Riley's Box

Part 18

Well, Susie was definitely responsible and friendly. Those were two qualities that had probably assisted her greatly in obtaining the head girl role. It didn't make me feel any better, though. Sure, she was perfect for the job. Why hadn't I been? 

Don't even get me started on the fact that she looked perfect for the job, too, and after the rumours had died down about her and whatever else had happened there, she had risen in popularity to almost levels as high as mine! I supposed it had helped her that she had a whole wardrobe makeover and was now considered a trendsetter among some of the girls in the school. 

Wait a moment. What if she was as popular as me, now? What if she had become more popular than I was? 

I wanted to gasp at the thought, but I couldn't because she was still standing right in front of me. 

Her expression was serious, though her eyes were kind. It was an expression that just added to the reasons why she was worthy of respect. 

Susie probably would have been a lot more dignified about a loss, had she not got the head girl post...

I pushed that thought out of my head. Unimportant. 

Susie smiled at me and it made me realise that she was beautiful. 

As soon as I thought that, I felt stupid for thinking it. 

Yes, she was beautiful. It was an unavoidable fact, but it was still something that made me irrationally irritated. 

Well, maybe not entirely irrationally... 

"I think I might try to get one of my books published, soon, when I can update it, that is. I'll be mostly focusing on the school council! However, my parents are always telling me just how talented I am. I feel like it would be a let down if I didn't try, right?" she asked me. 

Jason, who had now come to stand beside me, spoke next. 

"I think you should totally go for it!" he said then, with a more genuine smile than I could ever conjure up, given the circumstances. 

"Thank you, Jason! That means the world to me," she said. 

As much as I would have liked to completely dislike her, she was a good person. That was also an unavoidable fact. 

"Anyway, I better get going!" she said, quickly glancing at the clock on the wall nearby us. 

There was no way one person could get that lucky. The face, the personality, the talent...

Irritated. Very irritated. 

I tried to force my face back into a smile, but I could tell from the expression on Susie's face that it probably looked more like a Halloween mask. 

"I'll see you both later, bye!" she said with a kind smile, before she wandered off down the hall. 

Jason tilted his head to the side, as though considering something. 

"Are you alright, Riley?" he asked me. 

"Fine," I abruptly lied. "We have a debate to attend," I added. 

He nodded. 

"Right, Whit mentioned it-" 

Sooner than he could say anything more on the subject, I grabbed a hold of his sleeve and led him to the main hall, where debates took place. 

"Something is bothering you, isn't it?" Jason asked me, as the two of us sat down on the seats and watched as the two debating students took part. 

"Yes," I whispered back to him, focusing on the debate. They were arguing for or against human cloning. 

I shuddered to think what it would mean if there were more than one Susie or Eric in the world. 

"I knew it. I'm usually right when it comes to you," he said. 

He was usually right about most things, actually, but I wasn't about to feed his ego. 

"Well, you can talk to me about it, Riley," he continued, once the cheers started in favour of the person who had debated against human cloning. 

Thank goodness there was still some sense in the world! 

"After all, I'm your best friend. It's practically my duty to listen to you. Not that I consider it to be that...a duty, I mean. I like listening to you," he said, with a small smile. 

It might have been the lights playing with my vision, but I could have sworn that his cheeks became a little rosier after he said it. 

"Susie won head girl. I blame you," I told him. 

His eyebrows creased together, then. 

"Hold on a minute," he said. "How is this my fault?" 

"If I hadn't gone for it then I wouldn't have been disappointed when I lost!" I whisper-yelled back to him. 

"You can't win everything, Riles!" he whisper-yelled back at me. 

I supposed he had a point there. Not winning was a horrible thing to think about, but probably something that wasn't only going to happen on this occasion...unless I worked to become even better. 

"You're a friendly person but right now you're acting like a...like a potato," he said. 

"Wow," I said and then gasped. 

I moved back in my seat and watched as Whit went to stand at the debate podium. 

"Hold that thought," I said. 

"But-" Jason went to say. 

"Hold that thought," I said again, before I went over to the other podium. 

Our debate topic was on how whether climate change was the most dangerous environmental threat facing the Earth today. 

The debate ended up getting pretty lengthy, so the shortened version was that I won in an argument in favour of the statement. 

Whit and I had been the last debate of the day, so it was soon time for us to leave along with the other students. 

By the time we had left the building, the air was cool around us and the sky was beginning to grow  a little more orange, as the sun set. 

"I think I'll go home and get on with some homework. I'm good at that and it doesn't argue unnecessarily with me," he said. 

"We're not arguing," I replied. 

"That's just the point, Riley. You don't really have a clue, do you?" he asked me, "I'll see you tomorrow, for your birthday party." 

That was the last thing that he said to me before he left me alone in the school parking lot. 

I supposed I was going to get the bus home...