Cold and Charisma (BoyxBoy)

Chapter Thirteen

"No way, you hung out with the weird kid?" Drew asked, one eyebrow arched as he stared at me in surprise.

Carter turned around, grimacing before adding, "Which weird kid? There's so many here, I can't even keep track."

They both laughed, nudging each other playfully. Typical private school jocks— of course, they'd react like this. But a part of me felt almost offended. They just called Riley 'weird.' My Riley.

"Oh, you mean that Russian kid, right? Russian Riley?" Carter continued, a smirk creeping onto his face as he kept making digs.

"Hah, you mean resentful Riley. The kid's been cursing everyone out since he got here. Someone should put him in his place," Carter said, chuckling.

Usually, I wouldn't step in when they talked trash about people—it wasn't my problem, but this was Riley they were talking about. The same Riley I was just hanging out with yesterday, the same Riley who borrowed my jacket. My blood started to boil, just a little.

"Come on, guys. He's not weird or resentful. He's just misunderstood," I said, trying to keep my cool even though I felt like yelling. I'd never been this mad at them before. I didn't even know why I was now.

They both turned to me, their laughter dying as their faces twisted into a mix of surprise and confusion. "Why would you even hang out with him? The kid's disrespectful as hell. Austin told me what he said about him yesterday—"

"He was just stressed, okay? He didn't mean it," I lied, cutting him off mid-sentence. I couldn't just stand there and let them talk about Riley like that. I didn't even know why, but I couldn't.

"Didn't mean it? Sure, like he didn't mean it when he told me to fuck off in the halls earlier," Carter shot back. Drew chimed in, "Yeah, or when he told me to kill myself after I accidentally bumped into him in class."

I went silent for a moment. I knew I couldn't defend Riley on this—he was out of line. But I wasn't going to let them tear him apart either. They didn't know him like I did. But I wasn't going to excuse his behavior toward my friends either.

"I'll talk to him about it, alright? He's not as bad as you think." I forced a smirk, trying to hide the conflict swirling inside me. They both muttered sarcastic "sure's" and turned back to whatever the rest of the group was talking about.

They didn't know Riley like I did. They didn't see how his eyes lit up when he discovered something new and exciting or how he tried to act unbothered, but I could tell he cared by the way his lips slightly parted whenever he was intrigued. They just didn't know him. 

No one did.

–

After a few classes, the bell finally rang, signaling the start of lunch. I was worn out from all the assignments I had to do, but I couldn't complain. I mean, I was the one who chose to take so many advanced placement classes.

I waved to those I knew in the halls, one after the other, exchanging small talk as I walked to the lunchroom. I loved interacting with other people, but the only person I wanted to interact with right now was Riley.

After making it through the crowded hallway full of people high-fiving me, and asking me how I was, I finally made it to the lunchroom. My friends sat at a table in the middle of the room, loudly laughing and tossing around a football.

As I approached them, I found myself wanting to be elsewhere instead. "Hey man, what do you think's better, tits or ass?" Carter joked, nodding his head at me. Drew and Carter always bantered playfully, and always made me be the middleman.