Once Upon A Push

Chapter 2: On The Edge

Chapter 2

“So he said he'll see you again?” Christy’s muffled voice came from the other line of the phone. I nodded my head, and then realized she couldn’t see me, so I stuttered a ‘yes.’

“You’re in deep," she said, speaking clearly now.

“Thanks to you and Riley," I replied, sourly.

“To me?” Christy replied, seeming shocked.

“Yes! You’re the one who pushed me into that boy!” I retorted, scrubbing the last dish in the sink. It was all her fault! I wiped my hands on the dry dishrag sitting on the counter.

“Oh… yeah. Sorry about that," she replied, probably adding another layer of bright pink nail polish to her nails. She doesn’t sound like she’s sorry. It doesn’t matter now; her careless behavior just signifies that she is, in fact, Christy.

“Whatever. I doubt he’ll keep his word; he was probably just trying to scare me. And it worked,” I admitted, hopeful. I heard a grunt from the other line, then Christy scolding her dog, and then shrieking. I yanked the phone away from my ear. Way to go, making me deaf before I’m even 18.

“I’ll call you back! Murray just crapped on my carpet!” she said, clicking the off button before I could even think of a response.

I just shrugged, tossing my phone onto my bed. And of course, it bounced off of the bed, onto the wall, did a triple backflip onto the carpet, and Harlem Shook it's way to the dark corner under my bed. Just great. My mind slowly drifted back to Cyrus. Nothing will go wrong, I kept reassuring myself but somewhere in my gut- I thought otherwise.

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I breathed heavily, as I sat in my car, preparing to go to school… the same school in which I talked to Cyrus Angelo. I lay my head on the steering wheel, biting my lip in nervousness. Should I just drive back home? I slowly brought my head away from the steering wheel, preparing to leave. My body jerked forward, slamming my face into the wheel, causing the horn to blare, all because someone smacked the window.

I looked back at an innocent Riley, standing there as he began cowering at my enraged face. Why would he do that? He slowly backed away as I swung open my car door, with my bag slung over my shoulder. I slowly stood up, glaring at Riley who was holding his hands up.

“I’m sorry, I did-," he started, backing away as I took steps towards him. I slammed my door shut; making sure it was locked, but still maintaining eye contact. He glanced at the bag over my shoulder, then back to my face, most likely measuring the amount of speed I can manage with the bag lugging on my shoulder.

“You have 2 seconds," I said through gritted teeth.

That’s how I started my day- chasing Riley Peters through the hallways of Morrison High. He was faster than me, yes, but I knew this school better than him- seeing as I walk around the halls during study hall instead of actually studying- while he sits and plays paper football or drawing pictures of Pokémon characters. He’s such a nerd sometimes and I love him- but just not right now. I’m actually quite angry with him!

I heard Riley’s shouts of ‘Coming through’ or ‘You move as slow as my grandmother, and she’s dead!’ I laughed occasionally as the curly haired boy eased his way through the people of our crowded hallways. I heard a door slam as I glanced around to see Riley on the other side, sticking out his tongue childishly.

He was in his homeroom, and now that I think about it- that is where I was supposed to be. He had his tongue out as he shook his head teasingly causing me to glare. He wriggled his eyebrows, doing the wave making me chuckle lightly. I stopped when I remembered my anger for him. My fists clenched as I remembered the red spot on my forehead that my hair somewhat covered now, but its throbbing! It’ll definitely bruise!