Can I Have That in Writing?

Emily: Voting

"Hey Riley! And hey... Emily, right?"

The boy who approached us sat in front of Riley in geometry class. His strawberry blonde hair was slicked back with gel, and he wore a simple yellow shirt. It was thanks to his kind, brown eyes that I was able to smile and nod in response.

"Hey Donnie!" Riley greeted. "What's up?"

"Not much," Donnie replied, taking his seat in front of her. "Busy with rehearsals for the Fall play."

"Oh yeah! How is that going?"

"Great! Are you coming?"

"Depends on what the show is."

Donnie grinned. "The Importance of Being Earnest," he said. "It's by Oscar Wilde. He's one of the greats, so it's really cool to perform one of his works."

Riley smiled wide. "Okay, I'll have to check it out!"

Donnie turned his gaze to me. "You should come too, Emily! If you like that stuff, that is."

"I'll think about it," I replied with a soft smile. 

"Great! Hopefully I'll see you both there."

He turned around to face the board and retrieve his school supplies. I turned to Riley, who smiled at me. 

"Don't feel any pressure to go," she said. "Donnie is really passionate about theater, so he tells all of his classmates whenever there's a school production. Obviously, if it's not your thing, it's nothing to worry about."

I nodded. "Right..."

I was glad Riley was back to her normal self. On Thursday, after club, a boy approached the club room. I didn't know him, but I could see her tense up and freeze upon his arrival. Something was different about her energy. It wasn't calm and welcoming like it was the day she chased after me; it was sharp and serious.

It was scary.

When we got to the car, I had asked Allison if she knew who the boy was. 

"Anthony Missoni," she had said with a sigh. "He's a first-class a-hole. I don't know what he wanted with Riley or writing club. I would've helped her, but... I didn't want to get you involved."

I had hung my head and whispered, "She was different... I was a little scared, honestly."

"Yeah, I understand that. But I know Riley. She's a good person, she just gets really serious when it comes to her friends. She was protecting you, that's all."

Remembering my sister's words in the present, I looked at Riley. She tilted her head. "Em? You okay?"

I forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine," I lied. "I was just thinking about writing club."

Riley grinned. "Me too," she said. "I had an idea, actually... you think seeing the play would be good for a club outing? Like Donnie said, Oscar Wilde is one of the greats. Plus it would it would be a nice group bonding experience."

I completely agreed. "Sounds good," I said with a smile.

"Awesome! Obviously I'll ask Allison, but you know... as a club member, your opinion matters too."

A lump formed in my throat. My opinion mattered? It seemed like such an obvious statement, yet I think it was only true when I was with Riley or Allison. 

***

It was our third writing club meeting. Riley and Allison used the projector to pull up an image titled "birthday scenario game" (yes, the title was in all lower case). On the left side, scenarios were listed next to a month. On the right side, characters were listened next to another.