The Better Life

Chapter 20- Cheater Cheater....

.

.

.

.

I ran outside and quickly sat on a lawn chair. How could he do this? How could I have been so stupid not to have seen it? Whenever we talked about Danni, he became uneasy and stiff if I talked bad about her. He would watch her in the hallways with an expression on his face I could never read. But now I see that it was longing. Longing to go up to her and show affection to her, instead of me. Which brings up a brand new question, if Matt was dating Danni this whole time why did he ask me to be his girlfriend? I don't know why I'm freaking out so much since I didn't like him anyway. But he still cheated. Oh was he in for a rude awakening on Monday...

I woke up this morning feeling just a little devious. Maybe it was when I looked in the mirror it looked as if I was growing devil horns. He cheated on me and you never cheat on Riley Carmell. No matter how hard he'll try to deny it, I know the truth.

I pulled on a pair of shorts and one of my shirts I used to use for when I painted when I was like five. I ruffled my hair around and applied a little eyeliner and mascara, Matt's favourite look on me. Tanner's too... if he saw me maybe it would just be a bonus.

"Whoa, trying to surprise the boyfriend are we now?" My dad stood in the doorway.

"Oh," I smiled, "He'll be surprised all right."

My dad smiled and kissed my forehead. "Well, I'm glad to see you're back to functioning properly. Have the nightmares stopped?"

I looked over at my dad then back at the mirror. The nightmares are an uneasy topic for me, since they took over my dreams since the crash. "Yeah. They finally stopped."

"Good." He left and I stood in the mirror.

If only he knew what the nightmares were about.

I went downstairs and noticed Wilson was sitting on the couch with a girl. The girl's back was to me so all I could see was my brother's over joyed expression. He wrapped a lock of the girl's black hair around his finger and twirled it like he could sit there and do that all day. She must have said something because his head snapped up. He smiled shyly and kissed her- I've seen too much!

I slapped the wall with my hand and ran into the kitchen slamming into Tanner. I felt bubbly and light when I looked into his eyes and tried not to look mesmerized.

"You okay Ri?" He chuckled.

"I just saw Wilson!" I whispered.

"Yeah, and?"

"He was kissing! A girl!"

"So what if he was kissing Natalie? They've gotten pretty close over the past few weeks. I thought you knew." He leaned against the counter and then placed his index finger my chin. "Yet you and I seem to be growing apart." He says, in a terrible fake British accent.

I slapped his hand away, fighting the electricity bolting through me. "Natalie? That was Natalie?" I turned to look behind me and then had an epiphany. "Oh my gold! It was!"

Tanner shook his head and grabbed the orange juice out of the fridge and drank it from the carton.

"Ugh," I complained. "At least get a glass."

"Too lazy." He said gulping down the last of the juice. "Um, you need more juice."

"Hum, I wonder why." I grabbed the glass he should have used and poured water into it. I felt him place his hand on my waist and I turned around, glass in hand. Tanner was standing close, very close.