Mutual Ground

One| Riley

"Come on Riles, please?" Eldon pleaded as we unpacked my things into my dorm room for the year
It was strange coming back here. Previously I had been sharing with Emily which meant my every move was watching, analysed and fed back to my parents but this time it was just me
Emily had graduated last year meaning for the next 3 years I didn't have her peering over my shoulder at every small moment 
"El, I don't want to muddy the waters already" I reminded him
"It'll be a swift drop in. We don't have to stay there long" He reminded me
"I swear Riley, the moment you want to go, we'll go!" He continued to plead

"And this all to see one person? A person who might I add does not know you exist" I rebutted earning an eyeroll as he siged
"It's not just to see her, it's also to show you that you are free now" Eldon said trying to get into my good graces
"Eldon" I warned
"Please?" He pleaded one last time before I sighed in defeat 

Let's be honest, that boy was not going to let up until I agreed anyway..

For two schools who don't ever mix, they are rather welcoming. Walking into their common room, I could see plenty of kids that I would see in our day to day lesson's, I could see people who used to follow Emily around like lost puppies. But I could also see a bunch of faces I didn't know 
The thought of them being first years crossed my mind but what first years would risk being here? 
They were clearly apart of the other school 

I never understood why we didn't mix, we were all doing the same thing just at a different location right?

"There they are" Eldon said nodding to a group of people, 3 boys and a girl to be precise
"Alright, off you pop then" I said but he shook his head
"I'm not just going to leave you Riley, either you come with or I'll wait for them to come here" He said but I scoffed
"If you think that they will break their little circle to-" I started

"Eldon!" One of them called making Eldon smirk at me before turning to see a brunette walking this way with the rest of the gang following behind him
"Hunter, alright?" Eldon asked doing what I would assume was their usual greeting
I knew that Eldon knew Hunter, they met up over the summer. It wasn't until the end of Summer that some girl joined and made Eldon's head clouded
That alone doesn't take much if I'm honest

"This is West, James and you remember Michelle?" Hunter said offering Michelle a step forward to which she offered Eldon a sweet smile 
Something tells me that whatever Eldon has been pursuing in his head has an actual possibility
"Nice to meet you both" Eldon said taking his eyes off of Michelle for a moment before everyone's gaze fell onto mine 
"This is Ri-"Eldon started 
"Riley?!" A voice screeched from behind me, I briefly went to turn around but Eldon shook his head 
"Give me a sec" He said offering me a small smile before disappearing with someone I knew too much about. 

The fact that I knew she was about to feed this back to Emily meant I had to get out of here soon but I didn't want to ruin Eldon's night at all.. 

"Can you tell El that I'll be outside?" I muttered to his friends who all nodded, most of them looked like they were going to say something to try and get me to stay but it was for the best I didn't listen 

--

I thought Emily not being here anymore meant that I was free, like Eldon has suggested but this encounter made it clear that although Emily might not be here. She still had her watch dogs around 
Before I say this, don't get me wrong.. I love my family whole heartedly 
But they are a new level of toxicity 
They want what is best for me, for me and Emily. Emily happily fell into their mould, my parents said jump, she asked how high
I on the other hand, I didn't always want this life
There were times I wanted to be able to go out in the evenings with my friends not be in a practice for something that was already perfect
Emily and I lost a lot of our childhood to all of this but I'm the only one who seemed to be bothered by it 

Dance is something I love, something I was forced to love but something I was also able to try and make my own to love
But the pressure of my family made even that hard at time..

"Riles" A voice said behind me, it didn't take a genius to know that the soft tone belonged to Eldon
He soon took a seat next to me and to my luck he was alone
"I didn't mean to-" I started before he shook his head pulling me into a side hug

"Listen, I spoke to her and she isn't going to tell Emily" He said but I scoffed
"She will El, you know she will. I should never have come here" I muttered
"Don't talk like that Riley. Emily used to come to this all of the time so why should you be any different?" Eldon asked by this time we have grown quite the attention

"Because I have to live up to her Eldon. It's not as easy for me as it was for her. She set the groundwork, the same groundwork I have to follow before I get pushed into the deep end" I said but Eldon went to say something else until he glanced around to see quite literally everyone staring at us
Including his new friends

"Look we'll talk about it tomorrow okay? I'm going to head home" I said standing up 
"Riley you don't need to leave because-" He started 

"Tomorrow El" I reiterated walking straight out the door before anyone could make any more judgements against what they just witnessed