Back To Basics

Chapter 5 - "She's not a toy"

After her fight with Josh last night the last thing Riley wanted was to go to school. She wasn't in the mood to put on a fake smile and pretend that she was happy to be there. Nonetheless she got dressed and left 20 minutes earlier than she needed to. There was hardly any kids at school at this time, mostly just staff. She still had a half an hour before class so she found a spot in the back of the library and got cozy with a book she started reading last night. She was halfway through Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights." The Bronte sisters were some of her favorite authors, along with Jane Austen and Hemingway. She kept reading and came across this quote "He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." Hm. She takes a highlighter out from her bag and highlights the passage. Yeah, I like that, she says to herself.

"Is it a good one?"

She peaks up from her book and sees Charlie standing there with a goofy grin on his face. "I'll let you know when I finish." She answers, patting the carpet next to her, inviting him to join.

Charlie sits down and leans in so he can read over her shoulder.

"What are you doing here so early?" Riley asks, closing the book.

"Oh I'm always here this early. My mom drives me on her way to work." He admits, pulling his knees up to his chest.

"Why don't you get a ride with Lucas?" – "I'd really rather not spend any more time with him than I need to."

Riley tries to put two and two together. "Is he really that bad?"

Charlie laughs to himself a little, "We're just really different. He's not my kind of person ya know?"

Riley was a bit concerned. First her brother and now Charlie. She had only spent a few hours with Lucas alone outside of school but he was always really sweet to her. What was she missing?

"Well what kind of person is he?" She asks Charlie as he stands up. The bell for first period rings and more students start entering the library. Charlie shrugs his shoulders in response "I don't know...selfish?" Just as he grabs his book bag off the floor a pretty dark haired girl comes over and kisses him on the cheek. "oh hey, Riley this is Sara" Riley realizes she's still sitting on the floor. "Oh –"She jumps to her feet "Hi, it's nice to meet you finally" The girl looks her up and down and smiles back. "Yeah you too."

The second bell rings.

Riley waves bye to Charlie and his girlfriend and begins to walk to the door. In the corner of her eye she see's Maya and Zay talking in hushed tones to each other. She remembers her fight with Josh and decides it's none of her business and walks straight to class.

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To avoid any unwanted confrontation Riley decides to eat her lunch outside by herself. Unfortunately for her that's where most of the seniors ate. At the table across from her sat Josh, Zay and Lucas. The three of them chowed down on their food, completely oblivious to Riley's presence and that's exactly how she liked it. A few guys came over and sat down with Riley and introduced themselves. Their names were Alex, Stef and Jay. Jay sat across from her and Alex and Stef sat on either side. Riley wasn't used to this kind of attention and she wasn't sure she liked it. She had a couple of boyfriends in California but all that attention at once was making her anxious. The one named Stef kept touching her arm, and Alex helped himself to her food.

"So whats your name?" Jay asked propping his elbows up on the table.
"Riley" She answered, trying to sound polite.

"That's a pretty name." Alex cooed tucking some hair behind her ear. Riley's anxiety was boiling inside her, she felt like she was about to pass out. There was two staff members sitting idly by as the boys prodded for her attention. "Yeah she's a real pretty thing isn't she" Stef said, now placing his hand on her leg. She couldn't take it anymore.