Unrequited [ON HOLD]

1.7

// chapter seventeen. //

Waking up to an empty bed was definitely not what I was expecting when I woke up. Riley was completely gone without a trace. She didn't leave a note and all her things were gone, including my shirt that she was wearing.

I didn't have time to worry about any of this, it was Tuesday morning and I hadn't finished my homework. I had to sacrifice breakfast and my shower to get it all done.

I expected to see Riley at school, hoping that her early departure was for some reason other than the fact that we had a heart to heart. But when she wasn't in the math room at lunch I grew nervous. Was it because we slept in the same bed? Was it because she knew about my parents now? Did I snore?

Deciding that stressing over a girl was not worth my mental health I reluctantly went to the lunch room to talk to my friends.

Once I reached the table Ian was first to speak. "Please you are coming to tell us that you finally slept with Riley."

I dropped my things onto the table before rolling my eyes. Choosing not to respond to him I pulled out my phone. I ignored the conversation the boys were having and focused my twitter feed as I scrolled through it. Nothing, just a bunch of people I don't care about talking about things I don't care about.

I looked up from my phone to see that Elliott was the only one of my friends left at the table.

"Where did they go?" I asked him, setting my phone down.

"Ian said he had some business he needed to tend to so he is probably behind the bleachers with his pick of the week - that poor girl - and Cason said he had to go talk to one of his teachers." Elliott replied. His eyebrows scrunched together before he finished. "But what's up with you dude, why aren't you with Riley? More importantly, why aren't you banging Riley? I mean you only have till Christmas now and Thanksgiving is only two weeks away."

I sighed and looked up at my friend. I knew of all the boys, Elliott probably cared about me the most so I found myself telling him what had happened the night before. I left out all the sappy details but gave him a general idea. "..and she's not here today so I don't know if that is a good sign or not. I don't understand why I care so much."

Elliott gave me a knowing smirk before saying "Oh man, you got it bad."

"What are you talking about?" I said, genuinely confused.

"Oh come on dude. You like her. You like her a lot." Elliott said leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed.

"What? You're crazy. No I don't." I replied too quickly. Even I wasn't convinced.

"Oookay sure. But you know it all makes sense now. I was wondering why you hadn't sleep with her yet. It's because you don't want her to hate you. You want her to like you like you like her. I can't believe I didn't see it earlier." As Elliott spoke I realized that what he was saying was true.

I did like Riley. Well, shit.

"Shit. What do I do?" I lowered my voice and leaned closer to him. The last thing I needed was someone overhearing this conversation.

"I don't know dude. For the time being just don't let Ian or Cason find out. Don't tell Riley either." Elliott advised, then the bell rang.

Once I was in my class I pulled out my phone to see that I had a text message.

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From: Riley

hey i was going to tell you that i was leaving this morning but you just looked so cute so i decided not to wake you. oh and i'm not coming to school because Claire has an appointment for her arm. try not to miss me too much!

-

So maybe she wasn't avoiding me. I decided to type out a message to her to make sure she didn't feel like I was avoiding her. Or maybe because I just really wanted to talk to her.

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To: Riley

no problem. tell Claire i said hi! and yes, i was totally lost without you.

-

The bell rang signaling the start of class but at the same time, Riley texted me back.

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From: Riley

you're about to be totally lost in your government class if you don't stop texting me.

-

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To: Riley

yeah right. i'm the smartest kid in this room, if i want to text a pretty girl i will.

-

Reading my text back to myself I almost rolled my eyes. I'm so stupid.

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From: Riley

flattering will get you no where.

-

I started typing out my response before I was cut off by my teachers voice.

"Mr. Owens? I trust that you are using your phone to look up the answer to the question I just asked, right?"

"Uh, yeah." I said, I'm sure she knew that is the exact opposite of what I was actually doing but I decided to play along.

"And the answer to the question would be?" She asked.

Well, shit. "Actually, I was texting and I have no idea what question you just asked, sorry." I said truthfully.

"Alright well put your phone away please, anyway.." She started talking about her previous topic while I put my phone back in my pocket.

----

"So have you figured out what you're going to do about Riley?" Elliott sat in my living room with his legs resting on the coffee table.

"Nope. I have no clue." I replied.

"Good, because I do." I looked up at Elliott urging him to continue. "So Adam is having a party this weekend," Shocker. "you invite Riley then get her drunk enough that she will go home with you. Once you have her here you can just let her sleep it off but then tell Ian and Cason that you slept with her. Maybe meanwhile tell Riley how you actually feel. That way Riley will know you like her and Ian and Cason will get off your back."

"Well there are some flaws to this plan. One, Riley doesn't drink. Two, what happens if Riley hears that I told Ian and Cason I slept with her. And three, what if Riley doesn't like me like that?"

"Okay. Maybe if you drink she will drink. I guess you'll have to tell her about the game. And come on, I've seen her around you, she likes you." Elliott reasoned.

"If I tell her about the game she'll never talk to me again. And what will Ian and Cason think if we start dating? No one has ever actually liked their girl assigned to them." I said sighing, this was never going to work.

"You have to tell her. There's no question about that and if you really like her, you won't care what the guys think." Elliott said. "I gotta go though, my mom needs me home." He stood and walked himself to the door. "Think about it though?"

"Yeah, I will." And with that, Elliott left me to just my thoughts.

---

After thinking it over I decided that Elliott's plan was my best shot. First I just had to get Riley to go to the party.

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To: Riley

hey there's a party at adam's this weekend and my idiot friends want me to go. you should come so i have someone to talk to.

-

I waited anxiously for Riley to reply and when she did I felt myself relax.

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From: Riley

you know, you have a funny way of asking me to hangout. i'll be there lukey.

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