Then I Found You

Chapter 7

K so Riley and Ghost have no kind of romance. Just saying

“Morning sweetie!” Regina called out to Riley as she walked into the library. She had been using the library as her place to escape. Even though she started talking to Jayden and his friends a bit more, she still wasn’t as open around Regina or anyone else besides Nick. She had started talking to Jayden willingly purely by accident because he had pushed her buttons and eventually she snapped at him so now he ‘knew she had a personality’ as he puts it and Ghost is relieved she ‘has a personality because she was getting unbearably boring’. She rolled her eyes at the memory.

She knew since she talked to Jayden, he would tell the other boys she talks. Which he did so she may as well talk to them. Not enough to get too close to them. She mostly talked to them about things that pertained to the project. She spoke to Ethan and Emily sometimes as well just not as much as she’d actually like to since they’d seen her bruises.

She sighed and started doing her science homework silently, trying to block out the noise of the library. There were a group of people around her age there; she’d recognized a couple of them from school. They were always making noise and annoying Regina. They annoyed her a bit too but not enough to say anything about it. She noticed they had glanced at her a few times which made her curious about what they were talking about.

“Riley, can you come help me with something” Regina called. She nodded and pushed her books aside and went to help Regina label a few books. She noticed an ancestry book. She looked up at Regina and gave her a hopeful look.

“Go ahead” Regina said chuckling. She smiled and left the library. The cold October air hit her and she shivered slightly. She wrapped her arms around herself to stay warm and started walking toward the bus station. She sat down on the bench, feeling slightly anxious since no one else was around. She jumped anytime she heard a noise.

She knew she didn’t want to stay here for long and no buses were coming so after building up some courage she decided to get up and start walking to a familiar place.

Riley hesitated for a second before knocking on the door. She kicked a small pink toy out of the way. Her heart rate accelerated when Jayden opened the door to the small house and gave her a confused look. His dark brown hair was messy and he had pillow lines on his face. He was wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a white vest. It was clear he had been sleeping.

They stood there staring at each other for a second before he finally broke the silence.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, looking nervous.

“Uh..” she stuttered out. “I was at the library and then I was at the bus station and I was alone and I was scared and…” she trailed off.

“You needed a friend” he finished for her shooting her an angry look. She cowered back slightly but she didn’t turn away. Jayden seemed to have some serious anger issues and he seemed to direct a lot of anger towards her sometimes but she knew now that she needed to get used to it if they had to be civil towards each other for another two weeks. He seemed angry that she practically faked being a mute but her acting didn’t last long since he now knew she talked. “What did you think you would accomplish by coming here?” he hissed at her.

She stepped back and he glared at her.

“I didn’t mean you’re my friend, I just meant I needed company and you were the closest house I know of. You’re being used” she blurted out. He growled at her and she whimpered, feeling afraid. She knew Jayden was dangerous but she couldn’t seem to bite her tongue.

“You better watch what you say” he growled out. She nodded quickly and he gave her a once over before stepping inside. “Come in” he sighed. She hesitated for a moment before stepping in. He had a simple house. Surprisingly, there were a lot of toys on the inside too, but they were scattered all over and a few were actually broken.