Left or Right

Chapter 30

.Riley.

I knock on the door of Kate's office as I stood in front of it, my fingers coiled against my palm to form a fist. It had been four days since James and I had broken up but things hadn't gotten any easier. Breaking up with him was something I had to do though. I couldn't string him along with me for much longer.

No one showed up at the studio today since Kate had decided we should spend the last three days relaxing ourselves, setting and preparing our mindsets for Internationals.
I was the only one who had actually come into the studio but it was only because there was something I had been meaning to desperately talk to Kate about. Something I should have brought up days ago.

Kate looks out to me with a vivid smile on her face as she gestures with her forefinger for me to enter the room. 
"Riley?" she asks when I enter. "I didn't think you would be coming in today? I gave the team a couple days off," she tells me, as if I wouldn't already know that despite being dance captain.

I nod my head, taking a few steps closer to show her there was something I needed to say. I wouldn't just show up to pop in for a tea and a biscuit and I think we both know that.
She quite literally had no idea what was going on within the walls of her own studio so maybe it's about time I fill her in on what had really been going on recently.

"I have something to ask you, Kate," I say, causing her to furrow her brows in confusion.
"I just want to know why you thought it was a good idea to make me dance captain? Giselle was doing great but now she and all the others hate me for it because they feel like I've overthrown her," I explain sternly, but then the look in her eyes only seems to falter more.

She puts her files and folders down and crosses her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow at me.

"It was Stephanie who came to me and said Giselle was doing terribly as dance captain. She said you all agreed and apparently it was you, Riley, who put yourself forward to step up and take over her role," she says to me with a look of confusion on her face, but the moments her words leave her lips, everything seems to hit like a gun, bullets firing right at me.

Of course it was Stephanie.
I should have known that all along.

"Oh, okay," I mumble, scratching my forehead awkwardly.
"Is everything alright or is there something I should know about?" she asks, but I shake my head.
"No, it's alright. Thank you," I say, leaving her confused when I exit the studios, but I couldn't have card less. 

Stephanie wanted me to be dance captain? That's what she's going to get.

.James.

I enter the kitchen after getting out of bed, expecting to see Riley either in there or in the lounge, considering she never responded when I knocked on her bedroom door this morning, but instead Mum was sat there, her phone in hand by her ear while she finished off a call with someone.

Piper had gone to her friends for the week so she wasn't around and Dad must have been working in the office joint to the living room, as usual. However, Mum sat in front of my eyes with the most worried look on her face.
Had something happened to Riley . . .?

She finishes off the call after a couple more sentences before setting her phone down, then she looks up at me, the concern in her eyes becoming more visible.
"Mum, what's going on?" I question, leaning against the counter. "Who were you talking to?"

She shakes her head at me and exhales, licking her bottom lip hesitantly.
"A boy was here earlier this morning," she states. "He said he was looking for Riley. He had blonde hair, blue eyes. I called Alison and she said it was Riley's boyfriend, Nate, apparently," she tells me, completely puncturing my heart. The last thing I wanted was to hear that boy's name right now.

Mum studies my face for a moment before sighing. If there was one person who was able to read me like a book, it was her.
"I want you to look me in the eye and tell me the truth, James," she whispers, causing me to look at her, concerned. "Are you and Riley in a relationship with each other?" she asks me, looking me right in the eyes. 

I look down, thinking back to the way Riley had taken off her necklace the other day - how she had placed it in the palm of my hand and the soft tips of her fingers brushed me skin while as she concomitantly but gently tore my heart in half, leaving behind a crooked zig-zag of nothingness.
I look back up at my mother and chew my lip lightly, unsure of how to answer while my thoughts got the best of my bitter judgement.

"We were," I whisper. She sighs, taking in my body language and reading between the lines to sum up what had happened recently.

"You know she's not staying here forever, don't you?" she asks, taking a step closer towards me. "It's not good for the two of you to be going back and forth, honey. I know you love her but the two of you will only begin to hurt each other the more your relationship switches up."

"Well it's a good thing our relationship doesn't matter anymore then, isn't it?" I mumble under my breath, but it was enough for Mum to hear. As soon as I had realised what I had said, I immediately regret it.

Mum sighs, shaking her head at me, almost in disappointment while she frowns. I know there was more she had to say; she just wasn't sure how to tell me.

It's after looking at me again and having our eyes meet that she bites her lip before speaking up.
"Riley can't stay here for too long, James," she whispers to me. "Like I said, I was talking to her mum and she wants her back soon."
"She can't," I snap back, the second I process her words. "Mum, she's not safe in Montreal. She needs to stay here."

"James," she exhales, trying to stop me but I wasn't about to back down now.
"Mum, you can't just get rid of her," I continue. "You said she was like a daughter to you so why would you send her back to a place she's not happy in?"

"James, I get that lovely, but do you have any proof that she's not safe there? Because so far Riley hasn't said a single word to me. I know you love her but that doesn't mean you go to the extremes of making up stories," she continues, clearly thinking I was making this all up.

I was about to continue but before I could, I hesitate and stop midway through opening my mouth when the door to the kitchen opens from inside the living room. I hadn't even heard her enter through the front door, but Riley somehow managed to make her way in here and when our eyes meet, she bites her lip, reading the room and acknowledging the tense atmosphere.

I have no idea if she had heard or not, but if she had then I couldn't tell how much. 
Based on the look in her eyes though, I could tell she wasn't the happiest right now.

"I, um, needed to talk to you about something, James, but it's okay," Ri whispers. "Don't worry anymore."
She looks at Mum on the verge of tears before she turns back and begins to run off without another word.

"Riley, wait," I call after her before listening to her footsteps as she hurries up the staircase. I look at Mum, who just shakes her head at me once again, allowing me to chase after her.
When I do and eventually reach her room, it was too late. She had shut the door behind her and prevented me from being able to open it by sitting with her back against the door.

"Ri," I whisper through to her, but I don't get any verbal response. Instead, all I hear is a light sniffle, signalling that she was crying to herself, making my heart break for her.

She doesn't deserve any of this.