Believable (r.a.l.)

Chapter Fifty

Riker's POV
"Where are we going?" I ask Justine chuckling.

"Just take a right up here and park the car. You'll know where I'm taking you soon enough," she replies.

For the entire day my girlfriend hasn't told me a thing about her plans of what we were doing after school. This morning she just comes up to me to make sure I'm free for the rest of the day. Throughout the breaks between classes I bugged her to give me some hints but she changes the subject. I have absolutely no clue on where she is having us go. She even told me directions on where to drive. But now I'm assuming we are walking the rest of the way so I would have less of an idea on what's going on.

When the car is parked, we each get out. I walk to the front of my car and wait for her to come along. Once by my side, Justine takes my hand and pulls me up the sidewalk.

"Not even one clue?" I beg a little. She just shakes her head and continues leading me on.

I have parked my car on a quiet street away from the busy traffic filled roads. We are on the outskirts of the city where it's not as hectic. One one side of us are the streets with the few cars riding along and the sidewalks full of pedestrians. On the other side is a small park with trees scattered around. It forms into a hill and a single winding road runs through. Justine leads us along the main sidewalk until the next block. Now in front of us is the curvy road.

"We've gotta walk all the way up there?" I point up to the top of the hill and raise an eyebrow at Justine.

"Mhm, that's our destination."

As the two of us make our way to the top, I start to recognize the scenery. Now that I'm higher up, if I look to the side I am able to look out to the ocean. Down below in the distance is Venice beach.

"Now I know where we are," I say aloud once we stop at the top. I'm looking around, picking out the differences of how it looked when I was here last. "I brought you here in November. This is where I gave you the pick necklace."

When I look back down at Justine she grins, nodding.

I look out towards the ocean again, admiring the view. Hands tucked in my jean pockets I make my way over to the edge of the cliff. Justine follows my pursuit as I am sitting down. She sits down as well, getting comfortable leaning against me. We both look out at the horizon.

"So why are we here?" I finally ask.

"First off, I wanted to apologize for coming on too strong Friday night," she says quietly. "My intended actions were not very smart... You were right to stop it," she admits.

"Baby you have nothing to feel bad about. If we didn't have this situation with aging then.." I hesitate. Would I have been all for it? I don't know. I thought of our first time being more romantic, and having more of a purpose. Not doing it in her bedroom just because she was bored of studying.

I don't complete my thought. I stop speaking but Justine looks up at me, her eyes curious. Why did I even start to say that? How can I explain?

"Justine.." I sigh, not knowing what to say. I look away so I don't have to see the hurt in her eyes.

"You didn't want to anyway," she assumes, speaking in a small voice.

"No, Justine, of course I did," I quickly say, trying to mend this.

She doesn't speak for a minute. She just stares at me, searching my eyes. She sighs and looks away, relaxing into me again. She lies her head on my shoulder and I wait for her to speak again.

"I brought you up here to ask you to the dance," Justine announces bluntly changing the subject. "I wanted it to be special like it would be if it were prom. So instead of just asking at school or just when we are hanging out, I thought of this place."

"I'd love to go to the dance with you, Justine. I'd be honored." I give her a small smile. But it looks now she's not in the mood to be enthusiastic.

I sigh and look out at the water again, staying silent. The two of enjoy the silence and watching the activity down below as well as watching the clouds drift by above. As we sit there the sky changes its color as the sun dips lower toward the horizon.

My eyes are closed and I'm listening to the faint sound of the crashing waves when my phone begins to ring. Justine sits up quickly, looking around. She must've fallen asleep.

"Sorry about that," I apologize, taking out my phone. I look at who it is calling me to see Liane's name and number. I decline the call, annoyed that I keep getting calls whenever I'm enjoying time with Justine. And by her expression I can tell she is too. Right after I put the phone back in my pocket, it starts ringing again. I take it out to see Liane's name once more. Sighing, I stand up, excusing myself to answer the phone once I'm a few feet away.

"What do you want Liane? I'm sort of in the middle of something," I half yell into the phone. All I hear on the other side is little whimpers and sniffling. "Liane?" I ask, I a little bit more concerned.

"I'm sorry, Riker," she finally replies sniffling once more. "I just needed a friend. You can go back to Justine if you want."

How she knew what I was doing had to do with Justine, I have no clue. But I stop Liane from hanging up, curious on why she's crying.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"Cameron dumped me," she lets out before she starts to sob.

"But.. But why?" I inquire, completely dumbfounded. I glance over at Justine who watches me curiously from where we were sitting. I turn away and speak again, "did he have a reason?"

"He-he said I wasn't into him. But I am."

When she says that, I'm struck speechless. What the hell would make him think that? Liane is loyal. If she weren't into him, she wouldn't waste her time with him.

"C-can you c-come over?" She asks after I don't speak.

I twist my body to look back at Justine again and bite my lip, unsure of what to say. I want to support my friend but I don't know how Justine will feel about me ditching her for this; for Liane.

"Yeah okay," I decide. "I will be there as soon as I can," I say into the phone and hang up.

As I walk back over to Justine she stands up, already looking upset with me as if she knows that I'm about to leave her. I step in front of her and take her hands in mine.

"I've gotta go," I say.

"Where? Why?" She interrogates me, holding my hands tighter, obviously not wanting me to leave.

Here goes.

"To Liane's. She needs comforting at the moment and she asked me to make her feel better. She asked for a friend."

Justine's cheeks turn a little pink and her brows crease. "Well can't she ask another friend?"

"She asked me, Justine. If she wanted to ask another friend for help, she would have. I knew you'd be upset me leaving. But wouldn't you have left if Hannah needed you in the middle of spending time with me?" Justine doesn't answer. "Yeah, that's what I thought. You'd do anything for your best friend. Liane is mine, so I have to go. But I really am sorry to cut this short," I finish.

"Fine. Go. I don't care." My girlfriend turns away from me and starts walking back to the edge of the rock. "I'll find my own way home."

I sigh, shaking my head. There's nothing I can do about her right now. So I take the trip back to my car alone and get in, ready to get to Liane.

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A/N getting close to the end

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Happy reading! -Bethany