A Harsh Reality | ✓

Chapter 7

Noah

"What?" I asked.

"Don't you recognize me?" she said.

"Um... yeah, you're Amanda's friend, Riley, right?"

"Yes, but..." she made a pause, "Do you know my surname?" I just shrugged.

"Oh my god, what has Amanda been talking about then?" Riley asked more to herself than me, "I'm Riley Dawn, maybe you would recognize me if my hair was black instead of blue." That's when my mind made a flashback. Riley Dawn? From my old school?

"Riley Dawn?" I repeated, "What the heck are you doing here?"

She was literally standing outside of my apartment. She was wearing her gymnastics track suit and her blue hair was tied in a tight ponytail. I took a step closer to her, closing the front door behind me.

"And how did you find my apartment?" I added.

"Long story," she replied, "Do you remember me now?"

"Yeah..."

"You're not gonna say anything?" she asked.

"Nope."

"How's Kendall doing?" Riley asked. She was still mad about it, just great.

"I don't know," I shrugged again, "Why are you so mad at me?"

"You cheated on me," she blurted out, "How can I not be mad? I find you with another girl and the next day you get kicked out of school because of a fight with my brother. I never saw you again and you didn't even bother to text me!"

"Hey, calm down," I said, "Your brother started it, and I never cheated on you, we weren't even a couple, so don't start with false accusations."

"False accusations?" she scoffed, "You broke my heart! I was out of my mind, I promised myself I would never think about you ever again. I thought we had something, so I pushed back those memories and forgot you. But suddenly, you pop up out of the blue and I find out you're trying to get Amanda into your little games." I sighed at this. What memories? She was making me look like the bad guy.

"For god's sake, it was one fucking night," I said, "How the heck did I break your heart?" She opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off.

"Look, let's calm down, okay? It's freaking 11:00 pm," I said, "Now, let me go back inside and let's forget this ever happened since you're creating an argument out of nothing at all."

"No, you're not going inside," she said, stopping my arm from reaching the doorknob, "I'm not finished yet, and this argument has a purpose. I want you to stay away from Amanda, she doesn't need any more problems, understood?"

"Huh?"

"None of your business."

"I'm not talking to her anymore," I said, "You told her about me, didn't you?"

"I told her what she needed to know," she replied, before turning around and walking towards the elevator, "Don't forget what I told you, Noah." Riley walked inside the elevator, and as the doors closed, she added:

"Stay away from Amanda." I just stood there, looking at the closed doors. What had just happened? I shrugged it off and opened the door to my apartment.

I found her standing up, reaching over for the cookie jar. I ran over to her and picked her up, bride style, and carried her to her bed.

"You know you should have waited for me," I warned her, "You're too weak."