Riley's Box

Part 46

I bolted out of bed the next day, got ready and quickly rushed down the stairs. Then, I wandered into the kitchen and grabbed an apple, so my stomach would stop tormenting me. Finally, I said a quick 'good morning' to my parents, before it was time for me to leave the house again. 

Another bright and sunny day in New York City! And there was no real better way to start it than with my best friend Jason meeting me at the end of our driveway. 

"Hey, someone looks happy," he told me. 

"How did you know?" I asked him, as I made my way over to hug him. 

"He smells so good!" Adina said. 

I took a step back from the hug and met Jason's gaze, to find he had slightly red cheeks. I couldn't blame him. So did I. 

"Uh...thank you, Adina," he replied. 

"You're so welcome!" she replied. 

I sighed. Adina was so adorable, but she could be a little much at times. Not that I would ever let her know that, of course. 

Jason then seemed to search my eyes with his own and ended up smiling, as though he knew something I didn't. 

Well, now this wasn't fair. However, I expected that he would let me know what he was thinking, soon enough. 

"I spent the evening researching," he told me, as we made our way over to his car. "I think we're going to take a trip to the forest," he said. 

"Oh no. I'm going to get murdered," I joked. 

He raised an eyebrow at me, as he started up the engine. 

"Hope not," he said. He then rolled down the window to give the Sins specific instructions, that would allow them to meet us at the forest, where Avidicci had suggested we go the previous evening, if we were going to have any hope at finding the final shadow spirits.

The Sins murmured their statements of agreement and soon started off on their way to the forest. 

Once they were out of sight, Jason turned to the passenger seat, to look at me. 

 "Hey, you okay?" he asked me, as he started up the engine and drove on down the road. 

"Relatively," I replied. 

At my reply, Jason's eyebrows creased together. 

I didn't want to worry him. I always felt like a bad friend, when I did that. 

"I know when something's up with you, you know?" he reminded me. 

I did know that. That was also one of the things that made me worry. I knew that Jason couldn't, in fact, read my mind, but it sure felt that way sometimes. 

"I can read you. You're worried about something," he said, as he turned at a green light. 

I swallowed. That much was true. 

"Well, I've always believed that it is important for friends to share their thoughts with each other. It is even more important, still, when the two people in question are best friends," Jason said. 

He had a point there, and I knew that I couldn't disagree with him. 

"I won't compromise that belief, Riles. You should know that," he said. "And even if I am talking to Susie at the moment, that changes nothing between the two of us." 

He had no idea what he was talking about there, of course, but I wasn't about to tell him that. Of course, him and Susie being a 'thing' changed things. They changed things entirely too much. 

"I know I'm right," he said. 

"I'm worried about the shadow spirits," I said. It was just a throw away statement, more than anything else. I needed to lure him off the path that would end in him discovering my real reasons for being worried. 

The engine of the car growled away, as Jason continued to drive on. How could someone drive and look so attractive while doing so? It was unfair. I had never thought of him like this before. Alright, that was another lie. Yes, I had. I just had never believed that anything could ever come of it. 

Jason and I had been friends for way too long. Maybe that was simply the way that things were supposed to be, now. 

He parked up by the forest and glanced at me. He didn't stop looking at me. 

I didn't stop looking at him, either. It was as though my line of vision had become superglued to him. 

As I met his gorgeous gaze, my cheeks flushed. 

"Wow. It's hot today, isn't it?" I asked him, trying to take his mind away from any inkling of the fact that I was blushing because of him. 

"Riles..." Jason said, so softly, so gently, as he lifted a stray hair and twirled it around his finger. He then let it go, so it gently tickled my cheek. "I know I'm right," he said. 

This time the statement held a completely different tone. 

I cleared my throat. 

"Uh, the Sins are here. We should get going," I said. 

My heart was pounding in my ears. Was I going to be okay? Did I need medical assistance? I hoped not. It was expensive. 

Jason's eyes warmed with curiosity, but he tilted his head in the direction of the Sins. 

He glanced back to me fleetingly, so he could nod. 

The two of us exited his car and wandered over to the Sins. 

Adina glanced between the two of us with a knowing smile on her face. 

The real question was: what did she know, exactly? 

More importantly, I barely knew my own self here. This was so confusing. Jason was confusing. Finding these shadow spirits was confusing. I was confusing myself. 

"I've got you," Jason said, and held a hand up to prevent me from tripping up on a stray tree branch. 

"Thank you, Jase," I replied. 

Jason's gaze became even warmer, when he looked at me, as if such a thing was possible. 

Had his eyes always been this hypnotising? 

I wished that there was a window into his mind. 

"Are we ready to go?" Avidicci asked. 

Our heads quickly snapped in his direction and we nodded in answer, before we followed the Sins into the green depths of the forest.