two doors down (e.d.)

chapter thirty-two

riley~

"wyatt he's weird weird." i say, taking a bit of my salad.

"then report him," he shrugs.

"i wish it was that easy," i roll my eyes, "but he keeps showing up to my dorm at weird hours and ethan's starting to get worried."

"about what? isn't he kind of scrawny?" wyatt laughs and sips his lemonade.

"ethan could pound him to dust particles, but obviously i'm not going to let him do that. he thinks he has a crush on me."

"ethan's just being protective," wyatt rolls his eyes, "i don't think he has much competition, though."

"definitely not!" i laugh, "quinn is not my type."

"and ethan is?" he teases.

"yes," i smile down at my salad.

"whatever," he sighs, "just know that that quinn kid can't hurt you. your dorm is next to ethan's and he's not going to let anything happen to you."

"swear on mom?"

"on mom."

we split the bill and walk out of the restaurant, feeling full.

"it's starting to get cold," i scoff

"it's almost november," wyatt says, "and then it's almost christmas break. you have to break the year up in intervals to stay alive."

"i know right," i laugh, "this is going to be my first christmas with a boyfriend. can you believe that?"

"nahhh..." he teases.

"look at the street lights!" i say and point to the lights on a strobe setting

"it's pretty here. i thought going to college in a semi large city would be horrible, but it's actually really nice."

"there's always something going on." i say and glance around at my surroundings.

ethan: where are you
ethan: riley
ethan: riley i need you to come home please

i urgently show wyatt the texts and his brows furrow in alarm.

"what?"

"it's that quinn kid," i mumble angrily

"you better hurry. i have to grab something from the mailboxes real quick."

"bye thanks for eating with me! love you!" i yell as i start out in a run for my building.

he waves in response and i hurry back to my dorm.

the elevator ride seemed to last eternity.

when i finally get to my door, ethan is standing in front of it, blocking it from quinn.

"- look quinn, i don't know what kind of obsession you have with riley, but it needs to stop."

"says who?" quinn smirks

"me." i say with my strongest voice.

they both turn and ethan looks relieved.

"quinn you need to stop coming to my dorm or else i'll have to report you. it's so scary and i have a boyfriend, anyway."

"this guy?" quinn laughs, pointing at ethan.

"yes," ethan says, pushing his finger away, "and riley's right. you need to stop showing up like this."

"riley i drew you," quinn looks at me with pleading eyes.

i'm too nice for this.

"riley stop!" ethan warns when he sees my face soften, "sometimes you need to put people in their place."

"quinn- you're nice. thank you for the beautiful drawing and thank you for wanting to spend time with me, but this really needs to stop. i'm starting to get scared. you don't want me scared do you?"

"n-no," he stutters, "but i just want to be friends."

"and that's fine!" i say, my voice softening, "but ethan is my main priority right now."

ethan tries to hide a small smile, but i see through everything with him.

"riley," quinn pleads, "don't do this."

"i'll see you later, quinn." i promise, stepping into my room and bringing ethan with me.

ethan quickly closes the door behind us and i breathe a sigh of relief.

"i'm just so-" i start to say, but i get cut off by ethan's lips.

"what was that for?" i ask once we pull away.

"i don't know," he breathes, "i guess i'm just worried."

"about what?" i laugh, "he said he just wants to be my friend."

i take off my coat and throw it on my bed, and grab two cokes from my fridge.

"riley, something is off about him. friends don't keep trying to break into your dorm when you're gone."

"ethan, there's nothing to worry about. i'm fine."

"promise me you'll call me if anything gets super weird? any hour of the night?"

"i promise." i say and hold out my pinkie.

he interlocks his with mine and i smile.