(TW: Difficult themes mentioned in this chapter)
James
"come on man, you're slacking" Eldon said slapping my shoulder, I rolled my eyes at him before putting my water down and getting up to practice again
"Is this about Riley and Freddie?" West asked and I shook my head
"Then what?" Eldon asked and I shrugged
Honestly, part of me was concerned about the final letters. What on earth could be so bad that she think it would change things to me"Riley seems to be happy so who cares about Freddie" Michelle said joining the conversation with Thalia shortly behind
"And of course Michelle would be keeping tabs" Eldon said raising a brow
"Duh, she's like totally in love with hunky Hayden" West said in a mocking tone
"Do you want my help to get James' head in the game or not" Michelle said placing her hand her hip looking at the boys, the pair of them rolled their eyes before Michelle nodded confidently flipping her phone to show me Riley's latest instagram post"my concern wasn't about Riley being happy right now"I chuckled, honestly. I know she's happy, she's with her friends
"Then what? You barely know the girl and your already hooked" West teased
"It's a lot more complicated then that" I said
"Alright, how about we call practice an end tonight and start fresh monday?" Eldon offered and I shrugged nodding before heading outPart of me was scared to read the letters, like what could it really be
From the outside, nothing seems off, nothing seems wrong but something tells me there is still a lot to learn about Riley
And I was eager to learn for the first time in my life--
I got home and instantly headed to my room straight to Riley's fourth letter
"How I view myself" I muttered to myself
Something tells me, this is the letter Riley is most worried about..'Hey,
I had to be a debbie downer but this letter isn't going to be light reading. I'm plan to be as honest as I can let myself
I don't view myself well, not well at all
In fact there are many things I would change about myself and it stems from a constant comparisonEmily, my older sister, was Messer's Highs pretty princess. Everyone knew that, even Emily knew it. So when her small annoying little sister made her rounds in school, she was held to the same standard and let's just say. I'm not my sister no matter how hard I try
I've done all the diets and nothing works, I've dyed my hairs more times then I can count but that doesn't help
I've sat in my room having panic attack after panic attacks seeing the scales stay the same or get worse
I've sat in a dark bathroom sitting on the cold floor thinking things you wouldn't wish on your worst enemyI love my sister to pieces but living in her shadows is one of the hardest things Life has thrown at me and that is saying something considering
She's everyone's idea of perfect, blue eyes, blonde hair, slim waist
Bubbly personality
Driven
ResponsibleAnd Me?
I'm the opposite, Brown hair, brown eyes extra weight lying on my hips
My personality is nothing special
I slack a lot of the timeNobody would trust me with shit
2 years ago, there was an incident.. it was Emily's big break. She had the attention of everyone around us which was fine by me
It meant nobody would be sitting there comparing our every move
But boy was I wrongWith every movement she made someone was peering over their shoulder to look at me in disappointment
With every glance, every comment. It slowly started to eat me up to the point I couldn't cop
I excused myself from the party heading straight upstairs to my bedroomWith one note written I had sealed my fate I just needed to muster the courage
In that moment, all that was going through my head was.. My parents got their perfect daughter, they didn't need or want me
My friends had plenty of other people around to not notice me slipping away
In fact, nobody needed me
The one person I was staying for had left tooWith the note put into place, it was my time. I headed back into the bathroom taking one more look in the mirror before looking at the contents below me, my usual shower razor and a packet of pills
I didn't know which would be quicker and simpler. So the idea was for bothI took a deep breath in positioning everything where I needed it before there was a knock on the door
A knock that to this day, saved my lifeIt was Hayden, he saw me disappear.. Came to find me and found the note
Hayden and I have always been close but he's become more protective but not to the extreme of Freddie. Hayden knows me like the back of his hand and I couldn't be more thankful for him
Now I won't lie when I say that there are moment where I still go back to that day wishing I had managed to go through with it
But at the same time, there are days where I am glad I didn'tSometimes in life, things happen for a reason. Sometimes we have to hit rock bottom to know what lifes plan is
See you in the Final letter
Riley'Well.. fuck
I didn't expect that at all
Who would you knowThat just shows that you should judge a book by it's cover. I would never have guessed that had gone on but hearing that. Just breaks my heart
Everyone is their own person, nobody should be compared to anyone else
We all have our ups, our downsRiley didn't and doesn't deserve any of this, she just needs someone to show her that they love her for her. Not the comparison..
Riley is her own person
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The Project
FanfictionOne small town, two high schools. One long time feud.. But when the teachers of the school come up with a genius idea to break the tension between the kids. They have to write 5 letters to someone they've never met before It sends two strangers on...