Bittersweet

Chapter 3

I lay in my bed reading when the door to my room flings open and in walks Sarah eating a bagel and texting.

"Is that my last bagel?" I sit my book down on my beside table and prop myself up against the wall.

"Yes.. I was starving and we don't have a thing to eat at my house!"

"So you get here a half hour late, raid my kitchen for my last bagel, and come into my room without knocking and I'm supposed to be fine with that?"

"Umm.. Duh?!" She says with her mouth full.

By now it's 5:30 and I still have no idea what I'm wearing to Emily's party. I have an hour and a half before Justin is supposed to be here. Sarah is across the room rifling through her bag. She pulls out a pair of dark skinny jeans and begins to change. She's skinny and isn't very tall, but she makes up for her lacking height with her extreme personality. She has short dark hair that lays on her shoulders and stunning blue eyes. She's ones of the most beautiful girls I know, inside and out. Next she puts on a tight black shirt and a leather jacket that seems far too big for her. She tops it off with a black pair of combat boots.

"Now it's your turn." She pulls me up off the bed and yanks me towards my closet, tossing things left and right. She pulls out a pair of skinny jeans with several rips and holds them out in front of me. I put them on without argument. They are my favorite pair because they complement my curves. I am of average hight and average weight and my hair falls to just above what little boobs I have in brown waves. I'm nothing special. As I'm buttoning my pants a pink shirt lands in front of me. I toss it back at Sarah and pull on a long sleeve blue shirt with white stripes.

"Let's go grab a coffee." I say to Sarah who is bent over in the mirror applying a dark red lipgloss.

"Good idea!" She straightens up and gives herself one last glance in the mirror before leaving the room. I pull on my black converse and follow her down the stairs.

---

We arrive back at the house at 6:52. I sit down on the porch and Sarah waves goodbye from her car window. She's going to pick up Dylan and I'm waiting for Justin to arrive. I hear the door open behind me. It's Janie.

"You and Justin behave tonight." She smirks at me.

"You be good tonight and don't throw any parties of your own! Mom will be home at 8:30 and I'm staying with Sarah."

She laughs as Justin pulls in the drive way. I stand up and hug her goodbye. She may be a pest sometimes, but she's all I've got since dad died and mom works all the time. I climb into the truck and she waves to me as Justin and I drive away.

"I can't believe you're making me go to this party." Justin glares at me and tries to suppress a smile, though he does a bad job at it.

"Shut up! You're going to have fun like always!" I laugh and punch him in the arm. He laughs too and turns on the radio. Some song I've never heard before is playing and he sings along. I can't help but laugh at him. He notices and puts his hand on my leg, smiling over at me. I cringe. I'm not sure why but something about that just wasn't right.

---

"Liz, over here!" It's Kate, standing with a group of people, none of whom I recognize. She stands particularly close to a tall blonde with his hands in his pockets. He's definitely not Riley.

I walk over to her and gesture towards the group. "Are you going to introduce us?" I ask. "Of course!" She exclaims. "This is Jacob, Lauren, Connor, Mallory, and Seth." The tall blonde boy nods at me. "This," she says "is Elizabeth and Justin." Everyone smiles. I almost forgot that Justin was standing behind me. I pull Kate off to the side.

"I thought you were bringing Riley?" I whisper.

"Riley?" She looks puzzled.

"The new kid." I huff.

She stares blankly at me for a moment. "Oh, right! He said no. Something about family plans or something." She rolls her eyes and goes back to laughing with her group of friends. Justin walks over to me.

"They're such idiots, I don't see how Kate stands them. What was that about?" He asks as we walk off towards the bridge.

"Boy drama." I laugh it off. He shakes his head and we sit down, dangling our feet over the edge. Everyone always has their parties at what we call 'the dale'. It's a small creek bank surrounded by several trees, rock formations, and a couple of picnic tables. It was probably once a small park, but now it's claimed by the high school kids. It was named after a senior that first started partying here with some friends. His name was Dale Livingston, and he just happens to be Emily's older brother.

Justin puts his hand on mine and is about to say something when Sarah and Dylan sit down beside me. Phew! I don't know what's with him lately. Kate and Seth join us and Emily is on her way over with Caleb. Didn't she say he was ugly earlier today at lunch? Kate must notice that too, because she glances at me, and I just shrug. Whatever.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Emily sits down with us.

"Waiting for you to show me where the food's at." Sarah says bluntly.

Emily laughs and her, Caleb, Sarah, and Dylan venture off to get some food. I turn back to Justin and he points at Kate and mouths something like "what is she looking at?". Her jaw is dropped and she's staring at something. I follow her gaze and find what she's gawking at. Walking along through the crowd of people talking and laughing is Riley. My heart starts to race. What is he doing here?