Back To Basics

Chapter 2 - "He's Everywhere"

The first day of school was officially over. Riley finally felt like she could breathe. She didn't make any plans and didn't have any homework so she decided to walk around and get reacquainted with the city again. She wandered into a couple of clothing shops, grabbed a bite to eat and on her way home she stopped in front of an antique store. There in the window were beautiful vibrant paintings, a small forest colored chair with gold tassels hanging off the arm rests and a large pile of tattered books that were embossed with roman numerals. But what really caught her attention was the vintage type-writer that was pushed off center towards the side wall. It had a glossy black finish, black and red decals and the word ROYAL was marked across the top. She crouched down on her knees to get a better look at it. A small card next to it read 'Popular workhorse in beautiful condition! Date Of Manufacture: 1926. Price - $1,450.00.' Her eyes grew wide in disbelief. She has wanted a legitimate type writer since she was 10 years old. However, she had no idea it'd be this expensive. "14 hundred dollars HA" she scoffed.

"What's so funny?" She heard a voice right next to her say, causing her to jump. It was Lucas Friar. The tall blonde smiled at her reaction.

"The price of this" Riley answered gesturing to the type writer.

Lucas nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah its pretty steep...but I mean, it's a working 1926, what'd you expect?"

She stared at him for a minute with a confused expression on her face. "Where did you even come from?"

Lucas gave her a little smirk, tilting his head to the side. "Well, my family's originally from Texa..."

"No.."She cut him off, "No, no I meant just now. I would've saw you walking up to me."

"I don't know you were staring pretty intensely...besides, I was inside.Thought I might come out and say hi to my lab partner." He replied in amusement.

"Came out of where?" Riley glanced around trying to make sense of what he was saying.

Lucas laughed again, this time walking over to open the door of the antique shop. "Came out of here."

Riley followed him inside and immediately walked over to where the type writer was. Lucas stood behind her leaving very little personal space.

"You know I could get you a really good discount on that." He said squatting down to meet her gaze.

"You work here?!" For some odd reason Riley couldn't imagine Lucas Friar working a part time job. Especially at a place like this.

Lucas held up four fingers and wiggled them in Riley's direction. "Four years this Christmas." His voiced dwindled. "I like it... it's not too over populated y'know. It's more...intimate...This place means a lot to me.I have a special connection to it" He looked at Riley intently, waiting for a response.

It wasn't until she looked up that she realized nobody else was inside the store. It was just her and Lucas, standing in a poorly lit shop, surrounded by beautifully worn down possessions. Riley tried not to romanticize the situation. But looking at him made it hard not to.

"Who knew Lucas Friar was so self-effacing and sentimental." She teased.

"Who knew Smiley Riley knew such big grown up words." He retorted,putting emphasis on 'grown up.' It wasn't until her face dropped that he realized he made a mistake. Riley grabbed her bags off the counter and headed for the door. "h-hey Riley come on I was just joking." Lucas called after her.

She turned to face him, "Here's a few more. You're still the same condescending, pretentious jerk that everyone thinks you are." And with that she stormed out.

Right before she reached the subway station she got a text. It was from Charlie. 'Hey Riles if you're not doing anything tonight you should come over and hang. We still have to catch up some more.' Riley was still upset about what happened with Lucas but she still didn't want to go home yet so she texted back letting him know she was on her way.

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Riley remembered visiting Charlie's house a few times when they were little and it was only ever for his birthday. Standing there inside felt a bit nostalgic. She almost expected the hallway to smell like birthday cake. Charlie greeted her with a big hug and told her to follow him into the kitchen. Their house still looked the same. Charlie's mom was standing by the stairs talking on her phone, she waved at them when they entered the room, gesturing for her to take a seat.

After she hung up she walked over and gave Riley a small hug. "It's so good to see you again hon. How's your mom and dad?"

"Oh their good." She swatted the air. "Hey I hear congratulations are in order. Charlie told me you got remarried." Riley said glancing down at his mom's hand.

"Oh, yeaah." She said modestly, showing off her ring. "It's been about 4 years now."

The three of them had a little bit of a chit chat before Charlie's mom excused herself. "I've gotta get going but you guys have fun, order some Pizza but make sure you leave some for your brother, okay?" She gave Charlie a kiss on the cheek and was on her way.

"You have a brother?" Riley asked inquisitively.

"Step brother." Charlie insisted.

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Half a pizza and a long overdue catch-up later, Riley realized it was getting late. She already let her parents know she was at a friends house but that didn't change their rule about being back in the house before dark. Charlie walked her back downstairs to the kitchen. Behind her she could hear keys jingling and the front door opening. She figured it was Charlie's step dad coming home. "Are you sure you don't want me to call you a cab? or like an Uber or something? I'll pay.." He asked tugging on the arm of his shirt. Riley knew she'd be late if she took the subway but she didn't feel comfortable taking money from Charlie.

Before she could answer him she felt someone brushing past her to get inside. When she looked she couldn't believe what she saw. Standing there in all his flannel glory was none other than Lucas Friar. Her jaw hung slightly in astonishment. He's everywhere she thought to herself.

Riley turned back to Charlie giving him a look like 'what the hell'.

"Lucas this is Riley. Riley..my step brother Lucas." Charlie gritted his teeth, introducing the two.

Lucas had a smug look on his face. "Yeah, we've got chemistry."

"Biology. We have biology together." She corrected him.

Lucas tossed his book bag on the counter and looked out the window. "It's getting dark. You need a ride home?"

Without letting her answer, Charlie chimed in and said it'd be great. He and Riley said goodnight and made plans to meet at their lockers after first period.

On the ride home neither one of them said a word. Riley could feel the tension rising. She could also feel Lucas' eyes burning a hole through her head with how hard he was staring at her.

"Eyes on the road, please." She mumbled quietly.

"Yes sir." He said quickly nodding his head.

After 10 minutes of awkward silence they finally arrived at Riley's place. Lucas reached out and touched her arm before she opened the door. With sincerity he said, "Look, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean to offend you..And I know how much you hate being called Smiley Riley I just..." His thought trailed off.

"You think I was upset because you called me Smiley Riley?" She asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"No?" He wasn't too sure if she was being serious or not.

"I don't like when people talk down to me. Like I'm some dumb kid."

"Oh, I'm.." He started...

"It's fine. Just forget it." Riley climbed out of his truck and shut the door behind her. "Have a good night, Friar."

Lucas couldn't figure out why this was such a touchy subject with her and then he remembered what happened in 7th grade...