Pretty Please - Riley McDonough Fanfiction

Chapter 5

Riley's POV

I slammed the door close. I had a feeling that if anyone would say one word to me I would explode. Anger bubbled inside me. Why had I left? She had clearly been upset. All I had tried to do was to help her. I was about to hit the wall in frustration, when Connor walked to the corridor.

I pushed my hair back and smiled at him. "Hey, how's that song?"

"Good, but we still need to work on it..." He looked at my face, then to my hands. "I thought you went to get coffee."

I nodded. "I did but..." I couldn't come up with a good explanation, so I just walked past him to my room and closed the door.

"Okayyy..." Connor said slowly and left. I pressed my ear against the door to make sure he was gone. I knew I had to calm down. I went to take a cold shower.

As the cold water ran across my skin, my thoughts started to run in my head like they were supposed to.

Gosh, I was an idiot.

Was I really that stupid that I had left her alone? Because of what? I had been annoyed? I didn't even know.

I ran back downstairs. Toby and Connor came to the lobby were I was putting my shoes on in a rush.

"Hey, man", Connor said as he leaned to the doorway. "If something's wrong, maybe you should talk about it."

Toby nodded.

I ran my fingers through my wet hair and looked up. "I don't want to talk, okay?"

"We're just worried about you." Toby frowned. His eyes followed me when I grabbed my coat and opened the front door.

I said across my shoulder: "Don't be."

I felt bad that I had been so rude to my brothers, but right now I had bigger things to be worried about.

I was so busy driving that I almost didn't notice the girl walking on the sidewalk. I slowed down and saw that she in fact was Avery. Her eyes were red and hair a mess. I stopped the engine and opened the window on her side. She looked a little scared before she realized it was me.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She shook her head.

I pushed the door open. "Come."

She froze for a second before climbing into the car. Running fingers through her hair she sighed as I started the engine again.

"Do you want me to take you home, or...?" I said quietly.

"No." I glanced at her. She was starting the road without blinking.

I didn't know what to say to that so I kept driving. I drove without a destination, trying to figure out what I should say.

She spoke first. "I'm sorry," she chuckled awkwardly. "I'm a mess."

"It's okay. But... Do you want to talk?"

"I don't know. How do I know that you won't go tell someone stories about my sad life?" From the corner of my eye I saw her looking at me.

"If it's as pathetic as you make it sound, what is there to tell?"

She grinned. "Thanks a lot. My life is kind of risky too."

"Why is that?"

"I'm in a car with a guy I've met, what, three times? You could be a total freak."

"I probably am, but hey. Do I really look like a psychotic axe-murderer?"

"I really can't say. Aren't the most attractive ones usually the crazy ones?"

I looked at her and saw her blushing. My cheeks flushed too. "I don't know", I muttered. I cleared my throat. "Where will I drive you?"

"Umm... Even though I'm so sick of coffee right now, I need a cup of it."

"Okay."

When we got our coffees, we sat down to the corner-table. She rubbed her arm in awkwardness and glanced at me.

I thought a good thing to open the conversation but nothing came to me. I kept opening my mouth and the closing it after a second. That's when I realized Avery was watching me with a grin on her face. "What?" I asked, blushing.

"You look like a fish doing that", she laughed.

I smiled at that. It was good that I at least made her laugh. "Thanks."

"No problem." She looked at her hands on her lap. "Would it be easier for you if I talked first?"

I nodded. I was used to talk to Connor, Toby, my parents and some friends, but not really anyone else. Yes, we had interviews and things like that, but that stuff was never about me or them. It was about the band and music.

"Okay..." She paused for a second. "I was already a bit upset before you came."

"I know."

"You know? And you still left me there?!" she said, raising her voice.

I grimaced. "I'm sorry. I was just excited to see you and then you were unhappy and it made me feel like you didn't want to see me at all."

"If I remember correctly the first thing I did was smiling when you came."

I put my coffee down and sighed. "Like I said, I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do."

"Yeah... I'm a little hard to talk to when I'm pissed."

"Really? I haven't noticed", I said my voice full of sarcasm.

She smiled a little bit. "Yes. Anyways, my friend had made my crazy earlier and then that coffee burned my hand and I just... I snapped. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I'm sorry too", I said with a little smile on my lips, hoping that we were now okay. I didn't want her to be mad at me. "So we're fine?"

"Yeah." She flashed me a smile and my heart skipped a beat. She stood up and asked carefully: "Could you, if it's possible, give me a ride home?"

"Of course." I jumped up and followed her out the door to the parking lot. After opening her door I climbed in from my side.

I followed her directions to her house. She lived in a small house, outside the city. I stopped the car to the driveway and watched as she opened the door. "I see you tomorrow!" I yelled before she closed the door.

She turned around and opened it again. "It kind of depends. Will you come after 5?"

Oh, I hadn't thought of that. Of course she had classes or something in the morning. Still, I nodded slowly. "I guess I can drink coffee in the afternoon as well."

"Isn't 5 in the early evening?" she asked laughing and slammed the door closed.

"Not to me..." I mumbled and shook my head.