You Are There

Chapter 1

            I wake up to the song,”Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars blasting loudly into my ears. I let out a loud groan. I hate Monday’s. When I finally wake up completely, grogginess letting go of my body, I roll over to my side and turn off my alarm. I sat in my bed for a full three minutes, before deciding to get up. I don’t want to be late, I told myself. I yawned loudly and walked to my closet. My mirror was neatly strapped to my closet door, revealing my appearance. “Eh.” I shudder as I see how awful looking I am. I’ve always been. My plain, staight long brown hair has always been unattractive. I hate it. Rider always envied my looks and told me how beautiful I was, especially, my eyes. She always described them as beautiful, light, glowing brown with a hint of blue and yellow. But I always saw them as plain, old, boring brown. Nothing special. I pushed the thought of rider away, and opened my closet door. I picked out a pair of light skinny jeans and threw them on. I picked out my loose and comfy black shirt, with the 5sos logo on it, and my white converse. I brushed my hair and put my big, nerdy glasses on. Rider always said they looked good on me. They were the big ones that for some reason everyone loved, and always wanted to try them on. It was annoying. I stared at my mirror for a few seconds before grabbing my navy blue backpack and pulling it over my shoulders. I glanced at the alarm clock. 8:05? Shoot! Ryan is going to be here soon! I ran down the long stairs of my mansion house and grabbed a piece of toast set on the table spread with jelly, just as Ryan honked his horn. Marie, my maid, stood at the sink, washing the dishes. “Thanks, Marie. I’ll be home at 3:15, okay?” She turned around, but before she could even open her mouth, I was off like a shot. I opened the passenger seat of my only friend’s car, Ryan. He was 17. He was a sophomore at El ToroHigh school, and I was an eighth grader at Serrano intermediate. Serrano was pretty close to El Toro, so he gives me a ride and picks me up everyday. My sister and my sister’s fiancé are always working, so he offered. He was my only friend. Yes, he was much older, but that didn’t matter to us. He has been my friend, along with Rider’s, every since he moved down the street three years ago. He was charming, and hot, not to mention sweet, and sooooo nice. He also happened to be the most popular sophomore at El Toro. With his good looks and athletic abilities, he won all the girl’s hearts. But he wasn’t mean; in fact, he was popular for being the nicest person ever. I still don’t know why we are friends. He’s so much different; yet he could always make me smile. I put my huge binder down on the passenger seat of his car, and then went to put my backpack in the back of his mustang. I closed the back and climbed in. I glanced at him. He wore jeans with a white T-shirt and his varsity jacket. Sitting on top of his head were his black sunglasses. He looked SO cute with them on. Even though I liked Ryan, I hardly doubted he like me back. He was amazing; I was plain and simple.

            “Nice shirt.” He smiled at me with his crooked smile. The sudden compliment took me aback, considering the fact I looked like a boatload of crap.

            “Thanks,” I replied shyly, strapping in my seat belt.

            “All set?” He asked me, looking at my waist. My cheeks turned a warm pink.

            “All set.” I answered back, looking ahead. Although Ryan had a Mustang, he was a supppper careful driver. I trusted him with my life; He would never put me in danger.

            “So tell me, Riley, what did you do this weekend?” He asked through glances.

            I shrugged. “Nothing exciting. I went to go see The Maze Runner.” I said sheeply. Ryan looked at me in awe.

            “Are you kidding! That’s awesome! How was it?”

            I smiled. He has a special power to make me do that. Only him. “It was pretty good.”