The Player And The Nerd •Jiley•

•part 18•

•Riley's PoV•
It hurt. Being treated like that every single day, having nothing but fear. And seeing Beth throwing herself at James like that didn't help... (Reminder-Riley didn't see the kiss). I had already seen them together at that party...

Flashback
I was in my room, my door shut and me cowering in the corner by my bed. My whole body was trembling and the sound of music flooded my head. My parents were out of town for the weekend and although I had no friends that didn't stop my older sister Emily throwing a party- for the whole of Toronto by the sounds of things.

Emily and I had always grew up while having a few fights and bickers, but it wasn't something that stopped us loving one another. That was until Emily hit the hormones stage when she was 13. We would argue a lot more and now that we were growing up (her 13 at the time and me 11) our parents spent less time at home and out of town. Sometimes our grand parents would stay over and check up on us but sadly they both passed away a few years ago. After all, with Emily being 18 and me being 16 we were capable of caring for ourselves. But me and Em no longer got along. In fact, she hated me. She was with the cool group (or what I like to call them the Slags and bullies) and I..well I was an easy target.

Anyways, so one weekend when our parents were out Emily threw one of her parties. It wasn't the first time and I fortunately it wasn't going to be the last. So as usual when our parents were out I would stay in my room the whole time; only leaving if I heard Emily go out. But that night instead of going out she just had to throw a party.

I hated it. It made my head feel crowded and caused panic to ripple through me. I would stay in my room, often cowering, for the whole night. It resulted in be getting no peace and no rest.

And this one time i was in my room, terrified and anxious; I was having a panic attack. And to make matters worse my bedroom door just had to burst open.

A dark-haired couple both stumbled in, still making out sloppily and having no self awareness. I could smell the alcohol on both of them, and it wasn't till a few seconds after that they noticed me there and looked at me dead in the eye.

It was Beth..and James...

They stumbled back out the room, closing the door behind them. That was all I remembered that night before passing out...

End of flashback

Maybe I needed a break from school. I always tried my hardest to get the top grades I could, but maybe staying at home for a while is just what I need to clear my mind and get back on track.
-
The next morning Riley woke up to the sound of her alarm ringing.
"Ugh" she groaned while switching it off and burying her face back into her pillow. She forgot to switch it off the night before, completely forgetting that she was going to skip school.

After 20 minutes or so Riley realised she wasn't going to be able to fall back to sleep, and her tummy rumbles for the second or third time. She didn't always eat a lot but some days she really couldn't skip a meal, so with that she put on a oversized hoodie which she bought from a concert a couple of years ago and walked downstairs.

"Ah good morning Riley" she heard a woman's voice call from the kitchen.

"Mum?" She asked confused. She wasn't supposed to be back for another two days.

"Why are you so surprised? It's Wednesday remember" her mum laughed causing Riley to remember everything.

8am. Science project due in. Must make it to school on time.

Without another word Riley leapt upstairs to her room before chucking on her uniform and slinging her bag over her shoulder. Without another word she was sprinting off to the bus stop.
-
•Riley's pov•
It was science class. The end of term projects were due and apparently during the rush this morning I had completely forgot it.

"Where's your project Riley?" The teacher said snapping her fingers. She defiantly wasn't one of my favourites.

"I-uh I forgot it.." I mumbled. A chorus of giggles were heard throughout the room.

"I've told you time and time again that this project is due in today! You know this Riley, I'm very disappointed with you". She stormed off to the next students desk.

"I'll have it on your desk first thing tomorrow" I whispered almost silently.

After class was over I wasted no time in getting out of there. It was only first period and I'm pretty sure I could get away with bunking off for the rest of the day. Suddenly I heard a voice calling me, making me instantly roll my eyes.

"What James?" I said turning to face him. He looked like he had been running.

"I never saw you this morning, and where did you run off to yesterday?" He questioned.

"I was almost late soo.. and I couldn't stand the sight of her any longer so I left" I mumbled bluntly in a 'duh' tone.

"Oh okay, fair enough. I can't believe she kissed me, I seriously can't believe she dared make a move on me like that".

Wait what?

"You kissed?" I whispered.
"Yeah you didn't see? Well technically she kissed me but it was still gross" he rambled on, not interesting me enough to stay.

"Wait what lesson do you have?" He asked chasing after me. "I'll walk you to class."

"I'm going home" I mumbled while pushing my way past him and running to the nurses office. Honestly I didn't want to see him at all right now.

Besides, it's not like we are even friends..?