Just Friends

Chapter 4

I'm at the book store again today. I didn't take my book yesterday so I came back today to continue. Plus it's really quiet here, not that it isn't at home I just won't get interrupted here as often as I would at home.

I look down the isle of books to the door. The bell rings as a girl around my age walks in. She says hello to the receptionist and heads down this isle.

She walks along the books the same way I had, though she seems to know what she's looking for.

"Ah ha!" She pipes, yanking a book off the shelf and walking my way. Doing a double take, she sees me and smiles. "Did you see my excitement?" She asks embarrassedly. I nod and smile. "What are you reading?" She asks as she sits down beside me.

"Love, Aubrey." I say plainly.

"I have yet to read that. I'm about to read this lovely book about teen romance." She giggles.

"Oh, so you're that kind of girl." I joke. She fakes a gasp and brings her hands to her heart.

"How dare you!" We giggle. "I'm Violet." She puts out a hand for me to shake.

"I'm Riley." I smile, shaking her hand.

"You're new here, aren't you?" I nod. "Would you like for me to show you around?"

"Oh, yes please." We walk up to the counter and place our books down. I choose to buy mine while Violet chooses to borrow hers. She grabs a skateboard from beside the counter before we exit that looks very similar to mine. "Nice board."

When we get to my house, there are little to no boxes on the floor anymore. We walk into the kitchen to find Cameron waiting by the stove.

"Hey, buddy. Whatcha doin'?"

"Waiting."

"Ok, I know that. What are you waiting for."

"Oh. I'm making cookies because mom told me I needed to do something." He smiles.

"Mmm." I rub my stomach. "Cameron, this is Violet. Violet, this is my little brother, Cameron."

"It's very nice to meet you." She says as he takes her hand and kisses it. "Gentleman." She smiles.

"Come on." I say, turning around and walking toward the stairs.

Up in my room, I grab my board from my closet.

"Woah..." Violet's eyes widen.

"Pretty similar, aren't they?" I smile.

When we walk back downstairs, my mom stands looking around the living room.

"Whatcha doin, mom?" She jumps a little before turning to face us.

"Oh, I was just thinking about how to set things up. Who's this?"

"This is my new friend Violet. Violet, this is my mom, Laura." They quickly hug.

"It's very nice to meet you, Violet." Mom rubs Violet's back.

"It's nice to meet you too."

"Mom, Violet here is going to show me around town today."

"Oh, of course. That's very nice of you."

After saying goodbye, we get on our boards on the road.

"Seeing you like skating, I'm taking you to the best place to hang out." She smiles. Her hair, I realize now, it's pulled up so I didn't notice before, her hair is black and the tips are red like flames. "It occasionally has parties, it's right next to the beach, oh and I have to introduce you to my best friend, Michael. We call him Mikey, though. Like the ninja turtle, you know? When we were kids, he used to wear an orange mask and he'd skate around all the time. He asked his mom one day if he could have nun-chucks but she told him no. He's a great guy and so is his friend Tyler."

"Best friend, huh?" I smirk.

"Yes, Riley. Best friend." She smiles and speeds up a bit. I speed up too, passing her. "You don't even know where you're going." She giggles.

"Well then, why don't you show me instead of talking down about your crush."

"I wasn't talking down about-"

"You called him your best friend." She rolls her eyes and goes ahead of me. I race to keep up with her.

When we arrive, a few girls approach us.

"Hey, Vi. Who's this little thing?"

"Her name is Riley. She's one of us."

"Looks like she's more like you."

"Well sure. She likes to read rather than make out with guys, but some people do." The girl that's been talking smiles devilishly.

"I'm Casey." She reaches out a hand. I grab it and shake.

"Nice to meet you." I smile.

"See ya around, Vi. You to Riley." Violet breaths out.

"Now that that's over, follow me."

"Hey, Mikey!!" A boy at the top of the ramp looks over at us, smiles and slides down the ramp to us.

"Hey Vi. Who's the newbie?" He smirks.

"Michael, this is Riley."

"Well Riley, welcome to South Carolina." He smiles and puts an arm around my shoulders. Before he says another word I mention someone.

"I was told to ask about Tyler." Mikey smirks at me.

"Someone already has a crush." He ruffles my hair. I've known him for, what a minute, and he's already like a big brother to me. "Come on, let's go find him, Vi." And the next thing I know, I'm being flung over his shoulder.

"Ugh." I sigh. "Nice butt."

"Thanks." He laughs.

For the next, what seems like forever, all I see is butt, shoes, and ground. We come to a stop.

"Hey Tyler, I brought you something." Mikey sits me down. I take a deep breath to get rid of my slight headrush and turn.

"Hey!" He says. "You mentioned me."

"Yeah." He smiles

"Hey, meet me back by the entrance by..." Violet pulls out her phone. "By one, ok?"

"Yeah. Wait don't-" Her and Mikey speed off in the opposite direction. "So." I drawl out the 'o'.

"Yeah." He smirks. "Catch me if you can!" He gets on his board and travels away from me.

"You're such a child!" I get on my board and race after him.

☆☆
Have you ever rode on a skateboard with someone?

Well, that's the reason why it's 1:20 and Violet has texted me several times.

We finally got the hang of it though. I'm on the front which is hard because, what do I hold onto? I've wrapped my arms around Tyler's waist, reaching behind me. He told me it was ok, so I did it. My fingers are hooked through his beltloops.

We get to the entrance where Mikey and Violet stand. I smile wider than I already was, if that's even possible and Mikey waves.

"You're late." Violet says. My eyes widen but my smile remains.

"Sorry, we were trying to get this." We laugh. I slip my fingers out of his beltloops before stepping off of his board. He hands me mine.

"Thanks for the fun." He says.

"Anytime." I smile.

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Do you ever wish these kinds of relationships actually happen?

Thanks!