Riley's Box

Part 67

After spending some time in the art room, it was time for the three of us to get on with some studying. 

Once we had sat down in the library, I quickly found that April was the most prepared of any of us. She had this whole colour-code method that she used for her notes and it was complicated, so it would take me a while to remember, but it looked pretty cool! 

"I brought some spare pens, just in case...I really need to do well in this class to make my parents proud. To make me proud," April said. 

I could tell by her tone of voice that she felt a strong responsibility to do well at school. I knew that she had a lot of younger brothers, too, so she probably wanted to set a good example for them and I commended her for that. 

"I'm sure you're going to do great, April. You work so hard," I reminded her. 

This caused her cheeks to grow a little pinker. 

"Thank you, Riley. That does mean a lot to me, hearing you say that. Sometimes I feel as though I don't tell myself that enough," she admitted. 

"Well, you have me around to remind you," I said with a kind smile. 

"Thank you," April said again. "I'll always be here for you, too." 

I knew that she would be. 

April was one of the most loyal girls that I had ever met and I adored her for it. 

The bell rang shortly after that, signalling that it was about time for Susie and I to make our way to the student council meeting. 

The two of us wished April well and told her that we would see her soon. 

It was then time for us to walk down the main hallway towards the student council office and once we had arrived, we quickly walked inside. 

Eric didn't throw a chocolate bar at my head. 

He threw a chocolate bar at my head and then at Susie's. 

I caught it before it could fall down to the ground. It was a perfectly good chocolate bar! I wasn't about to let it go to waste. 

"The two of you are both late," Eric said. He had a very unamused expression upon his face. 

"That's alright. We can start the meeting now!" Whit said enthusiastically. He energetically rose from where he had been sitting and wandered over to the main planning board, where we were going to get together some ideas for the next fundraiser. I could tell from the amount of notes already on the board that Whit had been hard at work on all of this. It also helped that he was rather good with money and baking, so we would be able to carry out our best cake sale yet! "So, Riley, you can make some of the cakes. Jason- you can work on handing out flyers. I'll set up the stalls. Susie, you can advertise on the socials and Eric...you'll tell everyone else what to do." 

"What I do best," Eric said and the corner of his mouth twitched upwards slightly, as he said it. 

Everything that Whit had told us was pretty straightforward, so I knew that we would be able to get everything organised in due course. 

Soon after that, it was time for us to leave the school council room, but Whit paused me before I could leave.

"And Riley, if you need any help coming up with baking ideas or anything else, let me know," he said. 

"Really?" I asked him. 

"Yeah! You're my friend. I want to help you. It's only the right thing to do," he said. 

I really did appreciate him so much. 

"Thank you, Whit," I said, before I left the student council office. 

When I was back out in the hall again, I found that Susie and Jason were waiting for me. 

"Make sure you make the cupcakes in batches...I have enough baking experience to know that if you try to make them all at once, it can be rather overwhelming. I still remember trying to get all of the cupcake crumbs back into the bin," Susie told me, appearing in deep thought for a couple of moments. "If you need any help with anything, let me know." 

I was glad that I had her on my team- she was one of the more responsible people that I knew. 

"I trust you," I said with a kind smile. 

"Of course," she said. "I'll get started on advertising on the socials later today. I just don't know which one to start with...Anyway, that's unimportant right now. I have to go home. I'll see you two soon!" she added. 

Before she could leave, Susie threw her arms around me, enveloping me into a warm hug. 

"See you soon," Jason and I said in unison. 

I was left standing in the hall with an expression of amazement on my face. 

"You know...she's really not so bad," I said, as Jason and I started to walk back to his car. 

"She's cool," he said. "Aside from you, Susie is one of the people that is always fun to hang out with. She listens, you know?" 

"Hey, I listen too," I said. 

He grinned. 

"You do," he agreed. "I'm smart enough to know that Susie is someone that is worth keeping around," he continued. "However, you have a piece of me that nobody else could ever have." 

"Which piece? Do you want it back?" I asked. 

Jason released a gentle chuckle, before he stepped forward to wrap me up in a comforting hug. 

I rested my head against his chest and listened to the steady drum of his heartbeat for a few moments, until it was time for the two of us to get into his car and out of the chilly breeze. 

"Are you sure about me?" I asked, once we were sat down in his car. 

Jason turned to me and his forehead creased in his confusion.