The Artificial Bad Boy

T w e n t y T w o || tutor me

"Today," I chirped. "We are going to go hiking!"

The other side of the phone was dead silent, not a peep. I waited for an answer while tapping my feet on the floor, however, there was absolutely no response. My eyebrows furrowed, why is he so quiet? I was starting to get worried, was he mugged. What the fucks happening?

Finally, there was an answer. "Are you serious?"

I laughed nervously, "why? Is there something wrong with it? We can take pictures of nature, it'll be great for your portfolio." Besides, nature was so calming and pretty. I was positive Cole would like a little fresh air, away form all the pollution.

"Nah, there is nothing wrong," he said.

I smile in triumph. I couldn't wait to take pictures of the trail, the trees, the lake, and maybe if I was lucky - animals. Last time I went, I had taken a picture of a cute little squirrel. Okay, I guess it's not that impressive considering the fact that squirrels were present in our neighborhoods but it was something. Besides, it was eating food - so cute. 

"Good. Bring the camera, a water bottle, wear appropriate clothing, and remember to bring your running shoes. I'll bring the food and everything else we need," I instructed. I could hear a grunt through the phone, signaling that Cole heard everything I said. 

I sighed of happiness. "I can't wait!"

"You are so weird."

"Whatever pal, just come out of your house at one ay?"

"Okay."

I was glad that Cole didn't oppose of my idea. I expected him to be somewhat against going out hiking since he didn't seem like an outdoors type of guy. But hey, maybe he became willing to try more things. After all, he did go to a party with me, had his first kiss, and "socialised" more than ever. He can probably become a whole "earth" guy after this, who knows, he might join a eco council of some sort.

Okay, I'm stretching it but you guys get the idea.

I crossed my legs, as I thought on my bed. I mentally made a list of the things I needed to bring for the trip. I knew where everything was but the food part bothered me. Maybe I should have let Cole bring food since he is the cook in the friendship. Alas, it would be rude to ask him to bring it considering I'm forcing him to come in the first place.

I sighed, I wonder how much the supermarket's sandwiches cost? I mean, if you weighed the pro's and con's of me cooking, it's better not to get food poisoning.

This was going to be a great trip, I know it.

- 

Cole was going to be here, and I was pretty ecstatic. I was ready to exercise for once and take some wicked pictures of our wonderful mother earth. I placed my own camera in the travel bag to carry around with me. I sat down on my black leather couch, sitting near the window where I could see the outside.

I tapped my feet together in anticipation while I stared at my ceiling in boredom. My arm was on the arm rest and my head was leaning on my hand. As I said before, I was not a patient person.

Finally, I heard the sound of a car, I turned to the window to see Cole's car waiting in front of my house. He opened the passenger window and searched for me by leaning towards the window. We finally made eye contact through the window and he smiled, waved, and signaled me to come in.

I quickly stood up, walked out the door, onto the front yard of my house. I had a huge smile on my face, for some odd reason, while walking towards the car. I opened the door and stepped right in, plunging myself onto the seat.

I turned towards Cole, "hey."

He smiled. "Hi Riley."

Cole was sporting his sporty black shorts (the one he seemed to wear often), and a blue V-neck shirt made out of sporty material. He looked ready to play any sport really. We made small eye-contact, one that made me feel butterflies all over my stomach.

"So, where exactly is this place?" He asked me, turning on his GPS.

I thought for a moment. "It's at Grover's Peak."

He pressed on the petal and the car began to move south, towards our destination. There was some song playing from the radio, consisting of a casually back beat and some high pitched male wailing. 

"Let's turn on another song shall we?" I recommended. Before he could answer, I immediately turned the knob and switched the radio station. It was still a modern radio station, but it didn't play the wailing guy. 

Cole laughed, "why? You didn't like that song?"

I nodded as I placed my head against the glass window. "Yeah, not my favorite type of voice."

"By the way," I began. 

"You are so good at football."

Cole laughed, "aren't I?"

I pumped my right fist up in the air as I jumped up from my seat slightly. Of course, I regretted it immediately as the pain surged through my hand from the impact of the car ceiling. Nevertheless, I acted as the impact did not hurt me and continued to sport my wondrous smile. 

"I'm not even kidding, like you were too good."

"Do you even know what's good and what's bad in football Riley?" Cole asked as he steered the wheel right onto the main road. 

"Okay, I don't know the sport at all. After all, the only thing I can remember from football is that you through this ball thing and you tackle each other. Oh! And you have to run and go over a line or something."

Cole shook his head in disbelief with a small smile on his face.

"But... Everyone was cheering for you and that is always a good sign! Plus, compliments are always nice and I thought I should address this subject."

Cole laughed, "you are one weird girl."

"No, I'm one weird girlfriend," I corrected him.

Then my mind corrected me, weird fake girlfriend. I shook it off however, because deep down I knew that I liked him. And someday, I was going to have to confess my true feelings. After all, I'm Riley Lucero and I knew that with Cole in the picture, anything could happen.

I am so sorry for the short update but I haven't posted in forever and I needed to post something. Thank you for believing in me and continuing to read this book! I've just been struggling with anxiety a lot this year for some odd reason and even logging on to wattpad has been a challenge for me. I'm not sure why, but the thought of wattpad equals to responsibility. And that's essentially something that really makes me scared to log on again. Crazy right? Idk, the human mind is weird.

But please do like and and comment your thoughts on the book so far! I hope to update soon.