under the stars | rick riley

chapter four

vanessa alan banks ;

The classroom filled with chatter. Not a loud chatter, not quiet either. The teacher wanted us to get to know our labs partners better. I found myself continuously glancing at my brother in the front of the classroom. He seemed nervous, scared. He wasn't talking to his lab partner at all.

It was typical for Adam not to speak much, especially when it came to girls and seniors. The girl he sat with, she was pretty, really pretty, a girl I wished I could look like. Of course Adam was nervous. I was nervous talking to people that looked like super models, especially my own lab partner.

"That's your brother? Banksie?" Riley finally spoke up. I dropped the pen I had in my hands, sitting up on the uncomfortable stool. I nodded my head over at the senior boy beside me.

"Adam? Yeah, he's my brother," I answered with pride. He was my little brother. I wasn't ashamed of him. Who would be ashamed of their sibling? I get usually the older ones always told the younger ones to act like they weren't related, let alone knew each other, but I couldn't do that. I loved that kid.

"Is he any good?" He asked. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"At science? Well of course. I assume that's why he put him in this class but at the same time he's hated science his entire life," I chuckled. I saw Riley smile at me. He shook his head and laughed with slight disbelief. It wasn't a bad thing, it seemed more of a good thing.

"I meant hockey," he responded. My cheeks turned a bright shade of red. I squinted my eyes with embarrassment and looked down while a smile appeared on my face.

"Oh jeez, I totally knew that," I laughed, "I was just messing you, ya know?" I joked. I felt relaxed. I didn't feel so nervous all of the sudden, "But my brother is great. He and Guy Germaine were always at the top, but great players and advanced. This summer during the Junior Goodwill Games, he was the only one to score a goal against Iceland. He ended up with a mild wrist injury and continued the game until he got caught pretending everything was fine. He was quick to jump back in the game. He's a beauty," I truthfully said. Riley looked at me impressed. He rose his eyebrows and leaned forwards.

"You know hockey?" He questioned. I nodded my head full of confidence.

"Apples, genos, bardownski's, you name it," I grinned widely. He gaze back at me with an amused look. He then slightly laughed and looked down.

   "I've tried teaching Mindy hockey slang for years now. She never cared to learn them at all," he truthfully told me. I was shocked that he was telling me this, but at the same time I was used to people opening up to me out of the blue. It was nice I guess. People seemed to trust me. I had no one to tell anyways.

   "Is that your.. girlfriend?" I asked. The boy shrugged his shoulders.

   "Ex, I guess. I don't know, it's sort of complicated," he admitted. I nodded my head letting him know I understood.

   "I grew up in a hockey family. My brothers and I don't miss a game. Even if tonight is just a scrimmage so your coach can see how you guys play, we're not missing it," I informed. He looked back down at his text books slowly. I could see his smile start to fade, so I grew concerned. "Is... is everything alright?" I asked full of suspicion.

    "I'm sorry if it's annoying with me talking about Mindy.., but she thinks the whole scrimmage thing is just a guess, I guess you could say. So she's not coming. She's going to a party instead where she'll probably get drunk and sleep with some other guy," he vented. I knitted my eyebrows together and sat up, moving my chair closer to Riley where it was comfortable for both of us and not overbearing.

   I took a deep breath, "don't get mad at me for saying this.., but why do you put up with it if you know that's going to happen? I don't know you all that well or anything, but I know you well enough to know you don't deserve that," I truthfully said to him.

As if all of the sudden, I began to feel ill. Like something had just came over me. My face turned warm, my stomach turned, and my throat itchy. I quickly cleaned my throat and leaned onto the desk behind me, trying to push the feeling away.

"Yeah, it's frustrating. Look, I'm sorry I kinda put all of this on you after just fully meeting you," he laughed, "I'm not usually like this, but it just feels like I can trust you-" he stopped. His eyes grew with worry and he adjusted himself in his chair so that he could look at my shivering self. He placed his hand on my shoulder, and then brought his hand up to my face moving my sloppy side bangs out of my face and placing the back of his hand against my forehead. If my face wasn't already red, I'd be making a fool out of myself right now. "Woah, hey, are you okay? You're burning up!"

I forcefully nodded my head although I didn't feel okay. I felt like I was going to spaz out at any moment, but class would be over soon and I could just wait to go to the nurse.

    "I'm fine, I swear, I just get like this sometimes," i informed him with a softening tone. I didn't need him to know that I wasn't okay. Or let alone worry about me. And besides, Mindy sounded like a jealous type and if anything, if they were still off and on, she's be looking out and she'd freak if she found out he even spoke to me and this was a new school and I didn't want my life to be ruined by some rich cheerleader. It could easily happen.

    "Nah, you're not, don't lie to me," the boy managed to joke. I let a small laugh but the nausea came back so I quickly stopped. Riley reached across my desk and shoved my books and notebook into his book bag. He then stood up and slung it over his shoulder, grabbing ahold of my arm gently and helping me up from the chair. We walked to the front of the room where the teacher was. We came to a stop. He let go of me. "I'm going to take her to the nurse," he said, "I'll come back and get Nessa's work in a little bit if that's okay," he told her.

   I zoned out. I didn't even know this kids name, but I knew a lot about him and his last name, and that he played hockey, and that he was kind and caring even if he hardly knew me. For him to worry about me getting sick warmed my heart, and though I hardly knew him, it would be impossible not to catch feelings for him and the hardest part was the fact that he sort of had a girl friend who seemed to run the school. Who this boy was, I had no idea. Everyone referred to him as Mr. Riley, or all the teachers really, like he was highly respected.

   I know Kahlúa had mentioned some people to stay away from, but he wasn't on that list. So maybe he was one of the popular guys like them, but the nice kind, ya know?

   I felt too sick to even ask the boy what his first name was, so I figured the name Riley would've been good enough for now. I'd find out one way or another, right?

—

I walked out of school shivering while sweat dripped down my back. Beside me was Riley who still refused to leave my side, but now walked me to my car. His hand hovered over my lower back making my stomach fill with butterflies. Why he was doing this, I didn't know.

I now wore his varsity jacket, his pride and joy, which felt quite odd to me but at the same time it was sweet and I was warmer than before. It smelled good too, so I figured Mindy had it last. I just hoped she was okay with all of this, or I hope she didn't know.

"Uh., thank you, for-for helping me out, ya know?" I nervously spoke once we stopped at my car. I fumbled with the keys in my hand, "I'm just going to go home and sleep and I should be fine for the game later," I said. I forced out a small laugh, as did he, "I'm not missing it."

He smiled wide, "well, don't do anything that'll make you even sicker. Just get some rest, alright?" I nodded my head at the boy who left me puzzled. All day. People feared him, people respected him, but who was he? How and why was he so special?

    Senior year was surely going to be an interesting year.