I Can't Cope (COMPLETED)

Chapter 23 - Riley

We continue to walk out of the studio and out towards the bus stop. Michelle looks at me.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"Yeah." I reply. "Just a bit worried about James, that's all..."

"Yeah. But whatever it is, it'll be alright. He's got you." Michelle says and smiles at me, leaning on the bus shelter. I smile back, then look down.

"But what if I can't help him?" I mumble.

"Riley, it'll be fine. Stop worrying!"

"Okay..."

We both fall silent for a moment. I find myself reading the bus timetable even though I know it off by heart - I've used the bus enough times. To get to the studio mainly, but also other times, like when me and Emily used to go shopping with Mum... Not that that happens much anymore, Mum doesn't ever seem to have the time, and Emily... well, I'm not sure about Emily, I would say it's because her knee isn't up to it, but I'm not sure how it is at the moment, she hasn't mentioned it for a while...

"Is your solo ready?" Michelle asks, taking me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, almost." I say, turning to face her. "I'm going to practise again tomorrow though, if Giselle lets me."

"Yeah, I reckon she will." Michelle says, getting on the bus, which has now arrived, and finding a seat. I follow her. "She's a good dance captain and if she knows you need that rehearsal time, she'll give it to you."

"Yeah..." I say. "Hopefully she will let me, I want my solo to be the best it can be!"

"I'm sure it will be!" Michelle says, smiling.

I smile back, despite the fact Michelle's excessive smiling is now kinda getting on my nerves. I get out my phone to text James.

What happened?? I ask him.

He doesn't reply straight away, not that I'm expecting him to, he's probably busy with whatever is going on.

I turn to look out the window. Emily will probably be with Hunter when I get back. As much as I'm happy it's going well between them, I hope she doesn't agree to anything stupid, like agreeing to him being her boyfriend again after only seeing him one time after months apart. I really don't want her to rush into things, because he might have changed since she last saw him.

When Hunter was at The Next Step he was a pretty nice guy, and they were happy together until the Amanda thing, so it would be good if he was still a nice guy because Emily's been thinking he is... But if he isn't, and he's just leading her on, then... then he'll have several people coming for him!

Michelle gets up from her seat next to me.

"My stop's coming up so I'll see you later... Are you sure you're okay?"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well earlier, you seemed a bit odd and then now you've been very quiet..."

I stop. Seriously? I'm always like this. Over-analytical of small things. Expecting the worst. Keeping walls up. I don't particularly like it, but that's me.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Michelle." I say, looking up at her.

"Okay..." she says. "Well... text me." she adds, walking off to the doors at the side of the bus.

I wait to get off a few stops later, getting off a couple of stops earlier than usual. I'm in the mood for walking, and also I guess you could say I'm not exactly rushing to get home! Hunter's probably still going to be there, so I won't be able to talk to Emily on her own. Also, Mum and Dad are probably still working, which means I'll probably just go upstairs to my room and stay there all evening.

I walk along the street, passing all the uniform houses with their little tidy gardens. It's just started to rain, and no one's around. Even though it's only light rain, it still makes me shiver as it runs down my back - I'm only wearing my dance jacket, not a proper coat. I start to speed up a bit, trying not to get too wet, because I know I'll just take ages to dry, and I really can't be bothered to deal with that right now. The rain gets heavier and I put up my hood.

After a few minutes, I turn into our street and rush to the door. I quickly fumble for my key in my bag, trying to find it before I get soaked. I find it and thrust it into the lock and open the door. Seeing a light coming from under the kitchen door, I close the front door behind me, kick my shoes off and walk slowly towards the kitchen, trying not to drip everywhere.

I open the door and firstly see Hunter, who's grown so much since I last saw him. Opening the door further, I see he's standing in front of Emily, who now seems tiny compared to him. And, oh my god, my brain's only just registered, they're kissing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not shocked at the kissing, just the fact they're already kissing again! I lean back, closing the door slightly, hoping neither of them saw me. But as soon as I do, I hear Emily's voice.

"Riley?"

I stop. The next thing I know, Emily's beside me in the hallway. I look at her. She's practically radiating happiness and she evidently can't keep the smile off her face.

"Yeah?" I ask emotionlessly.

"Don't think I didn't see you!" Emily laughs.

"I didn't. I just thought I'd leave you to it..." I say grumpily. I look away. Emily takes my hand.

"Hey, Ri, what's up?" she says.

"Nothing..." I reply, snatching my hand back.

"Riley..."

I take a deep breath.

"Okay, well how would you like it if you had walked home in the pouring rain, looking forward to getting home in the hope that you might get to talk to your sister, and acknowledge the fact she actually seems to be happy for once, even though her knee is always troubling her-"

"But-" Emily tries to interrupt me.

"No, Em, I haven't finished! You can't fool me, I've seen the way the painkillers in the cupboard are always disappearing, the way you grimace every time you stand up, all those fake smiles. I don't want you to get hurt even more by a stupid guy who probably doesn't even like you anyway!" I say, getting louder and louder. "But you know what?! Go back to someone who hasn't checked up on you, or probably even given a damn about you for over half a year! You go back to snogging your stupid boyfriend, I don't care!"

I know he's not her boyfriend, but he might as well be, she's probably going to make the stupid decision of asking him to be soon enough!

Emily stares at me, shocked.

"I really don't know what to say to you Riley!" she says, narrowing her eyes. "How did you even know he was my boyfriend? I was going to tell you soon, and I thought you'd be happy..."

I look at her.

"Wait, what?! He IS your boyfriend?! Are you kidding me?!" I say, shocked. "But what about the whole 'don't rush into things' thing we discussed? What about the 'boys can hurt you' thing we agreed on?" I say, anger building up inside me, wondering how she could be so damn STUPID.

"Riley, the only person who cares about that is you! If you don't take the risk of putting yourself out there, how are you ever going to find ANYONE? And besides, if you're going to say that, you have to practise what you preach, sister! You say guys can hurt you and you act as if you don't want to let anyone in, but then you go and have James as your flipping BOYFRIEND! How does that work?!" Emily shouts back.

I open my mouth to reply, but give up.

"You know what?! Forget it!" I reply, stomping off upstairs.

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There's chapter 23! Hope you liked it! Further drama still to come... ;)

The amount of support for the previous chapter was almost unbelievable, it made me so happy! :D Please keep it up, I really appreciate it :)

I'm trying hard to update regularly, so now I'm going to go write some more chapters... Stay tuned, the next chapter will be up as soon as possible :D