Chapter 4: December 8, 2013
*Bang bang bang*
Someone's being exceptionally rude this morning. "Who is it?"
"It's Rian."
What the hell is Riley's brother doing knocking on my door at 7 a.m.? "It's open!" Rian made his way to my kitchen with the gloomiest look I've ever seen on a man. "Hey, Ri. Want some pancakes?"
"No, thanks."
"Suit yourself, why so sad?
"Have you seen Riley?" That's the kind of question that landed me in St. Maarten.
"What do you mean? I saw her last night." I've never seen all of the color rush out of a person's face until just now.
"How late was that?"
"I don't know, 11 maybe?" What a peculiar level of questioning. "Did something happen?"
"I don't know. She didn't come home last night and that's not like her. I tried calling, I tried texting, and I walked down to the skate park but there's no sign of her."
"Well, it's kind of early. Maybe she stayed at Cam's."
"I was actually hoping she stayed here. Why didn't she?" It's times like these where I wish I was good at lying.
"Well, um..." He's glaring at me impatiently. "...we kind of got into an argument about MICA and she walked off."
"Who's Mica?" Alright, now I can see why she came to me about this first.
"MICA is an art school in my hometown. She got accepted there and wanted to talk to me about it."
"Your hometown, as in Baltimore?"
"Yeah, Baltimore." Rian has never liked the fact that I come from a less than royal background. Sometimes I wonder if anyone will be good enough for his sister.
"And, what exactly did you say to her?"
"I told her she should weigh her options because art is her life and beyond that is not a conversation I'm willing to repeat. Where else have you looked for her?"
"Nowhere. Like you said, it's early." He looked me up and down as if to insinuate he's 'on to me.' As if I have something to hide.
"Alright. Well, I have your number. I'll let you know if I hear from her."
"Yeah..."
And with that, I walked him with all his awkwardness to my door. One of these days he'll realize I'm not out to take what's left of his family. All I've ever wanted was for mine and theirs to merge, especially after the loss of their parents.
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Song - Human by Sevdaliza
