Orpheus

20

Riley felt like absolute shit.

After Owen had left, she'd broken down into a pile of tears. She didn't know how long she was there, paralyzed by her emotions, but it was only after her legs were completely numb that she decided it was time to get up and get moving. Walking like a specter, she made her way to the rooms in a quiet daze.

'Why are you the way you are?' she asked herself as she shut the door. 'Why? Why is it that you live in the past?'

Riley leaned against the wall. 'Our phantoms never leave us.' came another reply; a part of her mind, yet different from the first. 'They always hide in the shadows; the shadows of the irises, waiting to strikeout. Because you know Riley; you know that what happened once can happen again.'

Before she knew it, Riley broke down into another bout of tears; her sobs echoed through the empty room as her knees buckled. She couldn't help it; she found herself slowly sliding to the floor.

'But why do I feel like this; he's kind, and dorky, and seems good of heart.'

'So was Jonathan, Riley, so was Jonathan; and look how that turned out.'

At the thought of Jonathan, Riley's eyes unconsciously snapped to the bed in her room. She knew she shouldn't, but she couldn't stop them, the images; her phantoms from the past.

She continued staring at the white sheets of her bed, but soon she found herself staring at a different bed; a bed from a memory. A memory from a different world.

-

Riley stared at the white sheets of the bed for no inexplicable reason, other than to simply marvel at the intricacies in the folds. No one seemed to appreciate just how complicatedly beautiful the world sometimes presented itself; there was beauty in every random object. An order in its disorder. A beauty in its-

"Riley! You're gonna be late!" came a cry from downstairs.

"Alright May!" Riley replied in slight disregard, before feeling bad about it.

'I should be grateful for what I have.' she thought to herself as looked around her room. 'Foster parents aren't always this providing.'

It was true; her room was a simple, yet large one. Most of the walls were beige from age, except for the wall facing the bed, which was crimson red. On one of the walls was a giant bookshelf, ornate with stories and memories of all sizes. Riley had gone through almost every single one of them, often re-reading them, be it a comic or a novel.

"RILEY!" came the screech; the authority was apparent. 

"COMING!" Riley replied while hurriedly thrusting multiple books into her backpack. "Jeez, can't they sometimes let me off the hook..." she muttered to herself, brushing a few rogue strands of hair behind her ear as she galloped down the stairs.

She came down and sat on the dining table, where a bowl of Cheerios sat waiting for her. She devoured them hungrily, frequently glancing at the wall clock atop the wooden cupboard. Upstairs she could hear Mrs. Smith packing her briefcase and lugging it down; she had mentioned something about leaving for a business conference. Riley didn't care to know much; May always kept to herself and so did Riley, sharing details only when they were necessary. Most of their conversations were done in silence, a short word here and there to spice things up. She soon found herself slipping into her usual routine; plop the bowl, wash 'em hands, pick up the backpack, head for the back, from where she'd usually walk towards the bus stop.

"Bye May!" she shouted, not waiting to see if her half-hearted greeting even reached the recipient. It was more of a force of habit at his point. She was off, walking down the sidewalk.

Ten minutes later, she found herself on the bus, her earbuds plopped in. She let herself get drowned in the music as the bus plodded along the urban landscape; a drizzle coating the world in a shiny coat.

"-Your skin...
Yeah, your skin and bones. 
Turn into something beautiful. 
You know, you know I love you so-"

The lyrics hymned along in her ears as her thoughts began to wander. That was one of her favorite songs; Jonathan had introduced her to this old band called Coldplay, and ever since then she was hooked.

Jonathan; childhood friends turned lovers. They were together for the past few months, and Riley didn't regret a single bit of it. Her mind began to wander off to older memories; them running among the tall grass, evenings spent loitering 'round the mall (sometimes alone, sometimes not), the time Jonathan got stuck in the water slide causing the ride to shut down... yeah, that was a pleasant memory. Riley couldn't help but smile to herself.

She had always liked Jonathan, yet she'd never made a move, fearing she'd ruin the friendship they already had. She didn't really complain when he began making serious advances towards her.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed. Riley checked her phone; it was a message from Jonathan.

Jonathan: Hey Sunshine! A lil' late but Gu' Mornin' ig XD

She quickly texted him back.

Riley: A 'lil' late is an understatement.

Jonathan: Lol true. Question: What is the flight speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

Riley: ?

Jonathan: ...

Riley: :v

Jonathan: I forgot where I was going with that.

Riley: Seriously? XD

Jonathan: Hey! It's not easy to come up with a unique way to say 'I love you' every morning, okay? Cut me some slack :P

Riley couldn't help but blush a little as her heart flapped. A small part of her occasionally worried how much she cared for the dolt, but not at that moment; at that moment she felt pure euphoria.

Riley: Smooth. Real smooth.

Jonathan: *gratuitous bow*

Riley: *disapproving nod*

Jonathan: Haha sure, sure. Cya at the old shooool house ;)

Riley tore her gaze from the phone and looked out; she could barely conceal the grin plastered wide across her face. She looked out onto the street, watching the lights of the other vehicles whizz by in the hazy drizzle; she thought that they looked like stars.

'I love this moment.'

-

Back in reality, Riley could see the stars; that's where her gaze was, the small window by the bed, when she broke from the trance of her memory. She sat there on the floor for a while, processing her flashback. The thoughts of her former self echoed through her skull:

'I love this moment.'

Funny, how fate dealt its hand; Riley had grown to hate those moments.