Girl in a Hoodie: Where the Future Lies

Chapter 63

James's POV:

Later that afternoon, I drove Riley off to the university. She was sat in the passengers' seat as quiet as a mouse in her work clothes - dark green tie-waist trousers with a long-sleeved black top tucked into them. Her hair was tied back in a small low bun and her necklace was visible over the fabric of her top. 

We hadn't spoken a word about her wrist since I had been bandaging it up for her, except for when along the drive we came up with the excuse of telling people she had fractured a bone and had to wear bandages until she gets a cast.

I shortly found a parking spot and placed my hand on the back of Riley's seat as I reversed into the space before pulling my foot off the pedal as I stopped and turned to face her. She took off her seatbelt and reached down for her folder briefcase which contained all her project work inside. 

"I'll pick you up by five, right?" I ask.

"Yeah," she murmurs. "But if I finish earlier, I'll let you know."

"Okay, just make sure to text me on your lunch break," I tell her. She smiles and leans closer to give me a small side hug, so I wrap an arm around her body and kiss her temple. "I love you."

"I love you too," she repeats. "But I thought you said we don't need to remind each other so frequently?" she inquires, smirking.

"Yeah, well it's different in this situation. But before you go, you need to give me a kiss," I state. She smiles even more and reaches forward, laying her hands on my chest before pecking my lips.

"I need to go now. I told Daniel and Leia I'd meet them in the canteen," she tells me. My eyebrow raises at the mention of the first name.

"Daniel?" I ask her. "Should I be worried?"

"No, he's gay. Leia's bi, but I'm almost positive she doesn't like me in that way," she chuckles, "she ships you and me way too much to even think about having a crush on me, so you've got nothing to worry about," she adds sweetly, so I smile before allowing her to go.

"Okay, good. I'll see you later then," I tell her. She nods, getting out of the car and waves at me before turning to walk up the stairs of the building.

. . .

When I get back home, I notice Ellie fast asleep in her bouncer but Terry was watching a game of football on the TV.

"Oh, hey, James. You're back," he establishes. I nod and say a simple 'hi' back to him. 

I walk over to the bouncer which had been set on the floor and undo the strap before slowly taking Ellie out of it. 

"I'm just gonna take her upstairs. I'll be back down in a few," I let my in-law know. He nods and so I then begin to walk up the stairs before entering the bedroom and I attentively lower Ellie into her cot. I tuck her into her purple blanket and place her rabbit next to her as I kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, baby girl," I whisper quietly before sitting down on the bed.

I know what I wanted to do next, and although it may not have been the best option, there seemed to be no other choice at the moment. I pulled Ri's laptop onto my legs and opened it before opening a tab and I click the three dots to view her search history, all of which were first, middle and last names linking to Alice and Laura.

I click on the most recent tab she had opened, knowing that must have been the thing that had triggered her. When I click on it, it then redirects me to an Instagram page. Alice's Instagram page, to be precise. I click on the first post and continue to press the arrow to scroll through them all up until I reached one that must have led to Riley getting so worked up. It took a while but I eventually reached a 'Rest in Peace' post and as I read through it all, including the comments, I felt my heart shatter. This must have been what Riley saw and there's no way she'll be able to handle it.

. . .

Riley's POV:

I was talking to Leia and Daniel in the hall after our lecture at around 4:45 p.m. Tim, our lecturer, was going around to answer questions if anyone had any and we were all huddled in our own groups, drinking from cups of water and eating some of the biscuits that had been put aside. But shortly, Stephanie comes over to us to say hello. I'd spoken to her a few times before, but now we were getting put in the same placement so we'll be seeing each other a lot more.

"Oh my gosh, Ri, what happened to your wrist?" she gasps, looking at it and partly exaggerating.

"Yeah, has James really been that bad to you?" Leia adds teasingly. I roll my eyes and nudge her in the ribs lightly which makes her laugh.

"No, I just sort of fractured a bone there-"

"In your wrist?" Daniel inquires, raising an eyebrow. 

"Um, yeah..."

"How?"

"I was carrying something really heavy and my bone clicked, and when I tried to turn my wrist back into place, I sort of twisted it too much for my bone to break slightly," I lie.

"Oh God, Ri. You're such an idiot," Leia tells me. I roll my eyes at her but laugh along a little. Daniel, however, continued to look at my wrist like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"So, the doctors didn't give you a cast?" he interrogates.

"Um, no, they said a bandage is better in this case-"

"Why?"

"I don't know, why don't you go to the hospital and ask them," I snap back, trying to get him to shut up which he thankfully ends up doing so.

"Right..." Steph says. "Well, my boyfriend just texted me to say that he's here so I better get going. I'll see you all tomorrow," she says.

"Okay, bye," I call after her before Leia also says goodbye to her.

"I better get going, too. My sister's picking me up and I told her I'd be waiting outside," she says.

"Oh, okay. Text me when you get home?" I ask her.

"Yeah, of course," she says before turning around and grabs her bag from off the table before walking out. Then when I turn around and face Daniel again, his original interrogative face takes place. 

"What do you want, Daniel?" I ask, sighing as I scratched the middle of my forehead.

"You didn't actually break your wrist, did you?" he asks. I keep quiet, looking down a little. "Take your bandage off," he tells me.

"What?-"

"Take it off."

"No," I say forcefully. "Why would I take it off?"

"Because you're lying."

"So what if I didn't actually break my wrist, Daniel. It's none of your business."

"Riley, if you've done something else, there's nothing wrong with it. There are people who can help you, other than that husband of yours," he tells me.

"I don't need help and don't refer to him like that."

"If you don't need help then tell me why you cut yourself."

"What?"

"You cut yourself, didn't you?" he asks.

"No," I lie again, but he grabs hold of my wrist to view it for himself and before I can say anything else, he's already unwrapping the bandage the slightest before his eyes are met with blood. "Daniel," I say. "Get your hands off of me." I yank my arm away from his but he'd already seen enough of the newly-unstitched scars to know.

"What's going on, Riley? I've known you for almost three months' now and I can tell something's going on with you," he says.

"Nothing's going on with me. Just leave it, alright," I tell him but then my phone starts ringing at the exact same time with a call from James. I swipe up and put it to my ear as I turn away from Daniel. "Hello?" I answer.

"Hey, I'm outside," he tells me.

"Okay, I'm coming." I decline and stare threateningly at Daniel, rolling my eyes at him but then walk off, brushing past him without speaking another word.