A Charming Story

Chapter 12 - Rider: Cleaning the mess I made

When I was in third grade, my class took a field trip to a local beach. Considering we live in the middle of North Carolina, it wasn't a far trip. When we arrived for our day trip, they said I was in a group with Easton and Brynn. My ears perked up when I heard Brynn's name. As she was sitting right beside me, she pinned me against the window, her excitement clearly not contained.

"Easton! Come on!" Brynn shouted at him from the seat right behind ours. At this time in our elementary years, Easton had a little girlfriend. It was often just Brynn and myself as partners. Until Brynn's dad passed away and Easton was there instead of me.

We had an amazing day at the beach, and I can't even remember the educational purpose behind the activity. Brynn's dad was on the trip with us and took several pictures of the three of us. I promise you, we were almost inseparable.

To be frank, that day was my first kiss. I remember it so well because of the girl I kissed. Before you think I became a Casanova at such a young age, let me tell you it was with Brynn.

I smile down at the picture in my lap, of her and I on that day. It's a rare picture because it's just the two of us. Her dad was more than happy to take it. He, of course, didn't know I kissed his only daughter that day.

A knock on my door makes me slide the picture into my desk drawer. If it's my mom, I prepare to be scolded for my messy room. If it's my dad, I prepare to be scolded in any other way.

"Come in." I say. It's neither mom or dad who comes through the door. It's my older sister. She doesn't live here anymore, and neither does my brother. What is she doing knocking on my door?

"Hey. Can we talk?" She asks, hesitantly. She quietly closes the door behind her.

"I guess. What about?" I ask. If one if my parents sent her to do the scolding I will be ticked.

"You and Brynn are becoming friends again, and I'm all for that. Mom and dad... they think... um..."

"They don't like her because she's not rich? Upper class? Yeah, you don't have to tell me that they're upset with that. I knew they would be. Guess what? I don't care about that. Brynn is my best friend and I'm trying not to lose her again."

She blinks, "I... they said to invite her for dinner tonight..."

Oh. Well. Excuse my little rant. Why would they want to do such a thing?

"They want to meet her again, to see how much she's grown, blah, blah, blah. Anyways, they sent me up here to say I'll be joining you and so will Edward. So, it will be an interesting evening. They told me I would probably have to step in a lot, and maybe keep conversation going if someone accidentally offends her."

I wave my hand to cut her off, "They're planning to offend her?"

She rolls her eyes, "They feel like they might, by accident, and so they want to make sure I can cover it."

"Why can't they just apologize? At this point, I don't really want to call Brynn and ask her to come over."

Mauri shrugged and walked out of the room, leaving the decision up to me. I sighed and picked up my phone.

"Hello?" Brynn said into the phone, and I could hear laughter in the background.

"Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to --"

"Dude! Stop messing around! Kathryn will kill you!" She hisses at someone and then replies to me, "Want to what?"

"Is Easton there?" I ask, finding it hard to maintain my disappointment.

"Yeah. And he's trying to get me in major trouble. Easton! I said to stop playing with her stuff -- Oh my. Oh my. Easton did you just break that lamp? Rider, make this quick. I gotta clean up this mess."

I blurt out my sentence, "Do you want to have coffee somewhere?"

She stops yelling at Easton and holds her breath. When I think she's hung up on me, she replies, "Can Easton join?"
"Yes." I wasn't thinking about how he hates my guts. If I gained his trust, I could openly become their friends again. Forget dinner, we could do that some other time.

I didn't know if Easton would actually come. If he did, I wasn't sure how he would act. Was I to expect a baby throwing a fit or a boy ignoring my presence? He wasn't going to play nice, either way.

Just as I sat down at a booth, none other than Kylie Reynolds and Brynn's own step sisters walked up to me. Demi and Scarlet were pretty, but I realized they'd never compare to the natural beauty that Brynn had.

I'm not going to deny the fact that I was planning this party with Brynn to spend time with her. If it meant getting Easton to be my friend, too, I'd do everything in my power to get him to trust me. There was no reason to hate me anymore.

"Well. Looks like we've got the wonderful privilege of having a cup of coffee with Rider Jackson himself." Kylie twirls her hair around her finger, batting her eyelashes. I try to hold back an eye roll.

"Hey Rider." Scarlet throws one hand on her hip. Okay, they're trying to hard to flirt with me. This is sad.

Demi makes the first move, though, and takes a seat beside me. I instantly scoot away but I'm pressed against the wall. Maybe I can just be myself and get them to go away.

"Yeah, I gotta pee, so Imma need you to move." The girls are shocked I would say something so rude, but that was just the beginning. I pushed Demi out of the seat and walked away from the mess.

Instead of going to the bathroom like I said I was going to, I walked out of the store to run into Brynn and, to my surprise, Easton.

Easton let out a low whistle as the coffee seeped into my white t-shirt. Brynn started apologizing for bumping into me, but I waved her off.

"Brynn, it's fine. Um, I'll be waiting out here, though. I'm not going back inside to be pounced on by Kylie." I didn't care about the cool autumn air blowing against my face. Anything was better than being tortured inside.

Brynn's eyes grew wide and she made Easton get her coffee, too. Easton came out of the shop with a look of horror plastered on his face.

"Those girls should be on a leash." He shook his head as I laughed. It was no secret that the two step sisters were scary. If you were a teenage boy their age and attractive in any way, watch out.

"Okay, so I wanted to ask you guys if Forever After was still up for performing at my party in a week?" It was a pathetic excuse at conversation, but I had to have a fake reason for both of them being invited.

"Yeah, we've got all the songs covered. Russ is really excited to sing." Easton said, rolling his eyes at Russ' eagerness.

"Great!" I said, then went back to trying to get the coffee stain out of my shirt.

"Guys, I just want to say I'm sorry." I break the awkward silence.

They share a look before Easton asks, "For what?"

"Being a total jerk these past few years. I ditched you guys and I don't think I have a chance at truly gaining your friendship back, but this is my lame attempt."

Easton sits with his hands in his lap, and I know I've at least got him thinking.

"Rider, it's okay. You're cool with us." Easton is the first to speak, which shocks me. Brynn nods, confirming this.

After a half hour of us talking about school, their band, and my party, I feel like they're really forgiving me.

They start to walk to Easton's car, and I can't help but feel a little jealous that he gets her all to himself so often.

Suddenly Easton runs back to our outside table, where I was just about to step away to throw my trash into the trashcan.

"I forgive you, but don't you dare hurt Brynn. I trust you, but not if you break Brynn's trust." He tells me in a calm, but deathly tone.

"I... I got it. But I would never hurt her... anymore than I have already. I know I've messed up, but if you two have a thing, I'll step back."

He lets out a laugh, which throws me back, "Please. I love her, but we're just best friends."

As he starts to walk away again, I mumble, "Yeah. That's what they all say."