The girl next door

Chapter 22

Riley-
I've been counting down the days until today for months. Today I get the brace on my foot off. I got the brace from when me and Emily got in a car accident. Other than my shitty eye sight, it's the only trace of the car accident on me. The hospital is in another state since my leg was so badly injured and this area doesn't exactly have the best healthcare. It's only an hour by plane though. I convinced my dad to let James drive me to the airport. Laura, his girlfriend, has made me bring in a relationship seem horrific. So he's still not that crazy about us spending time together. But I really wanted to say goodbye to him since I'm leaving for a couple days, and he saw how upset I was, so he let him.

I walk outside after saying goodbye to my dad with a small suitcase and see James waiting leaning on his moms car. He doesn't have a car of his own yet. He looks up from his phone and smiles when he sees me. "Heyy." He says coming over and picking up my suitcase and putting it in the trunk of the car. He opens the passenger side door for me and kisses my forehead before I get in. The airports about a half an hour away from where we live. I haven't been away from James for as long as I'm going to since I met him. I'm really nervous, but excited to get this brace off of me.

"Did Emily say bye to you? How's that going?" James's asks me. "Laura told her to. But she didn't look at me or anything. It doesn't seem like she has any remorse for what she did. She's not trying to fix anything." I tell him. "She's probably embarrassed. And terrified that your gonna tell your dad she slept with someone in his house." James points out. I nod in agreement. If I was in her situation I would feel like that. But it still doesn't justify her not apologizing for any of it.

James-
We get to the airport and I walk with Riley to security, baggage, and the gate. We cuddle and watch planes take off until Her flight is called. "I'll pick you up Tuesday." I tell her kissing her goodbye. "Love you." "Love you too." She gives me a smile and turns to board the plane. I know she's nervous about going alone, and on top of it she can't stop thinking about Emily and Lucas. And it's the longest we've ever been apart. 3 days doesn't seem like much, but we've seen each other at least once a day for as long as I can remember. It's the pro to her being right next door.

I drove back home right after since my mom had Zumba class and needed the car. I get back home and see the car in Riley's driveway is gone so her dad and his girlfriend must have gone somewhere. I take this opportunity to talk to Emily. It's really important to Riley that Emily apologizes. So I'll convince her to. And see why she hasn't yet.

"What James?" Emily asks as she opens the door after my knocks. "Can I come in? I need to talk to you about all of this." I ask her. "If your just gonna slut shame me then no, that's all I get now days." She says. "Emily what you did was really fucked up, but that's not the part I need to talk to you about." I tell her. She sighs and opens the door wider hinting at me that I can come inside. I walk in the home and she walks to the living room, and I follow. "I know what I did was horrible ok, and I don't have a good reason so don't ask me for an explanation." "What I'm asking you for is an apology. To Riley. This is tearing her up. She can't think, focus, have a conversation without bringing it up." I tell her. "I want to believe me. You have no idea how sorry I am. But I just can't find the words." She says looking down at the ground. "When Riley comes back promise me you'll talk to her?" I ask. She nods, still not wanting to make eye contact. I sigh as I get up from the couch and walk out, back to my house. I think that's as much as I can do. It's all up to Emily now.