that's what riley had always used it for.
hardly anyone ever visited the library apart from herself, and if they did, they didn't know of the gazing room. it was actually by accident that riley stumbled upon it; she'd meant to open to a study room.
the room had plush navy blue carpeting, was dome shaped with glass walls and a glass ceiling, and divided from the library only with a wooden door. the libraries were open 24 hours, and she often found herself staying from when she finished her homework around 4:45 in the afternoon, until near 3 in the morning where she could barely keep her eyes open. there wasn't any adult supervision as far as she knew, although there used to be lots, back when the new libraries didn't exist. riley supposed that maybe there weren't any adults in or outside of the building because either a) the administration actually trusts the students of this school, which wouldn't be surprising given that they're all expected to be so wonderful, or b) maybe people don't realize that it's still school property and students--no matter how small the portion--will continue to visit. the latter theory was a bit unlikely though, because the janitor still cleaned most of the library every night, meaning some sort of faculty member had to be aware the students hadn't completely stopped making use of old west-sgw.
riley walked into the large library, inhaling the scent of vanilla and lavender, the heat circulating throughout the room prompting riley to take off her fluffy coat. she rushed to sky gaze not wanting to waste time.
she opened the door finding a blonde haired girl sketching against one of the walls. riley unconsciously crinkled her nose and sighed a bit; she wanted to be alone.
"hello.." riley said softly. startled, the girl looked up, her eyes wide and sparkling blue.
"oh, hi." she replied.
riley walked to the opposite side of the space, lying down on her coat and staring at the clouds. the sky was slowly turning into a canvas of pink champagne and pumpkin hues as the sun set. another reason she loved day light savings, because the sunsets and sunrises came sooner than later. finally, one of them spoke
"you look lonely." the blonde said looking at riley. riley slightly lifted her head up, shrugging.
"i'm not. i have company, but thanks." she mumbled anxiously. she of course loved making friends, but it was hard for her to talk to people and not feel cornered. the girl raised her eyebrow at her,
"i have the stars." riley offered.
"the stars don't seem to be out quite yet?"
"they're always out, and i have the stars as the stars have the moon. no lonely hearts here."
the other girl laughed a little,
"aren't you poetic? so, what has you then, stars?"
riley smiled, pulling her hair loose from her pigtails.
"my name is stars?"
the girl sheepishly grinned, "i've yet to get a name, so maybe, yeah, you're stars." she paused for a second.
"i'm maya hart."
maya.
"maya art?" riley nodded at maya's sketchbook, "how fitting!"
"hart, not art." maya laughed. riley felt heat creeping up her neck and spreading to her cheeks, as she laughed along with her.
sometimes she felt so stupid.
"so like.. hartley quinn.. pophart.. le-"
"no stop, what's y-"
"leoharto davinci"
"what the hell is your name?" maya asked.
"oh, soy riley matthews, y yo tengo caballo largo. i learned that in spanish class!"
"riley matthews, did you mean to say you have long hair?"
"i said that."
"you said long horse."
"shut up hartley styles.. hartiana grande.. h-"
"i swear i will murder you."
riley grinned, "well that was rude, don't you have any.. hart?"
despite herself, maya found it difficult not to laugh. riley was simply irresistible.
"what's your gift? i'm art." maya said.
"sure are," riley mumbled, "i'm apparently a social gift? i was enrolled as an intellectual, but they deemed me a social gift because i'm what the kids call woke af."
"please don't say that."
"yeah, math is my strong suit, not lingo."
"riley MATHews am i right? ha, fuck it up ellen."
"i'm trying very hart not to slap you."
maya glared at riley for a moment before breaking into a smile.
"it sucks that your smile is contagious, because i don't want you to get the wrong idea that i actually like your trash puns."
riley playfully stuck her tongue out,
"me? trash puns? i'm insulted."
maya giggled, and they both sat beaming at the sky for a few more seconds.
the time flew by so fast, riley hadn't even realized that the sky had shifted into a deep blue as the stars twinkled with the moon.
"i should go now, i'd hate to fall asleep on this floor" maya said softly.
"alright, i'll.. see you sometime?" riley trailed off biting her lip.
"you'll see me tomorrow. and the day after. who knows, you might get even luckier than that." maya grinned.
she walked out the room, her sketchbook and pencil in hand.
riley wondered what she drew, but there was no rush.
maya and her sky gazed together every afternoon until christmas; seven weeks.