Sitting In Traffic | Formula 1

Chapter 44- I live here

September 27, 2019. 107 days after Jonah

Riley found her way inside a random frat house with her roommate Marisa. She practically had to drag Riley out of bed. Riley swore off hooking up with random guys. The last one freaked her out. Now, she was walking through a frat house that was packed with bodies that were grinding against each other drunkenly. Jonah would've hated this. But he would've laughed if he saw the look on Riley's face. Disgust.

Marisa completely ditched Riley when she found someone to talk to. They weren't really friends, they barely even spoke, that was Riley's fault. Riley didn't want to make any new friends, she had Tristen back home and Josh 2 hours away who she's been seeing on the weekends and Logan over the phone every night. That was enough for her. Sometimes she wishes she had someone to talk to, but Riley didn't know how to put herself out there this far into the semester. Riley didn't want anyone to know what happened that summer.

She avoided all of the 'get to know you' questions in each class the first week of school. Riley always answered with 'I have a boat me and a friend spent a lot of time on'. Which was the truth. If Riley and Tristen weren't crying in her room, more so Riley towards the end of summer. They were on Betty. But it was rare. Riley being on Betty without Jonah was suffocating.

"Riley!" Marisa said from across the kitchen she was sitting in with a red solo cup in hand. "We're playing spin the bottle"

"I'm alright" Riley shook her head, "You have fun though"

"Can you just be my fucking side kick for once tonight" Marisa groaned, "You don't do anything but drink"

"Fine" Riley sighed, refilling her cup with tequila and walking out of the room. Riley followed Marisa who actually waited for her this time.

Drinking games. Something Riley hated. Unless they were with Jonah. Everything was always better with Jonah. Numb. That's how Riley felt right now. Everything was going back to Jonah and she just wanted it to stop. Riley wanted him out of her head, it was taunting, like he was haunting her. He wasn't letting her move on. She was struggling to exit her stages of grief, they were on repeat.

Denial.

Anger.

Bargaining.

Depression.

She could never make it to acceptance.

Over and over until she ended up drunk in a random bar, or in someone's car on the way to their house for a one night stand. It was a never ending cycle that she couldn't get out of.

"Oops, sorry" Riley said after bumping into someone's shoulder. She didn't look up to see who it was, and by the time he looked he only saw the back of Riley's head. He recognized her voice. He grew up hearing her voice in the summers.

It was like hearing a ghost. Karma. That's what the universe was sending after he left Jonah dead on the streets. After he drove past the accident without calling the authorities. It's the least he could've done. Riley. Riley was his way to make it right in his eyes. He was shocked, seeing the back of her head when she walked off.

Karma. Karma. Karma. Whether or not he'd get it right away or slowly be driven into insanity over the years was something niether him or Riley would know. Torture. That's what this would turn into. He should've looked away, but he knew exactly where Riley was going. Intrigued. That's what he felt.

Riley's always intrigued him.

Riley was standing next to Marisa in a large circle that was around a small table. She didn't notice Noah lerking around, or joining the circle on the other side. Not yet.