friends (rick riley and scott holland)(INDEFINITE HIATUS)

chapter four

When she's performing, she's divine. Elysian.

So, even if the whole world seems to have disregarded the sport as something girls who will never be successful in life do, it's important to Gwen. It, alongside her love for all things lemon flavored and Little Women, resides in a little cavity in her chest, protected by the cage of her ribs and always close to where she needs it most.

"Oh, shit," James' exclamation greets her as she turns into the kitchen. He slaps Jake on the arm to get his attention and causes the spoonful of cereal Jake was trying to eat to splash all over his arm, "she's got the jacket on!"

His sudden shout makes Gwen pause on the threshold and she does a headcount as the middle Banks sighs shortly.

"'The jacket'?" Charlie echoes, his face pinched in confusion as he glances from face to face.

Neither he nor James was here when she went to bed last night.

"Her varsity jacket." Jake elaborates while wiping cereal milk off his arm with a napkin. "She doesn't wear it except for when it's cheer season."

She lettered in cheerleading with Alexa and the girls at the end of her freshman year. The jacket that the school then gave her spends all of the off-season in a dry cleaner bag in her closet, kept safe and in good condition so she doesn't have to pay for a replacement.

It's similar enough to the hockey letterman that she can just steal Rick or Scott's and get the point across, anyway.

"You look cool, Gwen." Adam says with a soft smile.

He's the first to address her directly.

Gwen finds her voice, then. "Thanks... and good morning, I guess, people who do and don't live here."

The four of them give her scattered (mostly sarcastic) responses and Adam grumbles when she ruffles his hair in passing.

"Hey, Conway, how's your mom?" She asks over her shoulder, grabbing a bottle of her vitamins from the shelf above the sink.

Scott said he'd bring her one of those great bagels that Eden Hall serves their dorming kids for breakfast, so she swallows the pill and thinks about pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"She's good."

"That's nice to hear. What about Hans?"

"He's good, too."

"Awesome. Tell them both I say hi, okay?"

"Okay."

She's always liked Charlie. Out of all of Adam's little friends, he's probably her favorite. (Besides Connie and Julie, of course.) Though puberty has given him quite the unsavory moody quality, she knows he's still a sweetheart deep down, and the sacrifices he's made for her little brother haven't gone unnoticed by Gwen. He was the first of the ragtag team to truly welcome Adam amongst their ranks, and he gave up his spot in the Junior Goodwill Games so that Adam could play and, from what she's picked up along the way, she's pretty sure that's a big deal.

She's also pretty sure that Charlie is Adam's favorite, too.

That would explain why he's here, sitting next to him at their kitchen table at seven in the morning.

James' presence, on the other hand, is a different story. Jake would have to actually tell her about his life for her to understand what's going on there.

"Don't you have any questions for me?" The youngest Riley prods, drawing all attention to him. "Is my life not interesting enough for you, Gwen?"

The mischievous sparkle in his eyes earns a flat look from Gwen.