overturn

◦ 4 ◦

-LF-

Seventh grade was a whirlwind as far as I can remember.

It was the year that I finally had Mr. Matthews as a teacher, and I could finally use him as some kind of father figure. At least he'd be better than my own.

When I first thought about having him as my teacher, I thought he'd be the fun, jokester type of teacher, but he was much more than that. He tied in life lessons with history and taught us better ways to deal with conflict. I became even more jealous of Riley everyday he taught because she had this man as a father and I knew he was there for her all the time. I didn't have that in my life.

It was also the year my Pappy Joe came to live with us. My mom thought it was better that he go to New York under our care instead of living with his caretaker, Cletis, at his ranch in Texas.

My grandmother passed away a year prior to us moving to New York and since then my grandfather turned quieter and quieter. So much so that with every update Cletis tells my mom, she becomes quieter and sadder herself. Eventually, she found the nerve to talk to my father about bringing him here.

My father never had the best relationship with Pappy Joe. Although the disdain was definitely not one-sided, I remember Pappy Joe having better self-control when it came to my dad. Even when my mom would remind him that they owed her father for so much, my dad stayed stubborn and voiced his opinion. There were a lot of friendly-worded arguments back then, and I was surprised to see it significantly change when Pappy Joe arrived at our New York apartment.

It was weird to see him when it wasn't a holiday and not having a jolly smile on his face. And it was sad to know that that smile was put on to hide how he really felt with Grammy gone. So I understood why he barely spoke to me or my parents during his stay. My dad, not so much.

I was okay with Pappy Joe with keeping to himself at home, but when I saw that he was starting to have a better relationship with Riley at Svorski's that's when I drew the line.

-

I gotta start from the very beginning of Pappy Joe's fascination with Riley Matthews, and that's her front cover of the newspaper because of the abandoned building incident.

There was something about Riley Matthews and that abandoned building. She was there first thing in the morning when everyone was on their way to school, and again, a couple hours after school ends.

She was usually alone on the fourth floor fire escape, either sitting and reading a book or leaning forward on the railing looking out into the view. It was odd to see her alone because she was almost always either with Maya and Farkle, but I never saw them on that fire escape with her.

I didn't know what the big deal was about that building; all I knew was that it was Riley's place.

The incident happened a couple of weeks into seventh grade. I was biking home after baseball practice and I saw that Riley's abandoned building was surrounded by fire trucks and people. I stopped to see what was going on and I see Riley bawling in the arms of her parents as they almost drag her away from the building.

Riley Matthews wasn't at school the next day, but her picture was on the front page of the newspaper. And Pappy Joe took notice of it. It was one of the only things he's talked to me about since he arrived at New York.

He had the newspaper on his lap as he sat beside me on the couch while I watched the game and suddenly started, "So Riley Matthews. Is she your friend?"

"Um...We're acquaintances." I shrugged, "And neighbours."

"So you don't talk to her?"

"No, not really. Why Pappy Joe?"