The Better Half Of Me

Chapter 1-Riley

All rights reserved. This story belongs to me only and I do not give anyone permission to copy any part of it anywhere or use it in any way. Thank you and enjoy. 

7 am. Same shit, different day. My alarm is blaring full blast telling me it is time to prepare for another day. Another day of monotonous teachers droning on and on about turning in college applications and essays. My parents mean well, they really do, but college isn't for me. My mom was a college dropout after one year, and now she is the manager at the local grocery store. She only wants me to go to college so I don't "repeat her same mistakes" and so she can live vicariously through me.

My father works at a local factory, so all I hear from him is about back breaking work as he nurses an ice pack and heating pad in the recliner in the evening while he watches shitty tv. It is September of my senior year. I vowed to try and make this year great, but you know how those resolutions always fall apart.

"RILEY" my mom screamed up the stairs.

"Yes mom I am awake, there is no need to scream."

I finally rolled myself out of bed. I pull back the curtains and look outside, a typical September morning in Pennsylvania.

I walk over to the bathroom to brush my teeth. My eyes have their usual puffiness under them from lack of sleep. I was up late last night trying to finish a lotus drawing for my best friend Melissa Murphy. As soon as she turns 18 in February, she is going to get it tattooed. Her parents will freak, but she doesn't care. That's one of the biggest reasons we are best friends.

Melissa and I have known each other since second grade, she had moved here from Iowa with her parents. She had a spicy attitude and didn't care to follow any of the rules and I was the same, so we hit it off immediately and have been inseparable since. 

"Riley Lewis, I will come up there and get you if I don't see you in 5 minutes!"

 I roll my eyes and spit out my toothpaste. Daydreaming does seem to occupy most of my mornings, causing me to run behind a little more often than I care to admit.

I quickly brush my long, straight, dark brown hair, apply some concealer under my green eyes and apply my trademark thick black eyeliner and mascara. I am much too pale, I really should get some sun more often. I add some lip gloss as a finishing touch and am as satisfied as I ever will be with my appearance.

I quickly walk over to my closet. I grab a pair of black skinny jeans and a sweater, dress in record time, and run downstairs.

My mom is tapping her foot impatiently. 

"Riley, you can't keep doing this. I heard you up last night at 2am listening to music. You are in your senior year and colleges will frown upon it if you start to slack off."

I ignore her and walk to the kitchen to grab my usual cup of steaming black coffee. 

"Riley, I know you hear me but you choose to ignore me."

"No mom, I choose to not start a fight at 7:20 in the morning"

"You are lucky that your father has to be to work so early, otherwise I would have him give you a piece of his mind." 

"Mom, I will be fine, get to work before you are late, I'll have Melissa come pick me up."

My mom purses her lips at me, then walks over and gives me a disapproving kiss on the top of my head. 

"I'll probably be late tonight, we have that monthly staff performance meeting tonight."

I finish my coffee in peace once mom leaves. Like I said, she means well but she is a bit much sometimes. I hear Melissa pull up and honk, so I put my coffee mug in the sink, put on my favorite combat boots, grab my backpack and out the door I go.

"Hey Bitch" Melissa grins ear to ear at me.

"Hey, I didn't get to finish your drawing last night, it still needs some shading work but I should be able to get it done tonight, mom will be out late at a meeting."

"That's fine, did Owen bother you any last night?'' she asks as she backs the car out of the driveway and heads towards the high school.

Ugh, Owen. My ex from hell. We dated all of Junior year, went to prom together and I even regrettably gave him my virginity. He started out super sweet, the whole package deal, but after we had sex, he changed completely. He started being rude, controlling, and just overall different. 

 I would call him out on his shit and it would just end up in a big fight. He decided once we graduate he wants to join the Marines, and when I told him I was glad for him, but that wasn't a life I envisioned for myself, being a marine girlfriend and maybe even eventually spouse, he blew up and hit me. I left him that night and ever since then he has tried so hard to win me back, but truthfully I had just fallen out of love with him. 

"No, thank God, but who knows what tonight will bring."

We drove to the school not mentioning Owen any more after that. Melissa was telling me about the fight she had gotten into last night with her mom over the tattoo she is wanting to get on her birthday. I already have a tattoo, but nobody knows about it except Owen and Melissa. I got it on my left hip on my 16th birthday at a friends party, a black and white rose. Looking back, it was stupid to get a tattoo at a party, and not at a licensed shop, but it turned out good and that's what mattered to me. 

"Oh no..." I look up out the windshield. Great, Owen is standing at the front entrance to the school, with flowers in his hand. We broke up this summer, but he still won't give it up.

"Let's just walk quickly and get away from him." I say wearily to Melissa.

 She looks at me with concern, and we get out and she locks the car. I already see Owen walking towards me.

"Want my help?" Melissa asks.

"No, it's fine you can go to class, see you at lunch."

Melissa smiles and quickly walks into the building.

"Hey beautiful." Owen smiles as he gets closer to me.

He really is hot, his sandy blonde hair falling over his blue eyes, but I just can't forgive him for hitting me.

"Owen, you have got to stop doing this, we broke up."

"Doesn't mean I am going to stop trying, you love me and I love you."

"No Owen, I loved you past tense, back before you hit me." I hiss at him through my teeth. 

 People are starting to stare and it's embarrassing. Owen and I had become somewhat of a known couple in our grade, and when we broke up it was quite a topic of gossip.

"I made one mistake and I have apologized over and over Rye, what more can a man do?"

"He can move on and find another subject to prey on."

I quickly start to walk away before he gets the best of me. He does this at least once a week, and if it's not that he is texting me and calling me. I had blocked him, but he just started emailing me instead, and when I blocked that account, he just kept making new accounts to try and reach me. So I finally gave up and just ignored him. I don't bother talking to the school because honestly I don't want to make a big deal out of it, I want to move on with my life. 

 My parents know about Owen and I breaking up, but I never told them the full truth. If I would have, they would have freaked out and called the police and embarrassed me. I just told them we grew apart and wanted different things from life, and they never questioned it again.

I can hear people whispering behind me, no doubt talking about what just unfolded in front of the building. People here would gossip about anything, they all have such boring lives.