He Shoves Me But Loves Me (Riker Lynch/R5)

Chapter 26

"Marilyn, time for school." Riker cooed in my ear. I groaned and rolled out of bed and stretched my muscles, waking up.

"Good morning." I said to Riker as I picked out my clothes. I chose a pair of crisp, white shorts, a black graphic tee with a pink donut on it, and my hot pink Converse. I took a quick shower and blow dried and straightened my hair. As I was brushing my teeth, Riker joined me and I laughed at how foamy both of our mouths were. I rinsed after cleaning my tongue and put in my contacts, swiping on a small amount of mascara, eyeliner, and lipgloss.

"How do you not poke your eye?" Riker chuckled as I was finishing up my eyeliner.

I replied, "Patience young grasshopper." Riker kissed me and smiled.

"Strawberry flavored. My favorite!" He walked away and I laughed to myself, spraying on some perfume. I hopped down the stairs and found Rydel putting together lunches, sliding my lunch box towards me.

"There's tuna, lemon pepper, water, and some crackers in there. Plus a few mints for after lunch." I smiled at Rydel and stood by the door, watching every Lynch leave the door like Stormie usually did. First it was Ryland catching his bus to eighth grade, then Ross and Rocky going into Rocky's car, and then Rydel rode with Riker and me in my jeep.

"Early morning commute is sooo busy." Rydel commented.

"Oh my gosh yes!" I turned on the radio. Riker had his nose buried in John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and as I looked back at Rydel in my rearview mirror. She was focused on shaping her nails perfectly. I saw Ryland's bus turn the corner and Rocky and Ross were behind us. The ride to school was quiet, except for the radio in the background. I locked my car and waved goodbye to Rydel and gave Riker a quick kiss.

"See ya at lunch." He said and walked away. I climbed the outside stairs and went to my locker. I saw a piece of paper taped to my locker and unfolded it, reading the message written.

"Meet me in the courtyard for lunch. Xo, Hanna." I read in my head, stunned. Reasons of why she would want to meet me in the courtyard swam through my mind, none of them reasonable. I crumbled up the note and tossed it on the trash can across from my locker. Collecting my books and binder, I pranced up the stairs and into Mr. P's room for math. Hanna was sitting in the desk next to the one where I usually sit, so I took a seat by the door. Math dragged on forever and when the bell rang, Hanna grabbed me by my arm rather tightly.

"I hope you follow your directions on that paper like a good girl does." She hissed and walked away. Bitch. I continued down the crowded corridor and come across an eye catching poster.

Come to the talent show! Auditions will be Friday May 23 after school from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. Hope to see you there!

I noticed that auditions were this Friday, the same day as the party. I sighed and kept on walking, dressing for lunch to roll around.

When lunch finally did come, I followed my instructions and met Hanna in the courtyard. She was sitting there all alone with her designer lunch bag.

"What do you want from me Hanna?" I sighed as soon as I got there.

"Tell your boyfriend to stop harassing me and Jai! If he sends me another death glare in the hall, I swear I'll have Jai rip him to shreds." She growled.

I mentally wrapped my hands around her throat, "Whatever." I started to walk away but her hand wrapped around my upper arm. "If you don't stop grabbing my arm in going to wring you neck!"

"If you or Riker or anyone in his family does anything to me or Jai, I promise you, you'll regret everything. And I mean everything: our friendship, your relationship with Riker, moving here after the fire. All of those memories will scar you. And trust me honey, you will feel guilty." She finally let go, leaving a bruise where her hand had gripped my arm, and stomped away.