A Life On The Edge

Homecoming

"That's a pretty dress!" Tina gawked as Maxine walked through the door. It was homecoming night, and I guess everyone was getting ready at my house. It wasn't my idea but that's just how it sort of turned out. Lyle was a chaperone for the dance, so he left early. I was a little sad. I didn't even get to see his mask. He probably didn't even dress up like he was supposed to. I mean he wore a snapback hat to his own wedding.

I ended up going dress shopping with Tina and it was actually pretty fun. She wanted to take my mind off of everything that had been going on lately. Apparently the cops did come over while I was seeing my dad. Ryder's mother mentioned me in the report she filed against Atticus and they just wanted to follow up. We just ended up getting a simply green and black dress. My mask on the other hand was beautiful.

Max's dress was silver and black, while Emma's was a bright blue. They came over so Tina could help them with their make-up. Within the three seconds of being in our house Tina had taken a liking to Maxine. It's like she could sniff out tortured souls. I'm sure she would have taken Emma under her loving wing if she didn't know about what happened between her and Ryder.

"Are you excited?" Emma asked as she watched me apply my mascara. I shrugged.

"Not really. I'm only going because I said I would."

"Oh..." she mumbled and started scratching her hands.

"Are you nervous?" I asked.

"I miss Ryder." She confessed.

"Oh." I sighed.

"Does he talk about me?" she asked meekly. I sighed.

"Sometimes." I answered honestly. Although whenever he did speak of her it was negatively. He was suffering from a broken heart and he was angry about it.

"I want to talk to him tonight. Do you think he'll listen to me?"

"To be completely honest Emma...no. I think you should just give him some space." She didn't say anything, she just continued to scratch.

"How was seeing your father?"

"Terrible. Have you seen yours?" I asked without thinking. I immediately regretted my absentminded question.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I haven't seen my father since Sadie disappeared." She frowned. I cringed. "He thinks I had something to do with it. Everyone does."

"No," I said in hopes of cheering her up. "I heard that they were questioning Mr. Harte."

"Yeah I heard that too." She mumbled.

"Hey, cheer up. We're going to have fun at homecoming and then the opening night of your play is tomorrow! Smile." I said.

"Yeah," she smiled. "You're right I'm sorry. It's just...It's been really hard lately." She mumbled. I nodded not even trying to understand. I knew that I couldn't.

"Riley can I talk to you." I looked up to see Dylan standing in the door way. I nodded and followed him out the back door.

"What's up?" I asked.

"First of all you look beautiful." He smiled. I blushed and looked out towards the beach.

"Thank you."

"Are you and Lyle going to be okay?" he asked. I sighed and looked down at my dress.

"I don't know. I hope so. I want to forgive him and I know I will it's just..."

"He hurt you pretty bad huh?" he asked. I nodded.

"But I'll be okay." I smiled.

"Are you sure? We never talk about what happened between you and your dad."