Unrequited [ON HOLD]

0.6

// chapter six. //

I wake up to pounding on my front door, getting up from the couch I go to the door. Elliott.

"What the hell is wrong with you? It's 8 am on a Saturday what could you possibly need?" I say rubbing my eyes.

"Dude. I slept with Amy." Elliott said walking past me with his hand in his hair.

What? He slept with Amy? So? Hadn't he done that like eight times now? "So what's the big deal? Haven't you done that before?"

"No dude you don't understand I SLEPT with her. Like we cuddled."

"Cuddled?" I said raising my eyebrows.

"Cuddled." Elliott confirmed.

"Okay and what does all this mean?" I say trying to get to the point, Elliott was a bit of a drama queen.

"Dude! We cuddled! I f.ucked her and then we cuddled! And I liked it! I think I f.ucking like her! What am I gonna do!?" Elliott shouted waving his hands around.

Wait, liked her? Elliott liked Amy? The same Elliott that just last week was f.ucking Amelia Anderson in the boys locker room during soccer practice? Elliott, my best friend LIKED a girl?

Only one word could come out of my mouth, "what."

"I know man it's weird. But I've been thinking about her a lot and not in a 'wow she's really hot' way but in a 'aw she's so cute when she scrunches up her nose' way. What do I do?!"

"Hell if I know, I've never had real feelings for a girl!" That was a lie of course, freshman year I was basically in love with sophomore Bailey Woodley but she had a thing for a junior so I gave up that dream. Plus she got pregnant her junior year so it's probably good I jumped ship when I did.

"Shit man thanks for your great advice." Elliott said, he really looked torn up about this.

"Just don't let Ian and Cason find out. You could lose this year's round!" I said instead of reassuring him. I don't know if I like the idea of Elliott being in a potential relationship.

"Yeah yeah I won't. I just gotta get this under control." He said. "So how's Riley coming along." He said suddenly, switching the subject.

"Ha ha. Very funny. But actually it's progressing a little, she was over here last night." I say, leaving out the part about her four year old sister also being here.

"She was here? Last night? With you? Willingly?" Elliott said, now actually interested.

"Yeah." I said simply, which was the half-truth.

"You're lucky man, Riley is so hot. I wish I had got her this year." Elliott says as he grabs an apple and takes a huge bite.

"But then how would you have met your lovely Amy?" I tease.

"Man f.uck you."

---

Riley sat slumped over her textbook. Her eyes scanned the page reading problem after problem. Every so often one stray piece of hair, the same one every time, would fall in front of her eyes and after about three seconds she would tuck it back behind her ear. She wore the same three bracelets everyday, nothing too big or obnoxious. Her nails were always painted the same shade of blue-purple. When she didn't understand a problem her eyebrows were scrunch together then she would wait about ten seconds before asking me, like right now.

"What's the quadratic formula?"

"Negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four a c all over two a." I say effortlessly.

"How do you know all this shit?" She says after she finishes the problem.

"I don't know, it's easy. That's supposed to be a negative four, by the way." I say pointing to her work.

"I'm never going to pass this final." She says, adding a negative sign to her answer.

"You might."

"How encouraging." She rolls her eyes.

"You aren't exactly miss ray of sunshine, you know." I say pointing to her.

"I know but you're my tutor, you're supposed to tell me that I will be fine." She says packing up her bags, lunch will be over soon.

"I think you are fine." I say winking at her as she tosses her hair over her shoulder.

"Oh give me a break. That was terrible." She says, as she begins to walk to the door.

"I've got worse." I reply when I reach her. We walk out of the classroom and turn the same direction, apparently walking together.

"Try me." She says turning to face me as we walk in sync.

"I would like to try you." I say with a smirk. Riley laughs but then covers her mouth.

"Oh god you're right you do have worse." She says as she stops at her locker. Her hand still covers her mouth as she chuckles a little. Before I know it I'm reaching up to pull her hand away from her mouth.

"There it is." I say when I've successfully pulled her hand away, to reveal a smile.

"There's what?" She says still with a slight grin.

"You're smiling. I've never seen you full out smile because of me before." I say, smiling myself now.

"Don't get all mushy on me now Owens. It's just a smile." She says putting her Algebra book away in exchange for her Chemistry book.

"Yeah but I don't get to see yours often." I say stuffing my hands in my pockets.

"Alright Lucas, I think that's enough for today. Now if you'll excuse me I have Chemistry to get to." She states before walking off.

Once she's about three feet away I yell "Why not stay here? I think we have all the chemistry we need!"

"You're impossible!"