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  I nod, understanding. I take this opportunity to really look at my mom. It seems as if age has no effect on her. Her dark brown hair hangs loosely around her shoulders as it frames her face, which has little to no lines. Her brown eyes don’t look as lively as usual, but that’s probably because she’s tired.

  “Is there anything exciting going on at school?” she probes. She asks this question all the time and my answer is always the same.

  “I wouldn’t know. I’m not exactly involved.” I mean, I do know that the big homecoming game and homecoming dance is coming up, but that’s all I know.

  “It’s your last year of high school, Riley. You should make this year an unforgettable one.”

  “I’ll try, I guess.”

  Her lips form a tight line, seeing how the subject isn’t going any further. Then her eyes brighten. “Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. We’ve been invited to a wedding.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “Who’s getting married?”

  “My friend Anna at work.”

  Dressing up and attending special occasions aren’t exactly my favorite past times. “Oh. That’s cool,” I say, not knowing how else to react. “I have to go finish some homework.”

  “Okay.” She stands up and makes her way to the cabinet to put the crackers away.

  Before I climb the stairs, I pick Sassy up, and I don’t let her down until I walk into my room. I throw my backpack on the bed and I start on my homework.

  Around five o’clock, I decide to take Sassy for a walk. I hook the leash onto her collar and we run down the stairs together. “Mom, I’m taking Sassy out for a walk,” I call out as I open the front door.

  “Okay, be careful!” she yells back.

  I take a deep breath of fresh air as we walk outside. As much as I love to stay in and read, I still need my dose of fresh air, and walking Sassy is always the perfect opportunity.

  The houses around me are familiar but the people inside aren’t. I only know a couple of neighbors, and even they aren’t around much. It’s always too quiet.

  We get to the park that’s located in the middle of the whole neighborhood. It’s nothing too extravagant, just a small play structure surrounded by a modest area of grass. There are also a couple of benches near some trees. Sassy and I circle the play structure a couple of times before I sit on one of the benches.

  I let Sassy loose from her leash before I look at my phone to check the time. When I put my phone back in my pocket, I notice Sassy isn’t around me.

  “Sassy?” I call out nervously. “Sassy, come here, girl!”

  I stand up and walk toward the play structure. Before I get too worried, I take a deep breath and I tell myself to calm down. But where could she have gone?

  “Hey, is this your dog?”

  I whirl around and meet a pair of blue eyes towering over me. Standing in front of me is Ryan Dixon with Sassy in his arms. I sigh in relief. “Yeah.”

  He hands her to me and I quickly clip her leash back onto her collar. I set her down before looking at Ryan again. “Thanks,” I say awkwardly. I’m not one to drool over hot guys, but Ryan is definitely easy on the eyes.

  He flashes a smile at me. “No problem.”

  Before I can even think of my next sentence, a voice yells out, “Dixon! Where the hell did you go?”

  Lo and behold, none other than Aiden Callaway himself approaches us with confidence in his stride. What are these two doing here together? It’s an unusual pairing. I catch Aiden’s eye and a flash of recognition crosses his face. “Led Zeppelin girl,” he instantly says to me.

  Right, I never told him my name. “Hi.” I wave to him, not knowing what else to do. I’m awkward once again. After seeing what he did earlier today, I can’t help but feel wary.

  “You know each other?” Ryan looks at Aiden and me. He looks as confused as I feel right now.

  Aiden gets a mischievous smile on his face. “We’ve run into each other before,” he says to Ryan but doesn’t tear his eyes away from me. His tone is mocking once again, just like earlier. It’s like every instance in his life is a game to be played.

  Instead of disputing his version of the story, I decide that this is all too weird for me. “Well, this has been interesting. I should probably head home now.” As I say this, Sassy walks up to Ryan and paws at his shoelaces.

  He bends down to pet her. “What’s her name?” he asks as he scratches her behind the ears. She practically melts into his hands.

  “Sassy.”

  He continues to pet her as Aiden and I watch him. I steal a quick glance at Aiden, who is frowning slightly at Ryan.

  Ryan stands up again and looks at me, completely ignoring Aiden’s stare. “I don’t think I caught your name.”

  That’s because I didn’t tell you. “It’s Riley.”

  He grins. “I’m Ryan.”

  “And I’m Aiden.” Aiden visibly rolls his eyes. “Now that we’ve settled the obvious, we need to go,” he tells Ryan.

  Before I can make a fool of myself, I start to walk backwards. “I have to go too.”

  “I’ll see you around, Riley.” Aiden sends me a strange smile like we have some inside joke between us.

  “Bye, Riley.” Ryan waves.

  I wave before quickly turning around to walk down the sidewalk to my house. A million questions are raised in my mind. Why were Aiden and Ryan hanging out together? I never see them hang out at school. Hell, they don’t even look in each other’s direction at school. Everything seems out of the ordinary, and I can’t decide whether or not it settles right within me.

  ***

  The light breeze sends chills throughout my body as I walk out the front door. Mid-September mornings are probably the best thing in this town. Fall is just around the corner and I can’t wait for it. Things seem livelier in the fall.

  I listen to my iPod as I make my way down the sidewalk. Today’s song of the morning is New Slang by The Shins. I hear something that isn’t part of the song, prompting me to take out one earphone. That’s when I hear shouting from one of the houses. I look to my left, and the front door to someone’s house opens furiously, and someone stumbles out. That someone is Aiden Callaway.

  He’s a wreck. His clothes are lopsided and his hair is sticking up in several directions—and not in a good way. His back is to me as he looks into the house.

  “Why don’t you just piss off already,” he yells, I’m assuming, at someone in the house. The front door is slammed from the inside as Aiden walks heatedly down his driveway.

  His gaze meets mine and I panic. I ignore what I had just seen and I make my way down the sidewalk, just a bit quicker this time.

  “Hey!” I hear Aiden’s voice call out to me. His footsteps get louder with each passing second.

  I turn the volume up on my iPod, ignoring him as I try to walk faster. A hand grabs my shoulder and forcibly turns me around. My mind is spinning and before I can even think I blurt out, “I didn’t see or hear anything! I was just passing by! Please don’t hurt me!”

  Aiden frowns and reaches out, pulling an ear bud from my ear. “I’m not going to hurt you, weirdo.”

  A sigh escapes my lips. “Oh, okay.” I start walking again and he falls into step with me.

  “Have you always lived on this street?” he asks me as he adjusts the strap of his backpack.

  As strange as it is for Aiden to be walking with me and making conversation, I nod. “My mom and I moved into this neighborhood when I was in the first grade.” How did I not know that Aiden Callaway lived on the same street as me?

  “Do you always walk to school?”

  Once again, I nod. “My mom tells me I should take the bus, but I like walking better. What’s the point in taking the bus anyway? We only live a couple of minutes down the road, you know?”

  “Right,” he drawls out.

  The school comes into view and I look at the time on my phone to make sure I won’t be late. I realize the awkward silence that has fallen upon us and I clear my thro
at uncomfortably. “Why were you yelling when you came out of your house?” Oh God, why did I even ask that? “I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer.”

  Aiden shrugs and doesn’t meet my eyes. “There’s just a lot of shit going on right now.”

  “Oh.” I don’t know what else to say.

  He looks at me with a strange expression, but it quickly fades away. “It’s whatever,” he says before glancing around. “Listen, I’m gonna split here. I don’t feel like going to first period today.”

  I figure there’s no point in trying to convince him not to skip class, so I simply nod.

  Aiden takes off in another direction before we walk onto campus. The curiosity still burns in my mind about earlier, but it isn’t my business, so I’ll have to stay curious.

  At the beginning of lunch, I see Aiden saunter down the hallway with his head held high. Confidence radiates off him, earning the stares of a few girls. Sometimes I wish I can hold my head high like that. Others look at him as he passes by. Some look with envy, some with hatred, and some look away with fear in their eyes.

  If I can go unnoticed by the student body until graduation, I’ll rejoice. I don’t need any attention drawn to me. My mantra for the past three and a half years has been to stay unexciting and don’t get noticed. It’s worked so far.

  Aiden makes a beeline in the hallway, clearly on a mission. He stops in front of Ryan and the two share some words. Ryan looks annoyed but amused at the same time. Aiden is totally serious and has the final word before stalking off. Ryan’s eyes meet mine and my cheeks burn out of embarrassment from being caught watching them. He offers me a smile and I quickly turn away.

  I continue down the hall until I make a right down the next hallway. Aiden is walking in my direction. I steal a glance at him and he gives me a nod of acknowledgement.

  Things are getting stranger by the second, leaving me to wonder where all of this will end up.

  Chapter 4

  The fiction section in the school library holds a special place in my heart. A well-written, inspiring novel can always be found on these shelves, and I desperately need a good read at the moment. I finished my lunch quickly just so I can scan the shelves in depth.

  My fingers run across the spines of the books as I examine the titles. Nothing is really catching my eye. I’ve seen these all before.

  As I go around the bookshelf, I bump into someone. I keep my head down and mumble a quick “Sorry.” I continue to look at the books on the next shelf as I curse at myself for not paying attention.

  “Hey, it’s Riley, right?” a voice asks.

  Recognizing the voice, I turn around, and lo and behold, Ryan Dixon is standing next to me. He smiles when my eyes reach his.

  “Right,” I say slowly. I avert my eyes and fix my gaze on the books in front of me. What is he doing here?

  “So,” he starts, “looking for a specific book?”

  It puzzles me why Ryan is even talking to me in the first place. Might as well get my thoughts out in the open so I can figure out his angle. “Listen”—I look at him seriously—“just because we had a short conversation in the park doesn’t mean we’re all buddy-buddy now. We never acknowledged each other before, so why start now?”

  He stares at me before clearing his throat. He looks genuinely surprised. “Wow. I’m going to pretend you didn’t just hurt my feelings.”

  “Oh please, like I could hurt your feelings.” I go back to looking at the books, but my brain is muddled and I can’t focus on the titles. Damn you, Ryan.

  Ryan takes a step closer to me, getting a little too close for my liking. “Is this your thing? Pushing people away? Because if so, it’s a little cliché.”

  “Cliché?” I can practically feel my eyes popping out of my head. “What’s cliché is the popular guy following the quiet girl in the library so he can get her to do his homework or something.”

  “I’m not following you, first of all. And I don’t want you to do my homework for me. I don’t know what your grades look like, but I have straight As.” He chuckles. “I just want to be your friend.”

  “My friend?”

  “Yeah, you don’t seem like you have a lot of those…”

  I turn around and walk away from him. I don’t need his charity. It’s never bothered me that I don’t have any close friends. Sure, I talk to people in some of my classes, but I’m doing fine without any best friends. I’m definitely not going to take up Ryan’s offer. How would his friendship benefit me anyway?

  “Riley, I was kidding.” He catches up to me. The amusement is evident on his face.

  I feel myself scowling at him. “It’s not funny.”

  “So, how do you know Callaway?” he asks, noticeably switching the topic of conversation.

  This must be what he really wants to talk about. “I don’t know him. We just kind of…ran into each other.” It isn’t a lie. There’s no use in explaining the extent of our acquaintanceship, if it’s even that.

  “I see.” He looks confused as he says this.

  I want to ask him why he was with Aiden at the park, but he suddenly reaches into his front pocket and pulls out his phone. He sighs when he looks at the screen. “Hey,” he answers. He looks a bit annoyed with the person he’s talking to.

  I take this chance to walk around the different shelves until I land in the biography section. I watch Ryan as he walks out of the library. I can’t understand Ryan’s personality, so it’s frustrating trying to figure out his motive. Why is he so concerned about Aiden? Are they friends? Or more? I let out a deep breath as the bell rings overhead, signaling the end of lunch.

  So much for finding a good read.

  ***

  My mom is sitting on the couch and talking on the phone when I walk in that afternoon. I throw my backpack down next to the front door before I walk into the kitchen. Sassy doesn’t have any food in her bowl. My mom never feeds her. Sassy is practically my child because I’m the only one who takes care of her.

  I grab the bowl from the ground and I pull the bag of dog food from the pantry. As I’m doing this, I hear my mom saying goodbye to whoever she’s on the phone with.

  “How was school?” she asks as I scoop some food into the bowl.

  “It was the same as yesterday, and the day before that.” Nothing too exciting happened. It was out of the ordinary since Aiden walked with me to school and Ryan talked to me in the library, but I’m not about to tell her that.

  She gives me a strange look before speaking again. “I have something to tell you, Riley.”

  Oh great. The last time she spoke like this was when she “accidentally” threw my Harry Potter poster away. “What?” I ask slowly. I hope it isn’t anything ridiculous.

  “Remember that wedding I told you about?”

  “The wedding we got invited to, right?” The bag of dog food doesn’t fit back into the pantry and it’s starting to frustrate me.

  “Right.” She nods. “Well, Anna, my friend who is getting married, lost a bridesmaid. She asked me if I would be in the wedding, but I told her I’d look ridiculous in the bridesmaid dress she picked out. So I volunteered you for the job.”

  My jaw drops just as the bag falls over and spills dog food around me. “What?” She cannot be serious. There’s no way. “Why would you volunteer me without even talking to me about it first?”

  “I just figured it would give you something to do. You never go out, and when you do, it’s to take Sassy for a walk, or you end up at the library. I want you to be involved, Riley. I don’t want you spending the rest of your teen years reading in your room. I appreciate you staying out of trouble, but I want you to try something different. Besides, the wedding is soon anyway, so it’ll be over and done with before you know it.” She lets out a breath as she finishes her rant.

  It doesn’t surprise me that she would pull something like this. I knew she would try to take control of my life somehow. And this is her doing exactly that. “I don’t know…” Being in a wedding r
equires talking to people and being in front of people—two things I don’t especially like doing.

  “If you don’t do it, then she’ll be left with no fifth bridesmaid. She needs someone, Riley.”

  Now she’s trying to give me the guilt trip.

  I can’t believe I’m even considering this. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

  She claps her hands. “Thank you, Riley! I’ll call Anna back and tell her you’re filled in.” She runs back into the living room. I swear, she acts like the teenager in this house sometimes.

  What do bridesmaids even do? How do they function? My head begins to hurt and I automatically blame it on my mom. I’m about to run up to my room when I hear something crunch beneath my feet. I remember the spilled dog food, let out a long sigh, and start to clean the mess I made.

  ***

  “Riley, wake up! Riley!” Someone is shaking my shoulders.

  “Leave me alone,” I grumble. It’s Saturday. The day I get to sleep in as late as I want to. I don’t know why my mom is trying to wake me up earlier than I have to.

  “Get up, Riley! You need to get fitted for your bridesmaid dress today,” she says.

  Oh, right. The wedding. The wedding that I’m now regretting being a part of.

  “Riley Summers, if you’re not up and out of your bed in the next thirty seconds, I am taking all of your t-shirts out of your closet and burning them. I won’t hesitate to buy new, girly clothes for you.”

  I instantly jump out of bed. My head spins from the sudden movement, so I lean against the wall. “I’m up.” I rub my eyes clear of the sleepiness. My clock on the wall reads seven thirty. It’s way too early to be out of bed. What an unholy hour.

  Mom smiles at me. “Good. Now get dressed. I’m taking you to Anna’s house in about fifteen minutes, and from there, you’ll go get fitted for the dress.” She walks out of my room and shuts my door behind her.

  Sassy jumps onto my bed and stares at me. I sit down next to her and sigh. “I wish I were like you, Sassy. I wish I could just lounge around the house without a care in the world.”

  “Stop talking to the dog and get ready, Riley!” Mom yells at me from behind the door.