Little Lynch

Riker

I woke up wrapped in Riker's arms, both of us in his bed. I felt... safe. And happy. I grinned at his face, his hands gripping the pillow. And I knew that even though he wouldn't understand, if worse came to worst, I could confide in him to help me. Maybe. But I was tired and needed to get to sleep. I shut my eyes as the world slowly went black and I fell asleep.

"You've really done it now, Rosannah. I've got the chance and you can't get away. Just wait, I hope you've said goodbye to your family because your little sleep is going to last forever. Goodnight, Ro."

I shot upright, breathing heavy and drenched in a mix of sweat and tears.

"Hey, what's wrong?" a groggy voice asked as Riker's hand felt for his glasses.

"I'm fine. It's fine," I said, catching my breath.

"No, your not. Come here." Riker held out his arms and I reluctantly collapsed, overtaken by anxiety and sadness. "You're okay, you're okay. It was only a dream. I promise; I won't let anyone or anything hurt you."

"I know," I replied. Riker rocked me and I felt a lot better. After trying to be strong for so long, I realised that I'm really not. But there was nothing I could do about it so I had better embrace it. "Thanks, Rike. You really are one of the best brothers ever."

"I love you, Rosannah."

"I love you, too." I fell back onto the bed and fell asleep.

• • •

"Ro!" Someone called. "You have to get up, you have school." I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Riker must have already left because I was alone in his bed. "Ro!"

"I'm coming!" I called. "I'm coming." I slumped out of bed and walked to Rydel's and my room and from there went to my closet. I picked out a lacey white shirt and some jean shorts. I put my hair into a half-up-half-down ponytail and brushed my teeth.

"Rosannah! The bus is going to be here any minute! Get your shoes on, I already made your lunch!" Riker yelled. I ran down the stairs and jumped down the last 3 stairs, grabbed my paper bag ad shoved my shoes on my feet.

"Bye, Rike," I said, hugging him. "Bye Mom, bye Dad!" I called as I walked out the front door. Everyone else was in the basement playing video games, probably. I ran down the footpath to the corner and waited with the other kids for the bus. Shoot. Dylan. I sighed and tried to blend in. It didn't work.

"Hey, Rosie!" he said, walking towards me.

"It's Rosannah." I corrected, turning away from him.

"Hey, why are you being like that? You're cute, ya know."

"You're girlfriend's right there, asshole."

"But I want you."

"Leave me alone," I snapped.

"Babe, why do you hate me? You're so cute, why don't you come to my house tonight?"

"Stop!" I yelled, walking towards the other girls who just pushed me away. I ran to my house. I shoved the door open and Riker ran over to me, on the phone.

"I'm going to need to call you back," he said to the phone. "Okay, alright. Okay, see ya. Bye." He turned his attention towards me. "Baby, what's wrong?" he asked, kneeling down to be level with me.

"Dylan. I don't want to be near him. Please don't make me go back."

"What did he do?"

"I-I don't want to talk about it."

"Just tell me, Ro. I'll try to help and support you so you can be happy."

"He just creeps me out, like, telling me I'm cute and he already has a girlfriend and when I asked him to stop, he told me to come to his house tonight. The other girls are just jealous."

"Okay, let's stay here today and see what tomorrow brings, alright?" I nodded. "Wanna draw with me?" I smiled.

"Yeah!"