Secrets

Chapter 2 : A sucky start to summer

Chapter 2

Jen POV

About 10 minutes after walking up with Riker, I heard a knock on my door, so I went to answer it, but my mom got there before I did.

There was some lady at the door, asking about borrowing coffee filters. She had blonde hair, and I'd never seen her before, so I assumed she was Riker's mom.

I went back to my room, and looked out the window. I could see inside some of Riker's windows. In fact, I could see inside his bedroom. He was hitting his brother with a pillow.

I closed the curtains, and got in bed.

The next day...

Jen POV

My parents had left for work, and I was home alone. It was the second day of summer, and I was hoping it'd be a good day. I was also hoping I wouldn't see any more of Riker. It's not that I didn't like him. I just didn't want a boyfriend, boys sort of made me uncomfortable now, and he was still a stranger to me.

I ate breakfast, got dressed, and decided to go for a walk down to the beach. I just wanted to get some fresh air.

When I got down to the beach, I saw Riker and Rocky from yesterday, sitting at one of the picnic tables.

"What's up, Jen?" Rocky asked.

"Uh... Nothing..."

"Do you want to play cards with us?"

"Uh... I can't. I have things I have to do today."

"Like what?"

"Like cleaning my room and stuff."

"Are you sure you can't play?"

"I'm sure. I was just taking a break, and going for a walk. I have to go back up in a few minutes to continue cleaning..."

"Ok. Maybe we'll see you later."

"Maybe..."

I walked over to the docks, and sat down on the end of it, letting my feet hang in the water. Only about 30 seconds later, I felt footsteps coming closer to me on the dock. I turned around to find Riker.

"Hi!" Riker said, smiling down at me.

"Hi, Riker..."

"We weren't trying to pressure you into playing cards or anything. We were just asking."

"I know..."

"So I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out later today when you're done cleaning your room."

"Um... Why?"

"I don't know... For fun."

"Maybe..."

"Can I ask you something?"

I sighed.

"Sure..."

"Do you not like me or something?"

I looked at him again. He had this guilty look on his face.

"No, it's not that... I just like to be alone a lot of the time..."

"Oh..."

"I should be getting back..."

"Oh, ok. Do you want me to walk you up?"

"No, that's ok."

"Wait! Did you want to hang out later?"

"Maybe..."

Riker sighed.

"Ok..."

I walked back up to my house, not daring to come out again today...

Riker POV

"She's no fun," Rocky said, as I sat down again.

"She just likes to be alone, that's all."

"Well if you want her, you can have her. I take back calling dibs."

I rolled my eyes.

"I want to get to know her. She seems cool," I said, shuffling the cards.

"Whatever, bro."

Later...

Riker POV

I went over to Jen's house to see if she wanted to come hang out. I knocked on her front door, and she answered.

"Hey. I was wondering if you wanted to come hang out."

"Um..."

"Jen, I know you said you like to be alone, but um... I just kind of wanted to get to know you a little..."

"Are we going to be alone, or with your family?"

"Well... Tonight we're having a barbeque, and then we're making smores after that, so we'd be with my whole family. Is that ok?"

Jen sighed.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Cool. Do you want to come over now? We're going to have dinner in about 20 minutes. I can tell dad to make you something if you want."

"Um... I don't know..."

"It'll be fun!"

"Fine. Let me go change first."

"Ok. I'll wait for you."

Jen POV

I changed into some jean shorts, and a tank top. I had been wearing yoga pants before. I went back to the front door, and Riker was still there, smiling.

"Ready?"

"Yeah..."

Riker led me across the street to his house. He introduced me to his siblings, and all their names started with R. I had no idea how he expected me to remember all that. He was lucky I remembered his name.

Later...

Jen POV

Tonight wasn't actually as bad as I thought. Riker and his siblings weren't too annoying. I stayed sort of close to his sister. Boys just made me feel a little uneasy.

But his sister was pretty cool. Her name was Rydel, and she was super sweet.

Riker had insisted on walking me home, even though I lived 50 feet away, right across the street from him.

The next day...

Jen POV

I was on Facebook, and I saw something my ex had posted. He had written this whole big long paragraph about how great his girlfriend, aka my old best friend, was. And he said he was so glad he'd broken up with me otherwise he would've never met her.

I slammed my laptop shut, wondering why I hadn't unfriended him yet.

I angrily walked out of my room, and into the kitchen.

"Jen, are you ok?" My mom asked.

"No!"

I walked out of the kitchen, and out the door. I went down to the beach, and sat on one of the docks, trying to calm myself down. My ex was part of what caused my stress and anxiety. And sometimes I just needed to take a break from everything, and just relax. It was bad to get myself all worked up over him. He's a jerk, and I shouldn't let him control my life like this.

But I still have feelings for him. And that's what makes this super hard.