Fallen

Chapter Five: Thinking of You

"Cause when I'm with him I am.         thinking of you
Thinking of you
What you would do if you were the one who was spending the night
Oh I wish that I was looking into your eyes."

—Thinking of You, Katy Perry

   I barely even made it to my last class of the day, when I felt a hand fall on my shoulder. I whirled around—ready to give the person a piece of my mind—when I met a pair of calm grey eyes.

   My breath hitched and seemed to get stuck in my throat.

   "R–Ryan,'' I finally choked out.

   My boyfriend. Ugh. I mentally face-palmed myself as guilt flooded through me. Ever since Riven came along, I had completely forgotten about Ryan.

   Ryan had gone off to California to go to his uncle's funeral and he had been gone for a few days. He hadn't really known his uncle—he'd only met him once—but he'd gone to support his mom.

   He grinned as he looked down at me. "Siberia, I missed you.'' He pulled me into a hug.

   "I missed you, too,'' I muttered into his shoulder, feeling more and more guilty.

   "Let me walk you to class." He was still smiling.

   "Sure." I grinned but it wasn't wholehearted.

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   "So...what are you gonna do?'' Madison asked later on when I filled her in on Ryan's return.

   We sat in Red Robin, eating our food as we deliberated my situation.

   "Honestly, Madi, I don't even know. I mean, Ryan and I have been together forever. We're the perfect couple.''

   It was true that Ryan and I had been together since sixth grade. Now, five years later in my junior year of high school, we were still together.

   "But at the same time..." I trailed off, unwilling to say what I was thinking.

   "At the same time you're attracted to Riven,'' Madison finished, reading me like an open book. Just as she always did.

   I nodded once, my jaw clenched.

   Madison blew out a sigh as she chewed her fries, looking thoughtful.

   "Well, I really think you need to sort out your feelings,'' she finally said. "And you need to do it fast before you hurt someone.''

   "I know.'' I leaned away from my plate, not feeling hungry anymore.

   Finally I shook it off, grabbing my backpack.

   "I have to meet Riven,'' I told her.

   "Alright." She nodded. "Goodnight.''

   I smiled at her as I left. My heart was pounding at the thought of seeing Riven again. My throat was dry, my palms were sweaty...

   It seemed like only Riven could make me feel this way.

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   "You're actually a pretty good actress,'' Riven said, smirking at me.

   "Yeah, sure, whatever.'' I rolled my eyes. I seemed to roll my eyes a lot when Riven was around.

   "No, I'm serious,'' Riven said, his voice actually sounded sincere.

   "Ummm...thanks," I thanked him, my heart racing as he sat down beside me, his thigh touching mine.

   "So, I heard your boyfriend was back in town," he said conversationaly, though his eyes flashed. "What's his name? Rodney?''

   "You mean Ryan?'' I crossed my arms, looking at him crossly.

   "Yeah, whatever,'' Riven muttered, his tone bored. "Anyway, I heard he was back in town. How are you feeling about that?'' He looked at me.

   "I...I...'' I looked away from the intensity of his gaze. "I'm feeling good about that.'' My voice shook, betraying me.

   He chuckled. "You sure about that, Angel?''

   "Yes, I'm sure! And stop calling me that,'' I snapped.

   "What?'' His eyebrows rose. "You don't like your nickname, Angel?''

   "No, I don't,'' I huffed.

   "Too bad.''

   I almost slapped him.

   "You know I have a boyfriend. It's weird.''

   "It's just a nickname. No blood, no foul, isn't that what they say?''

   Just a nickname, he'd said. Well why did it feel like more than that? Why did it irk me the way it did? Why did it make my heart pound that way?

   "I gotta go,'' I muttered, grabbing my backpack and hurrying off, slinging my backpack over my shoulder as I did.

   "Angel, wait,'' I heard him call.

   Against my better judgement, I turned around to face him.

   "Be careful tonight,'' he half begged, fixing his crystalline eyes intensely on mine.

   "I always am,'' I told him. "Why do you say that?'' I was suddenly curious.

   "I'm surprised you haven't heard.'' He sounded vaguely surprised. "Five teenage girls went missing yesterday. They all received these weird notes prior to their disappearances.''

   My skin prickled and I swear my heart stopped.

   "Weird notes?'' I asked, my voice sounding strange to my own ears.

   Riven just stared at me with this expression that seemed to say he knew about the notes I'd received.

   "Be careful, Angel,'' he warned.

   I swallowed hard and nodded once, heading to my car.

   Riven stood there, watching me as I drove off.

   I was so busy replaying my disturbing conversation with Riven as I drove through the memorized road to my home, that I barely noticed when I arrived home.

   I sighed, reaching over to the passengers side and I froze. There was a single white paper sitting atop my backpack.

   I closed my eyes, opened them again. The note was still there.

   "Oh, God,'' I whispered, my mouth dry as I reached for the note.

   "It's funny that you've ended up in your own little love triangle. But do you know all you should know about your precious Riven?"