Diamond In The Rough

Chapter 10- Calm Before the Storm

~Riley~

After receiving an urgent call from Alison in the middle of the night, Riley immediately drove all the way across town to where Leyla lived. Alison may have forgotten to mention what truly was the problem. Although, the moment the words 'hurry please, Riles, it's important." left her mouth, Riley didn't waste any more time before snatching her car keys and drove like a maniac to the Summers' residence.

Thankfully, the road wasn't as congested as it would have been, had it been earlier in the evening. But that didn't stop Riley from wildly veering alternately from left to right just to run past some slow running vehicles. She couldn't even careless when some of them rolled down their windows just to shout profanity at her. All she thought about was getting to Leyla's as fast as she could manage without getting into an accident too. But the latter was highly debatable though, considering how she was driving like a lunatic with suicide intent.

It even struck her as a surprise when no police officer came trailing after her. Not that she wanted a cop hot on her heels for reckless driving. She was already in enough trouble with her parents for sneaking out this late. AND she most definitely needed no officer to add fuel to the fire.

Then she suddenly thought about Alison's urgent call. Confusion mixed with a sense of foreboding clouded her mind, making her grip the steering wheel harder than necessary. Attempting to reign over her growing anxiety, she squared her shoulders and continued to move on ahead.

Several minutes passed but it was already more than enough for Riley to step a little harder on the gas pedal. Unconsciously, she started again her annoying habit of chewing the inside of her cheek- an action she occasionally did whenever she's stressed out or hungry- as she drove the car with a precision that could have almost qualified her for the Grand Prix. The grand prix might be stretching it a little too far.

After what felt like a millennia, Riley finally found herself pulling over behind Alison's Mini Cooper. Hastily, she stepped out of her Ford Ranger. She also took note of Katie's convertible parked just across the street and fought down a shudder that was about to wrack her nerves at the thought of the last time she was in Katie's car.

It has already been almost 2 weeks since the 'THE INCIDENT' with Cooper. And everytime she absentmindedly found herself entertaining those thoughts, it almost took all of her strength she had just to forget about it. She may have succeeded in ignoring and avoiding him but she miserably failed in trying not to think about him.

Why should she bother thinking about it- about him? Well yes, she may have had thought she used to have a crush on him, but the foundation of such affection was only superficial! I honestly couldn't care less about him! And everytime she thought about dark alluring eyes she had to convince herself it belonged to someone who was nothing more than a devil's spawn. She reminded herself that almost every damn time.

She had run laps repeatedly around the oval, until her lungs burned leaving her gasping for air. She even reached the point wherein she could no longer feel her legs, it was almost as if she had purposely incapacitated herself just so she could be too busy catching her breath, rather than losing it at the memory of their shared kiss.

None of her friends had any idea just how hard she fought to forget about what had transpired between her and Aaron. They knew nothing about Riley tormenting herself during practices, drills, hurdles and any other forms of physical distraction she could immerse herself in, so her body would be too tired to do anything but sleep.

But even in her sleep, she would, at times, see flashes of neon. And it would be followed not long after by a feeling of a hot heavy pressure on her lips. She could almost instantly feel then invisible pair of arms encircling her waist, imprisoning her in a tight embrace it was almost suffocating. Then she would jerk awake, sweating like a pig. Damn!