Things Change

Chapter 4:

Riley:

"How long am I grounded for?" I ask passing a side glance at my mom as she pulled into the school parking lot. "You're not." She states stopping so I can get out. "I'm not?" I ask shocked. "No, you're not." She finally looks at me but her facial expression is serious. "You're going to be late." She announces. I get out of the car, closing the door behind me. I walk up the large concrete steps walking inside going to my locker. "Riley," I turn to face the person who called my name. Susan smiles as she walks towards me. "We missed you yesterday. Cody said you had to cancel because you were needed at home." She said. He covered for me? Why? I'll have to thank him later on when I see him. I nod, pressing my lips together. "Oh, I want to thank you by the way. We got an extension on the project because you joined us last minute. So thank you!" She tackles me into a side hug nearly knocking me over. I laugh, swatting her away. I open my locker setting my bag inside. I grab my books and pencil out of my bag. "We're going bowling after school if you wanna come?" She offered. I smile, "Sounds like fun. Sure." I say. We stop by Susan's locker then head to class. "Ugh, I cannot wait for spring break. Bring on the warm weather already." She groans taking the seat beside me. I chuckle setting my books down and sit down. She twirls a strand of her hair around her finger. Daniel walks in beside Cody who is eating a McMuffin. "You're always eating." Susan states when he sits down. "Stole the words right out of my mouth." Daniel said. Susan high fives him and Cody flips them off. I laugh, shaking my head. Grayson walks into the class room his eyes meet mine for a moment before he looks away. The bell rings and Mr. Fitz walks in with smile on his face. "Alright, today we will be starting our group presentations. I want this to be a two day thing but if we need a third day we will take it." He announces walking to his desk. "We won't start a new lesson plan until Monday. So we will just review for the test which will also be on Monday." He continues. He clears his throat, "I expect everyone in the group project to speak at least once. No exceptions. Who will be our first group?" He scans the room his eyes settling on a group beside our table. I pretend to pay attention to each group as they present but I grow bored easily. "Grayson, you're up." Mr. Fitz announces. I glance over to his table and he smirks. "It's not done, sir." He says confidently. The way he says sir is almost intimidating. "Well get it done." Mr. Fitz demands. "Yes, sir." He said again in a cocky manner. He shakes his head and goes to a different group. I sneak a glance at Grayson who happens to be looking my way. I break eye contact and go back to pretending focusing on the presenting projects. "Susan, how's the project?" Mr. Fitz asked. She smiles sweetly at him, "We just have the essay to finish." She said patting my shoulder. I had to finish it? He nods, then calls on a different group. "You can write it, right?" Susan asked. I nod, "Yeah. Sure but I need the facts." She grabs her notebook from her binder handing it to me. "The first three pages are the facts about his life." She says. I take the notebook as the bell rings dismissing us from class. I stand up heading to my locker. I half hoped that Grayson would talk to me during school or at least say hi but what did I except just because he bought me cigarettes and signed my boot didn't mean that we were suddenly the best of friends. "You alright?" Cody asks walking up beside me. "I'm sorry, what?" I say. He glances over at me and offers me a smile. "With everything. Yesterday you seemed a little distort." He says slowly. "Oh that right. Yeah I'm fine." I answered. "Thank you by the way for coving for me." I thank him. He nods, "No problem. Are you coming bowling with us tonight?" He asks hopeful. I give him a quick nod as I take my seat.

**

I changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a white long sleeve shirt. I left my hair up in its ponytail and grabbed the printed essay off of my bed heading downstairs. I grab my jacket off of the cost rack and slid my foot into one shoe. "Where are you going?" My dad asked. "Bowling." I face him grabbing my moms car keys. "With some friends. I won't be long, I should be back before dinner." I say. He nods, "Alright. Have fun. Be safe." He says and I smile. I open the front door when he calls my name. I turn around and face him. "Here, take $30 so you can eat out." He says handing me the money. "Really?" I asked excited. "Yeah, why not? I don't want you rush home to eat dinner. Just be back before 9:00. You still have school in the morning." He ordered. I nod walking out of the house and getting into my moms car. I love that it was finally starting to get warmer outside but it was still a bit cooler at night and in the mornings. I text Susan for directions to the bowling alley once I get to a stop light. She sends them to me in no time and I glance at them occasionally. Soon I find it and see Susan's car parked. I pull into the spot beside hers and get out. "Sorry, I was finishing up the essay." I said handing it to her. She smiles taking it from my hands and sets it on the passenger seat of her car. "Where are the guys?" I asked. "Oh, Daniels car broke down and I offered to go and get him but Cody was still on his way here so he offered to pick him up along the way." She explained. I nod, glancing around watching cars drive by. "Do you want to go inside? I'm freezing." She asked starting to walk towards the building giving me no option but to follow behind her. We step inside waiting by the entrance. I looked at the pictures on the wall when one catches my eye in particular it was a picture of Susan and Clarissa. They are wearing matching shirts and it has the school logo on the right hand side. Susan is holding a bowling ball in her hand and Clarissa has her arm around her shoulder. They're both making a silly face. "When was this?" I ask tapping on the picture. Susan walks up to get a better look and she snorts. "Freshman year. We joined the bowling team together." She shakes her head. "We stopped being friends shortly after that picture was taken." She said. I was about to ask her why when Daniel and Cody walked in. "You ladies about to go down?" Cody asked. Susan rolls her eyes, "I'm pretty good remember?" She asked. He rolls his eyes, "Fine. Teams them. You two," Cody gestured between Susan and Daniel. Who were holding hands. "Us two." He said gesturing between us. Susan raises her eyebrow and looks over at me questioningly. I nod. "Sure. Yeah, whatever. You'll still get your ass kicked." Susan teased Cody as we walked in. It was glow in the dark bowling which was always my favorite. We rent out three and a half pairs of shoes since I only needed the one. After a few round I get tired from standing on my feet for two long so I let Cody go for me. I sit down watching them play. I stood up and grabbed the money out of my jacket. "I'm gonna get some fries. Do you guys want anything?" I asked. "Babe," Susan looks over at Daniel who stands up from his chair. "I'll go with you." He said. I nod, walking beside him to the congestion. "How are you liking it here so far?" He asks. "It's quieter." I say. He smiles a little, "Yeah, normally is." He agrees. I get a thing of cheesy fries and a soda waiting for Daniel as he orders for himself and Susan. "How long have you and Susan been dating?" I ask. "Ahh, a while." He laughs a little. "She drives me crazy and she's a pain in my butt. Don't get me wrong I do love her and I don't know what I would do without her." He says. He watches her with admiration as she cheers when she gets a strike. "I got a corn dogs." He says to her as she walks back. I sit down beside Cody and offer him some of my fries which he gladly takes.