Chapter Thirty-Two - A Question

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River

After rubbing at my tired eyes, my fingers find the first button on my light grey formal shirt and then link it with the fabric to seal my shirt in place. I stare into the mirror as I button the rest, eyeing my pale and exhausted-looking face.

I hardly got any sleep yesterday.

         Why? Well, I was thinking too much. About what? About everything.

         About Emily, and when she wakes up, and what's going to happen then. About what happened to Emily, and how much I want to hire a hit man, just to kill Nick for doing what he did to her.

         Yesterday, in the cafeteria, Ky had overreacted. Although I felt his anger and knew the reason why he wanted to beat the shit out of that prick, I also knew that the whole situation would look odd. People would question why we are so brutal and harsh towards Nick – people like Lea.

         And since Lea has no idea that Nick was who drove Emily and caused her accident, Ky's actions yesterday probably seemed too aggressive – I don't want her to think like that about us. 

         Tucking my shirt into my black trousers, I sigh, allowing my eyes to seal shut for a few moments, letting them rest. Bringing my hands up to my hair and brushing it back, I open them to look back at my reflection.

         I don't want Lea to think I'm a bully. I don't want Lea to dislike me. I want Lea to like me.

         Why is it so goddamn hard to get a girl like Lea?

         I have to tell her about Nick, that's the only way she'll understand why Ky did what he did. Then, she'll finally stay away from Nick.

         I hear a knock on my door, and so I quickly bury my thoughts in the back of my head and decide to deal with them later.

         "Come in!" I call; my voice cracks due to my sleepiness.

         The door opens slightly, and my mother sticks her head around the crack. She searches the room before her eyes land on mine. A smile spreads on her face once she notices that I'm wearing this shirt.

         "That's the shirt I got for you," she recalls, entering the room and walking towards me.

         "Yeah, it is," I reply monotonously, rubbing my eye with my palm.

         "Oh, is someone grumpy today?" She pouts, mocking me.

         I roll my eyes at my mum – she tries to be cool, but in this situation, it's not working.

         "Mum," I groan, "what do you want?" I ask, before releasing a yawn from my mouth.

         Playfully, she slaps the side of my head, waking me up a little bit. "Don't you yawn at me, River."

         "Mum!" I groan, smoothing out my hair that she disheveled with her slap.

         "Now, listen up, lover boy," she starts, and I groan again.

         "Mum, don't call me that!"

         "What? Lover boy?"

         "Yes, lover boy."

         "Then I'll call you Romeo."

         "Mum!"

         "And she," she whispers, indicating with her thumb in the direction of where the guestroom may be. "Is Juliet," she finishes, winking.

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