Changing Harper

Chapter Five

Riley was unable to sleep as she laid down that night. She instead brought out her phone to text Leah. She had seen she had already gotten quite a few messages. Most of them from Leah, and three from unknown numbers. Riley ignored the rest and began to read the messages from Leah

Leah: Hey Rosie, can I ask you something?

Leah: Rileeey

Leah: Fine. If you want to be a bitch, then do it. I don't care.

Leah: I really need to talk to you.

Leah: Never mind. Don't bother to text me.

Riley threw her head in her hands. Leah needed something, and Riley hadn't been there for her. She felt like she had let down Leah and all her chances were gone. She craved Leah, needed her even. Leah had been there for her in her darkest times, and it had disappeared in a snap. One of Riley's biggest regrets was letting Leah go. Riley clicked onto the next set of messages, looking to get Leah off her mind.

UNKNOWN: heya this is Luke's number if you ever need to talk or if you wanted to generally hang out. Also, it's better not to ask how I got your number :p

Riley sighed and clicked out a contact name for Luke. She'd respond to him later, she figured he wouldn't be awake at 3 am. She wondered if Luke would still be her friend if he knew everything she had done. She moved on to the next message and a gentle smile appeared on her face without her notice.

UNKNOWN: Hi! It's Harper! I know you're probably upset at me, but I took a glance at your phone and got your number. I hope this is the right one at least, but I had a great time hanging out with you tonight. It was a great experience. 

The time stamp on the message indicated the message was sent five minutes ago. Riley debated on messaging Harper and venting to her about Leah, but decided against it in the end. She didn't want to drag Harper into her messy life. Harper, to Riley, was like a comb, untangles small tangles and makes short hair look nice, but Riley's life was like a long mess of thick curly hair tangled to oblivion that would easily break the comb. Riley stuck her phone under her pillow and turned her light off, lost in her thoughts, her eyes fluttered shut around 4 am.

Harper woke up the next morning in a great mood, it had been obvious that she had done something the night before, but nobody questioned it, not wanting for her to revert back to correcting everything. Harper had spent her entire morning without a single care in the world. She had almost skipped to school. Instead, she saw Riley walking alongside a boy holding hands. Harper assumed he might've been a boyfriend and trailed behind silently.

Riley had on the other hand, woken up in a grumpy mood and trudged to school in pajamas. Luke had been waiting at the bus stop, but saw Riley and decided to catch up. He grabbed her hand and began to skip as if the morning was bright and beautiful, which did not amuse Riley. He stopped skipping and had just held her hand, but Riley kept hers limp.

"I know you're in a bad mood, but I'm bored. Mind if I ask a few questions? I want to get to know you more. Is Riley your entire name? Or did you have a full name like mine? I shorten my name to Luke, but my name is actually Lucas. Luke is just preferred, my dad likes to walk up to me and tease me about it sometimes," Luke rambled, Riley rolled her eyes at Luke's rambling and glanced over her shoulder. There were groups of high schoolers walking together towards the school, but Harper walked behind her and Luke. She was all alone, staring up at the sky. Riley slipped her hand out of Luke's and took notice of Harper's glow. She was almost radiating energy.

"Woah there, gay girl. A little focused on Harper White? Didn't you guys fight yesterday? I mean, if that's your fetish, whatever." Luke spoke quietly, snorting and breaking Riley out of her trance. She felt her cheeks warm and she stared down at her feet. She slapped his arm.