Away With Him

04 - A Class of his Own

It had been less than two days since I arrived in France and I had already experienced tremendous highs and tumultuous lows. After Max kicked me out of his bedroom yesterday he didn't speak to me for the rest of the day. That didn't stop me from staring at him throughout dinner. I couldn't help it. I admit that I did drool a little over my dinner. Camille's beef stew was amazing! It has a proper French name but it's too complicated. It was basically beef stew. Max caught me staring at him once. Towards the end of the meal I was in my own world examining how his hair swept above his delicate ears. He caught me totally off guard when he whipped his head around at me angrily. And my dazed expression only made me look more guilty. He stuffed his last forkful of stew into his mouth, cleared his plate from the table and stomped upstairs to his bedroom. Way to go Riley. You're really great at creeping him out. He probably thought I was so weird and was dreading the next four months.

On the bright side, Max's clothes fit me perfectly. To my surprise I didn't feel weird wearing someone else's clothes. The best part was that they smelled just like him. After dinner I lay on my bed with his white hoodie on top of my face. I couldn't get enough of it. It was unlike any cologne I had smelled before. It smelled just like him.

That night was cold. even with my window shut, an icy breeze still blew into the room. The bed sheets were like paper. I tossed and turned until I heard Max moving around in his room. The walls were so thin in this house. I checked my phone and cursed when I saw the time. 5:30. I saw six missed calls from Mom and two from Dad. That actually made me smile. I was surprised that Dad would call me. I thought I better ring them back, just so they know that I'm alive.

"Hello," Mom's voiced cracked through.

"Hi Mom," I spoke softly, trying not to wake anyone else in the house.

"Riley! Are you ok? I called you so many times and you didn't answer. What's wrong?" There was a hint of concern but also irritation in her voice. That was weird because she very rarely gave out to me.

"Nothing's wrong. The airline lost my suitcase and my phone died so I had to borrow a charger."

"Oh. Ok." she returned to her regular tone. "How are you getting on?"

"Fine. The family is... nice and the is house cozy. How are you guys?" I desperately wanted to change the subject.

"We're fine. Your father wants to talk to you." I heard rustling for a few seconds as she passed the phone to Dad.

"Riley I hope you're alright," he began in an uncertain tone, "If you need us we are only a call away." He handed the phone back to Mom before I could say anything to him.

"Everyone here misses you. Even your sisters-"

"Sorry Mom, I've got to get ready for school now. I'll call you in a few days. Bye." I was ready for the conversation to be over.

"Oh. Well. Have fun sweetheart. I'll talk to you soon." I hung up the call as soon as she stopped speaking. I know they're looking out for me but they could try a little harder to be there for me in person. Why were they suddenly concerned about me now?

Another reason I wanted to stop talking to my parents was so that I could talk to Ellie. I heard voices coming from downstairs and knew that I wouldn't have enough time for a phone call with her. We could talk for literally hours. I opened my messages and started typing.

'Hey there stranger! Greetings from the middle of nowhere, France. All is good. I miss you. We can talk tomorrow and catch up on everything (theres a lot to talk about). I start school today fml lol. Wish me luck. Hope you're doing great.'

I snapped a quick photo out of the window, attached it to the text and hit send. Within seconds the three dots appeared on my screen showing that she was typing. But I had to get ready. And I knew it would be a long text.