Left Behind (Completed) *editing*

Chapter Three

I walked in my house, no sign of Liam. I entered the kitchen which was sort of a mess. My Dad begun to tear up the floor and begin renovations on the kitchen when my Mom left but after she was gone he never cared to finish. The floor underneath the old tile dingy and somehow always made my feet stick to the floor.

My Dad did put the cabinets back up after my Mom left and the plans to buy new ones ended. They were definitely not the most attractive. They were retro cabinets, painted puke green with black shiny knobs. His ambitions to give my Mom her dream house were crushed. The kitchen was the last room to be remodeled. It always reminded me of how much he loved her and how bad she hurt him.

On the counter, there was a $20 bill and a note from my brother. 'Here is some money for food. Won't be home until late.' I felt relief wash over me and shoved the money into the pocket of my jeans. I had no intention of spending it on food. I looked in the pantry and found a jar of canned sauce and pasta and started boiling water for dinner.

My heart raced as I thought of Riley. I wanted to call him so bad but I knew it would be best to wait until he called me. I felt like my mind had been taken over by the desire to hear from Riley. I've always had a tendency to obsess over things that bothered me. When it came to Riley, any normal fixating on a thought is amplified. I wish there was a way to take him off my mind.

I turned on the TV to discover we didn't have cable. Great. Bills were seldom paid after my Dad died. My Dad had a good job but my brother was barely making more than minimum wage. Liam worked two jobs. He had a full time job at the pharmacy and worked part time at the pizza place down the street.

Unfortunately, he'd rather have money for drugs than electricity sometimes. Well, at least it was the cable this time. I tried to get a job to help out in the summer at a restaurant within walking distance from my school. I worked there for two months. I think what I liked most about it was having somewhere to go instead of having to rush home. It worked out for a couple months.

I began dating the owner's son, Patrick. He was cute but I worked with a waiter on weekends who I found more attractive than him, Blaine. Blaine actually resembled Riley a bit. He was funny and charming.

He offered to drive me home when I worked with him. I didn't live far but it was late by the time we were done with work so I accepted. I begun looking forward to the moments spent alone with Blaine. I found myself enchanted by his sexy laugh. One night we made a stop somewhere on the way home. I honestly don't remember where because we ended up in the back of his car naked.

I was fired after the owner caught me and Blaine having sex in his car in the parking lot after the restaurant closed. We didn't think we'd get caught since the owner usually stayed late to do paperwork. I can't say I really cared about getting caught. The idea of someone catching me with Blaine was thrilling. Patrick was a nice guy but I had unbelievable chemistry with Blaine. After that was over, I saw Blaine almost every weekend but he was never officially my boyfriend. Plus, he went to college about half an hour away and it was easier for him to find a closer job. Sometime during the winter, the calls from him stopped.

As I drained the water from my spaghetti, the phone rang behind me. My heart might have skipped a beat as I left my food in the sink to answer it. The caller ID no longer worked on our phone but I was expecting Riley. "Hey stranger," the other voice said through the phone. Blaine. Strange how he was just on my mind. I thought of how good I felt in his arms.

"I was just thinking about you," I answered flirtatiously.

"You were? Hopefully good things." I could tell he seemed excited.

"Not really. I was just remembering how we lost our job." I laughed.

"Not really? It was pretty good for me. You weren't having fun?"

"Maybe I liked it a little." I paused. "So why are you calling me out of the blue?"

"I just left my parent's house a little bit ago. I had to pick up a package from their house and I wanted to see what you were up to before I went home." I thought for a moment. Liam isn't supposed to be back until late. Some company might take my mind off of Riley. Especially since it's all I can think about.

"I just made dinner. Come over."

Blaine was at the house in five minutes. We ate and made some pointless small talk about school. I put our dishes in the sink and turned to face him. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a passionate kiss. I heard a low moan escape his lips. I grew anxious to take him upstairs. I pulled away and smiled.

"Want to see my room?" I raised an eyebrow seductively and led the way, locking the door behind us.

He grabbed onto my hips and pulled me back to him, kissing me as he squeezed my hips. He began to kiss my neck sweetly as we inched over onto my bed, his hands working to pull my shirt off. I grew excited as we fell onto my bed together. He pulled away from me and ripped off his shirt. He had the nicest abs of any guy I'd ever been with. I ran my hands over his stomach and he moved to kiss mine. I had butterflies in my stomach as his tongue ran down my flat stomach from my navel and stopping at my jeans. He swiftly pulled off my jeans and took out a condom from his pocket.

I have to admit, I instantly felt better. He only came over for sex and I knew that; however, it still felt good to lay in his arms afterwards, my naked body against his. I heard him sigh as he ran his free hand through my hair.

"You're amazing and insanely beautiful," he said quietly.

I smiled. Guys usually didn't say anything like that to me unless I was letting them in my pants. It didn't matter. I liked being wanted, even if only for the moment. It didn't bother me that Blaine didn't really want anything more than this. I'd see him again when it was a convenience for him. I wasn't going to be alone until he called again.

"Thank you, you're not so bad yourself," I said and kissed Blaine. He glanced at his watch.

"I have to go, Valerie," he said, moving away. "I have a test I need to study for." I suspected that he had a girlfriend at school. I used to see him almost every weekend and that stopped at some point during the winter.

"Okay. I'll walk you to the door." Blaine dressed and we said our goodbyes.

I cleaned up the kitchen and grabbed the portable phone and retreated to my bedroom again, this time alone. I had no homework to do because I skipped class. I lifted the mattress of my bed and grabbed a wad of cash that I had hidden. I removed the rubber band and sat down at my desk. I had $540 saved, adding the $20 I was given earlier made $560.

I'd started hiding money after Liam stole my piggy bank for drug money. I don't think there was much in there but I'd saved money from working and money that Liam gave me. I think that I knew even at the age of 12 that I needed to save money to get away from my older brother. I returned the rubber band to my stash and hid the money under my bed. I glanced at the clock and back at the phone then signed. It was almost 7:00. No call from Riley. I decided not to obsess about it.

I sat down, waiting for my computer to load. It was the last birthday gift from my father and incredibly outdated. I didn't want to spend my money on a new one and even though it was slow, it functioned. I had a near daily ritual. I went to google and typed my mother's name and hit search - "Cecilia Drake". I spent near an hour browsing pages of people with that name and found nothing. I also looked for her on Facebook as well.

It's like she disappeared without a trace. I've been looking for her online for 2 years now and I've yet to find hope. I don't understand where she could of gone. I've considered the possibility that she could go by a different name.

Maybe she remarried. The thought of her remarrying made my stomach flip. My Dad loved her so much. Did she know what happened to my Dad? Did she even care? I observed that Facebook showed Riley was online. I shook my head. Was he even going to call me? Suddenly the page lit up with an instant message from Colin.

'Hey! Did he call?' Colin wrote.

'No. I don't think so. He's online now but I'm not going to message him.' I responded, then added, 'I am still pissed at you.'

'Lol.' I shook my head.

'Asshole.' I typed, signing offline so I couldn't be messaged. I felt tired. It wasn't late but I exhausted myself with Blaine. I decided to take a hot shower and go to bed.