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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Jul 4, 2018 12:42:23 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2018 12:42:23 GMT -7
Kinsey took a deep breath as she moved through the corridors. The Halloween event was going on today and it seemed to be the biggest event of the year. Everyone was talking about it, excitement was high and Kinsey could tell from the positive intentions in the air that most people had positive intentions. Still ... it wasn't something she would want to do typically. But she was working on her interactions with other people. She was getting better at controlling her ability and not getting overwhelmed. This was the perfect chance to practice, and by volunteering to help with one of the events, she could almost guarantee to keep herself in a place where she wouldn't get caught between people that didn't have the bets intentions. She could do this.
She arrived to the Escape Room early, not entirely sure what she was supposed to do there, but ready to get started. She was the first person there and looked around curiously. This was going to be fun. No problem. She was sure of that.
@riley
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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Jul 13, 2018 11:07:39 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2018 11:07:39 GMT -7
Riley Fudge volunteered to run the escape room for 1 reasons: 1) He really loved psychology and was interested in seeing how people used this opportunity to puzzle solve and figure things out. 2) He wanted to volunteer and help out his fellow classmates with this evening of activities, and finally (and maybe most importantly), 3) he was pretty sure that his fiancee wanted NOTHING to do with it and it was unlikely that she’d show up. To be completely honest, Riley didn’t hate the girl, in fact, he was getting to a point now, nearly 2 months later, where she was fine and he was actually getting used to her. But it was still nice to have a break, to have some time to do his own thing without her always around, hanging off of his arm, and asking questions.
He walked into the classroom that had been transformed into the muggle escape room and nearly froze in the doorway when he saw her. What was she doing here? “Kinsey?” he asked.
@kinsey
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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Jul 13, 2018 12:18:14 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2018 12:18:14 GMT -7
Kinsey was looking more closely at some of the decorations in the room, her back to the door when she heard it open behind her. Great! That should be the person she'd be working with and their intentions weren't negative, so she was fine. She didn't turn around though. At least, not until she heard the familiar voice. Suddenly, her face felt warm while her hands were clammy and her stomach started rolling with nerves. No, no, no, no, no. It couldn't be him here. She'd tried so hard to stay away from him ever since that first night back. Sometimes it took everything in her to not go to him and just talk and start up a conversation like they used to, or for her to sit far from him in the many classes they shared. She couldn't though. He was engaged. To someone "better" than her and the only thing she'd accomplish by spending time with him would be to break her own heart more. At least, that's what she tried to tell herself. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before turning to face him, forcing a smile.
"Riley," her voice was quiet. "I- uh- I didn't expect to see you here." She reached up, playing with a lock of her hair nervously. Oh, but he was handsome, even with the confused look on his face. In those moments, it was harder than she would have imagined to not rush in for a hug. She missed him. "How are you?" She couldn't think of anything else to say and moved over to a nearby table, distracting herself by looking at the decorations on top. She couldn't just stand there and stare at him.
@riley
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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Sept 15, 2018 18:02:22 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2018 18:02:22 GMT -7
Riley had known that being back at school would mean that he would have to see Kinsey. He had been kind of avoiding her, but mostly because he felt like she didn’t want to see him. He wanted to see her, he missed her. He missed their friendship but he also understood that it would be hard, if not impossible to get that back now after he had announced that he was getting married to another girl. It was definitely not an ideal situation. “I signed up to volunteer for the escape room.” he admitted with a shrug. “It seemed cool to be able to see how people navigate it without magic and stuff. Is that why you’re here? Are you my shift partner?” he asked, trying not to sound awkward, but his voice kept coming out stiff.
@kinsey
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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Sept 20, 2018 18:58:09 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2018 18:58:09 GMT -7
Of course he had a perfectly good reason for being here. Kinsey expected it, but it didn't help the fact that all she wanted to do was stare at him, drink in the sight of him without Priscilla hanging on his arm. Which was part of the reason she couldn't look at him. Would he think it was weird if she couldn't stop looking at him, or would that make him feel bad? That was the last think Kinsey wanted. She nodded as he explained, still looking down at the table. She could hear the tension in his tone and it hurt more than she wanted to admit. She nodded, "Yeah, I signed up to work here too." Kinsey finally looked up at him again, forcing a small smile. "So we're partners!" her voice was overly cheerful and Kinsey felt a blush rise to her cheeks. Crap, she was overdoing this. She sighed and met his eyes, "Look, since we're going to be working here for the next few hours, can we just act like we're still friends again and try to skip the awkwardness? I mean, I know it won't change anything, but I'd rather be in here with a friend than with someone I feel guilty looking at, you know?" Her blush deepened when she realized that she explained just a little too much. He didn't need to know that she couldn't look at him without feeling guilty, without wishing that things were back to the way they were before. Kinsey knew it was selfish, but she couldn't help it. She looked away from him again, back down to the table as she picked things up and played with them before setting them down nervously. "Or not. I mean, we don't have to. I don't want to get you in trouble," her stomach clenched and Kinsey took a deep breath. She needed to stop talking. Now.
@riley
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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Oct 1, 2018 10:19:18 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2018 10:19:18 GMT -7
She admitted that she was there because she had signed up to work the escape room and he nodded along with what she said. He figured that she had a reason, it wasn’t really like she would be following him or something. She wasn’t that type of person plus she had been there before him so how would that work? It was more likely that he would be following her. Which, of course he wasn’t. Why was his mind racing?
She asked if they could pretend to be friends while they worked together. That question nearly knocked him over. He almost swore that he really felt a blow to his chest. He had thought that they were friends. Even if they didn’t talk or anything, he never wanted to not be her friend. A part of him lit up everytime he saw her in class or walking nearby. He hated that she didn’t think of them as friends. “Uh - yeah. Of course.” he decided not to make anything out of it. “No Prissy won’t mind.” he lied. He could tell that she would likely very much mind, but he wasn’t sure he really cared. “So um - is there anything else to set up?” he asked, just trying to fill the silence.
@kinsey
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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Oct 18, 2018 15:05:05 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2018 15:05:05 GMT -7
He was quiet for so long after she asked her question that Kinsey thought he just wasn't going to answer her. She turned so he couldn't see the look on her face. She couldn't hide the disappointment or the longing. She missed Riley. Sure, over the past few months she'd gotten used to not being around him, pretended to be used to seeing him with Prissy, but she still ached for him. She still spent nights awake, wearing his hoodie as she closed her eyes and imagined that his arms were around her and that they were still together.
After what felt like the longest minutes of her life, but was probably only a few seconds in reality, she heard Riley agree to pretend with her. She sensed the lie, smiling slightly to herself when she realized that she was still attuned to him. She thought that maybe after not being around him her sensitivity to his intentions might have dulled, but they hadn't. Still, she wasn't going to bring up the lie. She knew he was lying to be nice to her. Slowly, she turned back to look at him, offering a hesitant smile, "Thanks Riley."
She shook her head at his next question, "I don't think so. It seems like someone already set it all up. We just have to wait for people to show up." Kinsey smiled, a little more real now as she looked at Riley. He looked good. What was she thinking, he always looked good. It was just, a part of her imagined he'd look different now that things were different between them, but he didn't. "I miss you," she blurted, instantly lifting her hands to cover her mouth. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ..." Kinsey turned away again, her cheeks flaming. She told him the truth, but she never meant to say that. She didn't want to make this harder on either of them. But it was already so hard.
@riley
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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Oct 20, 2018 20:10:06 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2018 20:10:06 GMT -7
Riley felt like his chest was on fire. Was this room the smallest room in the castle or was it just him? Everything was already set up - he gave a nod. That was nice, he wasn’t much in the mood to do any heavy lifting tonight. Rather, he had just wanted to watch people as they tried to figure out the puzzle, that was the fun part for Riley. He wanted to try to figure out what was going through their heads when they worked out what those 4 random number meant in the grand scheme of the room and the universe within it. Though he now felt like his entire universe was in this room.
She missed him. He felt his breath stop. She then went quickly on to apologize and turn away, but Riley took a step closer. “I miss you.” he agreed, nearly cutting her off from speaking. And then he stepped back again. “Sorry.” he shook his own head. He thought she had been silly for apologizing but there he was doing the same thing. Why was this so hard?
@kinsey
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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Oct 20, 2018 20:20:15 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2018 20:20:15 GMT -7
This entire situation had to be planned by someone. Practically the entire school knew what happened between them, or at least that they dated last year and now Riley was engaged to someone else. Was this someone's idea of a joke? It wasn't funny; instead, it was much more like torture. She felt so bad that she broke her own agreement to be friends for tonight by letting her true feelings come out, but then he agreed. Almost before she finished apologizing, he was saying that he missed her. Kinsey spun back around, just in time to see him step further away from her. When did he step closer?
Kinsey looked at his feet because it was so much easier than looking at his face, but a small smile formed there anyway. "You do?" It shouldn't have been a surprise; she knew how much he cared about her but still ... she had to watch him with Priscilla all the time. He seemed content with her, at the very least. "I thought it was just me ... I guess we're in the same boat then," she added, glancing up to his face again as she took a tiny step forward, liking the sound of that. She wanted to have things in common with Riley still.
@riley
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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Oct 20, 2018 20:27:48 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2018 20:27:48 GMT -7
“Of course I do.” he said with a sigh, throwing his hands in sort of a helpless gesture. “What did you expect I’d just stop caring about you at all?” he asked, knowing good and well it was not the case. “Of course I miss you, Kins. Of course I care about you. Of course I love you…” he stopped. He had gone too far in this. Riley took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure how to say what he wanted to say, or even whether to say it at all. “I can’t be that guy anymore. I have to be who I have been now…” he said, his sentence was patchy and pieced together, not fluid. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.” he concluded.
@kinsey
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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Oct 20, 2018 20:38:09 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2018 20:38:09 GMT -7
Great. Now he was exasperated with her. Kinsey watched, frozen to the spot with wide eyes when he asked if she expected that he'd just stop caring about her. She forced herself to shake her head the tiniest bit, but other than that she still couldn't move. He continued, saying that he missed her and cared about her and ... loved her. Kinsey couldn't force anything in response. She loved him. She loved him more than anything, but she knew what was coming and it meant that she shouldn't say it. She shouldn't say anything. When he closed his eyes, Kinsey finally looked away from him and took a deep breath, only then realizing that she held her breath during the entirety of his response. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean ..." to upset him. That was the last thing she wanted, to make Riley upset. That was part of the reason why she'd stayed away from him. She didn't want to cause problems, but she already had. Kinsey dropped her gaze back down to the ground, biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself from saying anything else. She didn't want to make this worse, she really just wanted to melt into a puddle right now.
She tried not to cringe when he said he couldn't be that guy anymore. Her guy, the one who loved her and wanted her. She already knew what he was telling her, but that didn't make it any easier to listen. She nodded her head, still not looking at him. She couldn't. He'd see too much, though she was sure he was already seeing too much. Then he said that they could still be friends and she finally looked up. "How?" she asked, her voice hollow and small and hopeless. He couldn't be the guy who cared for her, so how could he be her friend? She wanted it more than almost anything, but Kinsey didn't know how to get there.
@riley
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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Oct 20, 2018 20:46:07 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2018 20:46:07 GMT -7
Riley could tell instantly that his behavior made her both upset and uncomfortable. He hadn’t wanted that. He didn’t really know what to do. This was so hard. Not that he had expected it to be easy. “No please don’t apologize. I’m not upset with you, I’m upset at myself. I shouldn’t have said all of that.” he insisted, though admitting that he shouldn’t have said it didn’t mean that he didn’t feel it. He most certainly did. Every time he looked at her he thought his heart might burst from his chest. He hated everything about himself. Kinsey had always been so great to him and he had truly loved her. He was furious with his family for putting him in such a situation, but he knew they didn’t care. She asked how they were meant to be friends and he shrugged. “It’s like dating I guess, but without the kissing?” he suggested. They had been friends before, right? Why did it feel like so far in the past?
@kinsey
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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Oct 20, 2018 20:57:52 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2018 20:57:52 GMT -7
Riley was asking her not to apologize, explaining that he was upset with himself and Kinsey nodded her head slowly. Yes, he was upset at himself, but he only became outwardly upset because of what she said. She knew that arguing the fact wouldn't help any and in all honesty, Kinsey didn't really want him to blame her so that was okay. She'd let that slide. He seemed to calm down even more as he explained that them being friends would be like dating but not kissing and Kinsey chuckled softly, needing some sort of release from the tension in the room. "Yes, I know that. I just meant ... how would we be friends with your fiancee and your sister. I don't think either of them like me very much ... and I don't want to make things harder for you." Wow. It was like they were having a real, adult-like conversation about how to make this work and Kinsey was actually pretty impressed with herself. She wanted, almost more than anything, to still have Riley in her life, but she didn't want to cause problems doing it. She didn't want to make him hurt more than he already was.
@riley
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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Oct 20, 2018 21:05:20 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2018 21:05:20 GMT -7
She went on to explain that it would be hard for them to be friends because of Lydia and Priscilla. He sighed. Maybe so, she did know both of them and she knew the situation with them. He wasn’t going to sneak around with Kinsey, there was nothing that said the two of them couldn’t be friends if that’s what they decided to do, they just couldn’t date. Not unless he wanted to defy his parents, which he really did want to do, but was terrified of the logistics and political repercussions of such an act. It wasn’t that he was afraid of being cut off from his family, as much as that would suck, he was more worried about putting Kinsey or himself in danger by being seen as a blood traitor and knowing too much. Not that Riley really knew anything, but he had a great deal of expectations given his skills and who his family was. “I’m not with them all of the time. There’s time for other friends. We’re classmates, we’ll have to be around each other.” he insisted. “We’ll figure it out.” he promised.
@kinsey
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last online May 16, 2024 9:41:33 GMT -7
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Oct 20, 2018 21:20:40 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2018 21:20:40 GMT -7
There he was, sighing again, and Kinsey almost believed that he changed his mind and that Riley would take back his offer of being friends. Still, she waited quietly and he didn't make her wait very long before he started to explain that he wasn't always with them. His logic was sound, and Kinsey found herself nodding her head slowly and smiling. "Then yes. I would love to stay friends with you, Riley. I don't want to miss you anymore," she confirmed, feeling the tension in the room drain away as she spoke. Kinsey felt lighter than she'd felt in a long time. She and Riley were friends again. She could talk to him, maybe even sit by him in some of their classes eventually. Really, the idea of being able to interact with him again, even just occasionally, made her happier than she could express. It wasn't long before students started coming into the room, trying to figure out how to escape and she and Riley did as they were supposed to, a feeling of easygoing camaraderie between them. --- the end ---
@riley
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