Forever and Ever

FOUR-4-FOUR

Hey guys! Exams are finally over so here is a little reward for all the hard core studying(for those who had exams) and for those who have been reading my story. I really appreciate all of your support even if its not that much. So I would like to dedicate this chapter to two people: zealousy and opinionatedflower .Thank you so much for your support, because of you guys and everyone else, I am able to continue writing. So hope you enjoy this chapter!
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There was one word that pretty much summed up my whole day at school: Exhausting. School was even more energy consuming than I thought. I guess I wasn't used to the different lifestyles that the students here had, well, mine is living in a hospital bed for 7 years so of course I had no specific lifestyle. 

So school had just ended and I'm waiting for my father to come and pick me up. I wanted to try taking the public bus home but my father insisted on coming to pick me up. I understand his need to be overprotective but I'm pretty sure I can handle a 15 min bus ride home.

"Riley! I'm over here!" I snapped out of my thoughts to see my dad sticking his his hand out the car window and waving it. I smiled and made my way towards the car.

"Hey dad, sorry I didn't see you there," I apologized while buckling up my seatbelt.

"It's ok sweetie. Anyways, so tell me; how was your first day of school?" He asked excitedly. My immediate response was to groan and say it was horrible but I stopped when I saw the excitement on his face. He looked really happy for me, so I just smiled and said it was ok.

"Well, I have an old friend who has come to visit so we're going to be having dinner with them tonight. Will that be okay with you?" He asked.

"Mhmm,"

"You okay sweetie? Something on your mind?"

The new guy, what was his name again? Terry, Tom, Ty-Ty-oh right Tyler, I couldn't seem to get him out of my mind. He looked so familiar yet I had no idea who he was. My dad stared at me questionably as I continued wondering to myself.

As we drove into our lane, we noticed a bright red sports car parked right outside out house.

"Dad, who is that?" I asked, pointing my finger at a man ,dressed in a tuxedo, who stepped out of the car.

"No one sweetheart, just go on in while I settle this," he said hurriedly, and quickly kissed my head before heading towards the man. Knowing better than to disobey my father, I obediently went into the house. But on second thought, what he doesn't know won't kill him right? I quickly dumped my bag on the couch and snuck out by the back door. My father and the man were quite a distance from the house so I had to sneak into a nearby bush. Noticing that was a tree right next to them, I made a bold and stupid decision. I was going to climb it, without letting them see me. I grabbed onto the tree trunk, and used all my arm strength to pull myself up, scratching my knees a bit.

"Shit," I muttered but continued climbing. Luckily, dad and the man were so immersed in their conversation, they didn't even notice a crazy girl climbing a 30 feet tall tree. I reached a branch and decided to sit on it and listen in to their conversation.

I could hear the man say," bla bla bla, you have 3 months." For what? Then my dad glared and him and said," Bla bla bla, just give me more than that, I will prove it to you." Prove what? Then the man said," Bla bla bla, bla bla bla if not, you are dead." And with that he turned and walked towards his car. That man wants to kill my father? What?! Suddenly, there was a cracking noise and that wasn't because there were fire crackers here, I looked down at my branch and it was starting to crack.

"No no no," This couldn't be happening! Am I really that heavy? I have to seriously start laying off the chips. Wait, who cares about that when I'm about to fall 20 feet down?! The cracking noise got louder and the branch was bending lower and lower. I looked up and my dad was already entering the house.

"At least he won't see me," I thought gratefully. I tried to slowly edge towards the tree trunk but that just added to the pressure and the next thing I knew, I was falling down and landed in the bushes.

"Riley! There you are! I saw that fall, are you okay?" I saw my dad rushing over towards me and I immediately felt ashamed.

"Yea, I'm fine dad."

"You sure?" He asked skeptically, "is there any pain? Anything thing in particular you want to tell me about? Apologize about?"

"Apologize?"

"Riley, I'm not blind nor am I stupid. i could see you climbing the tree indiscreetly while I was talking to that man." He said, crossing his arms.

"Er, it was because I wanted to pick fruits, yup, pick fruits for us to eat," I lied.

"Riley, this is a Magnolia tree. It doesn't bear fruit." My smile dropped to a frown.

"Sorry dad," I apologized, instead of trying to lie to him.

"Its ok, as long as your sorry, I forgive you." He said, rubbing my head. "Now go and wash up, our guests are coming over in less than 3 hours."

"Dad, I don't need 3 hours to wash up."

"Don't you need to put make up and take 2 hours to pick out your outfit?" He asked incredulously.

I scoffed," of course not! Who would?"

He said it, mumbling to himself more than to me, "well your mother certainly didn't take less than an hour to get dressed."

"I'm sorry what?"

"Huh? What did I say?"

"Oh nothing, I think I'm just hearing things." I shrugged it off and ran into the house as my father sauntered in slowly, complaining that the branch of his favorite Magnolia tree was destroyed. I laughed it off and headed towards my room. My dad said as old friend of his was coming over, do I know him? I raked my memories but nothing came to mind.

"Gahhhh!!!" I screamed, it was so frustrating. Every time I wanted to remember something from the past, I would just get a blank. A freaking mental block. It just made me wanna-

-"Riley, are you okay? I heard you scream," my dad asked after knocking the door. Oops, guess these walls aren't sound proof after all.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied, "just er-er menstrual cramps!" I immediately regretted saying those words. I cringed as my reply was silence.

"Okay sweetie, just er, what page is that? Oh here, keep calm and drink lots and lots of water!" He yelled through the door. How did he know that? I yelled out an okay before quickly entering the shower. I had three hours to prepare before the questions start flooding in, tonight was going to be a long night.